Li Chenghong (李承宏), commonly known as the Prince of Guangwu (廣武王), was an imperial prince of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

who was briefly declared emperor in 763 by invading

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

an forces after they had captured the Tang capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

Background

It is not known when Li Chenghong was born. He was the oldest son of

Li Shouli Lĭ Shǒulĭ (672–741) () was the second son of Li Xián who was also known as Crown Prince Zhanghuai of Tang. Born Li Guangren (李光仁), during the Chuigong era of his youngest uncle Emperor Ruizong of Tang Emperor Ruizong of Tang ...

the Prince of Bin, the second son of Li Xian, one time

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

under Li Xian's father Emperor Gaozong.''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

''
vol. 70
. Early in the ''Kaiyuan'' (713-741) era of Li Shouli's cousin Emperor Xuanzong, Li Chenghong was created the Prince of Guangwu, and he did not succeed to the greater title of Prince of Bin upon his father's death in 741, suggesting that he was not born of Li Shouli's wife. (The title of Prince of Bin went to his younger brother Li Chengning (李承寧).) Li Chenghong had at one point been given the honorary title of ''Mishu Jian'' (秘書監), the director of the

Palace Library The Palace Library (; in Vietnam: 秘書所, ''Bí thư sở'') was a central government agency in monarchical China, Korea, and Vietnam generally in charge of maintaining and archiving the collection of the monarch's documents. China The off ...

—but as the title was honorary, he did not actually run the archival bureau.''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

''
vol. 86
. At one point, he was accused of improper associations with people and was demoted to be the secretary general to the prefect of Fang Prefecture (房州, in modern

Shiyan Shiyan () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei, China, bordering Henan to the northeast, Chongqing to the southwest, and Shaanxi to the north and west. At the 2020 census, its population was 3,209,004 of whom 1,033,407 lived in the b ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

), but was later recalled to the capital

and given the honorary title of minister of imperial clan affairs (宗正卿), but did not actually run the ministry of imperial clan affairs.

Brief declaration as emperor

In 763, when Emperor Xuanzong's grandson Emperor Daizong was emperor,

launched an attack against Chang'an, and Emperor Daizong was forced to flee to Shan Prefecture (陝州, in modern

Sanmenxia Sanmenxia (; postal: Sanmenhsia) is a prefecture-level city in the west of Henan Province, China. The westernmost prefecture-level city in Henan, Sanmenxia borders Luoyang to the east, Nanyang to the southeast, Shaanxi Province to the west and Sh ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

). On November 18, 763, Tibetan forces entered Chang'an. A Tibetan general who defected from Tang, Gao Hui (高暉), and the Tibetan general

Nganlam Takdra Lukhong Nganlam Takdra Lukhong (, ? – ?), also known as Nganlam Tara Lukhong (), Nganlam Lukhong or Lon Takdra (), was a famous general of the Tibetan Empire who served as '' Lönchen'' during Trisong Detsen's reign. In many Chinese records, his name ...

(''aka'' Ma Chongying, 馬重英) jointly declared Li Chenghong emperor, commissioning over 100 people as imperial officials, including the imperial scholars Yu Kefeng (于可封) and Huo Gui (霍瓌) as

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

s. Tibetan forces, however, were unable to force the chancellor

Miao Jinqing Miao Jinqing (苗晉卿) (685–765), courtesy name Yuanfu (元輔), formally Duke Wenzhen of Han (韓文貞公), was a Chinese politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Suzong and Emperor Daizon ...

, who was unable to flee Chang'an due to illness, to cooperate with Li Chenghong's regime. Soon, with the Tang general

Guo Ziyi Guo Ziyi (Kuo Tzu-i; Traditional Chinese: 郭子儀, Simplified Chinese: 郭子仪, Hanyu Pinyin: Guō Zǐyí, Wade-Giles: Kuo1 Tzu3-i2) (697 – July 9, 781), posthumously Prince Zhōngwǔ of Fényáng (), was a Chinese military general and pol ...

mounting a resistance movement, Tibetan forces pillaged the city and departed on November 30, 763. Li Chenghong hid in the wilderness but was recaptured by Guo's forces. Emperor Daizong issued a pardon for him but exiled him to Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern

Weinan Weinan () is a prefecture-level city in the east central Shaanxi province, China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provincial capital Xi'an, and borders the provinces of Shan ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

).That Li Chenghong was exiled to Hua Prefecture was per the ''New Book of Tang'', which the ''Zizhi Tongjian'' adopted. His biography in the ''Old Book of Tang'' indicated that he was exiled to Guo Prefecture (虢州, in modern Sanmenxia). Compare ''New Book of Tang'', vol. 81, and ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 223, with ''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 86. He died in Hua Prefecture shortly after.

Notes and references

* ''

''
vol. 86
* ''

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vol. 81
* ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

'', vol. 223. {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Chenghong 760s deaths Tang dynasty emperors Pretenders to the Chinese throne Year of birth unknown