Emperor Taizong of Tang (28 January 598 – 10 July 649), previously Prince of

Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of
China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the
dynasty for his role in encouraging his father Li Yuan (Emperor Gaozu) to rebel
against the Sui dynasty at Jinyang in 617. Taizong subsequently played a pivotal
role in defeating several of the dynasty's most dangerous opponents and solidifying
its rule over China proper.[6][c]

Taizong is considered to be one of the greatest emperors in China's history, and

henceforth his reign became regarded as the exemplary model against which all
future emperors were measured. His era, the "Reign of Zhenguan (Chinese: 貞觀之
治; pinyin: Zhēnguàn Zhī Zhì)" is considered a golden age in ancient Chinese history
and was treated as required studying material for future crown princes. Taizong
continued to develop imperial examination systems. He asked his officials to be loyal
to policies, not people, in order to eliminate corruption.[8] Under the Zhenguan era,
Tang China flourished economically and militarily. For more than a century after his
death, China enjoyed prosperity and peace brought about by the solidification of
imperial protection over the Chinese regions. In territorial extent, it covered most of
the territories previously held by the Han dynasty as well as parts of modern-
day Korea, Vietnam, Russia, Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Central Asia. This era of
consolidation and conquest laid the foundation for Xuanzong's reign, which is
considered to be the height of the Tang dynasty.

In 630, Emperor Taizong sent his general Li Jing against the Eastern Turks,
defeating and capturing their Jiali Khan Ashina Duobi and destroying their power.
This made Tang the dominant power in East and Central Asia, and Emperor Taizong
subsequently took the title of Tengri Qaghan.[9] He also launched a series
of campaigns against the oasis states of the Tarim Basin, and against their main ally,
the Western Turks. During his reign, Tang armies annexed Karakhoja in
640, Karasahr in 644, and Kucha in 648.[10] Eventually, the Tang defeated and
annexed the Western Turkic Khaganate after Su Dingfang defeated Qaghan Ashina
Helu in 657.

Unlike much of the nobility in his time, Emperor Taizong was a frank rationalist and
scholar of logic and scientific reason, openly scorning superstitions and claims of
signs from the heavens. He also modified important rites in order to ease the burden
of agricultural labour.[11] The modern Chinese historian Bo Yang opined that Emperor
Taizong achieved greatness by enduring criticism which others would find difficult to
accept whilst trying hard not to abuse his absolute power (using Emperor Yang of
Sui as a negative example), as well as by employing capable chancellors such
as Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Wei Zheng. Emperor Taizong's wife Empress
Zhangsun also proved to be a capable assistant.[12]

Early life[edit]
Li Shimin was born in 598 at Wugong, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi.[13] His father Li
Yuan, the Duke of Tang, was a general of the Sui dynasty, and a nephew, by
marriage, to Sui's founding emperor Emperor Wen. Li Shimin's grandmother
Duchess Dugu was a sister of Empress Dugu, both of whom were daughters
of Dugu Xin, a major Xianbei general during Sui's predecessor dynasty Northern
Zhou.[14] Li Shimin's mother, Li Yuan's wife Duchess Dou, was a daughter of Dou Yi
(竇毅), the Duke of Shenwu, and his wife, Northern Zhou's Princess Xiangyang. Li
Shimin was also of partial Xianbei descent.[15][16][17][18][19] Duchess Dou bore Li Yuan four
sons—an older brother to Li Shimin, Li Jiancheng, and two younger brothers, Li
Yuanba (李元霸), who would die in 614, and Li Yuanji – and at least one daughter
(the later Princess Pingyang). Li Yuan named Li Shimin "Shimin" as a shortened
form of the phrase "save the earth and pacify the people" (濟世安民; jìshì ānmín). Li
Shimin apparently showed talent early in his life, and in 613, the official Gao Shilian,
impressed with him, gave him a niece (the later Empress Zhangsun) in marriage as
his wife; he was 14 and she was 12. In 615, when Emperor Wen's son and
successor Emperor Yang was ambushed by Eastern Turkic (Dongtujue) forces
under Shibi Khan at Yanmen Commandery (present-day Daixian in Shanxi),[20] a
general call was made for men to join the army to help rescue the emperor. Li
Shimin answered that call and served under the general Yun Dingxing (雲定興),
apparently doing so with distinction. In 616, when Li Yuan was put in charge of the
important city of Taiyuan, he brought Li Shimin with him to Taiyuan, while leaving at
least three other sons – Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, and Li Zhiyun (李智雲, by Li
Yuan's concubine Lady Wan) – at the ancestral home Hedong (河東, in
modern Yuncheng, Shanxi).

