Emperor Zhongzong of Tang
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, personal name Li Xian, and at other times Li Zhe or Wu Xian, was the fourth and seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling briefly in 684 and again from 705 to 710. During the first period, he did not have actual power, which was in the hands of his mother, Empress Wu Zetian and he was overthrown on her orders after opposing his mother. During his second reign, most of the power was in the hands of his consort Empress Wei.
Emperor Zhongzong was the son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Empress Wu, and during the reign of his father, Emperor Zhongzong's mother Empress Wu, not Emperor Gaozong, was in actual control of power as empress consort and power behind the emperor. He succeeded his father in 684, But as emperor, he had no true power, and all authority remained in the firm hands of his mother, Empress Dowager Wu. His mother, however, deposed him less than two months later in favor of his younger brother Emperor Ruizong. The former emperor, demoted to a princely rank, was exiled to the provinces and placed under house arrest. Six years later, Emperor Ruizong relinquished the throne to his mother and Empress Dowager Wu officially proclaimed herself empress regnant, while Emperor Ruizong was made crown prince.
By 698, the court was caught in the middle of a bitter power struggle. In an attempt to secure her prominence, Empress Wu liberated the former emperor from his 14 years of seclusion and recalled him to the capital in April 698. He was reinstated as crown prince in October 698, taking his brother's place. On 20 February 705, a palace coup deposed Wu Zetian and Emperor Zhongzong was restored as emperor three days later. Emperor Zhongzong reigned for five years but was a totally weak, carefree, cowardly, shy, henpecked weakling and easily influenced ruler. Thus, real power was in the hands of his empress consort, Empress Wei and her lover Wu Sansi and his daughter Li Guo'er, the Princess Anle. He was relatively similar to his father. Of course, Emperor Gaozong was able to make decisions, although he did it slowly in government affairs, but various debilitating diseases until his death became the main reason for handing over power to his wife Empress Wu. In contrast, Emperor Zhongzong likely had depression due to his long duration under house arrest; this encouraged him to hand over power to his wife and daughter.
In 710, Emperor Zhongzong died, allegedly poisoned by Empress Wei, who then installed his son, Li Chongmao, as Emperor Shang. Empress Wei, who had failed to install her daughter Li Guo'er, the Princess Anle, as heir to Emperor Zhongzong, thought that Li Chongmao, born of Zhongzong and a concubine and who was only 16 years old, would be easy to control and allow her to preserve her power. The scheme failed, however, when Princess Taiping, the sister of Emperor Zhongzong, launched a coup two weeks later with her nephew Li Longji, son of the abdicated Emperor Ruizong, and overthrew Empress Wei and the young emperor. Emperor Ruizong, the father of Li Longji and the older brother of Princess Taiping, was restored as emperor.
Background
Li Xiǎn was born in 656, as the seventh son of his father Emperor Gaozong and the third son of his mother, Emperor Gaozong's second wife Empress Wu. In 657, he was created the Prince of Zhou and nominally made the prefect of the eastern capital prefecture Luo Prefecture. In 661, when his older brother Li Xián the Prince of Pei had the literarily-talented official Wang Bo on staff, the princes were apparently often engaged in cockfighting. Wang Bo wrote a playful piece entitled the Declaration Against the Prince of Zhou's Cock, which, however, when Emperor Gaozong read it, caused Emperor Gaozong to be angry, as he believed this would cause discord between his sons, and therefore expelled Wang from the Pei mansion. However, in 674, a similar incident happened by Emperor Gaozong's own instigation—as, at an imperial feast, he divided the imperial musicians into two teams and had Li Xián and Li Xiǎn lead the two teams in competition—although he stopped when the chancellor Hao Chujun pointed out the potential for rivalry.Meanwhile, during the years that Li Xiǎn was the Prince of Zhou, he had married a daughter of his grandaunt the Princess Changle and her husband, the general Zhao Gui, as his wife and princess. Emperor Gaozong had often shown favors to Princess Changle, and this displeased Empress Wu. In 675, on account of this, she had Princess Zhao accused of crimes and put into solitary confinement at the bureau of eunuchs. She was given raw vegetables and raw meat for her to cook them herself. However, sometime later, the kitchen stopped to have smoke and steam come out of it, and when Empress Wu had her confinement house opened, Princess Zhao was seen dead inside, having starved to death. Empress Wu also demoted Zhao Gui to be the prefect of Kuo Prefecture and ordered Princess Changle to accompany her husband to Kuo Prefecture, and further ordered that neither Zhao Gui nor Princess Changle would be allowed to enter the palace.
