Background

Wang Sitong was born in 892, during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang. His father Wang Jingrou (王敬柔) was an officer of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing), and his mother was a daughter of Liu Rengong, a late-Tang Dynasty warlord who would rule Lulong (although not yet at the time of Wang Sitong's birth — he would take over Lulong in 895, initially as a vassal of the major warlord Li Keyong the military governor (Jiedushi) of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), but later turning against Li and becoming an independent warlord).

In his youth, Wang Sitong served as an officer at his grandfather Liu's headquarters. In 907, Liu's son (Wang's uncle) Liu Shouguang carried out a coup, arresting Liu Rengong and putting him under house arrest. Wang, then 15, fled to Hedong with another uncle, Liu Shouqi, and the officer Li Chengyue (李承約). Li Keyong took them into his army and made them his officers.

During Jin

After Tang fell (after its last emperor, Emperor Zhaozong's son Emperor Ai, was forced to yield the throne to the major warlord Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), who established Later Liang), Li Keyong's Hedong Circuit became the center of a new state of Jin, ruled by Li Keyong and then his son Li Cunxu as prince. Wang Sitong continued to serve under Li Cunxu, whose Jin state eventually took over the region north of the Yellow River, causing the river to become the boundary between it and Later Liang, with which it engaged constant wars. During that war, Wang, at Li Cunxu's order, constructed a fortress at Yangliu (楊劉, in modern Liaocheng, Shandong), and thereafter was promoted to be a commander of 10 corps of troops known as the Shenwu (神武). It was in that role that Li Cunxu sent him in 921 to help Li Cunxu's ally Wang Du the military governor of Yiwu Circuit (義武, headquartered in modern Baoding, Hebei), against a Khitan Empire attack.

During Later Tang

During Li Cunxus reign as emperor

After Li Cunxu declared himself emperor of a new Later Tang and destroyed archrival Later Liang in 923, taking over Later Liang's territory, Wang Sitong was made either the prefect and/or the defender (防禦使, Fangyushi) of Zheng Prefecture (鄭州, in modern Zhengzhou, Henan). He was said to be magnanimous, and he liked to write poetry, using the alternative name of Jimen Zhanke (薊門戰客, "guest warrior from Jimen" (Jimen being an alternative name for Lulong's capital You Prefecture (幽州))) when doing so. It was said that Li Cunxu's oldest son and presumed heir Li Jiji the Prince of Wei treated Wang as a son. Wang was also said to be respectful to civilian officials, not greedy for money, and seeking to do right. In 926, when Li Cunxu executed the major general Li Jilin (formerly known as Zhu Youqian), it was Wang that he sent to Zhongwu Circuit (忠武, headquartered in modern Xuchang, Henan) to execute Li Jilin's son Zhu Lingxi (朱令錫) the military governor of Zhongwu. (Li Cunxu was subsequently killed after mutinies that rose due to his killings of Li Jilin and another major general, Guo Chongtao, and was succeeded by his adoptive brother Li Siyuan.)

During Li Siyuans reign

After Li Siyuan became emperor, as he had known Wang Sitong for a long time and believed Wang to have been serving for too long without a proper promotion, he promoted Wang to be the military governor of Kuangguo Circuit (匡國, headquartered in modern Weinan, Shaanxi), and later transferred Wang to Xiongwu Circuit (雄武, headquartered in modern Tianshui, Gansu). During the years that Wang governed at Xiongwu, he was said to be gracious and comforting to his people, both Han and non-Han. In 930, he went to then-capital Luoyang to pay homage to Li Siyuan. Li asked him about the border defense, and he detailed it so vividly and described the 40 forts that he built to defend against Tufan attacks, such that Li stated, "I had heard that Wang Sitong did not pay attention to details. How could that be true?"

At that time, it was believed that a confrontation between the imperial government and two military governors — Meng Zhixiang of Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan), and Dong Zhang of Dongchuan Circuit (東川, headquartered in modern Mianyang, Sichuan) — was about to occur. Li, believing that Wang would be a general who can serve in the campaign, thus kept him as an imperial guard general at Luoyang. Shortly after, when Meng and Dong did openly rebel against the imperial government, Li put his son-in-law Shi Jingtang in command of an army against the two circuits and made Wang the forward commander for Shi. He also made Wang the defender of Chang'an.

During the campaign against Xichuan and Dongchuan, it was Wang, along with other generals Wang Hongzhi (王弘贄), Feng Hui, and Zhao Zaili, who made a daring surprise attack against the key pass Jianmen Pass, surprising the Dongchuan garrison at Jianmen and allowing the imperial army to take Jianmen, for one time causing Meng to panic and believe that all was lost. However, as the rest of the imperial army could not follow up and meet up with them at Jianmen, they eventually had to abandon Jianmen and rejoin the rest of the imperial army, which subsequently became caught in a stalemate with the Xichuan/Dongchuan armies and was forced to withdraw. After the imperial army's withdrawal, Wang Sitong, for his accomplishments, was made the military governor of Shannan West Circuit (山南西道, headquartered in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi).