Participation in the rebellion against Sui rule[edit]

A portrait of Emperor Yang of Sui, by the Tang court

artist Yan Liben (600–673)
Emperor Yang was soon dissatisfied with Li Yuan and Wang Rengong (王仁恭), the
governor of Mayi Commandery (馬邑, roughly modern Shuozhou, Shanxi), over their
inability to stop Eastern Turkic incursions and the growing strength of agrarian
rebels, particularly the Eastern Turkic-supported Liu Wuzhou, who soon rose against
Wang, killed him, and captured Emperor Yang's secondary palace near Taiyuan. Li
Yuan also became fearful of a prophecy that the next emperor would be named Li—
Emperor Yang had previously killed another official, Li Hun (李渾), and Li Hun's clan
over his fear that Li Hun's nephew, Li Min (李敏), would seize the throne.
Fearful for his life, Li Yuan considered rebellion. However, he did not know that Li
Shimin had also been secretly discussing plans for rebellion with Li Yuan's
associates Pei Ji and Liu Wenjing. Once Li Shimin's plans matured, he had Pei
inform Li Yuan of them—and also had Pei warn Li Yuan that if it were revealed that
Li Yuan had had sexual relations with some of Emperor Yang's ladies in waiting at
the secondary Jinyang Palace (晉陽宮, which Pei was in charge with and had
allowed Li Yuan to do so), all of them would be slaughtered. Li Yuan agreed to rebel,
and after secretly summoning Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji from Hedong and his son-
in-law Chai Shao (柴紹) from the capital Chang'an, he declared a rebellion, claiming
to want to support Emperor Yang's grandson Yang You the Prince of Dai, nominally
in charge at Chang'an with Emperor Yang at Jiangdu (江都, in modern Yangzhou,
Jiangsu), as emperor. He made both Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin major generals and
advanced southwest, toward Chang'an. He gave Li Shimin the title of Duke of
Dunhuang. After defeating local Sui forces loyal to Emperor Yang, he defeated a Sui
army of 30,000 men under the command of a veteran general of the wars in Korea
outside of modern-day Beijing.

However, when Li Yuan arrived near Hedong, his army was bogged down by the
weather. With food running out, there were rumors that the Eastern Turks and Liu
Wuzhou would attack Taiyuan. Li Yuan initially ordered retreat, but at the earnest
opposition by Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, continued to advance. After defeating Sui
forces at Huoyi (霍邑, also in modern Yuncheng), he decided to leave a small
contingent to watch over Hedong while advancing across the Yellow
River into Guanzhong (i.e., the Chang'an region). Once he did, he headed for
Chang'an himself, while sending Li Jiancheng to capture the territory around
the Tong Pass region to prevent Sui forces at Luoyang from reinforcing Chang'an
and Li Shimin north of the Wei River to capture territory there. Meanwhile, Li
Shimin's sister (Chai's wife) had also risen in rebellion in support of him, and she
was able to gather a sizeable army and capture some cities. She joined forces with
Li Shimin and her husband Chai Shao. Soon, Li Yuan reconsolidated his forces and
put Chang'an under siege. In winter 617, after defeating a large Sui army, he
captured Chang'an from imperial forces and declared Yang You emperor (as
Emperor Gong). He had himself made regent (with the title of grand chancellor) and
created the Prince of Tang. (Meanwhile, most of the Sui territories and armies did
not recognize Emperor Gong as emperor and continued to recognize Emperor Yang
as emperor and not as retired emperor.) He made Li Shimin the Duke of Qin.

