Li Cong () (died 18 June 752), né Li Sizhi (), known as Li Tan () from 725 to 736, posthumously honored Crown Prince Jingde () and then Emperor Fengtian (奉天皇帝, literally, "the emperor who submitted to Heaven"), was an imperial prince of the Chinese

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 ...

. He was the oldest son of Emperor Xuanzong but, despite that status, was never made

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 ...

, bypassed in favor of his younger brothers Li Ying and Li Heng (the later Emperor Suzong). After Li Heng became emperor, he posthumously honored Li Cong as an emperor.

Background

It is not known when Li Sizhi was born, but it is known that he was the oldest son of Li Longji, then the Prince of Linzi under Li Longji's uncle Emperor Zhongzong. His mother Consort Liu, who would eventually receive the imperial consort rank of ''Huafei'' (), the third highest rank for imperial consorts, later bore two more sons for Emperor Xuanzong, Li Wan () the Prince of Rong (né Li Sixuan () and Li Sui () the Prince of Yi (né Li Wei (). In 710, after Li Longji's father Li Dan became emperor (as Emperor Ruizong), Li Longji was created

, and his sons were created princes. Li Sizhi was created the Prince of Xuchang.

During Emperor Xuanzong's reign

In 712, Emperor Ruizong yielded the throne to Li Longji, who took the throne as Emperor Xuanzong. Li Sizhi's title was upgraded to Prince of Tan. In 715, however, he was bypassed for the crown prince position when his younger brother Li Siqian the Prince of Ying was selected, as Li Siqian's mother Consort Zhao was then Emperor Xuanzong's favorite concubine. In 716, Li Sizhi was made the Protectorate General to Pacify the West and received the title of "Comforter of the Non-Han of the Hedong modern Shanxi)">Shanxi.html" ;"title="modern Shanxi">modern Shanxi) Guannei [(i.e., Guanzhong)], and Longyou [(modern eastern Gansu)] Regions" (安撫河東關內隴右諸蕃大使, ''Anfu Hedong Guannei Longyou Zhufan Dashi''), although there was no evidence that he actually left the 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 ...

. In 725, Li Sizhi's name was changed to Li Tan, and his title was changed to Prince of Qing. In 727, Li Tan became the military governor (''

jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (, Old Turkic: Tarduş) or jiedu, was a regional military governor in China; the title was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissi ...

'') of Hexi Circuit (河西, modern central and western Gansu) as well as the commandant at Liang Prefecture (涼州, roughly modern

Wuwei, Gansu Wuwei ( zh, c=武威 , p=Wǔwēi) is a prefecture-level city in northwest central Gansu province. In the north it borders Inner Mongolia, in the southwest, Qinghai. Its central location between three western capitals, Lanzhou, Xining, and Yinc ...

), but, as was the case with 10 other brothers of his who received similar titles, did not actually take up the command. In 736, Li Tan's name was changed to Li Cong. In 737, Li Siqian (the heir), whose name had been changed to Li Ying, was forced to commit suicide after false accusations of treason by Emperor Xuanzong's then-favorite concubine Consort Wu, who wanted her son Li Mao () the Prince of Shou to be crown prince. However, Emperor Xuanzong subsequently selected another son, Li Yu the Prince of Zhong, crown prince, bypassing Li Cong again in the process. Later when Chancellor

Li Linfu Li Linfu () (died January 3, 753), nickname Genu (), formally the Duke of Jin (), was a Chinese historian, musician, and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor for 18 years (734–752), during the reign of Emperor Xuanzon ...

tried to depose the new Crown Prince Li Yu, he tried to persuade Emperor Xuanzong to create Li Cong as Li Cong was the eldest, but Emperor Xuanzong silently replied, "Cong, my eldest son, in early years when he hunted in the imperial garden, his face was hurt and badly injured." The emperor was implying that someone with a disfigured face was not fit to rule, and this might be the reason why Li Cong was always bypassed and never became crown prince. Though Li Linfu still insisted on deposing Li Yu, Emperor Xuanzong never replaced him, as Li Yu always behaved courteously. In 742, Li Cong became military governor of Hedong Circuit.

Posthumous honors

Li Cong died in June 752. Emperor Xuanzong, still emperor at that time, posthumously honored him as Crown Prince Jingde, even though he was never crown prince. As he was sonless, he adopted Li Ying's son Li Qiu (), and Li Qiu inherited his title of Prince of Qing. In 756, Li Yu, whose name was by then changed to Li Heng, became emperor (as Emperor Suzong). Li Cong was further posthumously honored as Emperor Fengtian on 2 February 762, while his wife Princess Dou was posthumously honored as Empress Gongying. They were reburied with honors due to an emperor and empress the next day.Volume 222 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' recorded that Li Cong and Princess Dou received their posthumous honours on the ''jiashen'' day of the ''jianbing'' month of the 1st year of the ''Baoying'' era of Tang Suzong's reign, and was reburied on the ''dingyou'' day of that month; the dates correspond to 2 and 15 Jun 762 in the Julian calendar. ( ��应元年��丙月，甲申，追尊靖德太子琮为奉天皇帝，妃窦氏为恭应皇后，丁酉，葬于齐陵。 ). But, this is likely an error, as Emperor Suzong had already passed away by then. Emperor Suzong's biography in vol.06 of ''New Book of Tang'' recorded the dates as the ''jiashen'' and ''yiyou'' days of the ''jianyin'' month of the same year; the dates correspond to 2 and 3 Feb 762 in the Julian calendar. (宝应元年建寅月甲申，追册靖德太子琮为皇帝，妃窦氏为皇后。乙酉，葬王公妃主遇害者。)

Notes

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. 107
* ''

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. 82
* ''

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 ...

'', vols. 210,

211 Year 211 ( CCXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, in the Roman Empire it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Terentius and Bassus (or, less frequently, year 964 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomin ...

212 Year 212 ( CCXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asper and Camilius (or, less frequently, year 965 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 212 for this ye ...

213 Year 213 ( CCXIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time (in Rome), it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Calvinus (or, less frequently, year 966 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 213 ...

, 214,

216 __NOTOC__ Year 216 ( CCXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sabinus and Anullinus (or, less frequently, year 969 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 216 f ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Cong 752 deaths Tang dynasty jiedushi of Hexi Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Hedong Circuit Tang dynasty imperial princes Year of birth unknown Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Taizi taishi (Tang dynasty)