Li Lin (李璘) (died March 14, 757), né Li Ze (李澤), formally the Prince of Yong (永王), was an imperial prince of the Chinese 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 a son of Emperor Xuanzong, and after the general

An Lushan An Lushan (; 20th day of the 1st month 19 February 703 – 29 January 757) was a general in the Tang dynasty and is primarily known for instigating the An Lushan Rebellion. An Lushan was of Sogdian and Göktürk origin,Yang, Zhijiu, "An Lush ...

had rebelled against Emperor Xuanzong's rule in 755, Li Lin tried to occupy the region south of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

and establish a separate regime, but was defeated and killed.

Background

It is not known when Li Ze was born. It is known, however, that he was the 16th of Emperor Xuanzong's 30 sons, and that his mother Consort Guo was the younger sister of the military governor (''

jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (), or jiedu, was a title for regional military governors in China which was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissioner", "legate ...

'') Guo Xuji (郭虛己). Consort Guo died when Li Ze was only a few years old, and Li Ze was raised by his older brother Li Sisheng; it was said that at night, Li Sisheng would hold Li Ze in his arms. Li Ze was said to be intelligent in his youth, but was ugly in appearance and had

strabismus Strabismus is a vision disorder in which the eyes do not properly align with each other when looking at an object. The eye that is focused on an object can alternate. The condition may be present occasionally or constantly. If present during a ...

. In 725, Emperor Xuanzong created Li Ze the Prince of Yong, and in 727 gave him the honorary title as the commandant at Jing Prefecture (荊州, roughly modern

Jingzhou Jingzhou () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei province, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Its total residential population was 5,231,180 based on the 2020 census, 1,068,291 of whom resided in the built-up (''or metro' ...

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 p ...

). In 732, he was given the additional honorific title of ''Kaifu Yitong Sansi'' (開府儀同三司), and his name was changed to Li Lin.

Rebellion

In 755, the general

rebelled, and by 756 was approaching 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 ...

, forcing Emperor Xuanzong to flee toward Jiannan Circuit (劍南, roughly modern

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

and

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Co ...

, headquartered) with his family—although Li Sisheng (whose name had by now been changed to Li Heng and who was

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 w ...

) did not follow Emperor Xuanzong to Jiannan Circuit but instead went to

Lingwu Lingwu (, Xiao'erjing: لِئٍ‌وُ شِ) is a county-level city of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Southwest China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Yinchuan. It is the most important industrial city of Ningxia. ...

and was declared emperor there (as Emperor Suzong). Meanwhile, though, Emperor Xuanzong, who had not known that Emperor Suzong had taken imperial title, continued to issue edicts as emperor, and on August 15, 756, he issued an edict giving Li Heng and three other sons of his—Li Lin and his younger brothers Li Qi (李琦) the Prince of Sheng and Li Gong (李珙) the Prince of Feng—responsibility zones for them to command over, with Li Heng in overall command. (Li Qi and Li Gong, however, did not actually report to their command areas.) Li Lin's responsibility area were Shannan East (山南東道, headquartered in modern

Xiangfan Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...

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 nort ...

(headquartered in modern

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

), Qianzhong (黔中, headquartered in modern

), and Jiangnan West (江南西道, headquartered in modern

Nanchang Nanchang (, ; ) is the capital of Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

) Circuits, with the officials Dou Shao (竇紹) and Li Xian as his assistants, and his headquarters set at Jiangling. Later, when Emperor Xuanzong heard about Emperor Suzong's ascension, he recognized Emperor Suzong as emperor and himself took the title of ''

Taishang Huang In Chinese history, a ''Taishang Huang'' or ''Taishang Huangdi'' is an honorific and institution of a retired emperor. The former emperor had, at least in name, abdicated in favor of someone else. Although no longer the reigning sovereign, ther ...

'' (retired emperor). With the empire's transportation network disrupted by An's rebellion, the taxes and levies of the region south of the Huai River were all sent to Jiangling, allowing Li Lin access to a great amount of wealth and ability to conscript tens of thousands of soldiers. His son Li Yang (李瑒) the Prince of Xiangcheng was said to be brave and studied in military matters, and his strategist Xue Liu (薛鏐) suggested to him that given the amount of wealth and territory he had, he should occupy Jinling (金陵, modern

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

), take over all of the territory south of the

, and establish a separate regime similar to

Eastern Jin Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

. When Emperor Suzong heard this, he issued an order that Li Lin return to Chengdu to accompany Emperor Xuanzong, but Li Lin refused. This alarmed Li Xian, who claimed to be ill and resigned, and then reported to Emperor Suzong's then-location at Pengyuan (彭原, in modern

Qingyang Qingyang () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Gansu province, China. Geography and climate Qingyang is the easternmost prefecture-level division of Gansu and is thus sometimes referred to as "Longdong" (). It forms an administrative penin ...

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibe ...

). Both he and another official, Gao Shi (高適), then proposed strategies to stop Li Lin's plan. Around the new year 757, Emperor Suzong commissioned Gao as the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...

