Li Conghou
Emperor Min of Tang | |||||||||||||||||
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Emperor of the Later Tang dynasty | |||||||||||||||||
Reign | December 20, 933[1][2] – May 19, 934[2][3] | ||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Li Siyuan | ||||||||||||||||
Successor | Li Congke | ||||||||||||||||
Born | Pusanu ( 17 December 914[2][4] Taiyuan | ||||||||||||||||
Died | 24 May 934[2][3] Anyang | (aged 19)||||||||||||||||
Burial | |||||||||||||||||
Empress | Empress Kong | ||||||||||||||||
Issue | Li Chongzhe ( Three sons, names unknown | ||||||||||||||||
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House | Li | ||||||||||||||||
Dynasty | Later Tang | ||||||||||||||||
Father | Li Siyuan | ||||||||||||||||
Mother | Lady Xia |
Li Conghou | |||||||
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Traditional Chinese | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | |||||||
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Li Conghou (Chinese:
Background
[edit]Li Conghou was born in 914, when his father Li Siyuan was a general of Jin (predecessor state to Later Tang), under his adoptive brother (Li Conghou's adoptive uncle) Li Cunxu the Prince of Jin. His mother was Lady Xia,[4] who was either a concubine of Li Siyuan's or a co-wife with Lady Cao, and who was also the mother of his older brother Li Congrong.[5] He was either Li Siyuan's third son (per the Old History of the Five Dynasties)[4] or his fifth son (per the New History of the Five Dynasties).[6] He was born at Li Siyuan's mansion in then-Jin capital Taiyuan. It was said that even in his childhood, he liked reading the Spring and Autumn Annals and was able to understand some of it. As his appearance was like his father Li Siyuan's, his father loved him.[4]
During Li Siyuan's reign
[edit]In 926, Li Cunxu, then the emperor of Later Tang, was killed in a mutiny at then-capital Luoyang. Li Siyuan subsequently claimed imperial title. In 927, he made Li Conghou the mayor of Henan Municipality (
In 928, Li Siyuan, under the suggestion of his favorite concubine Consort Wang, arranged to have Li Conghou betrothed to the daughter of the chancellor-chief of staff Kong Xun. This drew the anger of Kong's fellow chief of staff, the more powerful An Chonghui, whom Kong had earlier dissuaded from giving a daughter to a son of Li Siyuan's (unclear whether it was Li Conghou) in marriage, and An had Kong ejected from the imperial government (which was then at Kaifeng) to be the defender of Luoyang. Shortly thereafter, Li Conghou was made the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (
In 929, Li Siyuan made Li Conghou the military governor of Hedong and the defender of Taiyuan, while making Li Congrong the mayor of Henan and the commander of the imperial guards. (By that point, the imperial government had returned to Luoyang.)[9]
In 930, Li Siyuan created Li Congrong the Prince of Qin and Li Conghou the Prince of Song.[10]
In 931, Li Siyuan moved Li Conghou to Tianxiong.[4]
In 932, Li Siyuan gave Li Conghou the greater honorary chancellor title of Zhongshu Ling (
By late 933, Li Siyuan was extremely ill. Li Congrong, concerned about whether the high-level officials would try to divert the succession away from him, tried to seize control of the imperial government by force, but was defeated by forces under the command of then-chiefs of staff Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun and killed. Li Siyuan subsequently decided to summon Li Conghou, but before Li Conghou could arrive at Luoyang, Li Siyuan died. Li Conghou subsequently arrived and took the throne.[1]
Reign
[edit]Upon Li Conghou's taking of the throne, Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun, believing that they were responsible for his becoming emperor, dominated the court scene. They also excluded a number of Li Conghou's close associates from court, despite his displeasure. Meanwhile, Li Conghou honored Li Siyuan's wife Empress Cao as empress dowager and Consort Wang as consort dowager (despite his nagging suspicions that she was in league with Li Congrong).[1] (Historical accounts were inconsistent as to whether he also created his wife Princess Kong to be empress, although it appeared that she was created an empress but that he never got a chance to carry out a formal creation ceremony.)[11]
Zhu and Feng were suspicious of Li Conghou's older adoptive brother Li Congke the Prince of Lu, who then served as the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (
This, however, drew a violent reaction from Li Congke, as he believed these movements to be targeting him. He thus rebelled, claiming that Zhu and Feng were falsely controlling the government. Li Conghou commissioned the general Wang Sitong to command an army against Li Congke. Wang's army was initially successful, and it appeared that Fengxiang's capital Fengxiang Municipality would fall. However, a mutiny by a group of soldiers under the officer Yang Siquan (楊思
Hearing of this military disaster, Li Conghou initially considered personally going to meet Li Congke and yielding the throne to him. However, his original inclination was opposed by the imperial general Kang Yicheng (
Kang's surrender caused Li Conghou to panic. He considered fleeing to Tianxiong, and he summoned Zhu to plan the journey. Instead, Zhu committed suicide, and the imperial guard general An Congjin then killed Feng, offering Zhu's and Feng's heads to Li Congke. Li Conghou fled Luoyang with just 50 cavalry soldiers, toward Tianxiong's capital Wei Prefecture (
When Li Conghou reached Wei Prefecture (
Shortly after, Empress Dowager Cao issued an edict deposing Li Conghou and demoting him to the title of Prince of E, and declaring Li Congke emperor. Li Congke then took the throne at Luoyang. Meanwhile, Wang Hongzhi moved Li Conghou to a residence within the Wei Prefecture government. Li Congke then sent Wang's son Wang Luan (
Personal information
[edit]- Father
- Li Siyuan (Emperor Mingzong)
- Mother
- Lady Xia, initially posthumously honored the Lady of Jin, later Empress Zhaoyi
- Wife
- Empress Kong (executed by Li Congke 934) mother of all 4 princes
- Children
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 278.
- ^ a b c d Academia Sinica Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 279.
- ^ a b c d e f Old History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 45.
- ^ a b Old History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 49.
- ^ New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 7.
- ^ Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 275.
- ^ Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 68 [927].
- ^ a b Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 276.
- ^ a b Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 277.
- ^ New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 15.
- 10th-century Chinese monarchs
- 914 births
- 934 deaths
- Later Tang emperors
- People executed by strangulation
- People executed by Later Tang
- Executed Later Tang people
- Politicians from Taiyuan
- Executed people from Shanxi
- Mayors of Luoyang
- Xuanwu jiedushi
- Hedong jiedushi
- Chengde jiedushi
- Later Tang jiedushi
- Weibo jiedushi
- Generals from Shanxi
- Murdered emperors of China