Dynasties of ChinaTang dynastyTang dynasty lineage
Wenming and others · Reign 684—690 / 710—712
He became emperor twice and abdicated twice. First, he was Empress Wu's puppet, and after his restoration, he dealt with Tai Pinggongzhu and Crown Prince.
Li Dan is the eighth son of Gaozong and the youngest son of Wu Zetian. After Zhongzong was deposed in 684, he was established as emperor, but Empress Dowager Wu ruled as regent, so he could only live in a separate palace and not intervene in political affairs. In 690, Empress Wu proclaimed himself emperor, and he was demoted to the imperial heir and changed his surname to Wu; in 693, his concubines Liu and Dou were secretly executed by their mother, and he did not dare to express his grief. After King Luling was reestablished as Crown Prince in 698, he was renamed Prime Minister and was able to survive the dangerous situation in the late Wu Zhou Dynasty.
In 710, the third son Li Longji and Tai Pinggongzhu launched the Tang Long coup. After Wei was killed, he ascended the throne again and established Li Longji as Crown Prince. He has a calm temperament, and most of his political affairs are entrusted to Tai Pinggongzhu and Crown Prince, who fight openly and secretly. In 712, he passed the throne to the Crown Prince on the grounds of a comet warning, claiming to be the Retired Emperor. He was still in charge of the appointment and dismissal of officials above the third rank and major criminal affairs. In 713, after Xuanzong killed Tai Pinggongzhu's followers, he handed over all his power and died of illness in 716.
PoliticsFirst accession to the throne
In February, Zhongzong ascended the throne after being deposed and changed the Yuan Dynasty civilization. However, Empress Dowager Wu ruled as regent and Ruizong lived in a separate palace and was not allowed to interfere in political affairs. He was actually a puppet.
Politicsgive way to mother
Before Empress Wu proclaimed herself emperor, Ruizong took the initiative to petition for the surname Wu. After Empress Wu changed Tang Dynasty to Empress Zhou, he was demoted to the imperial heir and lived in the East Palace. His etiquette was similar to that of Crown Prince.
PeopleThe second concubine Liu Dou was killed
Tuan'er, a palace maid, falsely accused Concubine Liu and Dou Defei of Ruizong of using witchcraft to curse Empress Wu. The two concubines entered the palace and were secretly executed. The whereabouts of their bodies were unknown. Dou Defei is Li Longji’s biological mother. Li Longji was only nine years old at the time.
PoliticsTang Long's coup reset
In June, Li Longji and Tai Pinggongzhu raised troops to kill Empress Wei and An Legongzhu. Emperor Shang abdicated and Ruizong ascended the throne again. The eldest son, King Li Chengqi of the Song Dynasty, resigned from the throne, so Ruizong established the third son Li Longji, who had made great achievements, as the Crown Prince.
MilitarySet up Hexi Jiedushi
The appointment of He Ba Yansi as the governor of Liangzhou and as the military governor of Hexi is generally regarded as the beginning of the formal establishment of military governors in the Tang Dynasty. After that, Jiedushi gradually established themselves all over the border and took charge of military, political and financial power, laying the groundwork for An Lushan Rebellion.
PoliticsYao Song was demoted
Chief ministers Yao Chong and Song Jingzhu asked Tai Pinggongzhu to be placed in the Eastern Capital, and ordered the kings to serve as governors of other states to stabilize the Eastern Palace. Tai Pinggongzhu was furious after hearing the news, and the Crown Prince was forced to file a memorial to accuse the two of estrangement. Yao and Song were immediately demoted from the capital.
CultureZhujingyun bell
Ruizong personally wrote the inscription for the large bell cast for Jinglong Temple in Chang'an. The inscription contains more than 290 words. The calligraphy has the meaning of seal script, official script and regular script. It is a representative work of casting technology and calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty.
Lasting legacyThe Jingyun Bell is now in the Xi'an Forest of Steles Museum, and its bell recording was once used as the New Year's bell by the Central People's Broadcasting Station.
PoliticsPassing the Crown Prince
The comet appeared in July, and Tai Pinggongzhu asked the magician to say that it was like replacing the old with the new, with the intention of driving a wedge between father and son, but Ruizong decided to pass the throne. In August, Li Longji ascended the throne, and Ruizong became the Retired Emperor, still in charge of the appointment and dismissal of officials above the third rank and major criminal affairs.
PoliticsCongenital coup
In July, Xuanzong took the lead in launching an attack and killed Tai Pinggongzhu's party chief minister Cen Xi, Xiao Zhizhong and others. Tai Pinggongzhu was sentenced to death. The Retired Emperor immediately issued an edict, leaving all military and state affairs to Xuanzong, and he moved to Baifu Palace.
PoliticsDied of illness and buried in Qiao Mausoleum
He died of illness in Chang'an Baifu Hall in June at the age of fifty-five and was buried in Qiaoling (now Fengshan in the northwest of Pucheng County, Shaanxi Province).
Ruizong's sister, the main participant in Tang Long's coup. After Ruizong was restored, his power was overwhelming. Five of the seven chief ministers came from his disciples. They fought for power with Crown Prince Li Longji and were sentenced to death in 713.
Ruizong's eldest son, on the grounds that "if the country is safe, the legitimate elders should come first, and if the country is in danger, merit should be done first", he resolutely resigned from the position of Crown Prince and gave it to Li Longji. Xuanzong treated him with courtesy throughout his life and was given the posthumous title "Emperor Rang" after his death.
After Ruizong was restored, he and Yao Chong were both chief ministers. He eliminated the obliquely appointed officials at the time of Zhongzong and did not avoid powerful people when selecting officials. He was demoted because he asked to suppress Tai Pinggongzhu.
Li Longji's biological mother was falsely accused of witchcraft in 693 and was secretly executed by Wu Zetian. After Xuanzong came to the throne, she was honored as the empress dowager.