Li Ying (李瑛) (died 737), né Li Siqian (李嗣謙), known from 725 to 736 as Li Hong (李鴻), 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 wi ...

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 imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

during the reign of his father Emperor Xuanzong. He was later removed and forced to commit suicide due to the machinations of Emperor Xuanzong's favorite and influential

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 Wu and her powerful and corrupt ally, 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 ...

Li Linfu Li Linfu () (died January 3, 753), nickname Genu (), formally the Duke of Jin (), was a Chinese historian, musician, and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor for 18 years (734–752), during the reign of Emperor Xuanzon ...

Background

It is not known when Li Siqian was born, but it is known that he was the second son of

Li Longji Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (; 8 September 685 – 3 May 762), personal name Li Longji, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756 CE. His reign of 44 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. In the earl ...

, then the Prince of Linzi under Li Longji's uncle Emperor Zhongzong. His mother Consort Zhao, who would eventually receive the imperial consort rank of ''Lifei'' (麗妃), the second highest rank for imperial consorts,'' Old Book of Tang''
vol. 51
. was said to be a prostitute who was capable in singing and dancing, and who became a

of Li Longji's when Li Longji was serving as the secretary general for Lu Prefecture (潞州, roughly modern

Changzhi Changzhi () is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi Province, China, bordering the provinces of Hebei and Henan to the northeast and east, respectively. Historically, the city was one of the 36 administrative areas (see Adminis ...

, Shanxi), in 708. In 710, after Li Longji's father Li Dan became emperor (as Emperor Ruizong), Li Longji was created

, and his sons were created princes. Li Siqian was created the Prince of Zhending.

During Emperor Xuanzong's reign

In 712, Emperor Ruizong passed the throne to Li Longji, who took the throne as Emperor Xuanzong. Li Siqian's title was upgraded to Prince of Ying. At this point, Consort Zhao was Emperor Xuanzong's favorite concubine, and he gave high official offices to her father Zhao Yuanli (趙元禮) and brother Zhao Changnu (趙常奴). Further, in 715, he created Li Siqian

, even though Li Siqian was not his eldest son. (Emperor Xuanzong's eldest son Li Sizhi was alive, but his face might have already been badly injured, which was considered unfit for an emperor and might be the reason that he was never created crown prince.) In 719, Li Siqian ceremonially took on adult clothing, and a ceremony was held at the imperial university to commemorate the start of his formal studies, with the official Chu Wuliang (褚無量) presiding. Meanwhile, over the years, another concubine of Emperor Xuanzong's, Consort Wu gained great favor, and Empress Wang lost favor. In 724, Empress Wang's brother Wang Shouyi (王守一) was discovered to have used magic to try to regain favor for Empress Wang. Empress Wang was deposed and died soon thereafter, and Wang Shouyi was forced to commit suicide. Emperor Xuanzong considered creating Consort Wu empress, but eventually did not do so due to official opposition based on two grounds—that Consort Wu was of the family of Emperor Xuanzong's powerful grandmother

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 ...

, who seized the throne herself for over a decade as "emperor" and interrupted Tang Dynasty, and that Consort Wu was not Li Siqian's mother and therefore might seek to endanger Li Siqian. Still, Consort Wu's son Li Qing (李清) the Prince of Shou became Emperor Xuanzong's favorite son, and Li Siqian began to lose favor. In 725, Li Siqian's name was changed to Li Hong. In 726, Li Hong's mother Consort Zhao died. In 728, Emperor Xuanzong decreed a search among officials' daughters who could be the wife to Li Hong, and eventually selected the daughter of Xue Tao (薛縚) the deputy minister of ceremonies, to be Li Hong's wife and crown princess. Meanwhile, Consort Wu had designs to have Li Qing, whose name was by then changed to Li Mao (李瑁), named crown prince. She and the official

entered into an alliance, where Li Linfu agreed to help her to have Li Mao created crown prince, while she recommended Li Linfu to be chancellor. Li Linfu became chancellor in 734, and thereafter began to lobby on Li Mao's behalf. In 736, Li Hong's name was changed to Li Ying. At some point thereafter, there was a time when Li Ying met with his brothers Li Yao (李瑤) the Prince of E, born of Consort Huangfu, and Li Ju (李琚) the Prince of Guang, born of Consort Liu, and each of them was complaining about how their mothers, originally favored by Emperor Xuanzong, had lost favor to Consort Wu. Princess Xianyi's husband Yang Hui (楊洄) reported this to Consort Wu, and she tearfully accused Li Ying of defaming her and Emperor Xuanzong. Emperor Xuanzong, in anger, discussed the possibility of deposing Li Ying with the chancellors. The senior chancellor

