page_title: Prince Zhanghuai
section_title: As crown prince
hierarchical_section_title: Prince Zhanghuai / As crown prince
caption_attribution_description: From Paludan's source: "In this mural foreign ambassadors are being received at court. The two elegantly clad figures on the right are from Korea, the bare-headed, large-nosed figure in the centre is an envoy from the west. Mural from Li Xian's tomb, Qianling, Shaanxi, 706."
context_page_description: Li Xian, courtesy name Mingyun, formally Crown Prince Zhanghuai, named Li De from 672 to 674, was a crown prince of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. He was the sixth son of Emperor Gaozong, and the second son of his second wife Empress Wu. He was known for writing commentaries for the Book of Later Han, the official history of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He became crown prince in 675 after his older brother Li Hong's death, but soon fell out of favor with Empress Wu herself. In 680, Empress Wu had her associates accuse Li Xian of treason, and he was demoted to commoner rank and exiled. In 684, after Emperor Gaozong's death, Empress Wu, then empress dowager, had her associate Qiu Shenji visit Li Xian to force him to commit suicide.
  In 706, his younger brother Emperor Zhongzong provided Li Xian with an honorable burial by interring his remains at the Qianling Mausoleum.
context_section_description: In 675, Li Xian's older brother Li Hong the crown prince died—a death that traditional historians generally believed to be a poisoning ordered by Empress Wu.  On July 3, Li Xian was created crown prince to replace Li Hong.  Emperor Gaozong soon ordered that much of government matters be ruled on by Li Xian, and Li Xian was praised for making good decisions.  Also around this time, Li Xian led a group of scholars, including Zhang Da'an, Liu Nayan (劉訥言), Ge Xiyuan (格希元), Xu Shuya (許叔牙), Cheng Xuanyi (成玄一), Shi Cangzhu (史藏諸), and Zhou Baoning (周寶寧), in writing commentaries for the Book of Later Han, the official history of the Eastern Han Dynasty, written by the Liu Song scholar Fan Ye.
  Meanwhile, Li Xian's relationship with Empress Wu began to deteriorate, as Li Xian had heard the rumors that he was actually the son of Lady of Han, and had become fearful.  Empress Wu, detecting this, had her literary staff write two works entitled, Good Examples for Shaoyang (少陽正範, "Shaoyang" being an oblique term for a crown prince) and Biographies of Filial Sons (孝子傳) and gave them to Li Xian, and further wrote a number of letters rebuking Li Xian, making him more fearful.  Further, when the sorcerer Ming Chongyan (明崇儼), who was well-trusted by Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu, was assassinated in 679, Empress Wu suspected Li Xian—as Ming had been known to repeatedly make comments to Empress Wu that included, "The Crown Prince cannot bear the responsibilities of state.  The Prince of Ying [(i.e., Li Xian's younger brother Li Zhe, later Emperor Zhongzong] has an appearance most similar to Emperor Taizong ([Emperor Gaozong's father])," and "The Prince of Xiang [(i.e., Li Xian's younger brother Li Dan, later Emperor Ruizong)] has the most honorable appearance."
  Meanwhile, Li Xian was also known for his liking of music and women.  (Some historians, pointing to oblique references that he was "particularly close" to a number of male servants, also believe that he liked sexual relations with both women and men.)  When Empress Wu heard this, she had people report this to Emperor Gaozong, who ordered an investigation led by the officials Xue Yuanchao, Pei Yan, and Gao Zhizhou.  When they searched the crown prince's stables, they found several hundred suits of black armor, and they believed this to be evidence of a coup, and after interrogation, one of Li Xian's favorite servants, Zhao Daosheng (趙道生), admitted to assassinating Ming on Li Xian's orders.  Emperor Gaozong, who had favored Li Xian, considered pardoning him, but Empress Wu refused.  On September 20, 680, Emperor Gaozong deposed Li Xian and reduced him to commoner rank, delivering him from the eastern capital Luoyang (where Emperor Gaozong and Empress Wu had long taken up residence) to the capital Chang'an to be imprisoned there.  His close associates were executed, and the seized armor was burned publicly to demonstrate Li Xian's treason.  Li Zhe was created crown prince to replace him.
caption: From Paludan's source: "In this mural foreign ambassadors are being received at court. The two elegantly clad figures on the right are from Korea, the bare-headed, large-nosed figure in the center is an envoy from the west. Mural from Li Xian's tomb, Qianling Mausoleum, Shaanxi, 706."
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