Li Yuan's control of the Chang'an region became almost immediately contested by

the rebel ruler Xue Ju, the Emperor of Qin, who sent his son Xue Rengao toward
Chang'an. Li Yuan sent Li Shimin to resist Xue Rengao, and Li Shimin defeated Xue
Rengao at Fufeng (in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), temporarily causing Xue Ju to toy with
the idea of surrendering to Li Yuan, although Xue was subsequently dissuaded by
his strategist Hao Yuan (郝瑗) from doing so.

In spring 618, with Sui's eastern capital Luoyang (where the officials in charge did
not recognize Li Yuan's authorities) under attack by the rebel ruler Li Mi the Duke of
Wei, Li Yuan sent Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin to Luoyang, ostensibly to aid the Sui
forces at Luoyang but instead intending to test whether Luoyang might submit to
him. The officials at Luoyang rebuffed his attempt at rapprochement, and Li
Jiancheng and Li Shimin, not wanting to fight either them or Li Mi for control of
Luoyang at this stage, withdrew. Li Yuan subsequently changed Li Shimin's title to
Duke of Zhao.

In summer 618, when news arrived at Chang'an that Emperor Yang had been killed
at Jiangdu in a coup led by the general Yuwen Huaji, Li Yuan had Emperor Gong
yield the throne to him, establishing Tang dynasty as its Emperor Gaozu. He created
Li Jiancheng crown prince but created Li Shimin the Prince of Qin, also making
him Shangshu Ling (尚書令), the head of the executive bureau of the government (尚
書省; Shàngshū Shěng) and a post considered one for a chancellor, while continuing
to have Li Shimin serve as a major general as well.

During Emperor Gaozu's reign[edit]

Portrait painting of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, father of Li

Shimin
Campaign to reunify the empire[edit]
The first thing that Li Shimin had to deal with was another incursion by Xue Ju, as
Xue attacked Jing Prefecture (涇州, roughly modern Pingliang, Gansu) and Emperor
Gaozu sent Li Shimin to resist Xue. Li Shimin established his defenses and refused
to engage Xue to try to wear Xue Ju out, but at that time, he was afflicted with
malaria, and he let his assistants Liu Wenjing and Yin Kaishan (殷開山) take
command, ordering them not to engage Xue Ju. Liu and Yin, however, did not take
Xue Ju seriously, and Xue Ju ambushed them at Qianshui Plain (淺水原, in modern
Xianyang), crushing Tang forces and inflicting 50–60% casualties. Li Shimin was
forced to withdraw back to Chang'an, and Liu and Yin were removed from their
posts. (This would be Li Shimin's only defeat recorded in historical records until
the Goguryeo campaign of 645.) Xue Ju, in light of his victory, was ready to launch
an assault on Chang'an itself, under Hao Yuan's advice, but suddenly died of an
illness in fall 618 and was succeeded by Xue Rengao. Emperor Gaozu then sent Li
Shimin against Xue Rengao. Three months after Xue Rengao took the throne, Li
Shimin engaged him, and after a fierce battle between Li Shimin and Xue Rengao's
major general Zong Luohou (宗羅睺), Li Shimin crushed Zong's forces, and then
attacked Xue Rengao. Xue Rengao was forced to withdraw into the city of Gaozhi
(高墌, in modern Xianyang as well), and once he did, his soldiers began
surrendering to Li Shimin en masse. Xue Rengao was himself forced to surrender. Li
Shimin had him delivered to Chang'an, where he was executed. Around new year
619, Emperor Gaozu made Li Shimin Taiwei (太尉, one of the Three Excellencies)
and put him in charge of Tang operations east of the Tong Pass. [citation needed]

