Bi Shiduo

Bi Shiduo (Chinese: 畢師鐸; died March 2, 888) was an army officer of the late Tang dynasty. He initially was part of the agrarian rebellions of Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao, but later became a Tang officer. His rebellion in 887 against Gao Pian the military governor (Jiedushi) of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) would be the start of sustained warfare that left the once-wealthy circuit in devastation.

It is not known when Bi Shiduo was born, but it is known that he was from Yuanju (冤句, in modern Heze, Shandong), where Huang Chao was from as well. When Wang Xianzhi started a rebellion against the reign of Emperor Xizong in 874, Bi joined the rebellion. He was known for his abilities in horsemanship and archery, and his followers referred to him as "the Kestrel." After Wang Xianzhi's death in 878, it appeared that Bi followed Huang. In 879, when Gao Pian, who was then the military governor of Zhenhai Circuit (鎮海, headquartered in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu), sent the officers Zhang Lin (張璘) and Liang Zan (梁瓚) to attack Huang and repeatedly defeated Huang, Bi, along with several other key Huang followers, including Qin Yan, Li Hanzhi, and Xu Qing (許勍), surrendered to Gao, and thereafter became a follower to Gao.

It was said that in subsequent confrontations where Gao Pian had victories over Huang Chao, Bi Shiduo was a major contributor to the victories, along with Liang Zan. Gao thus treated him well. After Gao was transferred to Huainan Circuit in 879, it appeared that Bi followed him there, as Bi was referred to as a Huainan officer in summer 880. By that point, the tide of war had turned against Gao, as Huang had killed Zhang Lin in battle and was advancing north, approaching Huainan's capital Yang Prefecture (揚州). Bi, warning him that Huang's intentions were to further advance north to ravage the center of the Tang state, suggested that Gao launch another attack to intercept Huang. However, Gao, distressed by Zhang's defeat and death, did not make any attempt to stop Huang, who subsequently continued his advance toward the eastern capital Luoyang and the imperial capital Chang'an.

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