Emperor Ai of Tang (27 October 892 – 26 March 908), also known as Emperor Zhaoxuan of Tang (
Emperor Ai of Tang | |||||||||||||||||
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Emperor of the Tang dynasty | |||||||||||||||||
Reign | 26 September 904[1][2] – 12 May 907[1][3] | ||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Emperor Zhaozong | ||||||||||||||||
Successor | Dynasty abolished | ||||||||||||||||
Born | Li Zuo 27 October 892[1][4] | ||||||||||||||||
Died | 26 March 908 (aged 15) [1][3] | ||||||||||||||||
Burial | Wen Mausoleum ( | ||||||||||||||||
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House | Li | ||||||||||||||||
Dynasty | Tang | ||||||||||||||||
Father | Emperor Zhaozong | ||||||||||||||||
Mother | Empress Xuanmu |
Tang Aidi | |||||||
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Chinese | |||||||
Literal meaning | "Pitious Emperor of the Tang" | ||||||
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Li Zuo | |||||||
Chinese | |||||||
Literal meaning | (personal name) | ||||||
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Emperor Ai ascended the throne at the age of 11 after his father, the Emperor Zhaozong, was assassinated on the orders of the paramount warlord Zhu Quanzhong in 904, and while Emperor Ai reigned, the Tang court, then at Luoyang, was under the control of officials Zhu put in charge. In 905, under the instigation of his associates Liu Can and Li Zhen, Zhu had Emperor Ai issue an edict summoning some 30 senior aristocrats at Baima Station (
Background
editLi Zuo was born in 892, at the main palace at the Tang imperial capital Chang'an. His father Emperor Zhaozong was already emperor at that point, and he was Emperor Zhaozong's ninth son.[4] His mother was Consort He, who had previously given birth to an older brother of his, Li Yu, Prince of De, who was Emperor Zhaozong's oldest son.
In 897, Li Zuo was created an imperial prince, along with his brothers Li Mi (
By 903, Zhu Quanzhong the military governor (Jiedushi) of Xuanwu Circuit (
In 904, Zhu forced Emperor Zhaozong to move the capital from Chang'an to Luoyang, which was even more firmly under his control.[5] Later that year, fearing that the adult Emperor Zhaozong would try to rise against him while he was away on campaigns against other warlords, he had Emperor Zhaozong assassinated. Bypassing Li Yu and the other older princes, he had an edict issued in Emperor Zhaozong's name creating Li Zuo crown prince and changing his name to Li Chu. Shortly after, Li Chu took the throne (as Emperor Ai). Empress He, who survived the assassination, was honored empress dowager.[2]
Reign
editAt the time Emperor Ai took the throne, one of the chancellors was Zhu Quanzhong's close associate Liu Can. Liu, not from an aristocratic family, resented the traditional aristocrats, and he advocated to Zhu that the senior aristocrats should be slaughtered to prevent them from resisting Zhu. Zhu agreed, and in 905, under edicts issued in Emperor Ai's name, some 30 of them were gathered at Baima Station and ordered to commit suicide; their bodies were then thrown into the Yellow River. The victims included the former chancellors Pei Shu, Dugu Sun, Cui Yuan, Lu Yi, and Wang Pu, as well as the senior officials Zhao Chong (
Meanwhile, Liu, as well as Zhu's other close associates at the Luoyang court, Jiang Xuanhui (蔣玄
In 907, under advice from his ally Luo Shaowei the military governor of Weibo Circuit (
Death
editThe new Later Liang emperor created Li Chu the Prince of Jiyin and moved him from Luoyang to Cao Prefecture (曹州, in modern Heze, Shandong), and put his mansion under heavy guard, with a fence of thorns surrounding it.
In 908, he had Li Chu poisoned to death and gave Li Chu the posthumous name of Ai (
Chancellors during reign
editFamily
editNo family recorded in official histories; Song dynasty general Li Gang was claimed to be a descendant through a son named Li Xizhao (
Ancestry
editEmperor Xianzong of Tang (778–820) | |||||||||||||||||||
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (810–859) | |||||||||||||||||||
Empress Xiaoming (d. 865) | |||||||||||||||||||
Emperor Yizong of Tang (833–873) | |||||||||||||||||||
Empress Yuanzhao | |||||||||||||||||||
Emperor Zhaozong of Tang (867–904) | |||||||||||||||||||
Empress Gongxian (d. 867) | |||||||||||||||||||
Emperor Ai of Tang (892–908) | |||||||||||||||||||
Empress Xuanmu (d. 906) | |||||||||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Academia Sinica Chinese-Western Calendar Converter Archived 16 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b c d e f Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 265.
- ^ a b c d e Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 266.
- ^ a b c Old Book of Tang, vol. 20, part 2.
- ^ a b c Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 264.
- ^ 现代汉语词典(
第 七 版 ) [A Dictionary of Current Chinese (7th ed.)]. Beijing: The Commercial Press. 2016. p. 197. ISBN 978-7-100-12450-8.柷 chù
用 于人名 ,李 柷,唐 哀 帝 - ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 261.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 276.
- ^ New Book of Tang, vol. 10.
- ^ However, after the end of Tang, the regional states Jin, Wu, and Qi continued to use Tang's Tianyou era name to show their refusal to recognize Later Liang. One can therefore also consider the end of the Tianyou era to be sometime early in 924, when Li Maozhen the Prince of Qi became a subject to Jin's successor state Later Tang and switched to Later Tang's Tongguang era.
- Old Book of Tang, vol. 20, part 2.
- New Book of Tang, vol. 10.
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 261, 264, 265, 266.
任 士 英 (2005)正 說 唐 朝 二 十 一 帝 Taipei (台北 ):聯 經 . ISBN 978-957-08-2943-3