Princess Anle
Encyclopedia
Princess Anle (684? – 21 July 710), personal name Li Guo'er (李裹兒), was a princess of the Chinese
dynasty Tang Dynasty
. She was the youngest daughter of Emperor Zhongzong
and his wife Empress Wei
who was greatly favored by her parents and therefore grew very powerful and corrupt during her father's second reign.
Eventually, after Emperor Zhongzong died in 710—a death that traditional historians assert was a poisoning carried out by Empress Wei and Li Guo'er (so that Empress Wei could reign and Li Guo'er could become crown princess) -- a coup led by Li Guo'er's cousin Li Longji
the Prince of Linzi and Li Guo'er's paternal aunt Princess Taiping
overthrew and killed Empress Wei and Li Guo'er.
(Li Zhe) had with his wife Empress Wei
. She was said to be born at a time when Li Zhe had, after a brief reign in 684, been deposed by his mother Empress Dowager Wu
(later known as Wu Zetian), reduced to the title of Prince of Lulin, and exiled to Fang Prefecture (房州, in modern Shiyan
, Hubei
). He was replaced by his brother Li Dan
the Prince of Yu (as Emperor Ruizong). It was said that at her birth, Li Zhe took off his shirt and wrapped her in the shirt, and thereafter named her fat child(meaning "the child that was wrapped"). As she was born in times of trouble, she was particularly pampered by her parents, and Empress Wei particularly favored her as she grew, as she was said to be beautiful and good at speaking.
In 698, at the urging of the chancellor Di Renjie
, Wu Zetian (who had taken the throne herself in 690, reducing Li Dan to the rank of crown prince
) recalled Li Zhe to the capital. Li Dan offered to yield the position of crown prince to Li Zhe, and Wu Zetian agreed, creating Li Zhe crown prince (and subsequently changing his name, first to Li Xian, and then to Wu Xian). Sometime after the end of exile, Li Guo'er married Wu Chongxun (武崇訓) the Prince of Gaoyang, the son of Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi
the Prince of Liang.
, Cui Xuanwei
, Jing Hui
, Huan Yanfan
, and Yuan Shuji
overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong to the throne. However, Wu Sansi, who was carrying on an affair with Empress Wei, became a trusted advisor of Emperor Zhongzong, and Zhang and his cohorts soon lost power (and eventually all were killed or died in exile in 706). Li Guo'er and Emperor Zhongzong's concubine Consort Shangguan Wan'er
also became powerful figures. Li Guo'er, in particular, as she was favored by both Emperor Zhongzong and Empress Wei, was said to be powerful, arrogant, and corrupt.
In spring 706, Emperor Zhongzong issued an edict that, in an unprecedented manner, established staffs for seven princesses—his sister Princess Taiping
; his daughters Princesses Changning, Yicheng, Xindu, Ding'an, and Anle; and Princess Jincheng, the daughter of his cousin Li Shouli
the Prince of Yong. It was said, among the seven, Li Guo'er had a particularly large staff, and she also sold governmental offices, even to people who were of low social stations, as long as they had the money. Because the offices she sold had their commissions sealed in envelopes that were sealed in a slanted manner to indicate that they needed not to be approved by the examination bureau of government (門下省, Menxia Sheng), they were known as the "slanted-sealed officials" (斜封官, xiefeng guan). It was said that at times, she would even draft edicts for Emperor Zhongzong and then, covering the text of the edicts, ask him to sign them—and that he did so willingly. She also requested that she be made crown princess. Emperor Zhongzong, as advised by the senior chancellor Wei Yuanzhong
, refused, and she, disappointed, replied rather irreverently:
Despite this irreverence, Emperor Zhongzong did not rebuke her. He did, however, make her brother Li Chongjun
, born of a concubine, crown prince. Both Li Guo'er and her husband Wu Chongxun looked down on Li Chongjun, however, and at times they even called him "slave." In summer 707, in anger, Li Chongjun rose in rebellion with the ethnically Mohe general Li Duozuo
and Emperor Zhongzong's cousin Li Qianli (李千里) the Prince of Cheng. Li Chongjun killed Wu Sansi and Wu Chongxun, but in his subsequent attack on the palace was defeated and forced to flee; he was then killed in flight.
Emperor Zhongzong buried Wu Sansi and Wu Chongxun with great honor, creating Wu Chongxun the Prince of Lu posthumously. Li Guo'er wanted Wu Chongxun to be buried with honors due an emperor, and Emperor Zhongzong initially was inclined to agree, but after the official Lu Can (盧粲) advised against it, changed his mind—and Li Guo'er, in anger, had Lu demoted to be the prefect of Chen Prefecture (陳州, roughly modern Zhoukou
, Henan
).
