Li Chongrun (; 2 March 682 – October 8, 701), né Li Chongzhao (), formally Crown Prince Yide ( ), 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 ...

and

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was List of rulers of China#Tang dynasty, Empress of China from 660 to 705, ruling first through others and later in her own right. She ruled as queen consort , empress consort th ...

's Zhou dynasty. He was the only son of Emperor Zhongzong (Li Zhe/Li Xian) and Emperor Zhongzong's second wife Empress Wei. In 701, he offended his grandmother Wu Zetian by discussing Wu Zetian's lovers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong with his sister

Li Xianhui Princess Yongtai (), born Li Xianhui (); 685 – October 9, 701Chinese-Western Calendar Converter), courtesy name Nonghui (穠輝), was a princess of the Tang dynasty. Biography Li was the seventh daughter of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang and the ...

the Lady Yongtai and her husband Wu Yanji (武延基) the Prince of Wei, and he, along with Li Xianhui and Wu Yanji, were forced to commit suicide. He was posthumously honored 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 his father Emperor Zhongzong was restored to the throne in 705 and in 706, Emperor Zhongzong provided Li Chongrun with an honorable burial by interring his remains at the

Qianling Mausoleum The Qian Mausoleum () is a Tang dynasty (618–907) tomb site located in Qian County, Shaanxi Province, China, and is northwest of Xi'an.Valder (2002), 80. Built in 684 (with additional construction until 706), the tombs of the mausoleum comple ...

During Emperor Gaozong's reign and Emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong's first reigns

Li Chongrun, then named Li Chongzhao, was born in March 682, to then-

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 ...

Li Zhe and Li Zhe's wife Crown Princess Wei. When Li Chongzhao was about two months old, on 7 May 682, Li Zhe's father and mother Emperor Gaozong and

Empress Wu The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as st ...

created Li Chongzhao the unprecedented title of Deputy Crown Prince (皇太孫, ''Huang Taisun'') and gave him a staff. When Emperor Gaozong became ill at the eastern capital

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

late in 683, Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu summoned Li Zhe to Luoyang and 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 ...

, where Li Zhe was previously in charge, nominally under Li Chongzhao, but with 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 ...

Liu Rengui Liu Rengui (劉仁軌) (602 – March 2, 685), courtesy name Zhengze (正則), formally Duke Wenxian of Lecheng (樂城文獻公), was a Chinese military general and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of E ...

actually in charge. Later that year, Emperor Gaozong died, and Li Zhe succeeded him (as Emperor Zhongzong), although Li Zhe's mother

still had all actual power, as

empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother; ) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch, especially in regards to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese monarchs in the Chines ...

. In spring 684, after Emperor Zhongzong showed signs of independence, Empress Dowager Wu deposed him and reduced him to the title of Prince of Lulin, replacing him with Li Chongzhao's uncle Li Dan the Prince of Yu (as Emperor Ruizong). Shortly thereafter, Li Chongzhao was reduced to commoner rank. It is not completely clear, but he appeared to have been exiled with his parents to Jun Prefecture (均州, 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 ...

). It might have been around that time that he was renamed to Li Chongrun, to observe

naming taboo A naming taboo is a cultural taboo against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons, notably in China and within the Chinese cultural sphere. It was enforced by several laws throughout Imperial China, but its cultural and possibly ...

of Empress Dowager Wu's personal name.

During Wu Zetian's reign

Meanwhile, in 690, Li Chongrun's grandmother Empress Dowager Wu forced his uncle Emperor Ruizong to yield the throne to her, interrupting Tang dynasty and establishing her own Zhou dynasty with her as "emperor" (thereafter known as Wu Zetian). In 698, under the advice of the chancellor

Di Renjie Di Renjie (630 – November 11, 700), courtesy name Huaiying (懷英), posthumous name Duke Wenhui of Liang (梁文惠公), was a Chinese politician of the Tang dynasty, Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties, twice serving as Chancellor of the Tang dynas ...

, she recalled Li Zhe to Luoyang, which had been made capital. Soon thereafter, Li Dan, who had been made crown prince when he yielded the throne, offered to yield the position of crown prince to Li Zhe. Wu Zetian agreed, and created Li Zhe crown prince, changing his personal name to Xian and further changing his surname to Wu. She created Li Chongrun the Prince of Shao. As of 701, in her old age, Wu Zetian had allowed her lovers

Zhang Yizhi Zhang Yizhi (張易之; died February 20, 705),Both volume 207 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' and Wu Zetian's biography in volume 4 of ''New Book of Tang'' recorded that the Shenglong Coup took place on the ''guimao'' day of the 1st month of the 1st year of ...

and

Zhang Changzong Zhang Yizhi (張易之; died February 20, 705),Both volume 207 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'' and Wu Zetian's biography in volume 4 of ''New Book of Tang'' recorded that the Shenglong Coup took place on the ''guimao'' day of the 1st month of the 1st year of ...

to handle much of the affairs of state. Li Chongrun was not pleased with this state of affairs, and had discussed the issue with his sister

the Lady Yongtai and her husband Wu Yanji the Prince of Wei (Wu Zetian's grandnephew). This discussion was somehow leaked,Li Chongrun's mother Empress Wei would later accuse his brother Li Chongfu of leaking the information, although there appears to be no particular evidence Li Chongfu did so, and in the ''Zizhi Tongjian'', it was asserted that her accusation against Li Chongfu was false. See ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 208. and Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong complained to Wu Zetian. In anger, she ordered that the three of them be forced to commit suicide (or, possibly, be caned to death). It was said that Li Chongrun was handsome, filially pious, and caring for his siblings, and that his death was much mourned by the people. In 705, after Emperor Zhongzong was restored to the throne after a coup, he ordered that Li Chongrun and Li Xianhui be reburied with honors usually only due emperors, near the tomb of Emperor Gaozong. He also posthumously honored Li Chongrun as Crown Prince Yide and Li Xianhui as Princess Yongtai. He had the deceased daughter of the official Pei Cui (裴粹) be posthumously married to Li Chongrun and had her buried with Li Chongrun.

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.86. * ''

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.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 ...

'', vols.

203 Year 203 ( CCIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Plautianus and Geta (or, less frequently, year 956 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 203 for this ye ...

207 Year 207 (Roman numerals, CCVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Maximus and Severus (or, less frequently, year 960 ''Ab urbe condita''). The deno ...

208 Year 208 ( CCVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Geta (or, less frequently, year 961 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 208 for this year ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yide, Prince Tang dynasty imperial princes 682 births 701 deaths People executed by the Tang dynasty 8th-century executions by the Tang dynasty Chinese crown princes who never acceded