Li Daoguang (李道廣), courtesy name Taiqiu (太丘),''

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. 72. formally Marquess Cheng of Jincheng (金城成侯), was an official of

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...

's Zhou dynasty, serving 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 ...

for about two years.

Background

It is not known when Li Daoguang was born. His family was originally from what would become Hua Prefecture (滑州, roughly modern

Anyang Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively. It had a ...

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 ...

), but by Li Daoguang's time had moved to the

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 ...

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 ...

. The family claimed to be descended from the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

general

Li Ling Li Ling (, died 74 BC), courtesy name Shaoqing (少卿), was a Chinese military general of the Han Dynasty who served during the reign of Emperor Wu (汉武帝) and later defected to the Xiongnu after being defeated in an expedition in 99 BC. ...

, who had surrendered to

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

after being surrounded. According to their claims, an ancestor of theirs and descendant of Li Ling eventually became a subject of

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

and, as he met the Northern Wei emperor at Bing Hall (丙殿), was given the family name of Bing. Li Daoguang's great-grandfather Bing Ming (丙明) served as a commandant during

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

and was created the Duke of Longju. Li Daoguang's grandfather Bing Can (丙粲) later became a subject of the Tang dynasty, as he was an acquaintance of Tang's founder Emperor Gaozu; Emperor Gaozu created him the Duke of Ying. In order to observe

naming taboo A naming taboo is a cultural taboo against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons, notably in China and within the Chinese cultural sphere. It was enforced by several laws throughout Imperial China, but its cultural and possibly r ...

for Emperor Gaozu's father Li Bing (李昺), Emperor Gaozu had the Bing family's name changed to Li. Li Daoguang's father Li Kuan (李寬) served as the minister of worship during the reign of Emperor Gaozu's grandson Emperor Gaozong and carried the title of Duke of Longxi.

During Wu Zetian's reign

During the reign of Emperor Gaozong's wife

(r. 690–705), Li Daoguang served as the prefect of Bian Prefecture (汴州, roughly modern

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

). During successive Khitan and

Eastern Tujue The Eastern Turkic Khaganate () was a Turkic khaganate formed as a result of the internecine wars in the beginning of the 7th century (AD 581–603) after the First Turkic Khaganate (founded in the 6th century in the Mongolian Plateau by t ...

incursions in 696, all of the prefectures south and north of the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

were panicking, but under Li's governance, Bian Prefecture was not disturbed. Later that year, he was recalled serving as director of palace affairs (殿中監, ''Dianzhong Jian''), and Wu Zetian gave him the designation ''Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi'' (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. He was also created the Marquess of Jincheng. In 697, he was also made the acting secretary general of the capital prefecture Luo Prefecture (洛州, roughly modern

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

). In 698, he was removed from his chancellor position and again made prefect of Bian Prefecture. That was the last reference to Li Daoguang in history, and it is not known when he died,Even more unusual than his omission in the biography section of the ''Old Book of Tang'' and the ''New Book of Tang'', the only reference to him in the ''

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 ...

'' was his commission as chancellor in 696; his movements in 697 and 698 were from the table of chancellors in the ''New Book of Tang''. See ''New Book of Tang''
vol. 61
{{webarchive, url=https://archive.today/20071022043920/http://www.sidneyluo.net/a/a17/form01.htm , date=2007-10-22 . although it is known that he was given posthumous honors. His son

Li Yuanhong Li Yuanhong (; courtesy name Songqing 宋卿) (October 19, 1864 – June 3, 1928) was a Chinese politician during the Qing dynasty and the Republic of China. He was the president of the Republic of China between 1916 and 1917, and between 1922 ...

later served as a chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian's grandson Emperor Xuanzong.

Notes and references

* ''

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. 98
* ''

''
vol. 126
* ''

'', vol. 205. Chancellors under Wu Zetian