Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (9th century)

Li Yi was born in 810, at Daming Palace (), His mother was Emperor Xianzong's concubine Consort Zheng, who had previously been a concubine of the warlord Li Qi and who, after imperial forces defeated Li Qi in 807, was taken into Emperor Xianzong's palace to be a servant girl to Emperor Xianzong's wife Consort Guo, but who at some point bore Li Yi for Emperor Xianzong. After Emperor Xianzong died in 820, Li Yi's older brother Li Heng, born of Consort Guo, became emperor (as Emperor Muzong), and in 821, when Emperor Muzong created a number of his sons and brothers to be imperial princes, Li Yi was created the Prince of Guang. == As imperial prince ==

In Li Yi's youth, he was said to be shy and a poor speaker, and (falsely) considered by others to be unintelligent. Later, during the reigns of Emperor Muzong's sons Emperor Wenzong and Emperor Wuzong, Li Yi was said to try to hide himself from the political scene, and rarely spoke anything at all. When the emperors visited the imperial princes' residences, known as the Sixteen Mansions, they would, as a game, try to get Li Yi to speak, and they referred to him as "Uncle Guang." It was said that Emperor Wuzong, who had an outgoing personality, particularly disrespected Li Yi. In early 846, Emperor Wuzong became extremely ill and was himself rendered mute. The palace eunuchs gathered and decided on Li Yi as Emperor Wuzong's successor, probably because they considered him simple-minded and therefore easier to control. They had an edict issued in Emperor Wuzong's name creating Li Yi crown prince, changing his name to the more auspicious Li Chen, and investing him with authority over imperial affairs. It was said that when Li Chen met the officials in his new role as crown prince, they were astonished that the apparent simpleton exhibited punctilious adherence to the complex ritual expressions of grief for Wuzong, and immediate knowledgeable management of the court's pending business. Apparently, Li Chen's simple-mindedness had been an affectation, to make himself appear harmless during the dangerous intrigues of his predecessors' reigns. Soon thereafter, Emperor Wuzong died, and Li Chen took the throne (as Emperor Xuanzong). == Early reign ==

Emperor Xuanzong honored his mother Consort Zheng as empress dowager. Immediately after taking the throne, Emperor Xuanzong acted against the powerful chancellor Li Deyu, who had dominated the court during Emperor Wuzong's reign, as he despised Li Deyu for monopolizing power. Emperor Xuanzong removed Li Deyu from his chancellor position and sent him out of the capital Chang'an to serve as the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou, Hubei), and also removed Li Deyu's fellow chancellor Zheng Su. A number of policies that Emperor Wuzong and Li Deyu had pursued, including persecution against Buddhism and alliance with the Yenisei Kirghiz, were reversed. In Li Deyu's place, Emperor Xuanzong installed Bai Minzhong as the leading chancellor, and over the next few years, Bai recommended a number of other officials, including fellow chancellor Ma Zhi. Starting in 848, and over a period of several years, Emperor Xuanzong commissioned border troops to recapture various prefectures lost to the Tibetan Empire since the An Lushan Rebellion, taking the region constituting modern eastern Gansu, southern Ningxia, and western Sichuan. Further, after the ethnic Han Chinese Zhang Yichao seized control of the Hexi Corridor from Tibetan officials and submitted to Emperor Xuanzong in 851, Tang had largely reversed the losses to the Tibetan Empire. However, he initially had little success with rebellions by the Tanguts. After he came to realize that the Tanguts were repeatedly rebelling because of mistreatment by Tang officials, he modified the policies to install officials who were known for mild temper and honesty in the Tangut regions, and he further put Bai in charge of the operations against the Tanguts, giving him a large staff that included many well-known imperial government officials. With Bai overseeing the operations, the Tanguts largely submitted in 851. Bai, however, was not returned to chancellorship within Emperor Xuanzong's lifetime, and was effectively replaced by Linghu Tao. Emperor Xuanzong was said to govern diligently, paying much attention to how his capable ancestor Emperor Taizong ruled and trying to follow Emperor Taizong's examples. He also took the time and effort to familiarize himself with imperial officials' capabilities, as well as the customs of the various prefectures throughout the realm, such that he could properly commission officials based on their abilities and review whether they were governing capably. He also encouraged frugality, and tried to demonstrate it by reducing the expenditures for the wedding of his favorite daughter Princess Wanshou to the imperial official Zheng Hao (). It was said that throughout his reign, the imperial clan members and their relatives all carefully obeyed laws. In 848, Emperor Muzong's mother Grand Empress Dowager Guo—whom Empress Dowager Zheng had previously been a servant for—died. Traditional historians noted that popular perception at the time was that Emperor Xuanzong might have murdered her. (It had said that she was depressed over Emperor Xuanzong's disrespect toward her, because Empress Dowager Zheng had resented her, and also because he suspected her and Emperor Muzong of having instigated the death of Emperor Xianzong at the hands of the eunuch Chen Hongzhi ().) Initially, he would refuse to allow Grand Empress Dowager Guo to be buried with Emperor Xianzong or to be enshrined in Emperor Xianzong's temple, but eventually allowed her to be buried with Emperor Xianzong. (He would still refuse to enshrine her, however, with Emperor Xianzong, during his lifetime.) == Late reign ==