In 676, when the Tibetan Empire attacked Tang's western prefectures, Li Xiǎn and his younger brother Li Lun, the Prince of Xiang, were nominally put in charge of the two armies that were actually commanded by the generals Liu Shenli and Qibi Heli, but neither Li Xiǎn nor Li Lun actually set out with the troops.
In 677, Li Xiǎn had his title changed to Prince of Ying. His name was also changed to Li Zhe. He was also made the prefect of the capital prefecture Yong Prefecture.
By 680, Li Xián, who was then crown prince, had lost Empress Wu's favor. After she suspected him of having had her trusted sorcerer Ming Chongyan assassinated, she had him investigated for treason, and subsequently, he was found guilty. He was reduced to commoner rank and exiled, and Li Zhe was created crown prince to replace him. Hao Chujun and another chancellor, Liu Rengui, were made his senior advisors. Emperor Gaozong also recruited the famed hermit scholar Tian Youyan to serve as an advisor, although Tian would later draw criticism from others for not having any actual good advice for the crown prince.
First stint as crown prince
In 681, after Emperor Gaozong had become ill after consuming pills made by alchemists, Empress Wu rarely allowed anyone to meet with Emperor Gaozong, and all important matters were resolved in the Central Palace, he had Li Zhe briefly exercise imperial powers, also, the chancellors aligned with Empress Wu were also responsible for helping him.In 682, Li Zhe's second wife, Crown Princess Wei, gave birth to a son, Li Chongzhao. Emperor Gaozong was pleased, and he created Li Chongzhao the unprecedented title of "Deputy Crown Prince". Later that year, due to a famine in the Guanzhong region, Emperor Gaozong took up residence at the eastern capital Luoyang, leaving Li Zhe in charge of Chang'an, assisted by the chancellors Liu Rengui, Pei Yan, and Xue Yuanchao. it was said that while Li Zhe was in charge of Chang'an, he often spent his time on games and hunting, and Xue often advised him against spending time in this manner. When Emperor Gaozong heard this, he rewarded Xue and summoned Xue to Luoyang.
In 683, Emperor Gaozong became ill at Luoyang, and he summoned Li Zhe to Luoyang, leaving Li Chongrun nominally in charge of Chang'an, assisted by Liu. After Li Zhe arrived at Luoyang, Emperor Gaozong transferred imperial powers to him, and soon died. Li Zhe took the throne, but actual powers were entire in the hands of Empress Wu, now empress dowager and regent.
First reign: under Empress Dowager Wu's regency and dethronement
After the death of Emperor Gaozong, Emperor Zhongzong ascended the throne, leaving a will on his deathbed which stated:During the mourning period, Pei Yan proposed that the throne be temporarily entrusted to Empress Wu, who was now the empress dowager, until the new emperor's reign and their responsibilities began, as provided for in Emperor Gaozong's will. After the end of mourning, Empress Dowager Wu handed over the throne to Emperor Zhongzong, but she did not hand over the real power, "the great and small affairs of the state depended on the Empress Dowager's decision, not the Emperor's". Emperor Zhongzong, in spring 684, made his wife, Crown Princess Wei, empress consort, and he was very impressed by Empress Wei, and she told him: "You are the Son of Heaven. Why do you have to listen to the Empress Dowager in everything? Do you want to be a puppet emperor?" Emperor Zhongzong felt that what the empress said was reasonable, but there was nothing he could do about it, Empress Wei went on to say: "For now, only by vigorously promoting your own people and cultivating your own power can you compete with the Empress Dowager and formally her government." He was impressed by her words and wanted to make his father-in-law, Wei Xuanzhen Palace Attendant, the head of the Chancellery and a default chancellor. He also wanted to make the son of his wet nurse an official of the fifth rank. Pei Yan resisted both commissions, and Pei told him: "Although Wei Xuanzhen is your wife's father, he has been promoted too fast and I'm afraid it will be difficult to convince the public.". As they argued, Emperor Zhongzong, in anger, remarked, "What would be wrong even if I gave the empire to Wei Xuanzhen? Why would I begrudge him the title of Palace Attendant?"
Pei, in fear, informed Empress Dowager Wu, and she was angry to hear this and said, "This apostate boy treats the Tang Dynasty like a childish game, and it forces me to erase a disaster from the world." Just less than two months after Emperor Zhongzong had taken the throne, Empress Dowager Wu summoned the officials and generals and issued an edict deposing Emperor Zhongzong and reducing him to the title of Prince of Luling. As generals loyal to her physically removed Emperor Zhongzong from the throne, he struggled and asked, "What crime have I committed?" Empress Dowager Wu responded, "You wanted to give the empire to Wei Xuanzhen. How can that not be a crime?" She had him put under arrest, and she made Li Lun, Prince of Yu, the new emperor on 27 February. Li Chongzhao was reduced to commoner rank.