Yang Shili
Yang Shili (楊師立) (d. June 29, 884?) was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, who came to control Dongchuan Circuit (東川, headquartered in modern Mianyang, Sichuan) as its military governor (Jiedushi) due to his association with the powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi. He later had a fall out with Tian and Tian's brother Chen Jingxuan, however, and in a subsequent military confrontation, Chen's forces, under the command of Gao Renhou, defeated his. When his own army turned against him in light of its defeat, he committed suicide. Background and commission as military governor of Dongchuan It is not known when Yang Shili was born or where he was from. It is known that he was a general of the eunuch-commanded Left Shence Army as of 880. That year, the powerful eunuch Tian Lingzi, who was in command of the Shence Armies, faced with the prospects that the court of Emperor Xizong would face threats from the ever-growing agrarian rebellions, began to prepare a contingency flight plan from the capital Chang'an to the Shu (蜀, i.e., modern Sichuan and Chongqing) region. Tian thus recommended four close associates—Yang, Tian's brother Chen Jingxuan, Niu Xu (牛勗), and Luo Yuangao (羅元杲)—to be candidates to