Dou Jiande

Dou Jiande
Reign15 February 617[1][2] – 28 May 621[1][3]
Born573
Died3 August 621[1][3]
SpouseLady Cao (曹氏)
Era dates
Dīngchǒu (丁丑) 617–618
Wǔfèng (五鳳) 618–621
DynastyXìa (夏)
Dou Jiande
Traditional Chinese竇建德
Simplified Chinese窦建德
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinDòu Jiàndé
Wade–GilesTou4 Chien4-tê2
IPA[tôʊ tɕjɛ̂n.tɤ̌]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationDauh Gin-dāk
JyutpingDau6 Gin3-dak1
IPA[tɐw˨ kin˧.tɐk̚˥]

Dou Jiande (Chinese: 竇建德; 573 – 3 August 621[1][3]) was a Chinese rebel leader who led the agrarian rebels who rose against the rule of Emperor Yang of Sui near the end of the Chinese Sui dynasty. Generally considered the kindest and most able of the agrarian rebel leaders of the time, he was eventually able to capture the modern Hebei region and declare himself initially the Prince of Changle, and then the Prince of Xia. In 621, when the Tang dynasty general Li Shimin (later Emperor Taizong) attacked Wang Shichong the Emperor of Zheng, who ruled the modern Henan region, Dou believed that if Tang were able to destroy Zheng, his own Xia state would suffer the same fate, and therefore went to Wang's aid, against the advice of his strategist Ling Jing (凌敬) and his wife Empress Cao. Li defeated him at the Battle of Hulao, capturing him. Li's father Emperor Gaozu of Tang subsequently put Dou to death. Xia territory was briefly seized by Tang, but soon Dou's general Liu Heita rose against Tang rule, recapturing Dou's territory, and held out against Tang until 623.