Tang Suzong

Tang Suzong
"Greeting the Emperor at Wangxian" 望賢迎駕圖, probably a 13th-century painting, detail of Tang Suzong.
Emperor of Tang Dynasty
Reign	August 12, 756 – May 16, 762
Coronation	August 12 756
Predecessor	Emperor Xuanzong
Successor	Emperor Daizong
Born	(711-02-21)February 21, 711
Died	May 16, 762(762-05-16) (aged 51)
Full name Family name: Lǐ (李) Given name: Hēng (亨) Posthumous name Emperor Wenming Wude Dasheng Daxuan Xiao 文明武德大聖大宣孝皇帝 Temple name Sùzōng (肅宗)
Dynasty	Tang (唐)

Emperor Suzong of Tang (February 21, 711 – May 16, 762; r. 756 – 762), personal name Li Heng, né Li Sisheng (李嗣升), known as Li Jun (李浚) from 725 to 736, known as Li Yu (李璵) from 736 to 738, known briefly as Li Shao (李紹) in 738, was an emperor of the Tang Dynasty and the son of Emperor Xuanzong. Suzong ascended the throne after his father fled to Sichuan during the An Shi Rebellion in 756; Li Heng himself had fled in the opposite direction, to Lingwu, where he was declared emperor by the army. Much of Emperor Suzong's reign was spent in quelling the aforementioned rebellion, which was ultimately put down in 763 during the reign of his son Emperor Daizong.

During Emperor Suzong's reign, the tradition of eunuchs becoming top-ranked officials began, with Li Fuguo becoming the commander of the imperial guards and possessing nearly absolute power near Emperor Suzong's reign. In 762, with Emperor Suzong gravely ill, Li Fuguo killed Emperor Suzong's wife Empress Zhang in a power struggle and shortly after that, Emperor Suzong died of myocardial infarction. (He was succeeded by his son Emperor Daizong, who was eventually able to kill Li Fuguo, but the tradition of eunuchs in power had started.) Suzong's death on May 16 came only 13 days after the death of his father, the Emperor Xuanzong.

Li Sisheng was born in 711, during the second reign of his grandfather Emperor Ruizong, as the third son of his father, then the Crown Prince, Li Longji, who would later become Emperor Xuanzong. His mother Consort Yang Guipin (posthumously Empress Yuanxian) was from the imperial clan of the preceding Sui Dynasty. Her great-grandfather Yang Shida (楊士達) was a high -level official during Sui and had been given the title Prince of Zheng (鄭王). Her father Yang Zhiqing (楊知慶) was a general of the imperial guards during Tang. At the time that Consort Yang Guipin was pregnant with Li Sisheng, Li Longji was locked in a power struggle with his aunt, Emperor Ruizong's sister Princess Taiping, and it was said that Princess Taiping had placed many associates in the crown prince's palace to spy on Li Longji and that she did not want him to have many sons. (He already had two by that point—Li Sisheng's older brothers Li Sizhi, later named Li Cong (by Consort Liu) and Li Siqian, later named Li Ying (by Consort Zhao).) Li Longji was worried that, if Princess Taiping found out that Yang Guipin was pregnant, Princess Taiping's associates might harm him, and he spoke to a close associate, Zhang Shuo, stating: "A powerful individual did not want me to have many sons. I am afraid that this woman would become a target. What do you think?" Li Longji began to prepare an herbal stew that, in traditional Chinese medicine, was believed to be able to induce an abortion, but as he did so, fell asleep and had a dream that a god descended and overturned the ding holding the stew. When he told Zhang this as well, Zhang responded, "This is heaven's will. You should not worry." (As a result, later on in life, Li Sisheng would feel personally indebted to Zhang Shuo.)