Emperor Gaozong of Tang
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| Emperor Gaozong of Tang 唐高宗 | |||||||||||||
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 18th century portrait | |||||||||||||
| Emperor of the Tang dynasty | |||||||||||||
| Reign | 15 July 649 – 27 December 683 | ||||||||||||
| Coronation | 15 July 649 | ||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Emperor Taizong | ||||||||||||
| Successor | Emperor Zhongzong | ||||||||||||
| Regent | Empress Wu | ||||||||||||
| Born | 21 July 628 [1] Lizheng Palace in Chang'an, Tang China | ||||||||||||
| Died | 27 December 683 (aged 55)[2] Zhenguan Palace in Luoyang, Tang China | ||||||||||||
| Consorts | Empress Wang (dep. 655) Empress Wu (m. 651–683) | ||||||||||||
| Issue | Li Zhong Li Xiao Li Shangjin Li Sujie Li Hong Li Xian Emperor Zhongzong Emperor Ruizong Princess Jincheng Princess Gao'an Princess Taiping | ||||||||||||
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| House | House of Li | ||||||||||||
| Father | Emperor Taizong | ||||||||||||
| Mother | Empress Wende | ||||||||||||
| Tang Gaozong | |||
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| Chinese | 唐高宗 | ||
| Literal meaning | "High Ancestor of the Tang" | ||
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| Li Zhi | |||
| Chinese | 李治 | ||
| Literal meaning | (personal name) | ||
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Emperor Gaozong of Tang (21 July 628[1] – 27 December 683[2]), personal name Li Zhi, was the third emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, ruling from 649 to 683; after January 665, he handed power over the empire to his second wife Empress Wu (the future Wu Zetian), and her decrees were carried out with greater force than the decrees of Emperor Gaozong's. Emperor Gaozong was the youngest son of Emperor Taizong and Empress Zhangsun; his elder brothers were Li Chengqian and Li Tai.
Emperor Gaozong's reign saw the primacy of Empress Wu, who became the effective power behind the Tang rule. Emperor Gaozong was aided in his rule by Empress Wu during the later years of his reign after a series of strokes left him incapacitated. Emperor Gaozong effectively after January 665 delegated all matters of state to his strong wife. Empress Wu is therefore unique in the annals of the Tang Empire for the political influence she wielded. In fact, after 665, Emperor Gaozong no longer ruled and he in all matters fell heavily under the influence of Empress Wu. She came to have total control of the imperial administration.
During the 650s to 670s, Empress Wu gradually accumulated power by consolidating her influence over Gaozong and eliminating potential political opponents, including the emperor's son Li Zhong and his trusted ministers: Zhangsun Wuji, Chu Suiliang and Shangguan Yi. In fact, the beginning of her rise to power was with sedition and cruelty as well. Gaozong's over-affection and trust of Wu led to her wielding a great deal of power in affairs of state until the end of his reign. Gaozong's disease made it easier for Empress Wu to exert her influence. For many years until the end of his reign, she effectively wielded imperial power and was recognized as the real force behind the Tang throne. She sat alongside her husband on the imperial meetings to receive audiences, issued orders, and consulted with ministers and chancellors. Empress Wu's excessive power caused the wrath of Crown Prince Li Hong. Emperor Gaozong decided to abdicate in favor of his eldest son, but took no real action for fear of his wife. After Emperor Gaozong died in 683, power fell completely and solely into the hands of Empress Wu, who subsequently became the only empress regnant in Chinese history. After his death, he was interred at the Qianling Mausoleum along with Wu Zetian.
Historians have generally viewed Emperor Gaozong as a weak ruler, inattentive to the business of the state. Because he was always controlled by his wife, he was criticized for leaving such rule business to Empress Wu. During the first part of his reign, Tang territorial gains, which started with his father Emperor Taizong, continued, including the conquest of Baekje, Goguryeo, and the Western Turkic Khaganate, but throughout the 670s, much of those gains were lost to the Tibetan Empire, Silla, Khitan, and Balhae. Further, territory previously conquered that belonged to both the Göktürks and the Western Turkic Khaganate were subjected to repeated rebellions.
Background and life as Prince of Jin[]
Li Zhi was born in 628. He was the ninth son of his father, Emperor Taizong, and the third son of his mother, Emperor Taizong's wife Empress Zhangsun. In 631, he was created the Prince of Jin. In 633, he was made commandant of Bing Prefecture (并州, roughly modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), but remained at the capital Chang'an rather than reporting to Bing Prefecture. When Empress Zhangsun died in 636, Emperor Taizong was particularly touched by the grief that Li Zhi displayed, and from that point on particularly favored him. Sometime while he was the Prince of Jin, at the recommendation of his grand aunt Princess Tong'an, he married the grandniece of Princess Tong'an's husband Wang Yu (王裕) as his wife and princess.
