Pang Xun (龐勛; died October 14, 869[1][2]) was the leader of a major rebellion, by soldiers from Xu Prefecture (徐州, in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu), against the rule of Emperor Yizong of the Chinese Tang dynasty, from 868 to 869.
[2] Xu Prefecture had a long-standing military tradition in the middle-to-late Tang dynasty, and had long been the capital of Wuning Circuit (武寧), which was created to control and cut off the communications between the then-rebellious Pinglu (平盧, then-headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong) and Zhangyi (彰義, headquartered in modern Zhumadian, Henan) Circuits.
[3] Apparently, however, only 2,000 men were actually recruited, and of those, 800 were sent to Gui Prefecture (桂州, in modern Guilin, Guangxi), with a promise that they would be allowed to return home after three years.
Before the start of the play, the leader of the actors, as was customary, was addressing the guests, when the Xu soldiers believed that he was parodying them, and they seized him and threatened to kill him.
Pang's soldiers then seized the strong young men among these people and forced them to join their corps, executing anyone who refused.
The morning of November 7, Yuan, realizing that the mutineers had fled, gave chase, without giving his soldiers a chance to eat.
Not until that night did Cui receive news that Yuan's army was annihilated, and he immediately sent urgent requests for reinforcements to the nearby circuits.
Cui refused the calls for him to flee to Yanhai's capital Yan Prefecture (兗州), pointing out that it was his responsibility to die in the city.
On November 10, Pang's soldiers arrived at Xu and comforted the people in the surrounding area, such that they joined the mutineers in large numbers as well.
[1][2] Pang Xun took control of the circuit headquarters, took the title of acting military governor (留後, Liuhou), and initially sought imperial commission to formally do so.
Meanwhile, Emperor Yizong commissioned the imperial guards general Kang Chengxun to be the military governor of Yicheng Circuit, to oversee the operations against Pang, while commissioning two other imperial guard generals, Wang Yanquan (王晏權) and Dai Keshi (戴可師), to command two side armies to the north and south.
At Kang's request, he was allowed to enlist the assistance of the Shatuo chieftain Zhuye Chixin, as well as those of the tribal chiefs of Tuyuhun, Tatar, and Qibi (契苾) tribes.
Even though Du Shenquan the military governor of Zhenhai Circuit (鎮海, headquartered in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) and Linghu Tao both sent forces to try to lift Si's siege, both circuits' armies (commanded by Zhai Xingyue (翟行約) and Li Xiang, respectively) were crushed and annihilated by Pang's forces.
Dai tried to recapture Duliang (都梁, in modern Huai'an), where the rebels had crushed Huainan forces, before lifting Si Prefecture's siege.
To the north, Wang was also repeatedly defeated by the rebels, and was replaced by Cao Xiang (曹翔) the military governor of Taining Circuit (泰寧, i.e., the new name for Yanhai).
He Quanhao the military governor of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), which had been ruled semi-independently from the imperial government, also sent forces to aid Cao.
Pang, faced with this huge imperial army and the fact that his own soldiers were spread thin on various campaigns, began to be fearful, and by this point the people were no longer joining him in droves.
[2] Hearing news of Liuzi's fall and Yao Zhou's death, Pang Xun, in fear, considered gathering all remaining troops for a decisive battle with Kang Chengxun.
Zhou Chong suggested that, in order to make it clear the decisiveness of the confrontation, that he formally declare independence from the Tang regime.
Subsequently, under Zhang Xuanren's suggestion, Zhang Xuanren took 30,000 of his own soldiers, along with 500 imperial army soldiers, pretended to be leading a rebel army that was fleeing Su Prefecture after the imperial forces had captured it and headed for the rebel base at Fuli (苻離), near Su Prefecture.
[2] On October 15, Zhang reached Xu Prefecture and surrounded it, but did not immediately attack it; rather, he announced to the defenders that the imperial government would not punish anyone who surrendered.
Pang Juzhi and Xu initially withdrew within into the inner city, but finding their own soldiers' morale failing, tried to fight out of the encirclement.
Meanwhile, Kang pursued Pang, who had made a surprise attack on Song Prefecture, capturing the southern city, but with Song's prefect Zheng Chuchong (鄭處沖) defending the northern city, Pang abandoned further attempts to capture it and continued to head west, toward Bo Prefecture.
Pang tried to head toward back to Xu Prefecture, but when he reached Qi County (蘄縣, in modern Suzhou), the local militia leader Zhang Gun (張袞) lifted the floating bridge to stop him from crossing the Huan River (渙水).
[2] Pang Xun is a character in the 1972 Hong Kong martial arts film Trilogy of Swordsmanship where he was portrayed by Lo Lieh.