Fu Yanqing () (898History of Song, vol. 251. – July 31, 975Xu Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 8.Academia Sinica Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.), né Li Yanqing (), courtesy name Guanhou (), formally the Prince of Wei (), nicknamed Fu Disi (符第四; "the fourth Fu"), was a Chinese general and politician during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou states, as well as the Liao dynasty and Song dynasty). He was one of the most celebrated generals of the period, and he was also the father of three empresses — two as successive empresses of the Later Zhou emperor Chai Rong, and one (posthumously) as a wife of Zhao Guangyi, who would become the second emperor of the Song dynasty. His father was the general Li Cunshen, an adoptive son of the late-Tang warlord Li Keyong.
Background Li Yanqing was born in 898, near the end of the Tang dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang. His father, then known as Li Cunshen but who was born with the name of Fu Cun, was an adoptive son of and general under the major late-Tang warlord Li Keyong the Prince of Jin.History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 56. Li Yanqing was said to be the fourth-born son of Li Cunshen's, but only the identities of two of his older brothers, Li Yanchao () and Li Yanrao (), were recorded in history; he also had at least two younger brothers, Li Yanneng () and Li Yanlin (). (All four of his known brothers would eventually serve as generals.)Yanqing had at least one other brother, Yantu, who was mentioned in passing in their father's biography; he was mentioned to be with Cunshen during the Battle of Huliu. (十二月，战于胡柳...，存审与其子彦图冒刃血战，...)
When Li Yanqing was 12 — i.e., in 910 — by which time Tang had fallen and the Jin realm, theoretically still under Tang rule, was actually under the rule of Li Keyong's biological son and successor Li Cunxu — Li Yanqing, who was already capable of riding and archery, entered military service under Li Cunxu, being close enough to Li Cunxu that he was allowed to enter the prince's bedchamber. When he grew older, he became an officer in Li Cunxu's army. Also in his youth, he became a friend of Shi Chonggui, the nephew of Shi Jingtang, the son-in-law of Li Siyuan, also an adoptive son of Li Keyong's. (However, while this was traditionally described as such in official accounts, Shi Chonggui, born in 914, was 16 years younger than Li Yanqing.)History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 81.
During Later Tang In 923, Li Cunxu claimed imperial title as the emperor of a new Later Tang, and shortly after conquered his southern rival Later Liang and took over its territory.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 272. Li Yanqing continued to serve as an officer of Li Cunxu's imperial guards.
In 924, Li Yanqing's father Li Cunshen died, while serving as the military governor (Jiedushi) of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing).Zizhi Tongian, vol. 273.
In 926, many mutinies were occurring against Li Cunxu's rule.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 274.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 275. Eventually, a mutiny even rose at the capital Luoyang itself, and it was said that when the mutiny occurred, the officers and soldiers were deserting Li Cunxu in droves, with only some 10-20 officers/soldiers, including Li Yanqing, remaining with Li Cunxu and fighting the mutineers. During the battle, Li Cunxu was hit by a stray arrow, and eventually died from that injury. Upon seeing Li Cunxu's death, Li Yanqing and the others cried and then left the area. The army of Li Siyuan (who had previously rebelled against Li Cunxu) arrived at Luoyang shortly after, and Li Siyuan claimed imperial title. Li Yanqing's older brother Li Yanchao, who was then the defender of the northern capital Taiyuan, submitted to Li Siyuan's rule shortly after; presumably, so did Li Yanqing. In 927, Li Yanchao requested to change his surname to his father's original surname of Fu, and Li Siyuan granted that request; presumably, Li Yanqing and his other brothers also changed their name at that time.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 276.
In 928, when Li Siyuan ordered a general campaign against the rebellious Wang Du, the military governor of Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding, Hebei), Fu Yanqing, who then carried the titles of the commander of the Longwu Corps and prefect of Ji Prefecture (吉州, in modern Ji'an, Jiangxi) (an honorary title, as Ji Prefecture was then under the rule of Later Tang's southeastern neighbor Wu), served on the campaign against Wang. When the army of the Khitan Empire tried to aid Wang, Fu participated in the great Later Tang victory over Khitan forces at Mount Jia (嘉山, near Yiwu's capital Ding Prefecture (), which eventually led to Ding's falling and Wang's suicide. After the campaign, Fu was made the military prefect (團練使, Tuanlianshi) of Yao Prefecture (耀州, in modern Tongchuan, Shaanxi). He was later made the prefect of Qing Prefecture (慶州, in modern Qingyang, Gansu) and, at imperial direction, built a fort to try to entice Dangxiang tribesmen to submit to Later Tang.
Early in the Qingtai era (934-936) of Li Siyuan's adoptive son and successor Li Congke, Fu was made the prefect of Yi Prefecture (易州, in modern Baoding), and put in command of the cavalry soldiers on the borders with the Khitan Empire. There was a time when he went hunting that, within a day, he killed 42 animals — deer, pigs, wolves, foxes, and rabbits — impressing the people who witnessed the feat.
