Li Lin (prince)

Li Lin
Li Lin
Prince of Yong
Born	718-725
Died	14 March 757
Issue	Li Zan; Li Zhen; Li Xuan; Li Ling; Li Yi
Father	Emperor Xuanzong of Tang
Mother	Consort Guo

Li Lin (李璘) (died March 14, 757

Yangtze River

and establish a separate regime but was defeated and killed.

Background

It is not known when Li Ze was born.^[2] It is known, however, that he was the 16th of Emperor Xuanzong's 30 sons, and that his mother Consort Guo was the younger sister of the military governor (jiedushi) Guo Xuji (郭虛己). Consort Guo died when Li Ze was only a few years old, and Li Ze was raised by his older brother Li Sisheng; it was said that at night, Li Sisheng would hold Li Ze in his arms. Li Ze was said to be intelligent in his youth but was ugly in appearance and had strabismus.

In 725, Emperor Xuanzong created Li Ze the Prince of Yong, and in 727 gave him the honorary title as the commandant at Jing Prefecture (荊州, roughly modern Jingzhou, Hubei). In 732, he was given the additional honorific title of Kaifu Yitong Sansi (開府儀同三司), and his name was changed to Li Lin.

Rebellion

In 755, the general

Xiangfan, Hubei), Lingnan (headquartered in modern Guangzhou, Guangdong), Qianzhong (黔中, headquartered in modern Chongqing), and Jiangnan West (江南西道, headquartered in modern Nanchang, Jiangxi) Circuits, with the officials Dou Shao (竇紹) and Li Xian as his assistants, and his headquarters set at Jiangling. Later, when Emperor Xuanzong heard about Emperor Suzong's ascension, he recognized Emperor Suzong as emperor and himself took the title of Taishang Huang

(retired emperor).

With the empire's transportation network disrupted by An's rebellion, the taxes and levies of the region south of the

Eastern Jin. When Emperor Suzong heard this, he issued an order that Li Lin return to Chengdu to accompany Emperor Xuanzong, but Li Lin refused. This alarmed Li Xian, who claimed to be ill and resigned, and then reported to Emperor Suzong's then-location at Pengyuan (彭原, in modern Qingyang, Gansu). Both he and another official, Gao Shi (高適), then proposed strategies to stop Li Lin's plan. Around the new year 757, Emperor Suzong commissioned Gao as the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), and another general, Lai Tian (來瑱), as the military governor of Huainan West Circuit (淮南西道, headquartered in modern Zhumadian, Henan), and instructed them to, along with Wei Zhi (韋陟) the military governor of Jiangdong Circuit (江東, headquartered in modern Suzhou, Jiangsu

), to prepare to resist Li Lin.

On January 19, 757,[4] Li Lin, without any imperial permission, left Jiangling with a fleet, heading east on the Yangtze. Li Xiyan (李希言) the governor of Wu Commandery (roughly modern Suzhou) then sent him a letter that treated him as an equal and addressed him by name, inquiring as for the reason for him to be heading east. Li Lin, in anger, replied in a letter:

I, the Prince, am a servant of the Taishang Huang and a brother of the Emperor. Local officials need to honor marquesses and princes, and they need to pay proper respect as subordinates. You need to pay this respect in your letters as well. Now you wrote a letter treating me as an equal addressing me by name. Where have the regulations from
Sui Dynasty
gone?

Li Lin then ordered his generals Hun Weiming (渾惟明) to attack Li Xiyan, and Ji Guangchen (季廣琛) to attack Li Chengshi (李成式) the secretary general of Guangling Commandery (廣陵, roughly modern Yangzhou). He himself advanced to Dangtu (當塗, in modern Ma'anshan, Anhui). Li Xiyan sent his subordinates Yuan Jingyao (元景曜) and Yan Jingzhi (閻敬之) and Li Chengshi sent his subordinate Li Chengqing (李承慶) to resist Li Lin, but Li Lin's forces killed Yan, and Yuan and Li Chengqing surrendered to Li Lin. Meanwhile, Gao, Lai, and Wei rendezvoused at Anlu (安陸, in modern Xiaogan, Hubei) and public declared their intent to suppress Li Lin's rebellion.

