Xuanwu Gate Incident
Xuanwu Gate Incident | |||||||
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A painting of Li Shimin as Emperor Taizong | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Li Shimin Yuchi Jingde Chang He ...and others |
Li Jiancheng † Li Yuanji † ...and others | ||||||
Chinese name | |||||||
Hanyu Pinyin | xuánwǔ mén zhī biàn | ||||||
Wade–Giles | hsüan-wu men chih pien | ||||||
IPA | [ɕwǎnù mə̌n ʈʂí pjɛ̂n] |
The Xuanwu Gate Incident was a
Background
After the founding of the
Prince Li Shimin found himself unable to gain support in the capital Chang'an or inside the imperial palaces, as he was often away on military expeditions.[5] He mostly relied on Luoyang where he could successfully build strong support among military and civil officials.[5] In Chang'an, Crown Prince Li Jiancheng was increasing his power by recruiting more than two thousand men to serve in the Changlin troops, which he stationed at the East Palace[c] near the Changlin Gate.[5] He was allied with his second younger brother Prince Li Yuanji.[5] They had the support of Emperor Gaozu's consorts, who often interceded with court affairs on behalf of the two princes.[5]
There were allegations that Yang Wengan was raising troops for Li Jiancheng, who was left in charge of the capital while Emperor Gaozu was away in his summer palace, to stage a coup for the throne.[6] Whether Li Jiancheng was actually involved is still disputed among historians.[5] Yang Wengan was the regional commander of Qingzhou in Gansu and a former guard of Li Jiancheng at the East Palace.[5] The alleged plot was disclosed to the authorities, so Li Jiancheng was summoned from Chang'an and Yang Wengan was summoned from his garrison post.[5] Li Jiancheng went to seek forgiveness against the advice of a subordinate to seize the throne.[7] In contrast, Yang Wengan raised his troops and rebelled in the 6th month of 624.[7] Emperor Gaozu sent Li Shimin to put down the rebellion, but Yang Wengan's own subordinates killed him after the imperial forces arrived at the scene.[6] Emperor Gaozu initially offered Li Shimin the position of heir apparent in light of Yang Wengan's rebellion.[6] However, Li Jiancheng's supporters, Li Yuanji, the palace ladies, and Minister Feng Deyi interceded to clear Li Jiancheng from the affair.[6] Thus, Emperor Gaozu allowed Li Jiancheng to remain the heir apparent, but exiled some of Li Jiancheng's advisors and at least one member of Li Shimin's staff.[6]
There are many questions with this rebellion, including why Yang Wengan rebelled, whether Li Jiancheng actually intended to rebel, what happened between Yang Wengan and Yuwen Ying (an emissary sent by the emperor to Yang before the rebellion), why Yuwen Ying joined the rebel army, whether Li Shimin influenced some of the events or people involved, why Li Shimin's subordinate Du Yan was one of those who were exiled, and why the emperor did not install Li Shimin as the new heir as was promised.[8]
Some texts state that, prior to the coup, Li Shimin survived a poisoning attempt by his two brothers.
Events leading to the incident
In early 626, the
Li Shimin decided to take action and planned to dispose of his two brothers at the advice of his subordinates, especially
Li Shimin submitted a message to his father,
Coup d'état
On the dawn of 2 July 626,
As Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji approached the Linhu Hall,[g] they began to realize that a coup was about to unfold and immediately retreated eastward.[19] Li Shimin rode towards his brothers and hailed them.[19] Hereupon, Li Yuanji attempted to draw his bow to shoot his arrows at Li Shimin, but he did not manage to draw it.[19] Li Shimin shot his arrows at Li Jiancheng and killed him.[19]
Aftermath
During the ongoing battle, according to the
Even though Li Shimin came out victorious, he still needed a positive appraisal for his conduct from the emperor to prevent further internal conflict.[22] At Yuchi Jingde's advice, Emperor Gaozu issued an imperial edict ordering the remaining forces to stop their resistance and submit to Li Shimin.[22] In the end, Li Shimin had taken full control over the Tang government.[2][20] Within three days, Emperor Gaozu named Li Shimin as the heir apparent.[20][22] On the 9th day of the 8th month, he abdicated in favor for Li Shimin.[20] He became a Taishang Huang, which is a retired emperor, and only sometimes appeared in public to attend ceremonial functions at court.[20]
In 632, Ma Zhou charged that the retired Emperor Gaozu had settled in the Da'an Palace,[i] which he considered an inhospitable place as it was built on low-lying lands at Chang'an that were plagued by dampness and heat during the summer.[20] According to Ma Zhou, ever since Emperor Taizong moved to the countryside during the summers, the retired emperor was left behind in Chang'an to suffer in the summer heat.[20] When Emperor Taizong did invite his father, he would always decline the invitation to spend the summer together.[20] Ma Zhou also charged that Emperor Taizong had not visited his father for a long time even though they lived nearby each other.[20] Ever since the bloody palace coup, it seemed that father and son drifted apart to such an extent that their relationship never healed.[20] In 634, Emperor Taizong launched the construction of the Daming Palace.[23] He ordered the construction of the new summer palace as a residence for his father,[24] but the retired emperor grew ill and never witnessed the palace's completion before his death in the 5th month of 635.[20]
Notes
- ^ According to historical Chinese sources, it took place on the 4th day of the 6th month during the 9th year of the Wude (武德) reign, which translates to 2 July 626 (Bingham 1950a, 90).
