Li Jiongxiu

Li Jiongxiu (李迥秀), courtesy name Maozhi (茂之), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as chancellor during Wu Zetian's reign.

It is not known when Li Jiongxiu was born, but it is known that his ancestors came from a line that served as officials during Northern Wei, Northern Zhou, and Sui Dynasty (Tang Dynasty's predecessor). Li Daliang, a famed general during the reigns of Tang's first two emperors Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong was a cousin of Li Jiongxiu's grandfather Li Xuanming (李玄明). Both Li Xuanming and Li Jiongxiu's father Li Yiben (李義本) served as prefectural prefects during Tang Dynasty, and Li Xuanming carried the title of Duke of Chengji. In his youth, Li Jiongxiu passed the imperial examinations and was made an officer at Xiang Prefecture (相州, in modern Handan, Hebei).

At some point, probably during the reign of Wu Zetian (the wife of Emperor Taizong's son Emperor Gaozong), who had taken the throne in 690 as "emperor" and established her own Zhou Dynasty, interrupting Tang, Li Jiongxiu was made a low level official in charge of grading officials' performances. It was said, however, that Wu Zetian favored his talent, and he was given important responsibilities at the ministry of civil service affairs before he was made Fengge Sheren (鳳閣舍人), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau of government (鳳閣, Fengge). It was said that Li Jiongxiu's mother was of low birth but had received Li Yiben's favor on account of her beauty. Li Jiongxiu himself had married a wife of high birth, Lady Cui, but Lady Cui was in the habit of using harsh language against her female servants—which, when Li Jiongxiu's mother heard, hurt her badly as they reminded her of her own sufferings as a servant. When Li Jiongxiu realized this, he divorced Lady Cui. A friend of his asked him, "While your wife was careless with her words, she did not commit any act that would normally call for a divorce. Why do you divorce her?" Li Jiongxiu replied, "Marrying a wife is for the purpose of supporting parents. Now she has offended my mother. How can I keep her?"

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