), and another general, Lai Tian (來瑱), as the military governor of Huainan West Circuit (淮南西道, headquartered in modern

Zhumadian Zhumadian (; postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province, China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to the northwest, Luohe to the north, Zhoukou to the northeast, and the province of ...

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 a ...

), and instructed them to, along with Wei Zhi (韋陟) the military governor of Jiangdong Circuit (江東, headquartered in modern

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trad ...

), to prepare to resist Li Lin. On January 19, 757, Li Lin, without any imperial permission, left Jiangling with a fleet, heading east on the Yangtze. Li Xiyan (李希言) the governor of

Wu Commandery Wu Commandery was a commandery of imperial China. It covers parts of the contemporary Northern Zhejiang and Southern Jiangsu. The capital of Wu commandery was Wu (today's Suzhou). Major counties of Wu commandery include Wu (county), Yuhang cou ...

(roughly modern Suzhou) then sent him a letter that treated him as an equal and addressed him by name, inquiring as for the reason for him to be heading east. Li Lin, in anger, replied in a letter: Li Lin then ordered his generals Hun Weiming (渾惟明) to attack Li Xiyan, and Ji Guangchen (季廣琛) to attack Li Chengshi (李成式) the secretary general of

Guangling Commandery Guangling Commandery ( zh, 廣陵郡) was a historical commandery of China from Han dynasty to Tang dynasty, located in present-day central Jiangsu province in central coastal China. It was named after Guangling, a historical name of Yangzhou. In e ...

(廣陵, roughly modern Yangzhou). He himself advanced to Dangtu (當塗, in modern

Ma'anshan Ma'anshan (), also colloquially written as Maanshan, is a prefecture-level city in the eastern part of Anhui province in Eastern China. An industrial city stretching across the Yangtze River, Ma'anshan borders Hefei to the west, Wuhu to the sout ...

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze Riv ...

). Li Xiyan sent his subordinates Yuan Jingyao (元景曜) and Yan Jingzhi (閻敬之) and Li Chengshi sent his subordinate Li Chengqing (李承慶) to resist Li Lin, but Li Lin's forces killed Yan, and Yuan and Li Chengqing surrendered to Li Lin. Meanwhile, Gao, Lai, and Wei rendezvoused at Anlu (安陸, in modern

Xiaogan Xiaogan () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Hubei province, People's Republic of China, some northwest of the provincial capital of Wuhan. According to the 2020 census, its population totaled 4,270,371, of whom 988,479 lived in the buil ...

) and public declared their intent to suppress Li Lin's rebellion. Meanwhile, Li Lin had taken position in a city. The forces of the general Li Xian (李銑, note different character than Li Lin's former assistant) and Li Chengshi converged on the city, stopping north of the Yangtze River. In light of the pressure, Li Lin's subordinates Ji, Hun, and Feng Jikang (馮季康) deserted him. That night, when Li Xian's and Li Chengshi's forces lit torches to try to intimidate Li Lin, Li Lin's forces responded by lighting torches as well, but Li Lin, when he saw his own forces' torches, mistakenly thought that Li Xian's and Li Chengshi's forces had already crossed the Yangtze, and he panicked, fleeing out of the city at night, only returning in the day. He then took his remaining forces and headed east on ships. Li Chengshi's subordinate Zhao Kan (趙侃) gave chase, catching Li Lin at Xinfeng (新豐, in modern

Changzhou Changzhou ( Changzhounese: ''Zaon Tsei'', ) is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provin ...

), defeating Li Yang and Li Lin's general Gao Xianqi (高仙琦) and causing Li Lin's forces to collapse. Li Lin and Gao fled to Poyang (鄱陽, in modern

Shangrao Shangrao () is a medium-sized prefecture-level city located in the northeast of Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. The city borders the province of Anhui to the north, the province of Zhejiang to the east, and the province of Fujian t ...

) and gathered military supplies there, intending to flee to Lingnan. Huangfu Shen (皇甫侁) the examiner of Jiangnan West Circuit gave chase and captured Li Lin. He then secretly put Li Lin to death.That Huangfu put Li Lin to death was per the accounts in 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 ...

'' and the ''Zizhi Tongjian''. Li Lin's biography in 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 Kingd ...

'' indicated that Li Lin was killed in battle. Li Yang was killed in battle. Li Lin's surviving family members were delivered to Chengdu. Emperor Suzong, because of the love he had for Li Lin, chose not to publicly declare Li Lin a rebel, and when he found out that Huangfu had put Li Lin to death, he relieved Huangfu from his office and never gave him another one. Li Lin's sons Li Zan (李儹), Li Zhen (李偵), Li Xuan (李儇), Li Ling (李伶), and Li Yi (李儀) were allowed to keep their titles.

Ancestry

Notes and references

* ''

''
vol. 107
* ''

''
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. 212,

214 Year 214 ( CCXIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Messalla and Suetrius (or, less frequently, year 967 ''Ab urbe con ...

, 218,

219 __NOTOC__ Year 219 ( CCXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antonius and Sacerdos (or, less frequently, year 972 ''Ab ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Li Lin Tang dynasty imperial princes Tang dynasty jiedushi of Shannan East Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Lingnan Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Wutai Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Zhennan Circuit 8th-century births 757 deaths