Zheng Tian

Zheng Tian (traditional Chinese: 鄭畋; simplified Chinese: 郑畋; pinyin: Zhèng Tián, 821?/825?–883?), courtesy name Taiwen (臺文), formally Duke Wenzhao of Xingyang (滎陽文昭公), was a chancellor of late Tang Dynasty, serving two terms as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xizong. He was heavily involved in the Tang campaign against the agrarian rebel Huang Chao and Huang Chao's state of Qi.

Assuming that Zheng Tian died in 883, he might have been born in either 821 or 825. His family was originally from Xingyang (滎陽, in modern Zhengzhou, Henan), but his traceable ancestry only went as far back as his great-grandfather Zheng Shaolin (鄭少鄰), who served as a civil service official under the prefect of Zheng Prefecture (鄭州, in modern Zhengzhou). Zheng Shaolin, as well as Zheng Tian's grandfather Zheng Mu (鄭穆) and Zheng Tian's father Zheng Ya (鄭亞), all passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class, and while Zheng Mu served only as a county magistrate, Zheng Ya became well known for his abilities, and he became a close associate of the chancellor Li Deyu, who was particularly powerful during the reign of Emperor Wuzong, eventually serving as a high level imperial consultant. Other than Zheng Tian, Zheng Ya had at least two younger sons, Zheng Jun (鄭畯) and Zheng Pi (鄭毗).

Zheng Tian himself passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class when he was 17, and thereafter served as a staff member under the military governor (Jiedushi) of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan). When he was 21, he further passed a special examination for those who made good rulings, and he was made the sheriff of Weinan County (渭南, in modern Weinan, Shaanxi) and a historian who would edit imperial histories. Before he could serve in those positions, however, in 847, due to his association with Li Deyu, who had lost power during the reign of the then-reigning Emperor Xuānzong (Emperor Wuzong's uncle), Zheng Ya was demoted to be prefect of Gui Prefecture (桂州, in modern Guilin, Guangxi), and Zheng Tian followed his father to Gui Prefecture, where Zheng Ya would die, probably around 849. (This chronology appeared to make it more likely that Zheng Tian was born in 825 or later, as he would have been 22 in 851 if born in 825, whereas he would already be 26 if born in 821.) As, during Emperor Xuānzong's reign, the court scene was dominated by the chancellor Bai Minzhong and then Linghu Tao, both of whom had no liking for Li Deyu and ejected Li Deyu's associates, Zheng Tian was not given an imperial government office for a long time.

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