Meanwhile, Li Zhi's two older brothers by Empress Zhangsun, Li Chengqian the Crown Prince and Li Tai the Prince of Wei, were locked in an intense rivalry, as Li Tai was favored by Emperor Taizong for his talent and was trying to displace Li Chengqian. Li Chengqian, in fear, entered into a conspiracy with the general Hou Junji, his uncle Li Yuanchang (李元昌) the Prince of Han, the imperial guard commander Li Anyan (李安儼), and his brothers-in-law Zhao Jie (趙節, who was also his cousin) and Du He (杜荷) to overthrow Emperor Taizong. The plot was discovered in 643, and Emperor Taizong deposed Li Chengqian. He was initially going to make Li Tai the new crown prince, but later began to believe that Li Tai's machinations were responsible for Li Chengqian's downfall. The powerful chancellor Zhangsun Wuji – Empress Zhangsun's brother—suggested that he make Li Zhi crown prince, a possibility that Li Tai was apprehensive about. Li Tai tried to intimidate Li Zhi, who had been friendly with Li Yuanchang, by pointing out to Li Zhi that Li Yuanchang had been part of the plot and that he should be concerned for himself. When Emperor Taizong noticed Li Zhi worrying about this and was told by Li Zhi of Li Tai's intimidation, Emperor Taizong's mind became set. He exiled Li Tai, and on 30 April 643,[5] he created Li Zhi the new crown prince. He made Zhangsun and two other senior chancellors, Fang Xuanling and Xiao Yu, senior advisors to Li Zhi, and made another chancellor, Li Shiji, the head of Li Zhi's household. At the advice of another key official, Liu Ji, who pointed out that the crown prince needed to have a group of well-learned scholars that he was close to, Emperor Taizong appointed Liu, as well as Cen Wenben, Chu Suiliang, and Ma Zhou, to serve as Li Zhi's friends and advisors.
As Crown Prince[]
Late in 643, Emperor Taizong issued an edict to select beautiful women among good households to serve as Li Zhi's concubines. However, after Li Zhi declined such treatment, Emperor Taizong cancelled the edict. However, during his years as crown prince, he was said to have favored his concubine Consort Xiao, having two daughters (the later Princesses Yiyang and Xuan Cheng) and one son (Li Sujie) with her, much to the chagrin of his wife Crown Princess Wang, who was childless and jealous of Consort Xiao. Three other concubines of his bore his other sons Li Zhong, Li Xiao (李孝), and Li Shangjin (李上金).
Around the same time, however, Emperor Taizong also became concerned that Li Zhi, who was considered kind but weak in character, would not be strong enough to be an emperor, and secretly discussed with Zhangsun Wuji the possibility of making another son by his concubine Consort Yang (daughter of Emperor Yang of Sui), Li Ke the Prince of Wu, crown prince. Zhangsun repeatedly opposed the idea, and Emperor Taizong did not carry this out. [6]
In 645, when Emperor Taizong launched a campaign against Goguryeo, he took Li Zhi with him to Ding Prefecture (定州, roughly modern Baoding, Hebei) and then left Li Zhi there to be in charge of logistics, before heading to the front himself. He also left senior officials Gao Shilian, Liu Ji, Ma Zhou, Zhang Xingcheng, and Gao Jifu to assist Li Zhi. After the campaign ended in failure later that year, as Emperor Taizong was leading the army back from the front, Li Zhi went to meet him at Linyu Pass (臨渝關, now Shanhai Pass). Emperor Taizong suffered an injury during the campaign, and Li Zhi was said to have, as Emperor Taizong's conditions were getting worse, sucked the pus out of his wound, until Emperor Taizong recovered somewhat. In 646, with Emperor Taizong still recovering, he transferred some of the imperial authorities to Li Zhi. Li Zhi stayed at the imperial palace and attended to Emperor Taizong in his illness. That year, when Emperor Taizong was due to visit Ling Prefecture (靈州, roughly modern Yinchuan, Ningxia) to meet with a number of tribal chiefs who were formerly vassals of Xueyantuo—which had collapsed under Tang and Huige attacks earlier that year—he was set to take Li Zhi with him, but at Zhang's suggestion left Li Zhi in charge at Chang'an instead, to allow Li Zhi to become more familiar with the important affairs of state in his absence. After Emperor Taizong returned from Ling Prefecture, he retained for himself the authorities over imperial worship, state guests, military, the commissioning of officers of higher than the fifth rank, and executions, and transferred all other authorities to Li Zhi.
