Li Ke (; 619 – 10 March 653), posthumously known as the Prince of Yùlín (鬱林王), often known by his greater title as the Prince of Wú (吳王), was an imperial prince 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 ...

. As a highly honored son of Emperor Taizong, he was one time considered a possible candidate 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 ...

after both his older brother

Li Chengqian Li Chéngqián (李承乾) (619 – 5 January 645), courtesy name Gaoming (高明), formally Prince Min of Hengshan (恆山愍王), was a crown prince of the History of China, Chinese Tang dynasty. He was Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Taizong's ...

and younger brother Li Tai were both deposed in 643, but eventually, his younger brother Li Zhi, as a son of Emperor Taizong's wife

Empress Zhangsun Empress Zhangsun (長孫皇后, personal name unknown, presumably Wugou (無垢) (15 March 601 – 28 July 636), formally Empress Wendeshunsheng (文德順聖皇后, literally "the civil, virtuous, serene, and holy empress") or, in short, Empr ...

, was created crown prince and inherited the throne after Emperor Taizong's death in 649 (as Emperor Gaozong), under the insistence of Li Zhi's uncle and Emperor Taizong's brother-in-law

Zhangsun Wuji Zhangsun Wuji (; died 659), courtesy name Fuji (), formally the Duke of Zhao, was a Chinese politician who served as a chancellor in the early Tang dynasty. He was Empress Zhangsun's brother, which made him a brother-in-law of Emperor Taizong ( ...

. Zhangsun, however, detested Li Ke, and in 653, he implicated Li Ke in a plot by the official Fang Yi'ai (房遺愛) and had Emperor Gaozong order Li Ke to commit suicide.

Early life

It is not known exactly when Li Ke was born, but he was likely born around 619,This is based on the historical records on the birthdates of his older brother

and younger brother Li Tai, both born around that time as well, although the historical records as to Li Chengqian's and Li Tai's birth dates are themselves in conflict. See those articles for details. as he was the third son of

Li Shimin Emperor Taizong of Tang (28January 59810July 649), previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second Emperor of China, emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder ...

the Prince of Qin, a son of Emperor Gaozu. His mother was Li Shimin's Consort Yang, a daughter of

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 ...

and his wife, Empress Xiao, making Li Ke a

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 ...

imperial legitimate descendant through his mother. Consort Yang would later give birth to a younger brother of Li Ke's, Li Yin (李愔). In 620, Emperor Gaozu created Li Ke the Prince of Changsha, at the same time that his brothers

and Li Tai were also created imperial princes.

During Emperor Taizong's reign

In 626, Li Shimin, in an intense rivalry with his older brother

Li Jiancheng Li Jiancheng (; 589 – July 2, 626, formally Crown Prince Yin (, literally, "the hidden crown prince"), nickname Vaishravana (; Sanskrit: Vaiśravaṇa), was the first crown prince of the Chinese Tang dynasty. He was the oldest son of the foun ...

the

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 ...

and fearing that Li Jiancheng was about to kill him, ambushed Li Jiancheng and another brother,

Li Yuanji Li Yuanji ( Chinese: 李元吉, Pinyin: Lǐ Yuánjí) (603 – 2 July 626), formally Prince La of Chao (巢剌王), more commonly known by the title of Prince of Qi (齊王), nickname Sanhu (三胡), was an imperial prince of the Chinese Tang dy ...

the Prince of Qi, who supported Li Jiancheng, at Xuanwu Gate and killed them. He then effectively forced Emperor Gaozu to first create him crown prince and then yield the throne to him (as Emperor Taizong). He created Li Ke the Prince of Han, and in 627 changed Li Ke's title to Prince of Shu, and while initially he was not commissioned with a post outside 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 ...

, eventually he was made the commandant at Qi Prefecture (齊州, roughly modern

Jinan Jinan is the capital of the province of Shandong in East China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of ...

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 ...

). In 636, his title was changed to Prince of Wu, and he was made the commandant at An Prefecture (安州, roughly modern

Xiaogan Xiaogan ( zh, s=孝感, p=Xiàogǎn) is a prefecture-level city in east-central Hubei province, People's Republic of China, some northwest of the provincial capital of Wuhan. According to the 2020 census, its population totaled 4,270,371, of whom ...

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 ...

). While at An Prefecture, in 637 Li Ke often out on hunt, damaged people's houses and many farmland, the assistant imperial censor Liu Fan (柳范) submitted an accusation. As a result, Li Ke received excoriation from his father, and was removed from his post, and 300 households were removed from his fief. In 643, with Li Chengqian, then crown prince, and Li Tai, locked in an intense rivalry, Li Chengqian plotted to overthrow Emperor Taizong and was deposed. Emperor Taizong initially wanted to make Li Tai crown prince, but soon, believing that Li Tai's machinations were responsible for Li Chengqian's downfall, exiled Li Tai as well and created their younger brother, his ninth son Li Zhi the Prince of Jin, the new crown prince, believing Li Zhi to be kind. (Li Chengqian, Li Tai, and Li Zhi were all born of Emperor Taizong's wife

.) Later, however, he began to believe that Li Zhi's personality was too weak and worried that he would not be appropriate as an emperor, he showed this his worry once, said he may considered making Li Ke crown prince instead. Li Zhi's uncle

opposed this immediately, and Emperor Taizong did not do so, but an enmity thereafter developed between Zhangsun Wuji and Li Ke.