, Shaanxi One of the major themes later in Emperor Xuanzong's reign was the high-level officials' concerns that he was not creating a Crown Prince, as this refusal to do so left the imperial succession uncertain. The issue was raised repeatedly, including by chancellors Wei Mo, Pei Xiu (Tang dynasty), and Cui Shenyou, but he rebuffed all of them, leading to Pei's resignation and Cui's removal. (The reason why Emperor Xuanzong repeatedly refused to create a crown prince was said to be his disfavor for his oldest son Li Wen the Prince of Yun and favor for his third son Li Zi the Prince of Kui. He wanted Li Zi to be his heir, but was hesitant to create Li Zi crown prince because Li Zi was not the oldest.) He entrusted Li Zi to three high-level eunuchs that he favored—the directors of palace communications (Shumishi) Wang Guizhang () and Ma Gongru () and the director of the southern court affairs (宣徽南院使, Xuanhui Nanyuanshi) Wang Jufang (). After Emperor Xuanzong died, Wang Guizhang, Ma, and Wang Jufang did not initially announce his death, and were set to send one of the eunuch commanders of the Shence Armies (), Wang Zongshi (), who was not on good terms with them, out of Chang'an to Huai'nan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) to serve as the eunuch monitor for Huai'nan. Wang Zongshi, however, reacted by intruding into the palace; finding that Emperor Xuanzong had already died from Chinese alchemical elixir poisoning, he arrested Wang Guizhang, Ma, and Wang Jufang for falsely issuing edicts, and then put them to death. He welcomed Li Wen to the palace, and then issued an edict in Emperor Xuanzong's name creating Li Wen crown prince and changing his name to Li Cui. The next day, Emperor Xuanzong's death was announced, and Li Cui became emperor (as Emperor Yizong). He also observed the manufacturing of porcelain, the granary system of Guangzhou, and how its municipal administration functioned. == Legacy ==

Because of the prosperity of Emperor Xuanzong's reign, it was said that in subsequent years, including after Tang's eventual fall in 907, the people missed him bitterly, referring to him as "Little Taizong." During Emperor Xuanzong's reign, Chinese chemists first experimented with fireworks. == Chancellors during reign ==

• Li Deyu (846) • Li Rangyi (846) • Li Hui (846–847) • Zheng Su (846) • Bai Minzhong (846–851) • Lu Shang (846–847) • Cui Yuanshi (847–848) • Wei Cong (847–848) • Ma Zhi (848–849) • Zhou Chi (848–849) • Cui Xuan (849–855) • Wei Fu (849–850) • Cui Guicong (850–851) • Linghu Tao (850–859) • Wei Mo (851–857) • Pei Xiu (852–856) • Zheng Lang (856–857) • Cui Shenyou (856–858) • Xiao Ye (857–859) • Liu Zhuan (858) • Xiahou Zi (858–859) • Jiang Shen (858–859) ==Family==

• Empress Yuanzhao, of the Chao clan () • Li Cui, Yizong (; 833–873), 1st son • Princess Wanshou (/万寿公主), 1st daughter • Married Zheng Hao of Xingyang (/荥阳 郑颢; 817–860) in 850, and had issue (one son) • Princess Guangde (/广德公主 d. 880), 4th daughter • Married Yu Cong of Henan (; d. 881) in 858 • Zhaoyi, of the Wu clan (/昭仪 吴氏) • Li Zi, Prince of Tong (; 844–863), 3rd son • Jieyu, of the Zhang clan (张婕妤) • Jieyu, of the Liu clan () • Li Rui, Prince of Zhao (), 8th son • Cairen, of the Shi clan () • Li Yi, Prince of Qing (/庆王 李沂; 844–860), 4th son • Cairen, of the Qiu clan (; 828–851) • A daughter • Li Wen, Prince of Kang (; 851–866), 9th son • Lady, of the Chen clan (/陈氏) • Li Yong, Prince of Guang (/广王 李澭; 854–877), 11th son • Unknown • Li Mei, Crown Prince Jinghuai (/靖怀皇太子 李渼; 836–852) • Li Jing, Prince of Ya (/雅王 李泾; b. 839), 2nd son • Li Ze, Prince of Pu (/濮王 李泽), 5th son • Li Run, Prince of E (/鄂王 李润; d. 876), 6th son • Li Qia, Prince of Huai (/怀王 李洽), 7th son • Li Guan, Prince of Wei (/卫王 李灌; d. 860) • Princess Yongfu (), 2nd daughter • Princess Qigonghuai (/齐恭怀公主), 3rd daughter • Married Yan Qi (/严祁) • Princess Heyi (/和义公主), 4th daughter • Princess Rao'an (/饶安公主), yth daughter • Princess Shengtang (), 7th daughter • Princess Pingyuan (; 834–863), 11th daughter • Princess Tangyang (/唐阳公主) • Princess Xuchang Zhuangsu (/许昌庄肃公主) • Married Liu Zhi of Hedong () • Princess Fengyang () == References ==