Li Congyi


Li Congyi , known as the Prince of Xu, was an imperial prince of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Tang. He was the youngest son of its second emperor Li Siyuan. In the confusion of the destruction of Later Tang's successor state Later Jin, he was forced into claiming imperial title by Xiao Han, a general of the Khitan Liao Dynasty, and was subsequently killed by Liu Zhiyuan, the founder of the succeeding Later Han.

During Later Tang

Li Congyi was born in 931. He was Li Siyuan's youngest son, and the only one born after he became emperor. His biological mother was a concubine of Li Siyuan's, but nothing further is known in history about her identity. Li Siyuan gave Li Congyi to his favorite concubine, Consort Wang, to raise.
In 933, Li Siyuan created Li Congyi the Prince of Xu, at the same time that he created his adoptive son Li Congke and nephews Li Congwen, Li Congzhang, and Li Congmin princes.
Later in 933, Li Congrong tried to seize power in Li Siyuan's illness, but was defeated and killed. When Li Siyuan died shortly after, Li Conghou succeeded to the throne. Subsequently, Li Congyi's wet nurse Lady Wang was exposed to have had an affair with Li Congrong and put to death. Because of this, Li Conghou also suspected Li Congyi's adoptive mother Consort Wang, but did not take further actions against her.
In 934, Li Conghou was overthrown by Li Congke, who took the throne. In 936, Shi Jingtang — who had married Li Congyi's sister the Princess of Jin and therefore was a brother-in-law — in turn, rebelled against Li Congke, initially declaring that as an adoptive son, Li Congke was unfit for the throne and should pass it to Li Congyi, but shortly after, with the support of the Khitan Liao Dynasty's Emperor Taizong, declared himself emperor of a new Later Jin, and attacked south toward the Later Tang capital Luoyang from his power base in Taiyuan after the joint Liao/Later Jin forces defeated the Later Tang forces Li Congke sent against him. The situation at Luoyang appeared hopeless, and Li Congke prepared for a mass suicide of his family members by fire. Li Congyi's mother Consort Wang tried to persuade Li Siyuan's wife, Empress Dowager Cao, who was the birth mother of the Princess of Jin, not to join in the mass suicide, but was unable to persuade the empress dowager. The empress dowager, however, urged her to live on, and so she took Li Congyi and Princess Yong'an, and hid in a polo field, while Empress Dowager Cao, Li Congke, Li Congke's immediate family members, and a number of officers loyal to him committed suicide by fire. Shi arrived at Luoyang shortly after and took over the realm.

During Later Jin

After Later Jin's takeover of Later Tang territory, Shi Jingtang created Li Congyi's sister, the Later Tang Princess of Jin, empress. The empress took Li Congyi and Consort Dowager Wang into the palace, personally raised Li Congyi, and honored Consort Dowager Wang like a mother. In 939, Shi Jingtang created Li Congyi the Duke of Xun and had him be in charge of offering sacrifices to five emperors of Tang Dynasty and Later Tang — Tang's first emperors Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong, as well as Later Tang's founder Li Cunxu, Li Siyuan, and Li Conghou — at Zhide Palace, where Consort Dowager Wang and Li Congyi resided.
Shi Jingtang died in 942, and was succeeded as emperor by his nephew Shi Chonggui. After Shi Chonggui's succession, Consort Dowager Wang and Li Congyi returned to Luoyang and took up residence there.
In contrast to Shi Jingtang's view of Khitan's Emperor Taizong as a benefactor — going as far as referring to himself as "Son Emperor" and "subject" while honoring Emperor Taizong as "Father Emperor" — Shi Chonggui, at the advice of the general Jing Yanguang, took a confrontational stance against the Khitan, initially only referring to himself as "grandson" and not as subject, and eventually went as far as closing the Liao trade office, seizing its assets, and killing Khitan merchants. This led to repeated Liao incursions. In 946, Shi Chonggui launched a punitive expedition, commanded by the generals Du Wei and Li Shouzhen, but Emperor Taizong defeated and then induced Du and Li Shouzhen to surrender to him. He then attacked south. With nearly the entire Later Jin army given to Du and Li Shouzhen for the expedition, Kaifeng was defenseless, and Shi Chonggui surrendered, ending Later Jin.