In spring 619, Liu Wuzhou launched a major offensive against Tang. He captured
Taiyuan in summer 619, forcing Li Yuanji, who had been in charge there, to flee, and
then continued his offensive south. Emperor Gaozu sent Pei Ji against him, but by
winter 619, Liu had crushed Pei's forces and taken over nearly all of modern Shanxi.
Emperor Gaozu, shocked at the development, considered abandoning the region
altogether. Li Shimin opposed doing so and offered to lead the army against Liu.
Emperor Gaozu agreed and commissioned him with an army. He crossed the Yellow
River and approached Liu's major general Song Jingang (宋金剛) but did not engage
him, choosing to try to wear Song out, only having his subordinates Yin Kaishan
and Qin Shubao engage the other Dingyang generals Yuchi Jingde and Xun Xiang
(尋相) in relatively low-level engagements. Eventually, in spring 620, when Liu and
Song ran out of food supplies, they retreated, and Li Shimin gave chase, dealing
Song a major defeat. Yuchi and Xun surrendered, and after Li Shimin chased further,
both Liu and Song fled to the Eastern Turks. All of Dingyang territory fell into Tang
hands.

In summer 620, Emperor Gaozu again commissioned Li Shimin against a major

enemy—the former Sui general Wang Shichong, who had Sui's last emperor,
Emperor Yang's grandson Yang Tong, yield the throne to him in 619, establishing a
new state of Zheng as its emperor. When Li Shimin arrived at the Zheng capital
Luoyang, Wang offered peace, but Li Shimin rebuffed him and put Luoyang under
siege. Meanwhile, his subordinates took Zheng cities one by one. By winter 620,
most of Zheng territory, other than Luoyang and Xiangyang, defended by Wang
Shichong's nephew Wang Honglie (王弘烈), had submitted to Tang. Wang sought
aid Dou Jiande the Prince of Xia, who controlled most of modern Hebei. Dou,
reasoning that if Tang were able to destroy Zheng, his own Xia state would be next,
agreed. He sent his official Li Dashi to try to persuade Li Shimin to withdraw, but Li
Shimin detained Li Dashi and gave no response. Meanwhile, during the campaign, Li
Shimin chose some 1,000 elite soldiers (玄甲軍), clad in black uniform and black
armor, commanded by himself, to serve as advance troops, with Qin Shubao, Yuchi
Jingde, Cheng Zhijie (程知節), and Zhai Zhangsun (翟長孫) as his assistants.

Main article: Battle of Hulao

By spring 621, Luoyang was in desperate situation, and Xia forces had not yet
arrived, but Tang troops had also suffered serious casualties, as Luoyang's
defenses, aided by powerful bows and catapults, were holding. Emperor Gaozu,
hearing that Dou had decided to come to Wang's aid, ordered Li Shimin to withdraw,
but Li Shimin sent his secretary Feng Deyi to Chang'an to explain to Emperor Gaozu
that if he did withdraw, Wang would recover and again be a major threat in the
future. Emperor Gaozu agreed and allowed Li Shimin to continue to siege Luoyang.
When Xia forward troops arrived first, Li Shimin surprised and defeated them, and
then sent Dou a letter suggesting that he withdraw. Dou would not do so, and,
against the advice of his wife Empress Cao and secretary general Ling Jing (凌敬)
that he should instead attack Tang's prefectures in modern southern Shanxi, he
marched toward Luoyang. Anticipating Dou's maneuver, Li Shimin left a small
detachment, commanded by Li Yuanji, at Luoyang, while marching east himself,
taking up position at the strategic Hulao Pass. When the armies engaged at Hulao,
Li Shimin defeated Dou and captured him. He took Dou back to Luoyang and
displayed him to Wang Shichong. Wang, in fear, considered abandoning Luoyang
and fleeing south to Xiangyang, but as his generals pointed out that his only hope
was Dou, he surrendered. Xia forces, after initially fleeing back to their
capital Mingzhou (now Guangfu, Hebei), also surrendered. Zheng and Xia territory
were Tang's. Li Shimin returned to Chang'an in a grand victory procession and, to
reward Li Shimin, Emperor Gaozu awarded both him and Li Yuanji three mints so
that they could mint money of their own. He also bestowed on Li Shimin the special
title of "Grand General of Heavenly Strategies" (天策上將; tiāncè shàngjiàng).
Meanwhile, Li Shimin's staff, already full of generals and strategists, were
supplemented with a number of literary men.