During Emperor Gaozong's reign

Emperor Taizong died in 649 and was succeeded by Li Zhi (as Emperor Gaozong). As the emperor's older brother, Li Ke was given the highly honored, although without actual power, position of ''Sikong'' (司空), and made the commandant at Liang Prefecture (梁州, roughly modern

Hanzhong Hanzhong ( zh, s= , t= , l=middle of the Han River (Hubei), Han River; abbreviation: Han) is a prefecture-level city in Southern Shaanxi, the southwest of Shaanxi, Shaanxi province, China, bordering the provinces of Sichuan to the south and Gans ...

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 ...

). In 652, Emperor Gaozong's sister Princess Gaoyang, Princess Gaoyang's husband Fang Yi'ai (son of the deceased

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 ...

Fang Xuanling Fang Qiao (579 – 18 August 648), courtesy name Xuanling, better known as Fang Xuanling (), posthumously known as Duke Wenzhao of Liang, was a Chinese statesman and writer who served as a chancellor under Emperor Taizong in the early Tang dyna ...

), the general Xue Wanche (薛萬徹), Emperor Gaozong's uncle Li Yuanjing (李元景) the Prince of Jing, and another brother-in-law Chai Lingwu (柴令武), were accused of a treasonous plot to overthrow Emperor Gaozong and make Li Yuanjing emperor. Fang Yi'ai knew that Zhangsun feared and was jealous of Li Ke and had long wanted to find a way to kill Li Ke to remove any hopes from the people that Li Ke would become emperor. He therefore claimed that Li Ke was part of the plot as well, hoping to ingratiate Zhangsun sufficiently to be spared. In spring 653, Emperor Gaozong, at Zhangsun's urging, issued an edict to execute Fang Yi'ai, Xue, and Chai, while ordering Li Yuanjing, Li Ke, and Princesses Gaoyang and Baling (Chai's wife) to commit suicide. (Emperor Gaozong initially wanted to spare Li Yuanjing and Li Ke, but did not do so when Cui Dunli the minister of defense opposed it.) When Li Ke was about to do so, he cursed Zhangsun, stating: Zhangsun also had Consort Yang and Li Yin reduced to commoner rank and exiled to Ba Prefecture (巴州, roughly modern

Bazhong Bazhong () is a prefecture-level city in north-eastern Sichuan province, China. Its population was 2,712,894 at the 2020 census whom 1,064,766 lived in Bazhou and Enyang urban districts. As of the end of 2022, the resident population of Bazhong Ci ...

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

), and Li Ke's four sons, Li Ren (李仁), Li Wei (李瑋), Li Kun (李琨), and Li Jing (李璄) were exiled to the modern

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

region. Li Ke's young fourth daughter was sent to Xianling (tomb of

Emperor Gaozu of Tang Emperor Gaozu of Tang (7 April 566 – 25 June 635), born Li Yuan, courtesy name Shude, was the founding Emperor of China, emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, reigning from 618 to 626 CE. Under the Sui dynasty, Li Yuan was the governor in t ...

) to be kept under house arrest till 689, upon which time she was created Princess Xin'an. In 660, after Zhangsun's own downfall (at the hands of Emperor Gaozong's wife Empress Wu and her associates), Li Ke was posthumously created the Prince of Yulin, but was not given a

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. ...

, nor was his son permitted to inherit the title; rather, Li Rong (李榮), the grandson of Li Xiaogong the Prince of Hejian, was adopted into Li Ke's line and took the title of Marquess of Yulin. Eventually, however, after Li Rong was deposed for an unrelated reason, Li Ren (later known as Li Qianli (李千里)) was permitted to inherit the title, and around 705, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong's son Emperor Zhongzong, Li Ke was posthumously honored again with the title of ''Sikong'' and reburied with honor.

Personal information

''Consort and their respective issue(s):'' *Princess Consort of Wu, of Yang clan of Hongnong (吳王妃弘農楊氏), his cousin *Concubine, of the Lanling Xiao (蘭陵蕭氏) **Li Kun, Prince of Wu (吳王李琨), 3rd son *Unknowm **Li Ren, Prince of Cheng (城王李仁), 1st son **Li Wei, Prince of Langling (朗陵王李瑋), 2nd son **Li Jing, Prince of Guizheng (歸政郡王李璄), 4th son **Princess Xin'an, fourth daughter (b. 648, d. 717), 1st daughter ***Married Yuan Sizhong (元思忠), descendant of Tuoba Huang and had issue (three sons

Ancestry

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Ke 619 births 653 deaths Tang dynasty imperial princes Emperor Taizong of Tang