After Later Jin's destruction

After Emperor Taizong entered Kaifeng, he claimed to be the emperor of China as well. Meanwhile, the wife of the Liao general Zhao Yanshou had died by this point, and Emperor Taizong thus wanted to give Princess Yong'an to Zhao in marriage as his next wife. As her mother, Consort Dowager Wang went to Kaifeng for the ceremony. When Emperor Taizong saw her, he, claiming that he and Li Siyuan had previously agreed to be blood brothers, bowed to her, greeting her as a sister-in-law. Meanwhile, Liu Suining, whose father, the Later Liang general Liu Xun, had been Consort Dowager Wang's master, asked her to intercede for him to ask for a military governorship, and she did. Emperor Taizong thus commissioned Liu Suining as the military governor of Anyuan Circuit. He also commissioned Li Congyi as the military governor of Weixin Circuit and created Li Congyi the Prince of Xu. Believing that Li Congyi was still too young, Consort Dowager Wang declined the opportunity to have him report to the post, and took him back to Luoyang.
Emperor Taizong, despite his desire to rule over the former Later Jin realms, treated it poorly, allowing his soldiers to pillage the realm. This led to many armed rebellions against him, and he, troubled by the situation, decided to head back to Khitan territory, leaving his brother-in-law Xiao Han in charge at Kaifeng. He became ill on the way, and died near Heng Prefecture, plunging the succession into a battle between his nephew Yelü Ruan and his brother Yelü Lihu. Xiao wanted to abandon Kaifeng himself, particularly with one of the rebellion leaders, the Later Jin general Liu Zhiyuan bearing down toward Luoyang and Kaifeng, but feared that, with Han rebellions already overtaken the realm, if he simply abandoned Kaifeng, he might be caught in such a disturbance that he could not withdraw safely. He sent the officer Gao Mohan to Luoyang under the name of the deceased Emperor Taizong, summoning Consort Dowager Wang and Li Congyi to Kaifeng. Consort Dowager Wang and Li Congyi tried to hide themselves at Li Siyuan's tomb, but were discovered by Gao and his soldiers and forced to report to Kaifeng. Once there, Xiao declared Li Congyi emperor and, after leaving some of the soldiers from Lulong Circuit to help defend Kaifeng, departed.
Consort Dowager Wang realized that this left her and Li Congyi in a disastrous position, and when the officials left at Kaifeng greeted her, she wept and stated, "We, mother and son, are left in such a vulnerable position, but you, lords, pushed us to this position; this will bring disaster on our household!" She tried to firm up Kaifeng's defenses by summoning Gao Xingzhou the military governor of Guide Circuit and Wu Xingde the military governor of Heyang Circuit, but neither paid her any heed. She, in fear, stated to the officials, "We, mother and son, had been forced by Xiao Han into destruction. But you, lords, are sinless. You should quickly welcome the new emperor to seek your own fortune. Do not worry about us!" The officials were touched by her, and none left. When she subsequently consulted them, some advocated resisting Liu, arguing that if they could hold out for a month, Liao would send reinforcements. Consort Dowager Wang, however, believed that resistance would be useless and that a siege would be disastrous to the people of Kaifeng, and therefore resolved to surrender. She thus had Li Congyi, using the lesser title of Prince of Liang, submit a petition welcoming Liu to Kaifeng, and they moved out of the palace into a private residence.
This overture, however, could not save her or Li Congyi. Liu subsequently entered Luoyang and, receiving the petition, sent his officer Guo Congyi to Kaifeng with instructions to kill Consort Dowager Wang and Li Congyi. As Consort Dowager Wang was facing death, she wept and stated, "My son was put into this position by the Khitan. What crime did he have to deserve death? Why not allow him to live, such that each year, at Cold Food Festival, he could sacrifice a bowl of wheat grains to the tomb of Emperor Mingzong?" It was said that whoever heard of what she said were touched to weep for their fate.