Xuanwu Gate Incident
| Xuanwu Gate Incident | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 玄武門之變 | ||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 玄武门之变 | ||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | xuánwǔ mén zhī biàn |
| Wade–Giles | hsüan-wu men chih pien |
| IPA | [ɕwǎnù mə̌n ʈʂí pjɛ̂n] |
The Xuanwu Gate Incident (玄武門之變) was a palace coup for the throne of the Tang dynasty on 2 July 626, when Prince Li Shimin (Prince of Qin) and his followers assassinated Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and Prince Li Yuanji (Prince of Qi). Li Shimin, the second son of Emperor Gaozu, was in an intense rivalry with his elder brother Li Jiancheng and younger brother Li Yuanji. He took control and set up an ambush at Xuanwu Gate, the northern gate leading to the Palace City of the imperial capital Chang'an. There, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were assassinated by Li Shimin and his men. Within three days after the coup, Li Shimin was installed as the crown prince. Emperor Gaozu abdicated another sixty days later and passed the throne to Li Shimin, who would become known as Emperor Taizong.
After the founding of the Tang dynasty, Li Jiancheng was created the heir apparent. Even though Li Jiancheng was designated as the heir apparent, he was often overshadowed by his younger brother Li Shimin. Li Shimin was instrumental in defeating several of Tang's major rivals. He had led the attack on Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong, whom he defeated in battle, which gained him prestige amongst his contemporaries. Meanwhile, Li Jiancheng was stationed along the northern frontier to guard it against the Tujue, which left him unable to build up a similar reputation. Eventually, Emperor Gaozu elevated Li Shimin's position above all the other nobility. He also placed Li Shimin in charge of the civil and military administration of the eastern plain with Luoyang as its headquarters. There, Li Shimin established himself and appointed about fifty civil and military officials, which made it possible for him to challenge the heir apparent's pre-eminence. In 621, he established the College of Literary Studies with a staff of eighteen scholars to serve as his advisors on state affairs. This may have brought forth the suggestion that Li Shimin could harbor the ambition to ascend to the throne of the Tang empire. Henceforth, Li Jiancheng attempted to undermine Li Shimin by getting his staff members removed and reassigned to other posts.
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