In 647, a commoner named Duan Zhichong (段志沖) submitted a petition to Emperor Taizong, asking him to pass the throne to Li Zhi. Li Zhi, concerned that Emperor Taizong might be offended, was worried and grieving, and Zhangsun suggested that Duan be executed. Emperor Taizong did not take offense and did not punish Duan or Li Zhi. Meanwhile, Li Zhi began to build a Buddhist temple named Daci'en Temple (大慈恩寺) in commemoration of his mother Empress Zhangsun, and the temple was completed in 648.
In 649, while at the summer palace Cuiwei Palace (翠微宮, in the Qin Mountains), Emperor Taizong was gravely ill, and he, while impressed with Li Shiji's abilities, was concerned that Li Shiji was too able and would not submit to Li Zhi. He stated to Li Zhi:
Li Shiji is full of ability and wisdom, but you had done him no favors, and it may be difficult for him to be faithful to you. I am going to exile him now. If he leaves immediately, promote him to be Puye [(僕射, head of the important examination bureau of the government)] and trust him after I die. If he hesitates, execute him.
He then demoted Li Shiji to the post of the commandant of Die Prefecture (疊州, roughly modern Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu). Li Shiji, realizing what was happening, after receiving the order, departed without hesitation.
As Emperor Taizong's illness was getting more serious, Li Zhi continuously attended to him and wept constantly, often going without food, which touched Emperor Taizong greatly. Emperor Taizong entrusted Li Zhi to Zhangsun and Chu Suiliang, and then died on 10 July 649.[7] Initially, Li Zhi was so mournful that he could not carry out any actions other than holding onto the necks of Zhangsun and Chu. Zhangsun, while mourning himself, reminded Li Zhi that he was now in charge of the empire and must act accordingly. Zhangsun also ordered that Emperor Taizong's death not be announced for the time being, and then, the next day, accompanied Li Zhi back to Chang'an. Zhangsun issued several edicts in Emperor Taizong's name—including making Yu Zhining, Zhang, and Gao Jifu chancellors. Two days later, Emperor Taizong's death was officially announced. On 15 July,[8] Li Zhi took the throne (as Emperor Gaozong).
Reign as Emperor[]
During his 34-year reign, he was unable to exercise power alone and was under the control of several of his great ministers and his wife, Empress Wu. The order of the regents were:
- Zhangsun Wuji and Yu Zhining (649-659)
- Han Yuan, Lai Ji and Liu Shi (649-658)
- Li Ji and Chu Suiliang (649-658)
- Empress Wu (660-683)
Early reign: Political struggles[]
Yonghui era (650–656)[]
Emperor Gaozong's first move as emperor was to cancel a second campaign against Goguryeo that Emperor Taizong had planned for later 649. While Li Tai was disallowed from attending Emperor Taizong's funeral, Emperor Gaozong permitted him to again have a staff and be allowed to use wagons, clothes, and foods of high quality. Emperor Gaozong created his wife Crown Princess Wang empress and made her father Wang Renyou (王仁祐) the Duke of Wei. It was said that early in Emperor Gaozong's reign, he greatly respected both his uncle Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang and followed their advice, and that therefore, during this part of his reign, the government was organized well and the people were comforted, much like during the reign of Emperor Taizong, although in winter 650, Chu was accused of forcibly purchasing private land and paying below-market price, and was demoted to be a prefectural prefect. (Chu eventually returned to power in 653.)
Also in 650, the general Gao Kan (高侃) – whose army had been launched by Emperor Taizong against the newly reconstituted Göktürk state under Chebi Khan Ashina Hubo prior to Emperor Taizong's death—captured Ashina Hubo and brought him back to Chang'an. Emperor Gaozong spared Ashina Hubo and made him a general, putting his people directly under Tang rule. Meanwhile, with two of the states of the Western Regions previously conquered by Tang and governed by Tang-installed kings, Kucha and Karasahr in disturbance, Emperor Taizong returned their previously-captured kings, Bai Helibushibi (白訶黎布失畢) and Long Tuqizhi (龍突騎支) respectively, to their thrones.
In 651, the Western Turkic Khaganate prince Ashina Helu, who had sought and received protection from Emperor Taizong, broke away from Tang and defeated the Western Turkic Khaganate's , taking over the Western Turkic Khaganate himself and no longer subordinate under Tang. In fall 651, Ashina Helu attacked Tang's Ting Prefecture (庭州, roughly Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang), and Emperor Gaozong responded by commissioning the generals Liang Jianfang (梁建方) and Qibi Heli (契苾何力) to attack Ashina Helu. Liang and Qibi achieved some victories against Ashina Helu's general Zhuxie Guzhu (朱邪孤注), but then withdrew without engaging Ashina Helu.
Meanwhile, as Empress Wang was sonless, her uncle, the chancellor Liu Shi, suggested to her that she ask Emperor Gaozong to create his oldest son Li Zhong, whose mother Consort Liu was of low birth and therefore considered nonthreatening, crown prince so that Li Zhong would be grateful of her in the future. Liu also persuaded Zhangsun to suggest the idea as well, and in fall 652, Emperor Gaozong created Li Zhong crown prince.
By this point, however, Empress Wang was facing a major threat from another romantic rival. When Emperor Gaozong was crown prince, he had an affair with one of Emperor Taizong's concubines, Consort Wu. After Emperor Taizong's death, all of his concubines who did not bear sons, which included Wu, were housed at Ganye Temple (感業寺) to be Buddhist nuns. In either 650 or 651,[9] Emperor Gaozong was visiting Ganye Temple to offer incense to Buddha when he saw Consort Wu. Both of them wept. When Empress Wang heard this, she, wanting to divert Emperor Gaozong's favor from Consort Xiao, secretly instructed Consort Wu to grow her hair back, while suggesting to Emperor Gaozong that he take her as a concubine. Consort Wu was intelligent and full of machinations, and therefore, when she first returned to the palace, she acted humbly and flattered Empress Wang, who trusted her greatly and recommended her to Emperor Gaozong. Soon, Emperor Gaozong became enamored with Consort Wu.
Meanwhile, Emperor Gaozong's sister Princess Gaoyang and her husband Fang Yi'ai (房遺愛, Fang Xuanling's son), were implicated in 652 of conspiring with another brother-in-law Chai Lingwu (柴令武), the general Xue Wanche (薛萬徹) and Emperor Gaozong's uncle Li Yuanjing (李元景) the Prince of Jing to make Li Yuanjing emperor. Fang, knowing that Zhangsun had long been apprehensive of Li Ke, falsely implicated Li Ke in the plot as well, hoping to ingratiate Zhangsun sufficiently that he would be spared. nevertheless, in spring 653, at the suggestion of Zhangsun and Cui Dunli – despite Emperor Gaozong's initial inclination to spare Li Yuanjing and Li Ke—Emperor Gaozong ordered that Fang, Xue, and Chai be executed, and that Li Yuanjing, Li Ke, and the Princesses Gaoyang and Baling (Chai's wife) be forced to commit suicide. Zhangsun took this opportunity to accuse several other officials friendly with Fang or hostile to him—the chancellor Yuwen Jie, Li Daozong the Prince of Jiangxia, and the general Zhishi Sili (執失思力) – of being friendly with Fang and had them exiled. He also deposed and exiled Li Ke's mother Consort Yang and Consort Yang's other son Li Yin (李愔) the Prince of Shu, as well as Fang's brother Fang Yizhi (房遺直) and Xue's brother Xue Wanbei (薛萬備).
By 654, both Empress Wang and Consort Xiao had lost favor with Emperor Gaozong, and the former romantic rivals joined forces against Consort Wu, but to no avail, and as a sign of his love to Consort Wu, in 654 he conferred posthumous honors on her father Wu Shihuo (武士彠). Later that year, Consort Wu gave birth to a daughter that died shortly after birth. Evidence implicated Empress Wang as the killer, although some historians believe Consort Wu killed her own daughter in order to frame Empress Wang, but no concrete evidence of this exists. In anger, Emperor Gaozong considered deposing Empress Wang and replacing her with Consort Wu, but wanted to make sure that the chancellors would support this, and so visited Zhangsun's house with Consort Wu, awarding him with much treasure, but when he brought up the topic that Empress Wang was sonless (as an excuse for deposing her), Zhangsun repeatedly found ways to divert the conversation, and subsequent visits by Consort Wu's mother Lady Yang and the official Xu Jingzong, who was allied with Consort Wu, to seek support from Zhangsun were also to no avail.
In summer 655, Consort Wu accused Empress Wang and her mother Lady Liu of using witchcraft. In response, Emperor Gaozong barred Lady Liu from the palace and demoted Liu Shi. Meanwhile, a faction of officials began to form around Consort Wu, including Li Yifu, Xu, Cui Yixuan (崔義玄), and Yuan Gongyu (袁公瑜). On an occasion in fall 655, Emperor Gaozong summoned the chancellors Zhangsun, Li Shiji (who by now was using the name Li Ji to observe naming taboo for Emperor Taizong's name Li Shimin), Yu Zhining, and Chu to the palace—which Chu deduced to be regarding the matter of changing the empress. Li Ji claimed an illness and refused to attend. At the meeting, Chu vehemently opposed deposing Empress Wang, while Zhangsun and Yu showed their disapproval by silence. Meanwhile, other chancellors Han Yuan and Lai Ji also opposed the move, but when Emperor Gaozong asked Li Ji again, Li Ji's response was, "This is your family matter, Your Imperial Majesty. Why ask anyone else?" Emperor Gaozong therefore became resolved. He demoted Chu to be a commandant at Tan Prefecture (roughly modern Changsha, Hunan), and then deposed both Empress Wang and Consort Xiao, putting them under arrest and creating Consort Wu empress instead to replace Empress Wang. (Later that year, Empress Wang and Consort Xiao were killed on orders by the new Empress Wu after Emperor Gaozong showed signs of considering their release.) Then, at Xu's suggestion, in spring 656, Emperor Gaozong demoted Li Zhong to be the Prince of Liang and created Empress Wu's oldest son Li Hong the Prince of Dai crown prince instead.
In 655 as well, Emperor Gaozong commissioned the general Cheng Zhijie (程知節) to attack Ashina Helu, but while the campaign saw some victories over Western Turkic Khaganate's substituent tribes Geluolu (歌邏祿) and Chuyue (處月), it was hindered by Cheng's inability to restrain his assistant Wang Wendu (王文度) from pillaging and inappropriately halting the army. After the campaign ended in early 657, both Cheng and Wang were deposed from their offices.
Xianqing era (656–661)[]
In 657, Emperor Gaozong commissioned the general Su Dingfang, who had served under Cheng Zhijie in the earlier failed campaign, to command a campaign against Ashina Helu, assisted by Ren Yaxiang and Xiao Siye (蕭嗣業). They were joined by the Western Turkic Khaganate’s leaders and , who had submitted to Tang during Emperor Taizong's reign. The campaign caught Ashina Helu by surprise, and Su defeated him in several battles, causing him to flee to the kingdom Shi (石國, centering modern Tashkent, Uzbekistan), which arrested him and delivered him to Su, thus largely ending the Western Turkic Khaganate as an organized state. (Emperor Gaozong would try to continue the Western Turkic Khaganate's existence as a vassal stage by dividing it in half and creating Ashina Mishe and Ashina Buzhen as khans of the two halves.)
Meanwhile, Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu, aligned with Empress Wu, began to carry out a campaign of reprisal on her behalf. In 657, they accused Han Yuan and Lai Ji of plotting treason with Chu Suiliang, who was then serving as the commandant at Gui Prefecture (桂州, roughly modern Guilin, Guangxi). Emperor Gaozong demoted Han and Lai to be prefects of distant prefectures, and demoted Chu and Liu Shi to even more distant prefectures—in Chu's case, to the extremely distant Ai Prefecture (愛州, roughly modern Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam), and Chu's subsequent petition, sent from Ai Prefecture, pleading with Emperor Gaozong, fell on deaf ears.
Empress Wu's reprisals did not end there. In 659, Zhangsun Wuji became the next target. At that time, two low level officials, Wei Jifang (韋季方) and Li Chao (李巢) had been accused of improper associations, and when Emperor Gaozong put Xu and Xin Maojiang of investigating, Xu falsely accused Wei and Li to be part of a treasonous plot by Zhangsun. Emperor Gaozong, without meeting with Zhangsun, believed Xu, and put Zhangsun under house arrest in exile at Qian Prefecture (黔州, roughly modern southeastern Chongqing). Xu further implicated Chu, Liu, Han, and Yu Zhining in the plot as well. Yu was removed from his post. Chu, who had died in 658, was posthumously stripped of all titles, and his sons Chu Yanfu (褚彥甫) and Chu Yanchong (褚彥沖) were executed. Orders were also issued to execute Liu and Han, although Han died before the execution order reached his location. Meanwhile, Zhangsun, once he reached his place of exile, was forced to commit suicide. It was said that after Han's and Lai's deaths, no official dared to criticize the emperor any further.
Also in 659, a vassal of Western Turkic Khaganate (Pin. Tujue), Duman (都曼), the commander of the Esegels (aka Izgil, Old Turkic: