Lai Heng () (died November 18, 678) was an official of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

of China, serving as

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

during the reign of the Emperor Gaozong.

Background

Lai Heng's family was from Jiangdu (江都, in modern

Yangzhou Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou, Jiangsu, ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

). His father Lai Hu'er () was a major general during the

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

and carried the title of Duke of Rong. In 618, while

Emperor Yang of Sui Emperor Yang of Sui (隋煬帝, 569 – 11 April 618), personal name Yang Guang (), alternative name Ying (), Xianbei name Amo (), was the second emperor of the Sui dynasty of China. Emperor Yang's original name was Yang Ying, but he was rena ...

was at Jiangdu with the Sui state engulfed in agrarian rebellions, the general

Yuwen Huaji Yuwen Huaji (; died March 22, 619) was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician of the Sui dynasty who, in 618, led a coup against and murdered Emperor Yang of Sui. He subsequently declared Emperor Yang's nephew Yang Hao emperor and ...

led a coup and overthrew Emperor Yang. Yuwen executed a large number of high level officials, and Lai Hu'er, along with most of his family, was killed. Only Lai Heng and his younger brother

Lai Ji Lai Ji (; 610–662) was a Chinese military general and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor of the Tang dynasty, chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Emperor Gaozong. He later offended Emperor Gaozong by op ...

escaped death.

During Emperor Gaozong's reign

Both Lai Heng and Lai Ji were said to be talented in literature, and their reputations were said to be equivalent—although much more is known about Lai Ji's career than Lai Heng's, due to Lai Ji's famed opposition to the ascension of

Emperor Gaozong of Tang Emperor Gaozong of Tang (21 July 628 – 27 December 683), personal name Li Zhi, was the third Emperor of China, emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty, ruling from 649 to 683; after January 665, he handed power over the empire to his second wife ...

's second wife

Empress Wu The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as st ...

(later known as Wu Zetian) in 655, when Lai Ji was already

. (For his opposition to Empress Wu, Lai Ji would eventually be exiled and die in exile in 662.) What is known about Lai Heng's career was that as of 676, he was serving as ''Huangmen Shilang'' (), the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (門下省, ''Menxia Sheng''), when he was given the designation of ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Sanpin'' (), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. However, his acts as chancellor were not recorded in history. He died in 678, while still serving as chancellor.

References

* ''

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 Kingdo ...

'', vol. 80. * ''

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 ...

'', vol.

105 105 may refer to: *105 (number), the number * AD 105, a year in the 2nd century AD * 105 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 105 (telephone number), the emergency telephone number in Mongolia * 105 (MBTA bus), a Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority ...

. * ''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

'', vol. 202. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lai, Heng Sui dynasty people Chancellors under Emperor Gaozong of Tang 678 deaths Politicians from Yangzhou Year of birth unknown