Li Cou (; died February 10, 835), formally Crown Prince Huaiyi (懷懿太子), 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 ...

who became implicated in an alleged plot that the

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 ...

Song Shenxi was supporting him to be emperor. He was, as a result, demoted by his brother Emperor Wenzong. After his death, Emperor Wenzong, coming to believe that the allegations were false, posthumously honored him as

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 ...

Background

It is not known when Li Cou was born — but as his youngest known older brother, Li Han (the later Emperor Wenzong), was born in 809, and his eldest known younger brother Li Rong was born in 812, he must have been born between these points. He was the sixth son of Emperor Muzong, although the identity of his mother had been lost to history.''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 175.''

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. He was said to be mild in temperament and appropriate in his behavior in his youth. In 821, when Emperor Muzong created his sons, as well as a number of younger brothers who had not been created titles, imperial princes, Li Cou was created the Prince of Zhang.

The Song Shenxi incident

By 831, an older brother of Li Cou's, Emperor Wenzong, was emperor. Emperor Wenzong, apprehensive of how much control the powerful

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

s had on his government at the time, had been planning with the

Song Shenxi a way to eliminate the powerful eunuchs. As part of the plan, Song recommended Wang Fan (王璠) to be the mayor of Jingzhao Municipality (京兆, i.e., the region of 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 ...

) and informed him of the plan. Wang Fan, instead, leaked the plan, and the powerful eunuch

Wang Shoucheng Wang Shoucheng (王守澄) (died November 3, 835) was a powerful eunuch of the Tang dynasty of China, wielding substantial powers during the reigns of Emperor Xianzong, Emperor Muzong, Emperor Jingzong, and Emperor Wenzong. By 835, however, two ...

and Wang Shoucheng's strategist

Zheng Zhu Zheng Zhu (鄭注; died December 18, 835Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter./ref>''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 245.), probably né Yu Zhu (魚注), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He became a trusted advisor to Emperor ...

learned of the plan. Zheng reacted by ordering the

Shence Army The Shence Army () was a military formation of the Tang dynasty established in 754 by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Based in Chang'an, it formed the core of the Imperial Guards, an elite military formation responsible for protecting the emperor. The ...

officer Doulu Zhu (豆盧著) to falsely accuse Song of plotting treason to put Li Cou on the throne. When Wang Shoucheng relayed the accusation to Emperor Wenzong, Emperor Wenzong believed it and was angry. Wang Shoucheng initially wanted to take this opportunity to massacre Song's household, but was stopped by another powerful eunuch, Ma Cunliang (馬存亮). However, during the subsequent investigations by Shence Army officers, after an attendant official to the imperial princes, Yan Jingze (晏敬則), and Song's associate Wang Shiwen (王師文) were tortured and confessed to serving as conduits for messages between Song and Li Cou, Song was found to be guilty and was set to be executed. The advisorial officials Cui Xuanliang (崔玄亮),

Li Guyan Li Guyan (李固言), courtesy name Zhongshu (仲樞), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty, serving two terms as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Wenzong. Background and early career It is not clear when Li Guyan was born.The Chi ...

, Wang Zhi (王質), Lu Jun (盧均), Shu Yuanbao (舒元褒), Jiang Xi (蔣係), Pei Xiu (裴休), and Wei Wen (韋溫) urged caution, however, believed there were substantial questions in the matter and urged a reinvestigation by imperial government officials. The chancellor

Niu Sengru Niu Sengru (; 780 – January 27, 849Li Jue (Tang dynasty), Li Jue, ''Commemorative Text for the Spirit Tablet for the Deceased Chancellor, ''Taizi Shaoshi'', Posthumously-Honored ''Taiwei'', Lord Niu'', collected in ''All Tang Texts'' (全唐文)v ...

also took the same view. Zheng, fearing that a reinvestigation would lead to discovery of the truth, suggested to Wang Shoucheng that he recommend to Emperor Wenzong that neither Song nor Li Cou be executed. Li Cou was thus demoted to the title of Duke of Chao County (巢縣, in modern

Chaohu Chaohu () is a county-level city of Anhui Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hefei. Situated on the northeast and southeast shores of Lake Chao, from which the city was named, Chaohu is under the adm ...

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

) while Song was demoted to be the military advisor to the prefect of Kai Prefecture (開州, in modern

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

). (There was suggestion in Li Cou's biography in the ''Old Book of Tang'' that Li Cou might have been ordered to report to Chao County and given 10 houses there, although the edict assured that there would be no additional punishment (e.g., forced suicide) coming.)

Aftermaths

In 835, Li Cou died, and was posthumously created the Prince of Qi. In 836, after Emperor Wenzong came to believe that Song Shenxi was innocent of wrongdoing, he ordered Song's posthumous rehabilitation. In 838, he further ordered that Li Cou be posthumously honored Crown Prince Huaiyi.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 246.

Notes and 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. 175. * ''

'', 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.

241 Year 241 ( CCXLI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Gordianus and Pompeianus by the Romans (or, less frequently, year 994 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...

244 __NOTOC__ Year 244 ( CCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Armenius and Aemilianus (or, less frequently, year 997 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 2 ...

245 __NOTOC__ Year 245 ( CCXLV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Philippus and Titianus (or, less frequently, year 998 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination ...

246 __NOTOC__ Year 246 ( CCXLVI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 246th Year of the Common Era ( CE) and Anno Domini ( AD) designations, the 246th year of the 1st millennium, the 46th year of the 3rd century, and t ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Li Cou 9th-century births 835 deaths Tang dynasty imperial princes