Emperor Xizong

Emperor Xizong – Tang Dynasty

Emperor Xizong, who was born with the personal name Li Yan, later had his name changed to Li Xuan. He became one of the Tang dynasty emperors who ruled from 873 to 888. He was the 5th son of Emperor Yizong and was also the older brother of the future Tang ruler, Emperor Zhaozong.

The reign of Xizong of Tang saw an empire overrun by agrarian uprisings led by Huang Chao and Wang Xianzhi. Although they were successfully defeated, the Tang empire had fallen into pieces by the end of Emperor Xizong’s rule.

The reason this happened is that the Tang Dynasty was led by individual warlords instead of the imperial government. Unfortunately, the state wasn’t able to recover, and it eventually fell in 907.

Early Life of Emperor Xizong

Li Yan was born in 862 at the Chang’an eastern palace. His mother was Consort Wang, Emperor Yizong’s concubine who was given the title Guifei. It was the highest of the ranks that an imperial consort could have.

When his father, Emperor Yizong, became gravely ill, imperial eunuchs of the Shence Army supported Li Yan. They were greatly in favor of him to succeed the emperor despite being one of the younger sons.

Eventually, he was given the title of crown prince after receiving an edict under Emperor Yizong’s name. The edict also altered Li Yan’s name to Li Xuan. After being named as the crown prince, Emperor Yizong died, so Li Xuan ascended the throne as Emperor Xizong.

During his rule, Emperor Xizong posthumously honored Consort Wang as empress dowager. Then, the eunuchs Liu and Han, who supported him to ascend the throne, were made dukes.

Early in the reign of Xizong of Tang, drought-driven famine ravaged the heart of the Tang empire.

The Reign of Emperor Xizong

Almost immediately, Wei Baoheng was exiled then was ordered to commit suicide. He was an official who had become extremely powerful during Emperor Yizong’s rule.

As for Tian Lingzi, he was another official who became greatly influential and was known as the decision-maker for the state.

There was also the imperial scholar Lu Xu, who urged Xizong of Tang to waive all taxes on areas affected by famine. Then, he even suggested starting disaster relief efforts immediately.

The Tang Dynasty emperor then issued an edict in accordance with Lu. However, there were claims that no disaster relief was carried out at all. Meanwhile, the south-west region of Tang that was unaffected by famine was involved in wars with Dali.

Peasant Revolts Led by Huang Chao

Aside from those, numerous peasant uprisings started in 874, and the most formidable was led by Huang Chao. Then, these uprisings were followed by a huge drought.

By 879, Huang Chao and his soldiers were struck by tropical illnesses that were foreign to them. To push through with their plans, they opted to change strategies and head north.

He passed through modern Hunan and prepared to attack the army led by Wang Duo. The latter was the overall commander of the operations against Chao and his men. Eventually, Chao was forced to escape to the east but regrouped in the Jiangxi region and prepared for another attack.

As he did so, he engaged in multiple battles with forces under Gao Pian, the Huainan Circuit’s military governor. To replace Wang Duo, he was set by Emperor Xizong as commander of the overall operations against Huang.

The rebel leader then headed towards Luoyang to force young men to join his army and add to its numbers. Because of this, Luoyang fell and was captured in the winter of 880.

There, Emperor Xizong and Tian Lingzi enlisted a new army with Zhang Chengfan as commander. The plan here was that he would rendezvous with Qi along Tong Pass. They were to protect it against Huang, who was charging towards Chang’an.

At some point, the Tang Dynasty emperor and Tian heard of the news that Huang defeated both Qi and Zhang. There, Xizong and Tian left Chan’an and escaped to Chengdu.

Huang Chao’s Failed Regime

Huang attacked Chang’an before declaring himself as the ruler of the new state, Qi. From there, he began slaughtering those from the Tang imperial family and various high-level officials.

He attempted to keep the Tang government’s apparatus in place, hoping that the officials and generals would yield to him.

Although he attempted to establish a regime in the capital, Huang Chao proved to be inept and cruel. Hemmed in by the provincial generals and loyal armies, he was eventually forced to leave Chang’an then withdraw to Henan then Shandong.

He eventually died in the year 884. After his death, his troops were defeated with the help of Shatuo Turks. Despite them being defeated, the Tang was left powerless since their emperor was a puppet controlled by rivaling military leaders.

With the continuous decline of the central government, the country was divided into different independent kingdoms. Unity wasn’t restored in the Tang Dynasty only until the Song Empire was established.

Death of Emperor Xizong

A month after Xizong of Tang returned, he died due to illness when he reached Chang’an. There, Yang Fugong supported his younger brother, the Prince of Shou, to become the Tang Dynasty ruler as Emperor Zhaozong.