Around the same time that the campaign against Xichuan and Dongchuan was abandoned, Li executed the main proponent for the campaign, his chief of staff An Chonghui, and sought rapprochement with the two circuits. Meng desired peace with the imperial government, but Dong, because the imperial government had executed his son Dong Guangye (董光業) and Dong Guangye's family, rejected it, and further renounced his alliance with Meng and attacked Meng. Wang notified the imperial government of this, Li's new chief of staff Fan Yanguang suggested to him that this was the time to act against the two circuits while they were fighting with each other, so Li ordered Wang to begin planning for such a campaign. However, shortly after, Meng defeated Dong, who was then killed by his subordinates, and Meng took over Dong's realm. The imperial government thereafter abandoned further designs on the two circuits, as Meng nominally resubmitted to the imperial government as a vassal. Wang was thereafter returned to Chang'an to serve as its defender.

During Li Conghous reign

Li Siyuan died in late 933 and was succeeded by his biological son Li Conghou the Prince of Song. In early 934, his chiefs of staff Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun, not wanting Shi Jingtang, who was then the military governor of Hedong, to become entrenched there, issued orders transferring Li Conghou's older adoptive brother Li Congke the Prince of Lu from Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi) to Hedong, Shi from Hedong to Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), and Fan Yanguang from Chengde to Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei).

This, however, drew a reaction from Li Congke, who believed that these moves were intended to target him. He decided to rebel, and he issued a declaration denouncing Zhu and Feng. He sent emissaries to the nearby circuits, hoping that their governors would join him in rebellion. When his emissaries Hao Xu (郝詡) and Zhu Ting'ai (朱廷乂) to Chang'an, hoping to convince Wang to join him. Wang, however, believed that Li Congke's rebellion was without cause, and therefore arrested Hao and Zhu and reported this to the imperial government.

The imperial government subsequently put Wang in command of the army against Li Congke, and gave Wang the honorary chancellor designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi. However, it was said that while Wang was a faithful and honorable man, he was not capable at commanding a large army, and many of the imperial army soldiers, having previously served under Li Congke (as Li Congke and Shi were two of Li Siyuan's main generals), were secretly supportive of him, hoping to benefit from the campaign. Wang quickly arrived at Fengxiang's capital Fengxiang Municipality and put it under siege, and it appeared that the city, which did not have strong defensive bulwarks, would fall quickly. However, a tearful declaration by Li Congke from the city walls caused the imperial army soldiers to become sympathetic to him. When one of the generals under Wang, Zhang Qianzhao the military governor of Shannan West, subsequently angered the soldiers by forcing them, under the threat of swords, to scale Fengxiang's wall, the soldiers turned against Zhang, and the officer Yang Siquan took the opportunity to defect to Li Congke, causing the imperial army to collapse. Wang and the other generals fled. When Wang and his deputy commander Yao Yanchou (藥彥稠) reached Chang'an, the deputy defender of Chang'an, Liu Suiyong, refused to receive them, forcing them flee further east to Tong Pass. (Liu subsequently surrendered the city to Li Congke.)

Li Congke, after entering Chang'an, continued to advance east. When he reached Zhaoying (昭應, in modern Xi'an, Shaanxi), he heard news that his forward troops had captured Wang, and he commented, "While Wang Sitong's strategies were wrong, he was faithful to whom he served, and should receive praise." When he reached Lingkou (靈口, also in modern Chang'an), Wang was delivered to him. When Li Congke rebuked him, Wang pointed out that he was compelled by Li Siyuan's grace to him to remain faithful to the imperial government, and he asked for death. Li Congke was touched, and intended not to punish him. However, the former imperial army officers who surrendered to Li Congke, including Yang, did not want to see Wang again — and, in particular, one of those officers, Yin Hui (尹暉), had, when entering Chang'an, seized Wang's wealth and household and thus feared the consequences if Wang survived this encounter. He therefore repeatedly warned Li Congke's close associate Liu Yanlang that sparing Wang would cause dissension among the ranks. Liu decided to act by himself, and he waited for an occasion when Li Congke was drunk to execute Wang and his wife. When Li Congke woke from his stupor, he was angry with Liu and sighed for several days over Wang's death, but did not further punish Liu.

Notes and references

• History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 65.

• New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 33.

• Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 266, 271, 274, 277, 279.

