Li Chenghong (李承宏), commonly known as the Prince of Guangwu (廣武王), was an imperial prince of the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

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 ...

who was briefly declared emperor in 763 by invading

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

an forces after they had captured the Tang capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

Background

It is not known when Li Chenghong was born. He was the oldest son of

Li Shouli Lĭ Shǒulĭ (672–741) () was the second son of Li Xián, who was also known as Crown Prince Zhanghuai of Tang. Born Li Guangren (李光仁), during the Chuigong era of his youngest uncle Emperor Ruizong of Tang's reign when his grandmoth ...

the Prince of Bin, the second son of Li Xian, one time

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, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

under Li Xian's father Emperor Gaozong.''

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. 70
. Early in the ''Kaiyuan'' (713–741) era of Li Shouli's cousin Emperor Xuanzong, Li Chenghong was created the Prince of Guangwu, and he did not succeed to the greater title of Prince of Bin upon his father's death in 741, suggesting that he was not born of Li Shouli's wife. (The title of Prince of Bin went to his younger brother Li Chengning (李承寧).) Li Chenghong had at one point been given the honorary title of ''Mishu Jian'' (秘書監), the director of the

Palace Library The Palace Library (; in Vietnam: 秘書所, ''Bí thư sở'') was a central government agency in Imperial and monarchical China, Korea, and Vietnam generally in charge of maintaining and archiving the collection of the monarch's documents. C ...

—but as the title was honorary, he did not actually run the archival bureau.''

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. 86
. At one point, he was accused of improper associations with people and was demoted to be the secretary general to the prefect of Fang Prefecture (房州, in modern

Shiyan Shiyan ( zh, s=十堰 , p=Shíyàn) is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei, China, bordering Henan to the northeast, Chongqing to the southwest, and Shaanxi to the north and west. At the 2020 census, its population was 3,209,004 of who ...

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

), but was later recalled to the capital

and given the honorary title of minister of imperial clan affairs (宗正卿), but did not actually run the ministry of imperial clan affairs.

Brief declaration as emperor

In 763, when Emperor Xuanzong's grandson

Emperor Daizong Emperor Daizong of Tang (11 November 726According to Daizong's biography in the ''Old Book of Tang'', he was born on the 13th day in the 12th month of the 14th year of the Kaiyuan era of Tang Xuanzong's reign. This date corresponds to 11 Nov 72 ...

was emperor,

launched an attack against Chang'an, and Emperor Daizong was forced to flee to Shan Prefecture (陝州, in modern

Sanmenxia Sanmenxia ( zh, s= , t= , p=Sānménxiá; Postal romanization, postal: Sanmenhsia) is a prefecture-level city in the west of Henan, Henan Province, China. The westernmost prefecture-level city in Henan, Sanmenxia borders Luoyang to the east, Nanya ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

). On November 18, 763, Tibetan forces entered Chang'an. A Tibetan general who defected from Tang, Gao Hui (高暉), and the Tibetan general

Nganlam Takdra Lukhong Nganlam Takdra Lukhong (, ? – ?), also known as Nganlam Tara Lukhong (), Nganlam Lukhong or Lon Takdra (), was a famous general of the Tibetan Empire who served as '' Lönchen'' during Trisong Detsen's reign. In many Chinese records, his name ...

(''aka'' Ma Chongying, 馬重英) jointly declared Li Chenghong emperor, commissioning over 100 people as imperial officials, including the imperial scholars Yu Kefeng (于可封) and Huo Gui (霍瓌) 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 ...

s. Tibetan forces, however, were unable to force the chancellor

Miao Jinqing Miao Jinqing (苗晉卿) (685–21 May 765), courtesy name Yuanfu (元輔), formally Duke Wenzhen of Han (韓文貞公), was a Chinese politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Emperor Suzong and Emperor ...

, who was unable to flee Chang'an due to illness, to cooperate with Li Chenghong's regime. Soon, with the Tang general

Guo Ziyi Guo Ziyi (Kuo Tzu-i; Traditional Chinese: 郭子儀, Simplified Chinese: 郭子仪, Hanyu Pinyin: Guō Zǐyí, Wade-Giles: Kuo1 Tzu3-i2) (697 – July 9, 781), posthumously Prince Zhōngwǔ of Fényáng (), was a Chinese military general and p ...

mounting a resistance movement, Tibetan forces pillaged the city and departed on November 30, 763. Li Chenghong hid in the wilderness but was recaptured by Guo's forces. Emperor Daizong issued a pardon for him but exiled him to Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern

Weinan Weinan ( zh, s=渭南 , p=Wèinán) is a prefecture-level city in east-Guanzhong, central Shaanxi, Shaanxi province, northwest China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provinc ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

).That Li Chenghong was exiled to Hua Prefecture was per the ''New Book of Tang'', which the ''Zizhi Tongjian'' adopted. His biography in the ''Old Book of Tang'' indicated that he was exiled to Guo Prefecture (虢州, in modern Sanmenxia). Compare ''New Book of Tang'', vol. 81, and ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 223, with ''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 86. He died in Hua Prefecture shortly after.

Notes and references

* ''

''
vol. 86
* ''

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vol. 81
* ''

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. 223. {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Chenghong 760s deaths Emperors of the Tang dynasty Pretenders to the Chinese throne Year of birth unknown