- ^ The Palace City (宮城) was located in the northernmost central part of Chang'an. In later years, it was known as the West Inner [Palace] (西内) and the Taiji Palace (太極宮), but these designations were not used at the time of the coup. (Bingham 1950b, 261)
- ^ The East Palace (東宮) adjoined the Palace City to the east and served as the residential compound of Crown Prince Li Jiancheng (Bingham 1950b, 268).
- ^ The Xuanwu Gate (玄武門) was the northern central gateway to the Palace City and Chang'an (Bingham 1950b, 261–262).
- ^ The Forbidden Park (禁苑) was directly north of Chang'an and the Palace City (Bingham 1950b, 261–262).
- ^ The Hongyi Palace (宏義宮) was located inside the Forbidden Park to the north of Chang'an and served as the residence of Prince Li Shimin (Bingham 1950b, 267).
- ^ The location of the Linhu Hall (臨湖殿) is not known (Bingham 1950b, 269).
- ^ The Wude Hall (武德殿) was inside the eastern section of the Palace City and served as the residence of Prince Li Yuanji (Bingham 1950b, 266).
- ^ After 629, the Hongyi Palace was called the Da'an Palace (大安宮) (Bingham 1950b, 269).
References
- ^ Bingham 1950a, 89–90.
- ^ a b Bingham 1950a, 90.
- ^ a b c Wechsler 1979, 182.
- ^ Wechsler 1979, 182–183
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wechsler 1979, 183.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Wechsler 1979, 184.
- ^ a b Wechsler 1979, 183–184.
- ^ "Special Edition 02/16/2016 The Xuanwu Gate Incident Part 1". YouTube. Hi China / CCTV. 18 March 2016.
- ^ a b c Bingham 1950a, 91.
- ^ a b c d e f g Wechsler 1979, 185.
- ^ Wechsler 1979, 184–185.
- ^ Bingham 1950a, 91–92.
- ^ a b c d e f Bingham 1950a, 92.
- ^ a b c Bingham 1950a, 93.
- ^ Bingham 1950a, 92–93.
- ^ a b Bingham 1950a, 93–94.
- ^ Bingham 1950b, 259.
- ^ Bingham 1950b, 270.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Bingham 1950a, 94.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wechsler 1979, 186.
- ^ Bingham 1950a, 94–95.
- ^ a b c d e f g Bingham 1950a, 95.
- ^ Chen 2010, 275.
- ^ Chung 1990, 23.
Bibliography
- Bingham, Woodbridge (1950a). "Li Shih-min's coup in A.D. 626. I: The climax of princely rivalry". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 70 (2): 89–95. JSTOR 595537.
- Bingham, Woodbridge (1950b). "Li Shih-min's coup in A.D 626. II: Action at the Hsüan-wu Gate". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 70 (4): 259–271. JSTOR 594964.
- Chen, Jack W. (2010). The poetics of sovereignty: On Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 978-0-674-05608-4.
- Chung, Saehyang P. (1990). "A Study of the Daming Palace: Documentary Sources and Recent Excavations". Artibus Asiae. 50 (1/2): 23–72. JSTOR 3250086.
- Wechsler, Howard J. (1979). "The Founding of the T'ang Dynasty: Kao-tsu (Reign 618–26)". In Twitchett, Dennis (ed.). The Cambridge History of China, Volume 3: Sui and T'ang China, 589–906, Part I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 150–187. ISBN 978-0-521-21446-9.