The former Xia territory did not remain in Tang hands for long. In the winter of 621,
the Xia general Liu Heita rose against Tang rule, claiming to be avenging Dou, whom
Emperor Gaozu had executed against Li Shimin's wishes after he had been brought
back to Chang'an. Liu was allied with Xu Yuanlang, a former agrarian rebel general
who was nominally under Wang Shichong and who had submitted to Tang after
Wang's defeat. Liu dealt successive defeats to Emperor Gaozu's cousin Li Shentong
(李神通), the Prince of Huai'an; Li Xiaochang (李孝常), the Prince of Yi'an; and Li
Shiji. By the end, he had recovered almost all of the former Xia territory, established
his capital at Mingzhou, and proclaimed himself the Prince of Handong. Emperor
Gaozu finally sent Li Shimin and Li Yuanji against him in 622 and, after some
indecisive battles, Li Shimin defeated him by first erecting a dam across the Ming
River and then destroying it, with the resultant flood destroying the rebel army. Liu
fled to the Eastern Turks, while Li Shimin then headed east and defeated Xu. After
leaving Li Shiji, Li Shentong, and Ren Gui (任瓌) to continue attacking Xu, Li Shimin
returned to Chang'an.

Struggle against Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji[edit]

 Armoured horseman, Tang dynasty

Tomb soldier figurine, Tang dynasty

Main article: Xuanwu Gate Incident
By this point, Li Shimin and his older brother Li Jiancheng, who was created crown
prince in 618, reportedly after Emperor Gaozu first offered the position to Li Shimin
due to his contributions, were locked in an intense rivalry, as Li Shimin's
accomplishments caused people to speculate that he would displace Li Jiancheng as
crown prince, and Li Jiancheng, while an accomplished general himself, was
overshadowed by his younger brother. The court became divided into a faction
favoring the Crown Prince and a faction favoring the Prince of Qin. The rivalry was
particularly causing problems within the capital, as the commands of the Crown
Prince, the Prince of Qin, and the Prince of Qi Li Yuanji were said to have the same
force as the emperor's edicts, and the officials had to carry conflicting orders out by
acting on the ones that arrived first. Li Shimin's staff was full of talented men, but Li
Jiancheng was supported by Li Yuanji, as well as Emperor Gaozu's concubines, who
had better relationships with Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji than they did with Li Shimin.

Late in 622, when Liu Heita returned east after receiving aid from the Eastern Turks,
defeating and killing Li Shimin's cousin Li Daoxuan (李道玄), the Prince of Huaiyang,
he again regained most of former Xia territory. Li Jiancheng's staff members Wang
Gui and Wei Zheng suggested that Li Jiancheng needed to enhance his own
reputation in battle, and so Li Jiancheng volunteered for the mission. Emperor Gaozu
thus sent Li Jiancheng, assisted by Li Yuanji, to attack Liu. Li Jiancheng defeated Liu
around the new year of 623, and Liu was subsequently betrayed by his own official
Zhuge Dewei (諸葛德威) and delivered to Li Jiancheng. Li Jiancheng executed Liu
in his former capital and returned to Chang'an in triumph. China was, by this point,
roughly united under Tang rule.

For the next few years, the rivalry intensified, although during the meantime both Li
Jiancheng and Li Shimin served as generals when the Eastern Göktürks made
incursions. In 623, when the general Fu Gongshi rebelled at Danyang (丹楊, in
modern Nanjing, Jiangsu), Emperor Gaozu briefly commissioned Li Shimin to attack
Fu, but soon cancelled the order and sent Li Shimin's cousin Li Xiaogong the Prince
of Zhao Commandery instead.

