Li Yong (李永) (died November 6, 838''

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. 175.), formally Crown Prince Zhuangke (莊恪太子), was a

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 ...

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 ...

dynasty

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 ...

. He was the oldest son of Emperor Wenzong.

Background

It is not known when Li Yong was born. His mother was Emperor Wenzong's

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

Consort Wang, who eventually came to carry the title of ''Defei'' (德妃), the third highest rank for imperial consort. In summer 830, Emperor Wenzong created Li Yong the Prince of Lu. Initially, the official He Yuanliang (和元亮) served as Li Yong's teacher, but as He was a career soldier, when Emperor Wenzong met He to discuss the prince's education in 832, He was unable to respond well. Thereafter, Emperor Wenzong conferenced with the

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 and told them, "The Prince of Lu is teachable. You should find talented scholars to serve on his staff, and not people like He Yuanliang." Thereafter, the deputy minister of census Yu Jingxiu (庾敬休) was made Li Yong's teacher; the minister of worship Zheng Su (鄭肅) was made his secretary general; and the supervisorial official Li Jianfang (李踐方) was made his military advisor. All three were allowed to keep their regular posts as well.

As crown prince

Later in 832, Li Yong was created crown prince. (It was said that Emperor Wenzong waited this long to create Li Yong crown prince because he had initially to create Li Pu the Prince of Jin, the oldest son of his brother and predecessor Emperor Jingzong crown prince, but was greatly saddened when Li Pu died in 828, and therefore delayed creating a crown prince.) Meanwhile, as of 837, the imperial attendant Wei Wen (韋溫) was also serving as Li Yong's tutor. It was said that, however, when Wei was set to tutor him in the morning, it would often been the case that he would not get to see Li Yong until the sun was high in the sky. Wei advised him:''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 245. Li Yong did not accept Wei's advice, and Wei subsequently resigned his post as Li Yong's tutor.

Death

Meanwhile, by 838, Li Yong's mother Consort Wang had died — and while the exact manner of death was not clarified in historical accounts, it was said that she was not favored by Emperor Wenzong and that Emperor Wenzong's favorite, Consort Yang, made false accusations against her, leading to her death. Despite this, Li Yong continued to spend his time on feasts and games, and was close to scoundrels. Consort Yang therefore had ample opportunities to make accusations against him. On September 29, 838, Emperor Wenzong suddenly had Li Yong arrested and convened a gathering with imperial officials, listing Li Yong's faults and intending to depose him, stating, "How can this kind of person be the

Son of Heaven Son of Heaven, or ''Tianzi'' (), was the sacred monarchical title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty, the secula ...

?" The officials largely argued that Li Yong was still young and capable of changing his ways, and that changing the crown prince position was an act that could throw the empire into disarray. Di Jianmo (狄兼謨) and Wei Wen were particularly fervent in speaking against such a change. The day after the meeting, six imperial scholars and 16

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium ...

commanders of the imperial guards further submitted arguments against deposing Li Yong, causing Emperor Wenzong to change his mind. That night, Emperor Wenzong released Li Yong and allowed him to return to Shangyang Pavilion (上陽院), where the Crown Prince resided. However, tens of his attendants and eunuchs were executed or exiled. Despite this, it was said that Li Yong was still unable to change his ways. On November 6, he died suddenly''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 246. — a death that many historians, including the modern historian

Bo Yang Bo Yang (; 7 March 1920 – 29 April 2008), sometimes also erroneously called Bai Yang, was a Chinese historian, novelist, philosopher, poet, and politician based in Taiwan. He is also regarded as a social critic. According to his own memoir, t ...

, believed, based on subsequent events, to have been an assassination by his attendants, at the implicit approval of Emperor Wenzong.''

Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 59 38 He was buried with honors due a crown prince and given the posthumous name of ''Zhuangke'' (meaning "unsuccessful and respectful"). In 839, after Emperor Wenzong, who was then ill, had created Li Yong's cousin

Li Chengmei Li Chengmei (李成美) (died February 12, 840), formally the Prince of Chen (陳王), was an imperial prince of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, serving briefly as Crown Prince during the reign of his uncle Emperor Wenzong. Background It is not known ...

(Li Pu's younger brother) crown prince, there was an occasion when Emperor Wenzong happened to see an acrobatic demonstration by a boy — and that the boy's father was worried that the boy would fall. Emperor Wenzong became touched and saddened, stating, "I am the Son of Heaven, but I could not even protect my own son!" He summoned 14 palace servants and rebuked them: Emperor Wenzong had them arrested and executed. But it was said that he was further saddened by this and became even more seriously ill. He died the following spring.

Notes and references

* ''

'', vol. 175. * ''

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. 82. * ''

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 ...

'', vols.

244 __NOTOC__ Year 244 (Roman numerals, CCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tiberius Pollenius Armenius Peregrinus, Arm ...

, 245,

246 __NOTOC__ Year 246 ( CCXLVI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 246th Year of the Common Era ( CE) and Anno Domini ( AD) designations, the 246th year of the 1st millennium, th ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Li Yong (Prince) 9th-century births 838 deaths Tang dynasty imperial princes Heirs apparent who never acceded