Meanwhile, Li Lin had taken position in a city.^[5] The forces of the general Li Xian (李銑, note different character than Li Lin's former assistant) and Li Chengshi converged on the city, stopping north of the Yangtze River. In light of the pressure, Li Lin's subordinates Ji, Hun, and Feng Jikang (馮季康) deserted him. That night, when Li Xian's and Li Chengshi's forces lit torches to try to intimidate Li Lin, Li Lin's forces responded by lighting torches as well, but Li Lin, when he saw his own forces' torches, mistakenly thought that Li Xian's and Li Chengshi's forces had already crossed the Yangtze, and he panicked, fleeing out of the city at night, only returning in the day. He then took his remaining forces and headed east on ships. Li Chengshi's subordinate Zhao Kan (趙侃) gave chase, catching Li Lin at Xinfeng (新豐, in modern Changzhou, Jiangsu), defeating Li Yang and Li Lin's general Gao Xianqi (高仙琦) and causing Li Lin's forces to collapse.

Li Lin and Gao fled to Poyang (鄱陽, in modern Shangrao, Jiangxi) and gathered military supplies there, intending to flee to Lingnan. Huangfu Shen (皇甫侁) the examiner of Jiangnan West Circuit gave chase and captured Li Lin. He then secretly put Li Lin to death.^[6] Li Yang was killed in battle. Li Lin's surviving family members were delivered to Chengdu. Emperor Suzong, because of the love he had for Li Lin, chose not to publicly declare Li Lin a rebel, and when he found out that Huangfu had put Li Lin to death, he relieved Huangfu from his office and never gave him another one. Li Lin's sons Li Zan (李儹), Li Zhen (李偵), Li Xuan (李儇), Li Ling (李伶), and Li Yi (李儀) were allowed to keep their titles.

Family

Father
- Emperor Xuanzong of Tang
Mother
- Consort Guo
Issues and Descendents:
- Li Yi, Prince of Xiangcheng Commandery (襄城郡王李㑥), first son.
- Li Zan, Prince of Yuyao Commandery (餘姚郡王李儹), second son.
- Li Zhen, Duke of Ju (莒國公李偵), third son.
- Li Xuan, Duke of Cheng (郕國公李儇), fourth son.
- Li Ling (李伶), fifth son.
- Li Yi (李儀), sixth son.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Li Lin

16.

Wu Shihuo, Duke Ding of Ying

9. Empress Wu Zetian

19. Lady Yang

2. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang

20. Dou Dan, Duke of Hua

10. Dou Xiaochen, Duke of Bin

21. Princess Xiangyang of Tang

5. Consort Dou

11. Lady Pang

1. Li Lin, Prince of Yong

3. Consort Guo

Notes and references

^ 兩千年中西曆轉換
^ However, it is known that his older brother Li Jiao (李璬), who was the 13th son, was born in 718, and given that Li Ze was himself created the Prince of Yong in 725, he must have been born during that time period.
^ 兩千年中西曆轉換
^ 兩千年中西曆轉換
^ None of the main traditional historical sources reporting Li Lin's rebellion mentioned which city this was. The modern Chinese historian Bo Yang opined that it was probably Zhenjiang. See the Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 53 [757].
^ That Huangfu put Li Lin to death was per the accounts in the New Book of Tang and the Zizhi Tongjian. Li Lin's biography in the Old Book of Tang indicated that Li Lin was killed in battle.

Old Book of Tang, vol. 107.
New Book of Tang, vol. 82.
Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 212, 214, 218, 219.

[1] 兩千年中西曆轉換

[2] However, it is known that his older brother Li Jiao (李璬), who was the 13th son, was born in 718, and given that Li Ze was himself created the Prince of Yong in 725, he must have been born during that time period.

[3] 兩千年中西曆轉換

[4] 兩千年中西曆轉換

[5] None of the main traditional historical sources reporting Li Lin's rebellion mentioned which city this was. The modern Chinese historian Bo Yang opined that it was probably Zhenjiang. See the Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 53 [757].

[6] That Huangfu put Li Lin to death was per the accounts in the New Book of Tang and the Zizhi Tongjian. Li Lin's biography in the Old Book of Tang indicated that Li Lin was killed in battle.

[2]

[5]

[6]