Princess Taiping
| Princess Taiping | |
|---|---|
| Born | 665 |
| Died | 2 August 713 (aged 48) |
| Spouse | Xue Shao Wu Youji, Prince Zhongjian of Ding |
| Issue | Xue Chongxun Xue Chongjian Lady Wanquan Wu Chongmin Wu Chongxing Lady Wu Lady Yonghe (possibly) |
| House | House of Li |
| Father | Emperor Gaozong of Tang |
| Mother | Empress Wu Zetian |
Princess Taiping (Chinese: 太平公主; pinyin: Tàipíng Gōngzhǔ, lit. "Princess of Peace", personal name unknown, possibly Li Lingyue (李令月)) (died 2 August 713) was a princess of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and her mother Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty. She was the youngest daughter of Wu Zetian and Emperor Gaozong and was powerful during the reigns of her mother and her elder brothers Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Ruizong (both of whom reigned twice), particularly during Emperor Ruizong's second reign.
Eventually, however, a rivalry developed between her and her nephew, Emperor Ruizong's crown prince Li Longji, and after Emperor Ruizong yielded the throne to Li Longji (as Emperor Xuanzong) in 712, the conflict came to the political forefront, and in 713, Emperor Xuanzong, according to historical records, believing that she was planning to overthrow him, acted first, executing a large number of her allies and forcing her to commit suicide.
It is not known when Princess Taiping was born, but it is known that she was the youngest of six known children of Emperor Gaozong and his second wife Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian). In 670, when Empress Wu's mother Lady Yang died, Empress Wu had Princess Taiping become a Taoist nun to gain divine favor on behalf of her grandmother Lady Yang. At a later point, when Emperor Gaozong was negotiating a peace treaty with Tufan, the king of Tufan requested to marry Princess Taiping, and Emperor Gaozong declined — and, as an excuse, built a Taoist temple named Taiping Temple (太平觀) and commissioned her as the abbess of the temple.
In 681, however, Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu selected Xue Shao (薛紹), a son of Emperor Gaozong's sister Princess Chengyang and Princess Chengyang's second husband Xue Yao (薛曜) (and thus, Princess Taiping's cousin) to be Princess Taiping's husband. A grand wedding was held in the fall of 681, and it was said that there were so many torches used in the procession from the palace to Xuanyang District (宣陽坊), where the Xue clan lived, that the trees on the side of the streets were all heated to death. Empress Wu, believing that Lady Xiao, the wife of Xue Shao's brother Xue Yi (薛顗), and Lady Cheng, the wife of another brother Xue Xu (薛緒), were both of low birth and should not be her daughter's sisters-in-law, commented, "How can my daughter be a sister-in-law to the daughters of farmers?" She considered forcing Xue Yi and Xue Xu to divorce, but someone noted to her that Lady Xiao was a grandniece of the deceased chancellor Xiao Yu, and she relented. Xue Shao and Princess Taiping had two sons — Xue Chongxun (薛崇訓) and Xue Chongjian (薛崇簡) — and a daughter (686 - 710) who was created Lady Wanquan (萬泉縣主).
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