In 936, Shi Jingtang, then the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered at Taiyuan), rebelled against Li Congke. He sought aid from Khitan's Emperor Taizong. Li Congke sent an army, commanded by Zhang Jingda, to attack Shi. Fu was one of the generals serving under Zhang. Zhang quickly put Taiyuan under siege. However, when the Liao army, commanded by Emperor Taizong himself, thereafter arrived at Taiyuan, the Liao army attacked and defeated the Later Tang army despite the efforts of Fu and Gao Xingzhou. The Later Tang army was forced to take up defensive position at Jin'an Base (晉安寨, near Taiyuan), and shortly after became surrounded by the Liao/Hedong army. Several times Fu and Gao tried to fight out of the encirclement, but could not. Eventually, Zhang's deputy Yang Guangyuan assassinated Zhang and surrendered the Later Tang army to the Liao/Hedong army, the control over which Emperor Taizong then transferred to Shi. Thereafter, Emperor Taizong created Shi the emperor of a new Later Jin. Fu became a subject of Later Jin's. Shortly after, with Shi's army approaching Luoyang, Li Congke committed suicide, ending Later Tang.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 280.
During Later Jin Early in Shi Jingtang's reign, Fu Yanqing was made the military governor of Kuangguo Circuit (匡國, headquartered in modern Weinan, Shaanxi). In 937, Fu Yanqing's older brother Fu Yanrao, who was then serving as the military governor of Yicheng Circuit (義成, headquartered in modern Anyang, Henan), got into a conflict with another military governor, Bai Fengjin (), and while they argued, Fu Yanrao's soldiers killed Bai. This assassination was subsequently blamed on Fu Yanrao, and Fu Yanrao was captured and executed.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 281. While Shi then issued an edict stating that Fu Yanrao's brothers would not also be punished, Fu Yanqing nevertheless submitted a resignation, which Shi declined. However, he did recall Fu Yanqing to serve as a general of the imperial guards, but later sent him back out of the capital to serve as the military governor of Baoda Circuit (保大, headquartered in modern Yan'an, Shaanxi).
In 942, Shi Jingtang died, and Shi Chonggui succeeded him as emperor.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 283. Having been friendly with Fu since their youth, he recalled Fu from Baoda and thereafter made him the military governor of Heyang Circuit (河陽, headquartered in modern Jiaozuo, Henan), close to the capital Kaifeng. With Shi Chonggui taking a hostile tone in his relationship with Khitan (which had been renamed Liao), Emperor Taizong made a major invasion into Later Jin territory in 944 to aid Yang Guangyuan, who had rebelled against Shi's rule from his post at Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered in modern Weifang, Shandong). Fu was one of the generals whose armies were mobilized to resist the Liao invasion, and there was a time when he, Gao Xingzhou, and Shi Gongba () were surrounded by Liao forces, such that they almost were captured, but Fu fought valiantly; subsequently, when Shi Chonggui himself arrived with a relief force, they were saved.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 284. When eventually, with Pinglu's capital Qing Prefecture () under siege, Yang's son Yang Chengxun () arrested his father and surrendered, Fu was rewarded with the title of Duke of Qi, and was moved to Zhongwu Circuit (忠武, headquartered in modern Xuchang, Henan).
On a subsequently Khitan invasion in 945, the Later Jin army, then under the command of Du Wei and Li Shouzhen, encountered the Liao army near Yangcheng (陽城, in modern Baoding) and became surrounded. Du panicked and was reluctant to engage the Liao army, but at Fu's advocacy, he, Zhang Yanze, Yao Yuanfu (), and Huangfu Yu (), attacked the Liao army fiercely, causing the Liao army to panic and flee. For his accomplishment, Shi, who then moved him to Wuning Circuit (武寧, headquartered in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), bestowed on him the honorary chancellor designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi ().
However, Fu was later falsely accused by Shi's close associates, and when Shi launched a major attack against Liao under the command of Du and Li Shouzhen in 946,Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 285. Fu was not ordered to participate — only his soldiers were. He was instead given a few thousand weaker soldiers and stayed near Kaifeng. Only when Du and Li Shouzhen subsequently become surrounded by Emperor Taizong at Zhongdu Bridge (中度橋, in modern Baoding), did Shi summon Gao and Fu and tried to have them serve as a line of defense. When Du and Li Shouzhen then surrendered to Liao, however, the way for Liao to attack Kaifeng became clear, and Emperor Taizong had Zhang Yanze, who also surrendered to Liao, head directly to Kaifeng to capture it. Finding the situation hopeless, Shi surrendered, ending Later Jin. Gao and Fu also went to Emperor Taizong's headquarters to surrender. Emperor Taizong rebuked Fu for having defeated him at Yangcheng. Fu responded, "I, your subject, at that time only knew that I should serve the Lord of Jin with all my heart. Whether I live or die is up to you." Emperor Taizong laughed and released him.
During the Liao occupation Emperor Taizong shortly after claimed to be emperor of China as well, and initially, nearly all of the Later Jin realm submitted to him. However, he allowed Liao soldiers to pillage the countryside, and many rebellions against his rule quickly rose. With his having kept the Later Jin military governors at Kaifeng, the rebellions initially went unchecked. When the rebellions became particularly rampant to the east, he allowed Fu Yanqing to return to Wuning and An Shenqi () the military governor of Taining Circuit (泰寧, headquartered in Jining, Shandong), to return to their circuits. When Fu approached Wuning's capital Xu Prefecture (), though, the rebel leader Li Renshu (), seized him, and tried to use him to get his son Fu Zhaoxu (), whom he had left in charge at Xu, to open the gates. Fu Zhaoxu, however, refused to open the gates. When Li saw this, he apologized to Fu Yanqing and begged forgiveness. After Fu Yanqing swore not to punish him and the others, they released him and lifted the siege.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 286.