Li Baochen

Li Baochen (李寶臣) (718 – February 6, 781), originally named Zhang Zhongzhi (張忠志), courtesy name Weifu (為輔), known as An Zhongzhi (安忠志) during the Anshi Rebellion and Zhang Baochen (張寶臣) 778–779, formally the Prince of Longxi (隴西王), was a general of the Chinese rebel state Yan, who later submitted to and became a general of Tang Dynasty, from which Yan had rebelled. As was in the case of several other Yan generals who submitted to Tang but who had substantial army and territorial holdings, Li was allowed to retain his command and territory, semi-independent of the Tang imperial government structure.

Zhang Zhongzhi was born in 718, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. He was ethnically Xi and from Fanyang Circuit (范陽, headquartered in modern Beijing), but his original lineage was not otherwise known in history. He was adopted by Zhang Suogao (張鎖高), and therefore took Zhang Suogao's surname of Zhang. He was capable in horsemanship and archery in his youth and served in the military at Fanyang as well, eventually serving under the military governor (jiedushi) An Lushan. On an occasion when An visited the Tang Dynasty capital Chang'an to pay homage to Emperor Xuanzong, Zhang Zhongzhi followed him to Chang'an and was kept there to be an archer in the imperial guards and given access to the palace.

An Lushan rose against Emperor Xuanzong's rule in late 755, and Zhang Zhongzhi, hearing the news, escaped from Chang'an and joined An in Fanyang. An was impressed and adopted him as a son, giving him the surname of An. Subsequently, when the rebels made a surprise raid against Taiyuan, it was An Zhongzhi who led the attack, and he was able to seize the Tang mayor of Taiyuan, Yang Guanghui (楊光翽). An Lushan subsequently put him in charge of defending the key pass of Tumen (土門, in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei). After An Lushan's subsequent death and replacement as the emperor of a new Yan state by his son An Qingxu, An Zhongzhi continued to serve under An Qingxu, who made him the prefect of Heng Prefecture (恆州, roughly modern Shijiazhuang). His service of An Qingxu lasted until 757, when Tang forces put An Qingxu under siege in Yecheng. At that time, the major Yan general Shi Siming submitted to Tang, and An Zhongzhi submitted to Tang as well, subsequently serving under Shi. Emperor Xuanzong's son and successor Emperor Suzong created An Zhongzhi the Duke of Miyun and let him remain at his post.

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