Li Zhong
| Li Zhong | |
|---|---|
| Crown Prince of the Tang dynasty Prince of Yan yến vương (posthumously honored) | |
| Prince of Liang lương vương | |
| Reign | 656–660 |
| Crown Prince of theTang dynasty | |
| Reign | 652–656 |
| Predecessor | Li Zhi |
| Successor | Li Hong |
| Prince of Chen trần vương | |
| Reign | 646–652 |
| Born | 643 |
| Died | 6 January 665(aged 22) |
| Father | Emperor Gaozong of Tang |
| Mother | Consort Liu |
Li Zhong( lý trung ) (643 – January 6, 665[1]),courtesy nameZhengben( chính bổn ), formallyPrince of Yan( yến vương ), was acrown princeof theChineseTang dynasty.He was the oldest son ofEmperor Gaozong(Li Zhi) and was created crown prince in 652 even though he was not the son of his then-wifeEmpress Wang.After Empress Wang was displaced byEmpress Wu(later known as Wu Zetian) in 655, however, Li Zhong was caught in Empress Wu's crosshairs and was forced to yield the crown prince position to his younger brotherLi Hong,born of Empress Wu, in 656. He was later further reduced to commoner rank and put under house arrest, and when thechancellorShangguan Yifailed in his attempt to persuade Emperor Gaozong to depose Empress Wu in 664 and was executed, Empress Wu took the opportunity to accuse Li Zhong of being complicit in Shangguan's plans. Around the new year 665, Emperor Gaozong at the urgent request of Empress Wu ordered Li Zhong to commit suicide. He was posthumously honored an imperial prince, but not a crown prince, during the second reign of his brotherEmperor Zhongzong.
Background
[edit]Li Zhong was born in 643, shortly after his fatherLi Zhibecamecrown princeunder his grandfatherEmperor Taizong.His mother wasConsort Liu,who was of lowly birth. He was Li Zhi's oldest son, and Li Zhi convened a feast with his staff at Hongjiao Hall ( hoằng giáo điện ) to celebrate. Emperor Taizong personally attended as well and danced to celebrate the grandson's birth. In 646, Emperor Taizong created Li Zhong the Prince of Chen. After Emperor Taizong's death in 649, Li Zhi succeeded him (as Emperor Gaozong), and he made Li Zhong titular prefect of the capital prefecture, Yong Prefecture ( ung châu, roughly modernXi'an,Shaanxi).
As crown prince
[edit]Emperor Gaozong's wife andempressEmpress Wangdid not have a son, and her uncle, thechancellorLiu Shisuggested to her to have Li Zhong made crown prince, hoping that he would be grateful to her. Empress Wang agreed, and Liu Shi subsequently lobbied the other chancellors, including Emperor Gaozong's powerful uncleZhangsun Wuji,into agreeing to and requesting the same. Emperor Gaozong agreed, and in 652, he created Li Zhong crown prince. The chancellorsYu Zhining,Zhang Xingcheng,andGao Jifutook on additional titles as the young crown prince's advisors.
In 655, Empress Wang, due to false accusations of murder and witchcraft by Emperor Gaozong'sconcubineConsort Wu(later known as Wu Zetian), was deposed, and Consort Wu was created empress to replace her. Empress Wu had two sons of her own by this point, and the oldest,Li Hong,was three years old. Empress Wu's ally, the officialXu Jingzong,submitted a petition arguing that it should be the empress' son who is made crown prince. Emperor Gaozong agreed, and in spring 656, Li Zhong was deposed and reduced to the title of Prince of Liang. He was further removed from the capital, to serve as the prefect of Liang Prefecture ( lương châu, roughly modernHanzhong,Shaanxi). Li Hong was created crown prince in his stead.
After removal
[edit]Later in 656, Li Zhong was moved from Liang Prefecture to Fang Prefecture ( phòng châu, roughly modernShiyan,Hubei). As he grew in age, he began fearful that he would be a target of Empress Wu, and he sometimes wore women's clothes to try to evade assassins and engaged fortunetellers to try to see his future. These acts were reported to Emperor Gaozong, and in 660, Emperor Gaozong reduced him to commoner rank and put under house arrest in Qian Prefecture ( kiềm châu, modern southeasternChongqing), held at the same house that his uncleLi Chengqian,who had been crown prince before Emperor Gaozong, had been held after his removal in 643.
In 664, after the chancellorShangguan Yimade an unsuccessful attempt to have Emperor Gaozong agree to have Empress Wu removed on account of her misbehavior, Empress Wu had Xu Jingzong accuse Shangguan Yi and theeunuchWang Fusheng ( vương phục thắng, who had reported Empress Wu's misbehavior to Emperor Gaozong), both of whom had previously served on Li Zhong's staff, of conspiring with Li Zhong to commit treason. On January 4, 665, Shangguan and Wang, as well as Shangguan's son Shangguan Tingzhi ( thượng quan đình chi ) were executed, and two days later, on January 6, Emperor Gaozong ordered Li Zhong to commit suicide. Later in 665, at Li Hong's request, Li Zhong was given a proper burial. After the death of Li Zhong, Empress Wu formally took over the government. Decades later, after Empress Wu's death in 705, her sonEmperor Zhongzongposthumously honored Li Zhong as the Prince of Yan, but not crown prince.
Titles
[edit]- 646–652:His Imperial HighnessThe Prince of Chen
- 652–656:His Imperial HighnessThe Crown Prince
- 656–660:His Imperial HighnessThe Prince of Liang
- 660–664: Commoner
- Posthumous titles:His Imperial HighnessThe Prince of Yan
Ancestry
[edit]| 16. Li Bing, Duke Ren of Tang | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8.Emperor Gaozu | |||||||||||||||||||
| 17. Duchess Dugu | |||||||||||||||||||
| 4.Emperor Taizong | |||||||||||||||||||
| 18. Dou Yi, Duke of Shenwu | |||||||||||||||||||
| 9. Empress Taimushunsheng | |||||||||||||||||||
| 19. Princess Xiangyang of Northern Zhou | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2.Emperor Gaozong | |||||||||||||||||||
| 20. Zhangsun Si | |||||||||||||||||||
| 10. Zhangsun Sheng | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5.Empress Wendeshunsheng | |||||||||||||||||||
| 22. Gao Jingde or Gao Mai | |||||||||||||||||||
| 11. Lady Gao | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1.Li Zhong | |||||||||||||||||||
| 3. Consort Liu | |||||||||||||||||||
Notes and references
[edit]- ^Volume 201 ofZizhi Tongjianrecorded that Li died on thewuziday in the 12th month of the 1st year of the Linde era of Tang Gaozong's reign. This date corresponds to 6 Jan 665 on the Gregorian calendar. [( lân đức nguyên niên thập nhị nguyệt ) mậu tử, tứ trung tử vu lưu sở ]
- Old Book of Tang,vol. 86.[1]
- New Book of Tang,vol. 81.[2]
- Zizhi Tongjian,vols.199,200,201.
External links
[edit]- Books of theQuan Tangshithat include collected poems of Li Zhong at theChinese Text Project: