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, briefly 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 ...
.
Despite Li's high status, little is firmly established about his career except for the time that he served as chancellor—as, unusual for a chancellor, he did not have a biography in either the ''
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 ...
'' or the ''
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 ...
Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang (; ; Mandarin: ), formerly known as Shimen and romanized as Shihkiachwang, is the capital and most populous city of China’s North China's Hebei Province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about southwest of Beijin ...
,
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
), that traced its ancestry all the way back to the great
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...
Li Mu
Li Mu (; died 229 BC), personal name Zuo (繓), courtesy name Mu (牧), was a Chinese military general of the State of Zhao during the Warring States period. He was named by Chinese historians as one of the four greatest generals of the late Wa ...
. Li Youdao's ancestors later served as officials through the
Qin Dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...
,
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 ...
Jin Dynasty (266–420)
The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had pr ...
,
Former Yan
The Former Yan (; 337–370) was a dynastic state ruled by the Xianbei during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China.
Initially, Murong Huang and his son Murong Jun claimed the Jin dynasty-created title "Prince of Yan," but subsequently, in 352, ...
and/or
Later Yan
Yan, known in historiography as the Later Yan (; 384 – 407 or 409) was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xianbei people, located in modern-day northeast China, during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms.
All rulers of the Later Yan declared them ...
,
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 ...
,
Northern Qi
Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...
,
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 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 ...
. His father Li Shushen (李叔慎) served as a deputy minister during Tang.''
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, part 1.{{cite web, url=http://ef.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/ccw/02/ntan09.htm , title=唐書 表 第十二 , accessdate=March 8, 2008 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210060025/http://ef.cdpa.nsysu.edu.tw/ccw/02/ntan09.htm , archivedate=February 10, 2008
As of 692, Li Youdao was serving as the chief judge of the supreme court (司刑卿, ''Sixing Qing'') and the acting prefect of Shan Prefecture (陝州, roughly 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 ...
), when Wu Zetian made him the minister of public works (冬官尚書, ''Dongguan Shangshu''). She also gave him the designation ''Tong Fengge Luantai Pingzhangshi'' (同鳳閣鸞臺平章事), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. Eight months later, however, he, along with other chancellors
Wang Xuan
Wang Xuan (; February 5, 1937 – February 13, 2006), born in Wuxi, Jiangsu, was a Chinese computer scientist. He was a computer application specialist and innovator of the Chinese printing industry, as well as an academician at both the Chinese ...
,
Yuan Zhihong
Yuan Zhihong (袁智弘) was an official of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, briefly serving as chancellor.
Despite Yuan high status, little is firmly established about his background or career except for the time that he served as chancellor—as, unusu ...
,
Cui Shenji Cui Shenji (崔神基), formally the Duke of Qingqiu (清丘公), was a Chinese official of the Tang dynasty and the Wu Zhou dynasty, briefly serving as chancellor during Wu Zetian's reign.
It is not known when Cui was born, but it is known that h ...
,
Li Yuansu
Li Yuansu (李元素) (died October 26, 696) was an official of Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving twice as chancellor.
Li Yuansu was the younger brother of Li Jingxuan, who served as chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian's husband Emperor Gaozo ...
, and other officials Kong Siyuan (孔思元), and Ren Linghui (任令輝), were falsely accused of crimes by Wu Zetian's secret police official
Wang Hongyi
Wang Hongyi () (died 694) was a secret police official during the History of China, Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty.
It is not known when Wang Hongyi was born, but it is known that he was from Hengshui. He was known as a ...
. They were relieved from their posts and exiled to the
Lingnan
Lingnan (; Vietnamese: Lĩnh Nam) is a geographic area referring to the lands in the south of the Nanling Mountains. The region covers the modern Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as modern northe ...
region. That was the last historical reference to Li Youdao, and it is not known when he died, although it is known that his son Li Jingxuan (李景宣) later served as a prefectural prefect.
Notes and references
* ''
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 ...