In 624, when Li Jiancheng was found to have, against regulations, tried to add
soldiers to his guard corps, Emperor Gaozu was so angry that he put Li Jiancheng
under arrest. In fear, Li Jiancheng's guard commander Yang Wen'gan (楊文幹)
rebelled. Emperor Gaozu sent Li Shimin against Yang, offering to make him crown
prince after he returned. After Li Shimin left, however, Feng Deyi (now a chancellor),
Li Yuanji, and the concubines all spoke on Li Jiancheng's behalf, and after Li Shimin
returned, Emperor Gaozu did not depose Li Jiancheng, but instead blamed the
discord between him and Li Shimin on Li Jiancheng's staff members Wang Gui and
Wei Ting (韋挺) and Li Shimin's staff member Du Yan, exiling them to Xi Prefecture
(巂州, roughly modern Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan).

Later that year, Emperor Gaozu, troubled by repeated Göktürk incursions, seriously
considered burning Chang'an to the ground and moving the capital to Fancheng, a
suggestion that Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, and Pei Ji agreed with. Li Shimin opposed,
however, and the plan was not carried out. Meanwhile, Li Shimin himself was
sending his confidants to Luoyang to build up personal control of the army there.
After an incident in which Li Shimin suffered a severe case of food poisoning after
feasting at Li Jiancheng's palace—an event that both Emperor Gaozu and Li Shimin
apparently interpreted as an assassination attempt—Emperor Gaozu considered
sending Li Shimin to guard Luoyang to prevent further conflict, but Li Jiancheng and
Li Yuanji, after consulting each other, believed that this would only give Li Shimin an
opportunity to build up his personal power there, and therefore opposed it. Emperor
Gaozu therefore did not carry out the plan. Meanwhile, the rivalry continued.
Traditional historical accounts also indicated that at one point, when Li Shimin visited
Li Yuanji's mansion, Li Yuanji wanted to assassinate Li Shimin, but Li Jiancheng,
who could not resolve to kill a brother, stopped the plot. There was yet another
incident in which Li Jiancheng, knowing that a horse threw its rider easily, had Li
Shimin ride it, causing Li Shimin to fall off from it several times.
By 626, Li Shimin was fearful that he would be killed by Li Jiancheng, and his staff
members Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Zhangsun Wuji were repeatedly
encouraging Li Shimin to attack Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji first—while Wei
Zheng was encouraging Li Jiancheng to attack Li Shimin first. Li
Jiancheng persuaded Emperor Gaozu to remove Fang and Du, as well as Li
Shimin's trusted guard generals Yuchi Jingde and Cheng Zhijie, from Li Shimin's
staff. Zhangsun Wuji, who remained on Li Shimin's staff, continued to try to persuade
Li Shimin to attack first.

In summer 626, the Göktürks were making another attack, and under Li Jiancheng's
suggestion, Emperor Gaozu, instead of sending Li Shimin to resist the Göktürks as
he first was inclined, decided to send Li Yuanji instead. Li Yuanji was given
command of much of the army previously under Li Shimin's control, further troubling
Li Shimin, who believed that with the army in Li Yuanji's hands, he would be unable
to resist an attack. Li Shimin had Yuchi summon Fang and Du back to his mansion
secretly, and then on one night submitted an accusation to Emperor Gaozu that Li
Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were committing adultery with Emperor Gaozu's
concubines. Emperor Gaozu, in response, issued summonses to Li Jiancheng and Li
Yuanji for the next morning, convening the senior officials Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, and Chen
Shuda to examine Li Shimin's accusations. As Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji
approached the central gate leading to Emperor Gaozu's palace, Xuanwu Gate (玄武
門), Li Shimin carried out the ambush he had set. He personally fired an arrow that
killed Li Jiancheng. Subsequently, Yuchi Jingde killed Li Yuanji. Li Shimin's forces
entered the palace and, under the intimidation of Li Shimin's forces, Emperor Gaozu
agreed to create Li Shimin crown prince. Li Jiancheng's and Li Yuanji's sons were
killed, and Li Shimin took Li Yuanji's wife Princess Yang as a concubine. Two
months later, with Li Shimin firmly in control of power, Emperor Gaozu yielded the
throne to him (as Emperor Taizong).