Niu Sengru

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Niu Sengru (牛僧孺) (780 – January 27, 849^[1][2]), courtesy name Si'an (思黯), formally Duke Wenzhen of Qizhang (奇章文貞公), was a prominent statesman, scholar, chuanqi writer, and poet of China's Tang dynasty. Niu served multiple terms as a chancellor under Emperor Muzong and the latter's sons Emperor Jingzong and Emperor Wenzong. Alternately in and out of imperial favor and high office amid turbulence in the imperial court, Niu also served as the minister of war and a provincial military governor. Traditional historians often considered him a leader of the eponymous "Niu faction" in the Niu-Li factional struggles of the eighth-century Tang court, though contemporary scholars have questioned the degree to which Niu actively engaged in factional politics. Niu was regarded by contemporaries, including his political adversary Li Deyu, as an official of high integrity, and he was posthumously awarded prestigious honors after his death in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong.^[3]

Niu's literary output spanned multiple genres, including poetry and chuanqi, a form of fantastical short story popular in the later Tang. Niu's chuanqi anthology Accounts of Mysteries and Monsters (玄怪錄) is considered a step in the evolution of Tang fiction. While prior chuanqi writers had presented their writings as reflections of actual events, Niu clearly portrayed his subject matter as fictional and included detailed characterization in his work.^[4][5][6]