Li Jingda (; 924–971
['']Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms
The ''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese title ''Shiguo Chunqiu'' (), is a history of the Ten Kingdoms that existed in southern China after the fall of the Tang dynasty and before the reunification of China ...
'', vol. 19.), né Xu Jingda (徐景達),
courtesy name
A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...
Zitong (子通), nickname Yushi (雨師),
posthumous name
A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...
Crown Prince Zhaoxiao (昭孝太弟), was an imperial prince (but not
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 ...
) of the
Southern Tang dynasty of China.
Background
Xu Jingda was born in 924, as the fourth son of his parents
Xu Zhigao and
Lady Song Fujin. (Older than he were
Xu Jingtong,
Xu Jingqian, and
Xu Jingsui; a younger half-brother, Li Jingti (), born of Lady Zhong, would be born later.) At that time, Xu Zhigao was newly made the junior regent for the state of
Wu, and there happened to be a severe drought, causing Xu Zhigao much distress. He sacrificed for rain, and it happened that Xu Jingda was born that day. Xu Zhigao was happy and believed his birth to be a good omen, and therefore gave him the nickname of Yushi (meaning, "army of rain"). As he grew in childhood, it was said that he had an impressive appearance and a direct, magnanimous disposition, unlike other children, and Xu Zhigao much favored him.
[ At some point, he married a daughter of the senior Wu general Li Decheng.][''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', vol. 7.]
During Li Bian's reign
In 937, Xu Zhigao, then regent, had Wu's emperor Yang Pu yield the throne to him, ending Wu and starting a new state of Southern Tang. While Xu Jingda's older brothers Xu Jingtong (whose name was then changed to Xu Jing) and Xu Jingsui were given princely titles later that year, Xu Jingda initially was not, but was only given the title of Duke of Shouyang. (The other older brother, Xu Jingqian, had died shortly before the state transition due to illness.)['']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. 281. In 939, he, and the rest of his family, took the family name of Li, which was his father's birth name. (Xu Zhigao also took a new personal name and became known as Li Bian.) Li Jingda received a princely title shortly after — variously referred to as Prince of Xuancheng[''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 282.] or Prince of Xin.[ As a result of the name change, a controversy developed over whether he could remain married to his wife Princess Li, as a marriage between two people of the same family name was disallowed under Chinese traditions against endogamy. Li Bian decreed that due to Li Decheng's great accomplishments, the marriage shall remain valid, and that the princess was to take on the new family name of Nanping (as her father Li Decheng carried the title of Prince of Nanping).][ Throughout the years, Li Bian, impressed by Li Jingda's open disposition, had considered making him the heir to the throne, and 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 Qiqiu had also often praised his talent. However, Li Bian hesitated, and eventually did not do so, because Li Jing was older.[''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 283.] (Still, Li Jing was never created 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 ...
, although his title of Prince of Qi was ceremonially greater than any other prince's as it was a title that both Li Bian and his adoptive father Xu Wen, who was Li Bian's predecessor as regent, had carried (in Xu Wen's case, posthumously).)[''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 276.]
During Li Jing's reign
Li Bian died in 943, and Li Jing succeeded him as emperor. Li Jing created Li Jingda the greater title of Prince of E. Li Jingda apparently also received additional titles of defender of the eastern capital 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 ...
), military governor of Tianping Circuit (天平, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong
Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...
— a completely honorary office as Tianping was then the territory of Southern Tang's northern neighbor Later Jin), and honorary chancellor title of ''Shizhong'' ().[
Later in the year, believing that it was Li Bian's wish, Li Jing publicly declared his intent to eventually pass the throne, in order, to Li Jingsui and Li Jingda. He thus gave the title of Prince of Qi to Li Jingsui and had Li Jingsui move into the eastern palace — the traditional residence for crown princes, although Li Jingsui did not receive that title at that time — and gave Li Jingsui's old title, Prince of Yan, to Li Jingda. Li Jingsui and Li Jingda also, respectively, were made the generalissimo of the armies of all circuits and deputy generalissimo. They tried to decline these honors, but Li Jing would not let them.][
Meanwhile, by 945, Song Qiqiu was in retirement, but unhappily so.][''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 285.] In 945, Li Jingda's staff member Xie Zhongxuan () argued to Li Jingda that leaving Song, whose reputation as a top adviser to LI Bian was well-known, in retirement would merely cause the people to be disappointed. Li Jingda relayed Xie's arguments to Li Jing, who agreed, and therefore had Li Jingda go see Song to recall him to the imperial government.[
In 947, Li Jing formally created Li Jingsui crown prince. He gave the Prince of Qi title to Li Jingda, and the Prince of Yan title that Li Jingda carried to his (Li Jing's) oldest son Li Hongji, who previously was Prince of Nanchang. Li Jingda and Li Hongji were also made generalissimo and deputy generalissimo, respectively. Meanwhile, in the frequent feasts that Li Jing had with family members and close associates, Li Jing's close associates Feng Yanji, Feng Yanlu (), Wei Cen (), and Chen Jue spent much time in flattery and inappropriate humor, drawing frequent rebukes from the stern Li Jingda. On one occasion, Feng Yanji, who actually had no part in Li Jing's plan to eventually pass the throne to Li Jingsui and Li Jingda, wanted to nevertheless create the impression that he was involved, to draw gratitude from the two princes. He thus pretended to be drunk, and he caressed Li Jingda's back and stated, "You should not forget me!" Li Jingda, finding this inappropriate, was incensed, and he immediately went to see Li Jing, requesting Feng's execution. Li Jing had to spend much time dissuading him. The official Zhang Yi (), however, later pointed out to Li Jingda that his repeated attempts to remove Li Jing's close associates were not having the effect that he wanted, and might create incentive for them to falsely accuse him. Li Jingda saw Zhang's point and agreed; after that, he often declined to attend feasts to avoid conflict with Li Jing's associates.][''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 286.]