Meanwhile, in the aftermaths of Li Chongjun's rebellion, Emperor Zhongzong had his alleged coconspirators investigated, at both Li Guo'er and the minister of defense Zong Chuke
tried to implicate both Li Dan and Princess Taiping into the plot, but at the urging of the deputy minister of civil services and deputy imperial censor Xiao Zhizhong
stopped the investigations into Li Dan and Princess Taiping.
By 708, Li Guo'er, her older sister Princess Changning, Empress Wei's sister the Lady of Cheng, Consort Shangguan, Consort Shangguan's mother Lady Zheng, along with senior ladies in waiting
Ladies Chai and Helou, the sorceress Diwu Ying'er (第五英兒), and Lady Zhao of Longxi, were all powerful and corrupt. It was said that Li Guo'er was particularly powerful and arrogant and that many officials, including chancellors, received offices because of her recommendations. She competed with Princess Changning in their extravagance, building mansions that were even more luxurious than imperial palaces. At one point, she asked Emperor Zhongzong to bestow on her the imperial pond Kunming Pond (昆明池) -- a request Emperor Zhongzong denied on the account that many commoners fish at Kunming Pond to feed themselves. Li Guo'er, in anger, seized much private property to create a pond of her own, known as the Dingkun Pond (定昆池, i.e., "the pond that would compete with Kunming
"), with many wondrous features that were intended to exceed those of Kunming Pond. She spent enormous amounts of money adorning her private pleasure park, having workers excavate a sixteen mile circumference lake, dig out a river in the form of the milky way, and pile stones in the form of the sacred Mount Hua. Carpenters also made walkways and pavilions. After her death in 710, the government made the property a public place. She also built many Buddhist temples, as did her mother Empress Wei and sister Princess Changning.
In late 708, Li Guo'er remarried—with her new husband being Wu Chongxun's cousin Wu Yanxiu (武延秀) -- in a grand ceremony that included ceremonial guards that were only allowed for empresses, with Li Dan serving as the ceremonial commander. The wedding banquet was set within the palace, and when Li Guo'er came out to greet the guests, they all bowed to her. Her young son, by Wu Chongxun, only a few years old, was created the Duke of Gao.
In 709, two corrupt chancellors with connections to Li Guo'er, Cui Shi
and Zheng Yin, were indicted by the assistant censors Jin Heng (靳恆), Li Shangyin
, and Pei Cui (裴漼), and initially, Zheng was reduced to commoner rank and exiled, while Cui Shi was reduced in rank to be the military advisor to a prefectural prefect, but at the urging of Consort Shangguan, Li Guo'er, and Wu Yanxiu, their punishments were subsequently reduced.
the Prince of Wen on the throne (as Emperor Shang), but retained power herself as empress dowager
and regent
. Less than a month later, however, imperial guards, incited by Li Dan's son Li Longji
the Prince of Linzi and Princess Taiping, attacked the palace, and during the attack, it was said that Li Guo'er was looking at herself in the mirror and putting on makeup when a soldier charged in and killed her. Also killed were Empress Dowager Wei, Wu Yanxiu, and Lady Helou. Subsequently, other members of the empress dowager's and Li Guo'er's factions were also killed.
Subsequently, at the urging of Princess Taiping, Li Longji, and Li Longji's brother Li Chengqi
the Prince of Song, Li Dan took the throne again, displacing Emperor Shang. He posthumously reduced Empress Wei to commoner rank and reduced Li Guo'er further to the unusual rank of "rebellious commoner." However, he still buried her with honors due an official of the second rank. Her husband Wu Chongxun's grand tomb, however, was destroyed.
History of China
Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...
dynasty Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
. She was the youngest daughter of Emperor Zhongzong
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Xiǎn , at times during his life Li Zhe and Wu Xian , was the fourth Emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling briefly in 684 and again from 705 to 710.Emperor Zhongzong was the son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Empress Wu...
and his wife Empress Wei
Empress Wei (Zhongzong)
Empress Wei was an empress of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. She was the second wife of Emperor Zhongzong, who reigned twice, and during his second reign, she tried to emulate the example of her mother-in-law Wu Zetian and seize power...
who was greatly favored by her parents and therefore grew very powerful and corrupt during her father's second reign.