家世

王思同生于唐昭宗景福元年（892年）。父王敬柔歷任瀛、平、儒、檀、營五州刺史。母為晚唐軍閥劉仁恭女。乾寧二年（895年），劉仁恭成為盧龍節度使，起初為大軍閥河東節度使李克用附庸，後又對李克用倒戈，成為獨立軍閥。

王思同最初事劉仁恭為帳下軍校。天祐四年（907年）四月，劉仁恭的兒子即王思同的舅父劉守光政變，軟禁劉仁恭。時任銀胡䩮都指揮使的十六歲的王思同率部三千和另一舅父劉守奇、山後八安巡檢使李承約逃奔河東。李克用將他們帶入軍中任以軍職，以王思同為飛騰指揮使。

晉國年間

大軍閥宣武軍節度使朱全忠迫使唐哀帝禪位建立後梁，唐朝滅亡。此時李克用的河東軍成為晉國的中心，先後由李克用及其子李存勖作為晉王統治。王思同繼續效力李存勖。晉國最終占有黃河以北地區，使黃河成為晉國和與其持續交戰的後梁的邊界。戰爭期間，王思同奉李存勖命，在楊劉築壘，以功遷神武十軍都指揮使。十八年（921年）十二月，李存勖派王思同率軍戍狼山之南，以助盟友義武軍節度使王都抵禦契丹進攻。

後唐年間

李存勖年間

同光元年（923年），李存勖稱帝，建立後唐，滅大敵後梁，取其地，王思同每次出征都在他帳下，隨他平定山東，被任為鄭州刺史（或作防禦使）。王思同性格寬宏，愛寫詩，寫詩時自稱「薊門戰客」（薊門為盧龍軍部幽州別名）。李存勖長子和內定儲君魏王李繼岌待王思同如子。內養呂知柔侍奉李存勖，弄權，王思同為之不平。呂知柔作終南山詩，末句有「頭」字，王思同和道：「料伊直擬衝霄漢，賴有青天壓著頭。」其詩大致如此。王思同還為人敢勇，善騎射，好學，輕財重義，多禮文士。四年（926年）正月，李存勖誅殺大將河中節度使、尚書令李繼麟（前名朱友謙），派王思同去許州殺李繼麟子忠武軍節度使朱令錫。後因李存勖殺李繼麟及另一大將侍中兼樞密使郭崇韜，兵變迭起，李存勖在兵變中被殺，由養兄李嗣源繼位。

李嗣源年間

李嗣源在軍中時向來了解王思同，認為他長期沒有得到合適的升遷，天成元年（926年）四月登基後，升為匡國軍留後，當年六月前遷雄武軍節度使。王思同管治雄武期間，為人親和，安撫邊民。長興元年（930年），入朝洛陽覲見李嗣源，李嗣源問以邊事，王思同生動地細說了，並描述自己建造的四十座用以防禦吐蕃來犯的寨，以致李嗣源說：「有人說王思同不管事，這怎麼可能？」

當時，朝廷和兩位節度使西川節度使孟知祥、東川節度使董璋之間的對抗一觸即發。李嗣源認為王思同在此戰中可用為將，留在左右，八月，授右武衛上將軍（或作左武衛上將軍）。九月，孟知祥、董璋公然反叛朝廷，李嗣源以女婿天雄軍節度使石敬瑭為東川行營都招討使統兵與兩川作戰，以王思同為京兆尹，充西都留守兼西南行營馬步都虞候，為伐蜀前鋒。

十一月，王思同與階州刺史王弘贄、瀘州刺史馮暉、步軍都指揮使趙在禮引兵出人頭山後，過要塞劍門關之南，還襲劍門關，奇襲東川守軍，殺東川兵三千人，擒獲都指揮使齊彥溫，為朝廷奪取了劍門關。孟知祥一度大懼，以為大勢已去。但朝廷其餘大軍不能跟進與王思同等在劍門關會師，他們只得放棄劍門關重新與前者合兵，朝廷軍和兩川軍陷入殭持，只得撤退。王思同以功遷權知興元府事，仍為西京留守，二年（931年）三月任為山南西道節度使，充西面行營馬步軍都虞候。逼迫當時已經去職隱居的舊相識王仁裕複出，任為從事，密奏授興元節度判官。

朝廷放棄兩川戰事的大約同時，李嗣源殺主倡此戰的樞密使安重誨，尋求和兩川和解。孟知祥希望和朝廷講和，但董璋因兒子董光業一家被朝廷所殺，拒絕講和，更于三年（932年）五月摒棄和孟知祥的聯盟，攻打孟知祥。王思同向朝廷提醒了此事，李嗣源的新任樞密使范延光建議趁兩川交兵及早圖之。于是李嗣源命王思同秘密籌劃此事，以圖進取。但六月孟知祥即擊敗董璋，董璋被部下所殺，孟知祥吞併董璋領地。孟知祥名義重歸朝廷為封臣，朝廷也放棄了對兩川的進一步行動。八月，王思同複為京兆尹兼西京留守，奏王仁裕為判官。

