Le Yanwei (樂彥瑋) (died 676),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Degui (德珪), was an official 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 ...

, serving briefly 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 ...

during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. Le Yanwei was from 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 ...

. As of 656, he was serving as imperial attendant, when Liu Hongye (), the son of Liu Ji, a former chancellor who was accused of improprieties (comparing himself to historical regents

Yi Yin Yi Yin (, born Yī Zhì ( 伊挚), also known as A Heng ( 阿衡)), was a Chinese politician who served as a minister of the early Shang dynasty, and one of the honoured officials of the era. He helped Tang of Shang, the founder of the Shang dyna ...

and

Huo Guang Huo Guang (; died 68 BC), courtesy name Zimeng (子孟), was a Chinese military general and politician who served as the dominant state official of the Western Han dynasty from 87 BCE until his death in 68 BCE. The younger half-brother of the re ...

) and forced to commit suicide by Emperor Gaozong's father Emperor Taizong in 646, submitted a petition accusing the recently deposed chancellor

Chu Suiliang Chu Suiliang (596–658), courtesy name Dengshan, formally the Duke of Henan, was a Chinese calligrapher, historian, and politician who served as a chancellor during the reigns of the emperors Taizong and Gaozong in the Tang dynasty. He became i ...

of having falsely accused Liu Ji in 645. (Liu Hongye did so at the instigation of the chancellor

Li Yifu Li Yifu (; 614–666) was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician who served as a chancellor of the Tang dynasty, during the reign of the Emperor Gaozong. He became particularly powerful because of his support for the Emperor Gaozong's second ...

, who was a political enemy of Chu and a former subordinate of Liu Ji.) Emperor Gaozong consulted his officials, and they, wanting to ingratiate themselves with Li Yifu, an ally to Emperor Gaozong's powerful wife

Empress Wu The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

(later known as Wu Zetian), all were in favor of reversing the judgment on Liu Ji. Le, however, opposed this, stating: Emperor Gaozong agreed and suspended further discussion. Soon thereafter, one of Le's parents died, and he left governmental service. He was soon recalled to serve as the prefect of Tang Prefecture (唐州, roughly modern

Nanyang Nanyang is the romanization of two common Chinese place names. It may refer to: Written as 南洋 (Southern Ocean) * Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea ;China * Nanyang Fleet, Qing ...

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 ...

). As he went to see the emperor to thank for the commission, Emperor Gaozong remembered his willingness to stand up to Li Yifu, and kept him at the central government's examination bureau (東臺, ''Dong Tai'') as a mid-level official. Around new year 665, Le was serving as ''Xi Tai Shilang'' () -- the deputy head of the legislative bureau (西臺, ''Xi Tai'') -- as well as a staff member for Emperor Gaozong's

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 ...

Li Hong Li Hong () (652 – 25 May 675), formally Emperor Xiaojing (孝敬皇帝, literally, "the filial and respectful emperor") with the temple name of Yizong (義宗), was a crown prince (not emperor, despite his formal title) of the Chinese dynasty ...

, when he was given the designation ''Tong Dong Xi Tai Sanpin'' (), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. However, about four months later, both he and his colleague Sun Chuyue were no longer chancellors. He was instead made imperial censor, succeeding

Liu Rengui Liu Rengui (劉仁軌) (602 – March 2, 685), courtesy name Zhengze (正則), formally Duke Wenxian of Lecheng (樂城文獻公), was a Chinese military general and politician during the Tang Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of E ...

. He was still imperial censor in 670 when the generals

Xue Rengui Xue Rengui (; 614 – 24 March 683), formal name Xue Li (薛礼) but went by the courtesy name of Rengui, was a Chinese military general during the early Tang Dynasty. He is one of the most well-known military generals of his time due to his hum ...

, Guo Daifeng (), and Ashina Daozhen () suffered a major loss to Tufan forces commanded by its general

Gar Trinring Tsendro Gar Trinring Tsendro (; ? – 699), also known as Lon Trinling (), was a famous general of the Tibetan Empire. He was the second son of minister Gar Tongtsen Yülsung. In Chinese records, his name was given as Lùn Qīnlíng () or Qǐzhèng ...

("Lun Qinling" () in Chinese). Emperor Gaozong sent Le to the army to investigate, and he put Xue, Guo, and Ashina in chains and delivered them back to Chang'an, where Emperor Gaozong spared their lives but removed them from their posts. Le died in 676 and was buried with honor. His son

Le Sihui Le Sihui (樂思晦) (died 691) was an official during Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, briefly serving as chancellor. It is not known when Le Sihui was born. His father Le Yanwei served as chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian's husband Emperor Gaoz ...

later also served as a chancellor, during the reign of Wu Zetian.

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. 81. * ''

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. 99. * ''

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. 201. {{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Yanwei Chancellors under Emperor Gaozong of Tang 676 deaths Politicians from Xi'an Year of birth unknown Tang dynasty politicians from Shaanxi