Eventually, after Emperor Zhongzong died in 710—a death that traditional historians assert was a poisoning carried out by Empress Wei and Li Guo'er (so that Empress Wei could reign and Li Guo'er could become crown princess) -- a coup led by Li Guo'er's cousin Li Longji
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang , also commonly known as Emperor Ming of Tang , personal name Li Longji , known as Wu Longji from 690 to 705, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756. His reign of 43 years was the longest during the Tang Dynasty...
the Prince of Linzi and Li Guo'er's paternal aunt Princess Taiping
Princess Taiping
Princess Taiping 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 , particularly...
overthrew and killed Empress Wei and Li Guo'er.
Background
Li Guo'er was the youngest of four children that Emperor ZhongzongEmperor Zhongzong of Tang
Emperor Zhongzong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Xiǎn , at times during his life Li Zhe and Wu Xian , was the fourth Emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling briefly in 684 and again from 705 to 710.Emperor Zhongzong was the son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Empress Wu...
(Li Zhe) had with his wife Empress Wei
Empress Wei (Zhongzong)
Empress Wei was an empress of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. She was the second wife of Emperor Zhongzong, who reigned twice, and during his second reign, she tried to emulate the example of her mother-in-law Wu Zetian and seize power...
. She was said to be born at a time when Li Zhe had, after a brief reign in 684, been deposed by his mother Empress Dowager Wu
Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian , personal name Wu Zhao , often referred to as Tian Hou during the Tang Dynasty and Empress Consort Wu in later times, was the only woman in the history of China to assume the title of Empress Regnant...
(later known as Wu Zetian), reduced to the title of Prince of Lulin, and exiled to Fang Prefecture (房州, in modern Shiyan
Shiyan
Shiyan is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, People's Republic of China.-Geography:The Wudang Mountains run approximately east-west through the territory of the "Prefecture-level city" of Shiyan, crossing several of its county-level divisions...
, Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
). He was replaced by his brother Li Dan
Emperor Ruizong of Tang
Emperor Ruizong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Dàn , known at times during his life as Li Xulun , Li Lun , Wu Lun , and Wu Dan , was the fifth and ninth emperor of Tang Dynasty...
the Prince of Yu (as Emperor Ruizong). It was said that at her birth, Li Zhe took off his shirt and wrapped her in the shirt, and thereafter named her fat child(meaning "the child that was wrapped"). As she was born in times of trouble, she was particularly pampered by her parents, and Empress Wei particularly favored her as she grew, as she was said to be beautiful and good at speaking.
In 698, at the urging of the chancellor Di Renjie
Di Renjie
Dí Rénjié , courtesy name Huaiying , formally Duke Wenhui of Liang , was an official of the Chinese Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, twice serving as chancellor during her reign...
, Wu Zetian (who had taken the throne herself in 690, reducing Li Dan to the rank of crown prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
) recalled Li Zhe to the capital. Li Dan offered to yield the position of crown prince to Li Zhe, and Wu Zetian agreed, creating Li Zhe crown prince (and subsequently changing his name, first to Li Xian, and then to Wu Xian). Sometime after the end of exile, Li Guo'er married Wu Chongxun (武崇訓) the Prince of Gaoyang, the son of Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi
Wu Sansi
Wu Sansi , formally Prince Xuan of Liang , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and his aunt Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, becoming an imperial prince and chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian and subsequently, while only briefly chancellor during the second reign of Wu Zetian's son...
the Prince of Liang.
During Emperor Zhongzong's second reign
In 705, a coup led by Zhang JianzhiZhang Jianzhi
Zhang Jianzhi , courtesy name Mengjiang , formally Prince Wenzhen of Hanyang , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian and her son Emperor Zhongzong...
, Cui Xuanwei
Cui Xuanwei
Cui Xuanwei , né Cui Ye , formally Prince Wenxian of Boling , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian and her son Emperor Zhongzong...
, Jing Hui
Jing Hui
JIng Hui , courtesy name Zhongye , formally Prince Sumin of Pingyang , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong...
, Huan Yanfan
Huan Yanfan
Huan Yanfan , courtesy name Shize , formally Prince Zhonglie of Fuyang , briefly known during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang as Wei Yanfan , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong...
, and Yuan Shuji
Yuan Shuji
Yuan Shuji , formally Prince Zhenlie of Nanyang , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong...
overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong to the throne. However, Wu Sansi, who was carrying on an affair with Empress Wei, became a trusted advisor of Emperor Zhongzong, and Zhang and his cohorts soon lost power (and eventually all were killed or died in exile in 706). Li Guo'er and Emperor Zhongzong's concubine Consort Shangguan Wan'er
Shangguan Wan'er
Shangguan Wan'er , imperial consort rank Zhaorong , posthumous name Wenhui , was the granddaughter of Shangguan Yi and was one of the women most famous in Chinese history for her talent...
also became powerful figures. Li Guo'er, in particular, as she was favored by both Emperor Zhongzong and Empress Wei, was said to be powerful, arrogant, and corrupt.
