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Emperor Zhaozong of Tang () (March 31, 867 – September 22, 904), né Li Jie (李傑), name later changed to Li Min (李敏), yet later name changed to Li Ye (李曄), was the penultimate emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China. He reigned from 888 to 904 (although he was briefly deposed by the eunuch Liu Jishu in 900 and restored in 901). Zhaozong was the seventh son of Emperor Yizong of Tang and younger brother of Emperor Xizong of Tang. During Emperor Zhaozong's reign, Tang Dynasty fell into total disarray and rebellions, which had been ongoing since the reign of his older brother Emperor Xizong, broke out throughout the country while the imperial government's authority effectively disappeared. In the midst of all this, Emperor Zhaozong tried to salvage the dying dynasty. His efforts to reassert imperial power, however, generally backfired, as his unsuccessful campaigns against Li Keyong, Chen Jingxuan, and Li Maozhen, merely allowed Li Keyong and Li Maozhen to reaffirm their power by prevailing over imperial forces, while Chen was merely conquered and replaced by Wang Jian. Eventually, the major warlord Zhu Quanzhong seized control of the imperial government and in 904 had Emperor Zhaozong killed as the prelude of taking over the Tang throne. Zhu also killed many of Emperor Zhaozong's ministers, including the chancellor, Cui Yin. Zhu then placed Zhaozong's 13-year-old son as a puppet emperor (as Emperor Ai). (By 907, Zhu himself took over the throne, ending Tang and starting a new Later Liang.) Emperor Zhaozong's reign lasted almost 16 years and he was buried in Heling (和陵). He was 37. == Background == Li Jie was born in 867, during the reign of his father Emperor Yizong, in the eastern palace at the imperial capital Chang'an.〔 His mother was Emperor Yizong's concubine Consort Wang, who was said to have come from a humble background and whose rank within the palace was not recorded. She appeared to have died shortly after giving birth to Li Jie.〔''New Book of Tang'', vol. 77.〕 (As Li Jie was also said to have been from the same mother as his older brother Li Yan,〔 whose mother was a different Consort Wang, it might have been that he was raised by Li Yan's mother.〔) In 872, Emperor Yizong created Li Jie the Prince of Shou. In 877, by which time Li Yan (named Li Xuan by this point) was emperor (as Emperor Xizong), Li Jie was given the honorary titles of ''Kaifu Yitong Sansi'' (開府儀同三司), commandant at You Prefecture (幽州, in modern Beijing), and military governor (''Jiedushi'') of Lulong Circuit (盧龍, headquartered at Beijing).〔 (At that time, Lulong Circuit was actually governed by the warlord Li Keju.〔''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 252.〕) It was said that Li Jie was particularly close to Emperor Xizong since they shared the same mother, and he followed Emperor Xizong in flight from Chang'an from the attack of the agrarian rebels led by Huang Chao in 880.〔〔''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 254.〕 While on this flight, Li Jie, who was then 13, ran out of energy and requested a horse from the eunuch Tian Lingzi, who dominated Emperor Xizong's court; Tian refused and whipped Li Jie's attendant for the request. Li Jie thereafter bore a deep resentment for Tian.〔 In 888, by which time Huang's rebellion had been crushed and the imperial court had returned to Chang'an, Emperor Xizong grew gravely ill. It was said that Emperor Xizong's younger brother and Li Jie's older brother Li Bao (李保) the Prince of Ji was the oldest among Emperor Xizong's surviving brothers and was considered wise, and so the imperial officials wanted him to succeed Emperor Xizong, but the powerful eunuch Yang Fugong (who had succeeded Tian as the surveyor of the eunuch-controlled Shence Armies) wanted Li Jie to succeed Emperor Xizong, so Emperor Xizong issued an edict creating Li Jie crown prince. Shortly after, Emperor Xizong died, and Li Jie, changing his name to Li Min, took the throne as Emperor Zhaozong. During the mourning period, the chancellor Wei Zhaodu served as regent.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Emperor Zhaozong of Tang」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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