His father Du Duijin (杜堆金) served as a forward commander for the major late-Tang warlord Li Keyong the military governor (Jiedushi) of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), however, and it was apparently during that time the family moved to Hedong's capital Taiyuan.
[3] During Li Siyuan's reign as the emperor of Later Tang, Du Chongwei served as an officer in the imperial guards, and received the title of prefect of Fang Prefecture (防州 — unclear where it was, most likely in modern Liaoning, but in any case an honorary title only as that prefecture was under the control of Khitan Empire).
[5] In 937, Fan Yanguang the military governor of Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei) rose against Shi's rule.
(During this campaign, Shi made Du the military governor of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi), but kept him as a general of the imperial guards.
He was then made the military governor of Zhongwu Circuit (忠武, headquartered in modern Xuchang, Henan), but continued to serve as a general of the imperial guards.
[3] In 939, Shi bestowed honorary chancellor designations of Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事) on both Du and another imperial guard general, Liu Zhiyuan the military governor of Guide Circuit (歸德, headquartered in modern Shangqiu, Henan).
[6] Du's military governorship was subsequently changed to that of Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong).
[3] In 941, at the recommendation of the chancellors Li Song and Feng Dao, Shi sent Liu, who was then the commander of all imperial guards, out of the capital Kaifeng to serve as the military governor of Hedong, while replacing him with Du.
"[6] In late 941, An Chongrong the military governor of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei) rebelled against Shi.
Du's deputy military governor Wang Yu (王瑜) was also harsh and corrupt, such that the people of Heng were oppressed.
[7] By that point, the Later Jin imperial government was in a tense standoff with Yang Guangyuan, who was then the military governor of Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered in modern Weifang, Shandong), with Yang displeased that his powers were being curbed by Jing, and therefore was secretly negotiating with Emperor Taizong, hoping for Liao support for him to displace Later Jin.
During the subsequent campaign, during which Shi ordered a number of generals to the north to resist the Liao invasion while sending Li Shouzhen to attack Yang, Du was titularly the second in command of this anti-Liao army, under Liu Zhiyuan.
Continuing to fear the possibility of a Liao invasion and the resentment from the people, he, in summer 945, simply abandoned his post without prior imperial approval and returned to Kaifeng.
When Du arrived at Kaifeng, he "offered" his wealth (which he had left at Heng Prefecture) to the emperor, and then requested, through his wife (who was then carrying the title of Grand Princess of Song), to be the military governor of Tianxiong.
Zhao Yanshou wrote back (to try to lead Later Jin forces into a trap), stating, "I have long been in a foreign land, and I want to return to China.
Subsequently, under Emperor Taizong's orders, Liao's prefect of Ying Prefecture (瀛州, in modern Cangzhou), Liu Yanzuo (劉延祚), also offered to defect to Later Jin.
When Du and Li Shouzhen advanced, though, they were met by a large army that Emperor Taizong personally commanded.
He considered, but initially hesitated, in slaughtering them, so he stationed them at Chenqiao (陳橋, in modern Xinxiang, Henan) while deciding what to do with them, with Du still in command.
Emperor Taizong's thoughts of slaughtering the soldiers only came to rest when Zhao Yanshou pointed out that doing so would leave the former Later Jin territory defenseless against invasions by Later Shu and Southern Tang (Wu's successor state).
[10] Emperor Taizong required the former Later Jin officials and generals to offer substantial parts of their wealth to continue the upkeep of the military, but Du complained, pointing out that he surrendered the entire army to Liao already.
[10] Emperor Taizong soon tired of dealing with these rebellions, and he left his brother-in-law Xiao Han in charge of Kaifeng as the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武), while heading back to Liao proper himself.
In summer 947, Liu issued orders swapping his position with that of Gao Xingzhou the military governor of Guide.
Yelü Mada sent a mixed Khitan and Han Chinese army (with the Han component coming from their having been personal guards for Zhao Yanshou and were from Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered in modern Beijing), which was part of the land that Shi Jingtang cedd to Liao) to help Du defend Yedu.
[1] Liu created Du the Duke of Chu and gave him the titles of Taifu and Zhongshu Ling (中書令), and kept him at Kaifeng.
He entrusted his son Liu Chengyou, who was to succeed him, to a group of high level officials and generals — Su Fengji, Yang Bin, Shi Hongzhao, and Guo.