Li Zhong
Li Zhong | |
---|---|
Crown Prince of Tang Dynasty Prince of Yan 燕王 (posthumously honored) | |
Prince of Liang 梁王 | |
Reign | 656-660 |
Crown Prince of Tang Dynasty | |
Reign | 652-656 |
Predecessor | Li Zhi |
Successor | Li Hong |
Prince of Chen 陳王 | |
Reign | 646-652 |
Born | 643 |
Died | 6 January 665 | (aged 22)
Father | Emperor Gaozong of Tang |
Mother | Consort Liu |
Li Zhong (李忠) (643 – January 6, 665
Background
Li Zhong was born in 643, shortly after his father Li Zhi became crown prince under his grandfather Emperor Taizong. His mother was Consort 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 (弘教殿) 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 (雍州, roughly modern Xi'an, Shaanxi).
As crown prince
Emperor Gaozong's wife and
In 655, Empress Wang, due to false accusations of murder and witchcraft by Emperor Gaozong's
After removal
Later in 656, Li Zhong was moved from Liang Prefecture to Fang Prefecture (房州, roughly modern Shiyan, 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 (黔州, modern southeastern Chongqing), held at the same house that his uncle Li Chengqian, who had been crown prince before Emperor Gaozong, had been held after his removal in 643.
In 664, after the chancellor Shangguan Yi made 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 the eunuch Wang Fusheng (王伏勝, 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 (上官庭芝) 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 son Emperor Zhongzong posthumously honored Li Zhong as the Prince of Yan, but not crown prince.
Titles
- 646-652: His Imperial Highness The Prince of Chen
- 652-656: His Imperial Highness The Crown Prince
- 656-660: His Imperial Highness The Prince of Liang
- 660-664: Commoner
- Posthumous titles: His Imperial Highness The Prince of Yan
Ancestry
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
- ^ Volume 201 of Zizhi Tongjian recorded that Li died on the wuzi day 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. [(麟德元年十二月)戊子,赐忠死于流所]
- Old Book of Tang, vol. 86.[1]
- New Book of Tang, vol. 81.[2]
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 199, 200, 201.
External links
- Books of the Quan Tangshi that include collected poems of Li Zhong at the Chinese Text Project: