Tang Xuanzong (Li Longji)

Tang Xuanzong
Family name :	Li ( 李 , Lǐ , Li 3 )
First name :	Longji ( 隆基 , Lóngjī , Lung 2 -chi 2 )
Posthumous title : (short)	Emperor of Clarity ( 明 皇 , Mínghuáng , Ming 2 -huang 2 )
Temple name :	Xuanzong ( 玄宗 , Xuánzōng , Hsüan 2 -tsung 1 )
Reign:	September 8, 685 - August 12, 756
Era names :	Xiāntiān (先天) 712–713 Kāiyuán (開元) 713–741 Tiānbǎo (天寶) 742–756

Emperor Xuanzong receives the sage Zhang Guolao , painting by Ren Renfa (1254–1327)

The Tang Emperor Xuanzong ( 唐玄宗 , Táng Xuánzōng; * 685 ; † May 3, 762 ), born as Lǐ Lóngjī ( 李隆基 ), was one of the most famous emperors in China. His reign between 712/13 and 756 marked the climax and sudden fall of this dynasty.

Life

He was born the son of Ruizong under the name Lǐ Lōngjī. His father was just a political plaything in the power interests of Empress Wu Zetian , his own mother. After their disempowerment in 705, Ruizong's older brother Zhongzong formally became emperor, but in fact his wife, Empress Wei, ruled for him. In 710, Zhongzong unceremoniously poisoned her for an affair and put her son into practice.

Ruizong might have tolerated it, but his son Li Longji (alias Xuanzong) did not. Not wanting a second Wu Zetian , he broke into the palace and had Empress Wei and her entire family executed. Then he installed his father as emperor, but gradually came to power himself after disputes with his aunt in 712/13.

Under Emperor Xuanzong, Tang China first experienced a golden age of peace, culture and learning. For poetry today z. B. the hard-drinking Li Bai , who lived at court for a short time in 742. For domestic political reforms z. B. the Minister Zhang Jiuling , until he was overthrown in 736 by Li Linfu († 752). In terms of foreign policy, the borders were pushed far forward despite some failures. It was not until the Battle of the Talas in 751 that the Arabs finally stopped the Chinese advance .

Xuanzong with his concubine Yang Guifei surrounded by his court, screen by the Japanese artist Kanō Eitoku (1543–1590)

But the emperor soon succumbed to indolence through amusements and Taoist studies, and became the willless instrument of two favorites and a concubine named Yang Guifei . The first minister, Li Linfu , headed the government for more than twenty years and was even able to obtain the execution of three sons of Xuanzong, including the crown prince, in 737. After his death, Yang Guifei's cousin Yang Guozhong got the post of first minister, but got involved in a power struggle with General An Lushan , who was the governor of the northern provinces and would have liked to become first minister. The emperor did nothing to separate the two rivals or to limit their power.

In the meantime, the increased military spending from constant wars along the Silk Road made itself felt in increased taxes. In the government there was a quarrel between the noble and the officials won by state examinations , while the old emperor withdrew completely into private life and the eunuchs such. B. used Gao Lishi as an intermediary. Professional soldiers had spread out in the army, the generals had been given too much authority, since Li Linfu mistrusted the civil administration in the provinces and wanted to create a counterweight with the military.

In short, the state was falling apart and Emperor Xuanzong did not notice it or could hardly have solved the problem.

When he feared for life and office, An Lushan started an uprising in 755 , which was quickly spread through famine due to drought and floods in central China. An Lushan conquered Luoyang and Chang'an in 755/56 , both cities were plundered and devastated. His successes against the Tang troops forced the emperor to flee to Chengdu in Sichuan . On the way there, the guards executed Yang Guozhong and forced the helpless emperor to also execute Yang Guifei, as they were both held responsible for the An Lushan uprising. Xuanzong regretted the loss of Yang Guifei until his death.

The Crown Prince Suzong fled to Gansu and accepted the imperial title there without regard to his father, whereupon the latter also formally abdicated (August / September 756). Xuanzong died on May 3, 762, about a year before the end of the uprising that cost the lives of a large part of the population and plunged society into chaos.

Web links

• Literature by and about Tang Xuanzong in the catalog of the German National Library

predecessor	Office	successor
Ruizong	Emperor of China 712–756	Suzong