In 956, Southern Tang was under a major attack by its northern neighbor Later Zhou (which had succeeded Later Jin's successor state Later Han). Li Jing commissioned Li Jingda to command the main Southern Tang army to face the main Later Zhou army, commanded by the Later Zhou emperor Guo Rong. However, he also commissioned Chen as Li Jingda's army monitor, and Chen became effectively in command. (The official Han Xizai tried to argue against this, pointing out that there was no one more trusted and honored than Li Jingda, and that having an army monitor was inappropriate.)[''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 293.] Indeed, it was said that because Li Jingda lacked talent in military matters,[ he essentially was only signing orders that Chen had already decided on, and that the army had low morale as a result. In particular, one of the tasks that Li Jingda's army, 50,000-men strong, was supposed to carry out was to relieve the Later Zhou siege on the important border city Shou Prefecture (壽州, in modern Lu'an, ]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 ...
), but while the army advanced to Hao Prefecture (濠州, in modern Chuzhou
Chuzhou () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Anhui Provinces of China, Province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the south and southwest, Huainan to the west, Bengbu to the northwest, and the province of Jiangsu to the ...
, 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 ...
), not far from Shou, it did not advance further to actually engage the Later Zhou sieging army. He did dispatch some generals to make repeated attempts to advance toward Shou, but each time was repelled by the Later Zhou forces. He also rejected the proposal by Shou's commander Liu Renzhan () for Liu to lead his army out of the city for a pitched battle with the Later Zhou army. Faced with the continuing siege, Liu fell ill. Further, at this time, Chen tried to strip the successful, but often disobedient general Zhu Yuan () of his command, causing Zhu to surrender to Later Zhou and further weakening the Southern Tang position. A final attempt by Li Jingda's army to assault the Later Zhou sieging army resulted in a crushing defeat for Southern Tang, with the generals Xu Wenzhen (), Bian Hao, and Yang Shouzhong () all captured. Li Jingda and Chen had to flee back to the capital Jinling. With Liu near death from his illness, the Southern Tang garrison at Shou surrendered.[
In light of the mounting defeats, Li Jingsui, who had previously declined the crown prince position, again offered to yield the position, pointing out that he was unable to aid the state while Li Hongji, who was in charge of the southeastern front with Wuyue (which, as a Later Zhou vassal state, had tried to invade Southern Tang as well but had been repelled by Li Hongji's subordinate Chai Zaiyong (). Li Jingda also offered to resign as generalissimo. Li Jing agreed this time, creating Li Hongji crown prince to replace Li Jingsui, while sending Li Jingsui and Li Jingda out of the capital to serve as regional governors, as they requested. In Li Jingda's case, he was initially given the titles of generalissimo of Zhexi (浙西, i.e., Zhenhai Circuit (鎮海, headquartered in modern ]Zhenjiang
Zhenjiang, alternately romanized as Chinkiang, is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, China. It lies on the southern bank of the Yangtze River near its intersection with the Grand Canal. It is opposite Yangzhou (to its north) and ...
, 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 ...
)) as well as the commandant of Zhenhai's capital Run Prefecture (). However, as Zhenhai was then still involved in the campaign against Later Zhou, he declined it, and was thereafter made the commandant of Fu Prefecture (撫州, in modern Fuzhou
Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...
, Jiangxi
; Gan: )
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, mapsize = 275px
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). (Li Jing was eventually able to negotiate a peace agreement with Guo, with Southern Tang formally becoming a vassal state to Later Zhou and ceding all of its territory north of the Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
to Later Zhou.)[''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 294.] It was said that after the defeat at Shou, Li Jingda spent much of his time in drinking, and that, at Fu Prefecture, he did not attend much to the governance of the circuit (i.e., Zhaowu Circuit (), headquartered at Fu) and entrusted the matters to his staff members.[
]
During Li Yu's reign
Li Jing died in 961, and was succeeded by his son Li Congjia, who then changed his name to Li Yu.['' Xu Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 2.] (Li Hongji had died earlier, and was succeeded as crown prince by Li Congjia, who was his younger brother.)[ Li Yu bestowed on Li Jingda the additional honorary titles of ''Taishi'' () and ''Shangshu Ling'' (), showing great respect to him.][
Li Jingda died in 971. By his own wishes, he was buried at Mount Lu. Li Yu posthumously honored him crown prince.][
]
Notes and references
* ''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms
The ''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese title ''Shiguo Chunqiu'' (), is a history of the Ten Kingdoms that existed in southern China after the fall of the Tang dynasty and before the reunification of China ...
'', vol. 19.
* ''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. 281, 282, 283, 285, 286, 293, 294.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Jingda
924 births
971 deaths
Politicians from Yangzhou
Generals from Jiangsu
Yang Wu people
Southern Tang imperial princes
Zhenhai jiedushi
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Taoists
Southern Tang jiedushi
Tianping jiedushi