Search Results - Li Heng

Emperor Suzong of Tang

| l = "Respectful Ancestor of the Tang" | p = Táng Sùzōng | altname = Li Heng | c2 = | l2 = (personal name) | p2 = Lǐ Hēng }}

Emperor Suzong of Tang (''yihai'' day, 711 – 16 May 762; r. 756 – 762), personal name Li Heng, né Li Sisheng (), known as Li Jun () from 725 to 736, known as Li Yu () from 736 to 738, known briefly as Li Shao () in 738, was an emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty and the son of Emperor Xuanzong.

Suzong ascended the throne after his father fled to Sichuan during the An Lushan 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.

Li Fuguo allied and befriended Emperor Suzong's wife, Empress Zhang, at the beginning of Emperor Suzong's reign, and in an alliance of power, both cleared the court of any opposition against them and controlled everything, but at the end of Emperor Suzong's reign, both became enemies. In 762, with Emperor Suzong gravely ill, Li Fuguo killed Empress Zhang in a power struggle and shortly after that, Emperor Suzong died.

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 16 May came only 13 days after the death of his father, the Emperor Xuanzong. Provided by Wikipedia