Wang Xiaojie

Wang Xiaojie (王孝傑) (died February 8, 697), formally the Duke of Geng (耿國公), was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving in campaigns against Tibet, Eastern Turks, and Khitan and briefly serving as chancellor during Wu Zetian's reign. He was killed in 697 in a battle against Khitan's khan Sun Wanrong.

It is not known when Wang Xiaojie was born, but it is known that his family was from the vicinity of Tang Dynasty's capital Chang'an. He was said to have had a successful military career during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. In 678, he served under the general Liu Shenli (劉審禮), the assistant to the chancellor Li Jingxuan in a campaign against Tibet. Li's army suffered a great defeat at the hands of the Tibetan general Gar Trinring Tsendro ("Lun Qinling" (論欽陵) in Chinese), and both Liu and Wang were captured by Trinring. When Wang was presented to the Mangsong Mangtsen, the king of Tibet, Mangsong Mangtsen was surprised by Wang's appearance and stated, "Your appearance is like my father's," and began to weep. As a result, he spared Wang and treated him well, finally returning him to Tang. After returning to Tang, Wang continued to serve as a general.

As of 692, Emperor Gaozong's wife Wu Zetian was reigning. At that time, the general Tang Xiujing, who was then the commandant at Xi Prefecture (西州, roughly modern Turfan Prefecture, Xinjiang), was requested that an army be launched to recover four garrisons that had fallen to Tibet in 670 -- Qiuzi, Yutian, Shule, and Suiye. Because Wang had lived in Tibet for some time, he was considered knowledgeable about Tibet, and Wu Zetian commissioned him to command the army against Tibet, assisted by the general Ashina Zhongjie (阿史那忠節). In winter 692, Wang defeated Tibetan forces and recaptured the four garrisons.

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