Li Kening

Li Kening (李克寧) (died March 25, 908) was a younger brother of the late Chinese Tang Dynasty warlord Li Keyong the Prince of Jin. After Li Keyong's death, Li Kening initially served as a key advisor to Li Keyong's son and successor Li Cunxu, but soon was persuaded by his wife Lady Meng to try to take over from Li Cunxu. His plot was discovered, and Li Cunxu put him to death.

It is not known where or when Li Kening was born, but it is known that he was Li Keyong's youngest brother and therefore would have been born after 856, when Li Keyong was born. Their father was the ethnic Shatuo general Li Guochang, whose name was originally Zhuye Chixin but was later bestowed the Tang Dynasty imperial clan name of Li and a new name of Guochang, but because Li Kening's birth year is unknown, it is not known whether he would have been born with the name of Li or Zhuye. He was said to be kind and filially pious, and (despite his eventual fate) described to be the most virtuous among Li Keyong's brothers and cousins.

When Li Keyong rose in rebellion against Duan Wenchu (段文楚) the Tang defender of Datong Circuit (大同, headquartered in modern Datong, Shanxi) in 878, Li Kening served under him and carried the title of commander of Fengcheng Base (奉誠軍). When Li Keyong's enemy Helian Duo subsequently attacked the Shatuo base Huanghua (黃花, in modern Shuozhou, Shanxi), Li Kening helped defend the city and protect Li Keyong and the other brothers, and also participated in the later defense of Li Keyong's then-power base of Wei Prefecture (蔚州, in modern Zhangjiakou, Hebei). Presumably, when Li Keyong subsequently was defeated and forced to flee to the Dada (達靼) tribes, then in the Yin Mountains region, Li Kening followed him, for later, when Li Keyong returned from Dada to aid the Tang cause against the major agrarian rebel Huang Chao's state of Qi in 881, Li Kening was said to be part of that army; he followed Li Keyong in Li Keyong's subsequent campaigns against Huang.

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