In spring 706, Emperor Zhongzong issued an edict that, in an unprecedented manner, established staffs for seven princesses—his sister Princess Taiping
Princess Taiping
Princess Taiping 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 , particularly...
; his daughters Princesses Changning, Yicheng, Xindu, Ding'an, and Anle; and Princess Jincheng, the daughter of his cousin Li Shouli
Li Shouli
Lĭ Shǒulĭ was the second son of Li Xián who also known as Crown Prince Zhanghuai of Tang. Born Li Guangren during the Chuigong era of his youngest uncle Emperor Ruizong of Tang's reign when his grandmother Wu Zetian held the real power, he was renamed Shouli and given the title Crown Prince Xima...
the Prince of Yong. It was said, among the seven, Li Guo'er had a particularly large staff, and she also sold governmental offices, even to people who were of low social stations, as long as they had the money. Because the offices she sold had their commissions sealed in envelopes that were sealed in a slanted manner to indicate that they needed not to be approved by the examination bureau of government (門下省, Menxia Sheng), they were known as the "slanted-sealed officials" (斜封官, xiefeng guan). It was said that at times, she would even draft edicts for Emperor Zhongzong and then, covering the text of the edicts, ask him to sign them—and that he did so willingly. She also requested that she be made crown princess. Emperor Zhongzong, as advised by the senior chancellor Wei Yuanzhong
Wei Yuanzhong
Wei Yuanzhong , né Wei Zhenzai , formally Duke Zhen of Qi , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian and her son Emperor Zhongzong.- Background :It is not known which year Wei Yuanzhong was born, but it...
, refused, and she, disappointed, replied rather irreverently:
Despite this irreverence, Emperor Zhongzong did not rebuke her. He did, however, make her brother Li Chongjun
Li Chongjun
Li Chongjun , formally Crown Prince Jiemin , was a crown prince of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, during the second reign of his father Emperor Zhongzong...
, born of a concubine, crown prince. Both Li Guo'er and her husband Wu Chongxun looked down on Li Chongjun, however, and at times they even called him "slave." In summer 707, in anger, Li Chongjun rose in rebellion with the ethnically Mohe general Li Duozuo
Li Duozuo
Li Duozuo , formally the Prince of Liaoyang , was an ethnically Mohe general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty...
and Emperor Zhongzong's cousin Li Qianli (李千里) the Prince of Cheng. Li Chongjun killed Wu Sansi and Wu Chongxun, but in his subsequent attack on the palace was defeated and forced to flee; he was then killed in flight.
Emperor Zhongzong buried Wu Sansi and Wu Chongxun with great honor, creating Wu Chongxun the Prince of Lu posthumously. Li Guo'er wanted Wu Chongxun to be buried with honors due an emperor, and Emperor Zhongzong initially was inclined to agree, but after the official Lu Can (盧粲) advised against it, changed his mind—and Li Guo'er, in anger, had Lu demoted to be the prefect of Chen Prefecture (陳州, roughly modern Zhoukou
Zhoukou
Zhoukou is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, People's Republic of China. It borders Zhumadian to the southeast, Xuchang and Luohe to the west, Kaifeng to the northwest, Shangqiu to the northeast, and the province of Anhui on all other sides....
, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
).
Meanwhile, in the aftermaths of Li Chongjun's rebellion, Emperor Zhongzong had his alleged coconspirators investigated, at both Li Guo'er and the minister of defense Zong Chuke
Zong Chuke
Zong Chuke , courtesy name Shu'ao , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian, her son Emperor Zhongzong, and her grandson Emperor Shang.- Background :It is not known when Zong Chuke was born, but it is...
tried to implicate both Li Dan and Princess Taiping into the plot, but at the urging of the deputy minister of civil services and deputy imperial censor Xiao Zhizhong
Xiao Zhizhong
Xiao Zhizhong was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian's sons Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Ruizong and grandsons Emperor Shang and Emperor Xuanzong...
stopped the investigations into Li Dan and Princess Taiping.
By 708, Li Guo'er, her older sister Princess Changning, Empress Wei's sister the Lady of Cheng, Consort Shangguan, Consort Shangguan's mother Lady Zheng, along with senior ladies in waiting
Lady in Waiting
Lady in Waiting is the 2nd album by American southern rock band Outlaws, released in 1976. -Track listing:#"Breaker-Breaker" – 2:59#"South Carolina" – 3:05#"Ain't So Bad" – 3:48...