Zhang Jiuling Zhang Jiuling () (678 or 673–740), courtesy name Zishou (), nickname Bowu (), formally Count Wenxian of Shixing (), was a prominent minister, noted poet and scholar of the Tang dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. ...

firmly opposed this, and when Consort Wu sent her servant Niu Gui'er (牛貴兒) to try to lobby him, he refused and reported this to Emperor Xuanzong. Because of Zhang's firm opposition to Li Ying's removal—citing examples of

Duke Xian of Jin Duke Xian of Jin (, died 651 BC), ancestral name Ji (姬), given name Guizhu (詭諸), was the nineteenth ruler of the State of Jin. He was also the ninth ruler of Jin in the Spring and Autumn period and the second duke of Jin. When his father, ...

, Emperor Wu of Han,

Emperor Hui of Jin Emperor Hui of Jin (; 260 - January 8, 307), personal name Sima Zhong (司馬衷), courtesy name Zhengdu (正度), was the second emperor of the Jin dynasty (266–420). Emperor Hui was a developmentally disabled ruler, and throughout his reign, ...

, and Emperor Wen of Sui, each of whose states was destroyed or greatly weakened as the result of a change in the crown prince position—it was said that Li Ying's position was firm for as long as Zhang remained chancellor, but after Zhang was removed later in 736, things began to change. In 737, Consort Wu decided to try to trick Li Ying, Li Yao, and Li Ju. She had a message sent to the three princes, stating, "There are bandits in the palace. Please report at once in armor!" The three princes arrived in full armor, and she thereafter told Emperor Xuanzong, "The three princes are planning treason. Look, they have come in full armor." Emperor Xuanzong had his eunuchs check out the situation, and the three princes were seen in full armor. Yang Hui subsequently accused Li Ying, Li Yao, and Li Ju of treason. When Emperor Xuanzong discussed this with the chancellors, Li Linfu, by now the most powerful official at court, stated, "This is Your Imperial Majesty's family matter. We will not interfere." The three princes were soon reduced to commoner rank and forced to commit suicide. His sons were raised by his older brother

Li Cong Li Cong () (died 752), né Li Sizhi (), known as Li Tan () from 725 to 736, posthumously honored Crown Prince Jingde () and then Emperor Fengtian (奉天皇帝, literally, "the emperor who submitted to Heaven"), was an imperial prince of the Chine ...

. A number of the clan members of his mother Consort Zhao and his wife Crown Princess Xue were exiled. After Li Ying's younger brother Emperor Suzong became emperor, he exonerated Li Ying and rehonored him as Crown Prince; at the same time, Emperor Suzong removed Consort Wu's posthumous honor as empress.

Personal information

*Father **

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (; 8 September 685 – 3 May 762), personal name Li Longji, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756 CE. His reign of 44 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. In the early ...

*Mother **Consort Zhao (d. 726) *Wife **Lady Xue, daughter of Xue Tao (薛縚), the Deputy Minister of Ceremonies *Sons **Li Yan (李俨), Prince of Xinping **Li Shen (李伸), Prince of Pingyuan **Li Qian (李倩) **Li Qiu, Prince of Qing **Li Bei (李备) **Li Jing (李儆)

Ancestry

References

Citations

Sources

* '' Old Book of Tang''
vol. 107
* '' New Book of Tang''
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. 210, 211, 212, 213, 214. {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Ying Tang dynasty imperial princes 737 deaths Forced suicides of Chinese people Executed Tang dynasty people 8th-century executions by the Tang dynasty Year of birth unknown Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Heirs apparent who never acceded