李從厚年間

四年（933年）十一月，李嗣源崩，親子宋王李從厚繼位。應順元年（934年）初，樞密使朱弘昭和馮贇不希望時任河東節度使的石敬瑭在治所根深蒂固，于是遷李從厚養兄鳳翔節度使潞王李從珂到河東，遷石敬瑭到成德，遷成德節度使范延光為天雄軍節度使。

但這卻引起了李從珂的反應，李從珂認為這些舉動是針對自己的。二月，他決定反叛，發檄文指責朱弘昭、馮贇。又派使者去鄰鎮希望鄰鎮的節度使們同叛。他派伶奴安十十、推官郝詡（《舊五代史》作郝昭）、押牙朱廷乂等去長安試圖說服王思同加入。王思同猶豫未決，召王仁裕共商，王仁裕要王思同遵守忠孝之道，王思同于是決定為朝廷效死，認為李從珂是無端反叛，扣押安十十、郝詡、朱廷乂並誅殺，並奏報朝廷李從珂抗命。

朝廷以王思同充西面行營馬步軍都部署統軍對李從珂作戰，加王思同宰相榮銜同平章事。但王思同雖有忠義之志，統馭大軍卻無方；李從珂和石敬瑭皆為李嗣源主將，很多朝廷軍兵之前效力李從珂，秘密支持後者，懷僥倖圖富貴之心。三月，王思同及副招討使藥彥稠、西面行營都監護國節度使安彥威、山南西道節度使張虔釗、武定節度使孫漢韶、彰義節度使張從賓、靜難節度使康福很快率軍到達鳳翔軍部鳳翔府，圍之。李從珂詰問自稱善術數的盲人張濛，張濛說：「王有天下，不能獨力，朝廷兵來迎王了。王若疑臣，臣唯有一子，請王致于麾下，以質臣心。」李從珂于是以張濛攝館驛巡官。朝廷軍隊攻克鳳翔東西關城，鳳翔城中死者很多，鳳翔府也沒有強大的城塹，似乎很快要陷落了。但李從珂登城哭訴，使得朝廷軍兵同情他。張虔釗攻鳳翔西南，以白刃驅士卒登城，被士卒反攻，羽林指揮使楊思權趁機叛投李從珂。王思同還不知道，催促士卒登城，嚴衛步軍左廂指揮使尹暉大呼：「城西軍已入城受賞了。」眾軍爭相棄甲投兵器投降，呼聲震地。朝廷軍崩潰。王思同等六節度使逃跑。張虔釗、孫漢韶都以本鎮投降孟知祥建立的後蜀。王思同和藥彥稠到長安，副留守劉遂雍不納，他們只能向東逃向潼關。李從珂起初擔憂王思同等併力據守長安。等他兵到岐山，聞知劉遂雍不納王思同，很高興，遣使慰撫。劉遂雍隨後以城降李從珂。

李從珂入長安後，繼續東進。到昭應時，聞其前軍已抓獲王思同，說：「王思同雖然失策，但忠于所侍奉的主子，應當嘉獎。」王仁裕也在王思同軍中，也被擒。李從珂到靈口，王思同被交給他，李從珂指責他，王思同答自己受李嗣源大恩，不得不忠于朝廷，請求就死。李從珂動容，意欲赦免。但之前投降李從珂的原朝廷將領如楊思權等恥于再見王思同，在入長安後盡取王思同家資、妓妾的尹暉尤其害怕王思同存活下來，屢次對李從珂心腹孔目官劉延朗說：「留下王思同，會失去士卒的心。」劉延朗自行其是，趁李從珂醉酒，殺王思同及其妻、子王德勝。李從珂清醒後，對劉延朗發怒，為王思同之死嗟嘆數日，但沒有處罰劉延朗。王思同的僚屬也多遇害，但王仁裕得免，他以曾勸說王思同反對李從珂為由自請被處死，未果，反而被李從珂任用。而朝廷還不知道王思同已死，下詔改以王思同為鳳翔行營都招討副使。當月陝州奏報李從珂兵到潼關，王思同遇害。

四月，李從珂登基稱帝，下詔聲言朱弘昭、馮贇、左衛上將軍孟漢瓊、王思同、藥彥稠等結黨興兵、離間君臣、幾乎亡國之罪，削奪官爵。後又下詔准許其歸葬，但親屬部舊仍流放。後晉開運三年（946年）七月，詔複王思同官爵。後漢高祖登基後，于天福十二年（947年）閏七月贈王思同侍中。

注釋及參考文獻