Li Jiongxiu
Li Jiongxiu (李迥秀), courtesy name Maozhi (茂之), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, serving as chancellor during Wu Zetian's reign.
Background
It is not known when Li Jiongxiu was born, but it is known that his ancestors came from a line that served as officials during
).During Wu Zetian's reign
At some point, probably during the reign of Wu Zetian (the wife of Emperor Taizong's son Emperor Gaozong), who had taken the throne in 690 as "emperor" and established her own Zhou dynasty, interrupting Tang, Li Jiongxiu was made a low level official in charge of grading officials' performances. It was said, however, that Wu Zetian favored his talent, and he was given important responsibilities at the ministry of civil service affairs before he was made Fengge Sheren (鳳閣舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government (鳳閣, Fengge). It was said that Li Jiongxiu's mother was of low birth but had received Li Yiben's favor on account of her beauty. Li Jiongxiu himself had married a wife of high birth, Lady Cui, but Lady Cui was in the habit of using harsh language against her female servants—which, when Li Jiongxiu's mother heard, hurt her badly as they reminded her of her own sufferings as a servant. When Li Jiongxiu realized this, he divorced Lady Cui. A friend of his asked him, "While your wife was careless with her words, she did not commit any act that would normally call for a divorce.[1] Why do you divorce her?" Li Jiongxiu replied, "Marrying a wife is for the purpose of supporting parents. Now she has offended my mother. How can I keep her?"
As of 697, Li was serving as Fengge Shilang—the deputy head of the legislative bureau—when Wu Zetian gave him an unusual "assignment"—serving as the lover for her lover
In 701, while still serving as minister of defense, Li was given the designation Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a
In 704, the imperial censor Ma Huaisu (馬懷素) accused Li of accepting bribes, and Li was demoted to be the prefect of Lu Prefecture (廬州, roughly modern Hefei, Anhui).
During Emperor Zhongzong's second reign
In 705, Wu Zetian was overthrown in a coup, and Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong were killed. Wu Zetian's son
During Emperor Ruizong's second reign and Emperor Xuanzong's reign
Emperor Zhongzong died suddenly in 705—a death that traditional historians believed to be a poisoning carried out by his wife
Notes and references
- ^ Traditionally, there were seven reasons that a Chinese husband was allowed to invoke to divorce a wife -- sonlessness; immorality; failure to support parents-in-law; causing discord; theft; jealousy; contracting an infamous illness. See the Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 49, p. 173.
- ^ Historical accounts was unclear whether Lady Zang was Zhang Yizhi's or Zhang Changzong's mother.
- Old Book of Tang, vol. 62.[1]
- New Book of Tang, vol. 99.[2]
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 206, 207.