Li Shen

Li Shen (died July 29, 846 ), courtesy name Gongchui , formally Duke Wensu of Zhao , was a Chinese historian, military general, poet, and politician of the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Wuzong.

Background It is not known when Li Shen was born. His family claimed ancestry from the southern branch of the prominent Li clan of Zhao Commandery (趙郡, roughly modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), but was only able to trace its ancestry back to the Northern Wei official Li Shanquan and Li Shanquan's descendants who served as officials of Northern Wei and Sui dynasty. Li Shen's great-grandfather Li Jingxuan served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, and his great-granduncle Li Yuansu served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong's wife Wu Zetian. Both Li Shen's grandfather Li Shouyi and father Li Wu served as county magistrates. In Li Wu's case, he served three times at Jintan (金壇, in modern Changzhou, Jiangsu), Wucheng (烏程, in modern Huzhou, Jiangsu), and Jinling (晉陵, in modern Changzhou as well). He therefore settled his family in the region, at Wuxi.

Li Shen was five years old when Li Wu died, and he therefore was raised by his mother Lady Lu, who taught him the Confucian classics. It was said that Li Shen was short in stature but energetic, and was capable in songs and poetry. The year that he submitted himself to the local preliminary round of the imperial examinations, his poems became well known in the region.

During Emperor Muzong's reign As of the ascension of reign of Emperor Xianzong's son Emperor Muzong, Li Shen was serving as You Shiyi , a low-level advisory official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng), (Later historians have typically regarded Li Shen as a leader of the Li Faction – named after Li Deyu, not him – during the Niu-Li Factional Struggles.)

In 822, Li Shen was made Zhongshu Sheren , a mid-level official at the legislative bureau, and continued to be in charge of drafting edicts.

During Emperor Jingzong's reign In 824, Emperor Muzong died and was succeeded by his son Emperor Jingzong. Li Fengji, who remained powerful after the transition, continued to resent Li Shen, and soon thereafter his ally, the eunuch Wang Shoucheng, told Emperor Jingzong that Li Shen and the former chancellor Du Yuanying had supported Emperor Muzong's brother Li Cong the Prince of Shen as emperor, rather than Emperor Jingzong. As a result, Li Shen was exiled and demoted to be the military advisor to the prefect of Duan Prefecture (端州, in modern Zhaoqing, Guangdong). Emperor Jingzong further agreed to put Li Shen to death, but after a defense of Li Shen submitted by the imperial scholar Wei Chuhou, Emperor Jingzong discovered past petitions in which Li Shen had sought to have him made crown prince. Emperor Jingzong, while not recalling Li Shen back to Chang'an, did not further carry out actions against Li Shen. with his office at the eastern capital Luoyang. and Li Shen was made the acting military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu). Li Shen was the military governor when he, in 842, went to Chang'an to pay homage to Emperor Wuzong, and thereafter was made Zhongshu Shilang , the deputy head of the legislative bureau, and a chancellor de facto with the designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi . He was also made the acting director of the treasury. Thereafter, he was created the Duke of Zhao.

In 844, Li Shen suffered a stroke that made it difficult for him to walk. He therefore offered to resign. Emperor Wuzong made him the military governor of Huainan, carrying the Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi title as an honorary title.

In 845, Li Shen accused one of his subordinates, the magistrate of Jiangdu (江都, in modern Yangzhou), Wu Xiang , whose uncle Wu Wuling had long had an adversarial relationship with Li Deyu, of embezzlement and forcibly marrying the daughter of a commoner, Yan Yue . Many advisory officials pointed out that the evidence against Wu Xiang was weak, and Emperor Wuzong sent the censors Cui Yuanzao and Li Chou to review the case. Cui and Li Chou reported that Wu Xiang did embezzle funds, but that his father-in-law Yan was not a commoner, nor was the marriage forced. Li Deyu, despite Cui's and Li Chou's report, nevertheless had Wu Xiang executed, and further, retaliating against Cui and Li Chou for their contrary reports, had them demoted and exiled.

During Emperor Xuānzong's reign Li Shen died in 846, by which time Emperor Wuzong had died and been succeeded by his uncle Emperor Xuānzong. Emperor Xuānzong despised Li Deyu's hold on power, and soon after Emperor Xuānzong's ascension, Li Deyu was removed from his chancellor post. In 847, Wu Xiang's brother Wu Runa submitted a petition arguing that Wu Xiang was improperly executed and accusing Li Shen and Li Deyu of causing the improper execution. Emperor Xuānzong recalled Cui Yuanzao from exile and had him give an account of the case to the Office of the Imperial Censors, which subsequently submitted a report agreeing that Wu Xiang was improperly executed. As a result, Li Deyu was repeatedly demoted and exiled, eventually dying in exile, while Li Shen was posthumously stripped of three commission certificates.

Notes and references

Old Book of Tang, vol. 173. New Book of Tang, vol. 181. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 241, 243, 246, 248.