Ladies Chai and Helou, the sorceress Diwu Ying'er (第五英兒), and Lady Zhao of Longxi, were all powerful and corrupt. It was said that Li Guo'er was particularly powerful and arrogant and that many officials, including chancellors, received offices because of her recommendations. She competed with Princess Changning in their extravagance, building mansions that were even more luxurious than imperial palaces. At one point, she asked Emperor Zhongzong to bestow on her the imperial pond Kunming Pond (昆明池) -- a request Emperor Zhongzong denied on the account that many commoners fish at Kunming Pond to feed themselves. Li Guo'er, in anger, seized much private property to create a pond of her own, known as the Dingkun Pond (定昆池, i.e., "the pond that would compete with Kunming
Kunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...
"), with many wondrous features that were intended to exceed those of Kunming Pond. She spent enormous amounts of money adorning her private pleasure park, having workers excavate a sixteen mile circumference lake, dig out a river in the form of the milky way, and pile stones in the form of the sacred Mount Hua. Carpenters also made walkways and pavilions. After her death in 710, the government made the property a public place. She also built many Buddhist temples, as did her mother Empress Wei and sister Princess Changning.
In late 708, Li Guo'er remarried—with her new husband being Wu Chongxun's cousin Wu Yanxiu (武延秀) -- in a grand ceremony that included ceremonial guards that were only allowed for empresses, with Li Dan serving as the ceremonial commander. The wedding banquet was set within the palace, and when Li Guo'er came out to greet the guests, they all bowed to her. Her young son, by Wu Chongxun, only a few years old, was created the Duke of Gao.
In 709, two corrupt chancellors with connections to Li Guo'er, Cui Shi
Cui Shi
Cui Shi , courtesy name Chenglan , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian's sons Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Ruizong and grandsons Emperor Shang and Emperor Xuanzong...
and Zheng Yin, were indicted by the assistant censors Jin Heng (靳恆), Li Shangyin
Li Shangyin
Li Shangyin , courtesy name Yishan , was a Chinese poet of the late Tang Dynasty, born in Henei . Along with Li He, he was much admired and "rediscovered" in the 20th century by the young Chinese writers for the imagist quality of his poems...
, and Pei Cui (裴漼), and initially, Zheng was reduced to commoner rank and exiled, while Cui Shi was reduced in rank to be the military advisor to a prefectural prefect, but at the urging of Consort Shangguan, Li Guo'er, and Wu Yanxiu, their punishments were subsequently reduced.
Death
In summer 710, Emperor Zhongzong died suddenly. Traditional historians assert that it was a poisoning (with the poison placed into a cake), carried out after a conspiracy by Empress Wei, her new lovers Ma Qinke (馬秦客) and Yang Jun (楊均), and Li Guo'er—with Li Guo'er's motive being that she hoped that Empress Wei would become "emperor" like her grandmother Wu Zetian and that she could become crown princess. After Emperor Zhongzong's death, Empress Wei placed his son (not by her) Li ChongmaoEmperor Shang of Tang
Emperor Shang , also known as Emperor Shao , personal name Li Chongmao , was an emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling briefly in 710....
the Prince of Wen on the throne (as Emperor Shang), but retained power herself as empress dowager
Empress Dowager
Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...
and regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
. Less than a month later, however, imperial guards, incited by Li Dan's son Li Longji
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang , also commonly known as Emperor Ming of Tang , personal name Li Longji , known as Wu Longji from 690 to 705, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756. His reign of 43 years was the longest during the Tang Dynasty...
the Prince of Linzi and Princess Taiping, attacked the palace, and during the attack, it was said that Li Guo'er was looking at herself in the mirror and putting on makeup when a soldier charged in and killed her. Also killed were Empress Dowager Wei, Wu Yanxiu, and Lady Helou. Subsequently, other members of the empress dowager's and Li Guo'er's factions were also killed.
Subsequently, at the urging of Princess Taiping, Li Longji, and Li Longji's brother Li Chengqi
Li Chengqi
Li Chengqi , known as Wu Chengqi during the reign of his grandmother Wu Zetian and as Li Xian after 716, formally Emperor Rang , was an imperial prince of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who served as crown prince during the first reign of his father Emperor Ruizong who yielded that position to...
the Prince of Song, Li Dan took the throne again, displacing Emperor Shang. He posthumously reduced Empress Wei to commoner rank and reduced Li Guo'er further to the unusual rank of "rebellious commoner." However, he still buried her with honors due an official of the second rank. Her husband Wu Chongxun's grand tomb, however, was destroyed.