Li Zongmin

Li Zongmin (李宗閔) (died 846?), courtesy name Sunzhi (損之), was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving twice as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Wenzong. He was considered one of the leading figures of the Niu-Li Factional Struggles — factional struggles between two factions at the Tang court that lasted decades — as a leader of the so-called Niu Faction, named after his colleague Niu Sengru.

It is not known when Li Zongmin was born. His great-great-grandfather was Li Yuanyi (李元懿) the Prince of Zheng, a son of Tang Dynasty's founding emperor Emperor Gaozu. His great-grandfather was Li Jing (李璥), who inherited the Prince of Zheng title from Li Yuanyi. His grandfather Li Chayan (李察言) was not listed with any offices while alive but was listed with a posthumous honor, while his father served as a supervisory official at the imperial government and as a prefectural prefect, and also carried the title of Duke of Chenliu. Li Zongmin's cousin Li Yijian served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xianzong. Li Zongmin himself passed the imperial examinations in the Jinshi class in 805, during the reign of Emperor Xianzong's grandfather Emperor Dezong, in the same year as eventual colleague and ally Niu Sengru.

In 808, at special imperial examinations where Emperor Xianzong ordered that low-level officials submit honest opinions about the government, several of the examinees — Li Zongmin, Niu Sengru, and Huangfu Shi (皇甫湜) stated, without using any veiled language, the issues they saw with the governance at the time. The officials that Emperor Xianzong put in charge of the examinations, Yang Yuling (楊於陵) and Wei Guanzhi ranked them high. However, the chancellor Li Jifu saw these as severe criticisms of himself, and, weeping, accused the reviewing officials, the imperial scholars Pei Ji and Wang Ya, of conflict of interest — as Huangfu was a nephew of Wang's. As a result of Li Jifu's accusations, Wang, Pei, Yang, and Wei were all demoted, and it was said that while no harm came to Li Zongmin, Niu, and Huangfu at that time, they were effectively stuck at the positions they previously served without promotion, — and it appeared that soon after the examination, Li Zongmin was made the sheriff of Luoyang County, one of the two counties making up the eastern capital Luoyang. As a result, they all sought positions as staff members of military governors.

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