What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
The Tang Dynasty (618 AD - 907 AD), is a unified dynasty after the Sui Dynasty, a total of 21 emperors, enjoyed 289 years of the country, because of the royal family name Li, so also known as Li Tang, is one of the most powerful dynasties in ancient China. The Tang Emperor gave way to many "halfway points". For example, Gaozu gave way to Emperor Taizong, Wu Zetian gave way to Emperor Zhongzong, Emperor Ruizong gave way to Emperor Xuanzong, Emperor Xuanzong gave way to Emperor Suzong, and Emperor Shunzong gave way to Emperor Xianzong. Among them, Tang Ruizong's abdication experience is quite characteristic, which is very rare among the emperors of the Tang Dynasty. He has been in the court for nearly thirty years, and his life has experienced "one abolition, two establishments and three concessions", which can be described as the most entangled emperor in history.
Since his birth, Emperor Ruizong of Tang had personally experienced the sudden death of his eldest brother Li Hongshang (675) in Hebi Palace, his second brother Li Xianyongchun (682) exiled to Bazhou and died in a degraded place, and his third brother Li Xiansi (李贤嗣) was deposed from the throne and demoted to Junzhou in the first year (684) and later moved to Fangzhou.
At that time, Li Dan should have known in his heart that the tragic fate of the three imperial brothers was a lesson from the past: the same Wu Zetian was born, all of them were made crown princes, and they were about to participate in the imperial government or had already taken the imperial throne, and they had all posed a threat to Wu Zetian's power. In Li Dan's view, the encounters of the imperial brothers were all done by the empress dowager for the power of the court, so he became afraid of power and status. Li Dan learned a bloody lesson from their tragic experience: if you want to save your life, you should not participate in the politics of the dynasty, not be a prince, let alone the emperor's throne, so as not to pose a threat to the power of the mother and queen, and gradually stay away from politics, maintain a "simple heart", and protect yourself in passivity.
In the first year of Tianzhi (690), Li Dan resigned the throne and asked for the surname of Wu for preservation, as the imperial heir, he longed for a free and peaceful life, but his fate could not be as he wished. During the reign of Wu Zetian, Two of Li Dan's concubines were secretly murdered, and Li Dan and his children were claustrophobic in the inner palace, and he fell into extreme grief, and he was lonely and helpless in the vast harem and court, and tired of filling his heart. In the past few years of Wu Dynasty, the courtiers have been discussing whether to return the Li family or the descendants of the Li wu family, even Wu Zetian is difficult to decide, Li Xian, Li Dan was once again pushed to the cusp of the storm, while Wu Chengsi was struggling to seek, Li Dan has always been in a passive or at the mercy of others, arbitrarily slaughtered. Under the strong advice of most courtiers, Wu Zetian established the descendants of the Li family to inherit the throne, and Wu Chengsi was depressed, at which time Li Dan asked to give way to his brother Li Xian.
Li Xian, the king of Luling, launched the Shenlong coup in the first year of shenlong (705), and Li Dan, who had always been silent and pursued inaction, also "participated" in this palace coup, which was his responsibility to the Li family court, but it should also be forced to be helpless. After that, "on the merits and deeds of reward", Li Danjia was called King An Guoxiang. Li Dan knew the truth and falsity of this award, so Li Dan resigned one by one, and he was in the harem and the court, he was either afraid, or tired, or used to mingzhe to protect himself, all kinds of possibilities showed that Li Dan was actually a politically savvy and thoughtful person, which was also an unknown side of Tang Ruizong.
Tang Ruizong was sandwiched between two politically accomplished rulers, thus appearing mediocre. Under the rule of his mother Empress Wu Zetian, he was made crown prince and replaced his brother Zhongzong as emperor, but like a puppet, after the power was returned to his mother, he was later demoted to the imperial heir, Wu Zetian was called emperor, and between the abolitions, he learned to protect himself; when his son Li Longji and his sister Princess Taiping jointly eradicated The party of Wei Hou and Princess Anle, he was once again proclaimed as the Son of the Tang Dynasty. During his reign, "every time the prime minister played a role, he asked, 'Should we discuss with the Taiping?' He also asked, "Do you want to discuss with Saburo?" And then you can do it. In this political environment, he chose to retire to the throne, and Crown Prince Longji was the emperor. Li Dan had been a puppet emperor for six years, an imperial heir for seven years, and the experience of being suppressed and powerless at every turn had already made him lose his desire for power, and when he grasped real power, he did not know how to use it. In the nearly thirty years since he entered politics, he has experienced the ascension to the throne, the abolition of the throne, and the retirement of the emperor, and his political career can be described as tortuous and changeable.
Tang Ruizong did not seem to value the position of power, but he always seemed to participate in politics in the process of decentralization. He desperately wanted to escape from the court and get rid of politics, but from birth, he was labeled "prince". In the face of the rewards and reprimands of his father, mother, and brothers, and the invitations of his ministers, he could not abandon them after all, and they all accepted them in "fixed words". On the one hand, it is the reproduction of the tangled psychology, and on the other hand, it is also a reflection of his political life. Facts have proved that although Tang Ruizong resigned many times to evade the government, he was not completely separated from the court.
The tang dynasty court was constantly variable, political struggles and tragedies occurred from time to time, the Wuzhou Dynasty Tang, the Shenlong coup and the Tang Long coup d'état occurred, the empress of Gaozong, Xiao Shufei, the sons of Gaozong Li Zhong, Li Hong, Su Jie, and Li Xian died one after another, Li Dan's concubine Liu Shi and Dou Shi were killed, coupled with the cool official politics practiced during Wu Zetian's reign, and such events were closely related to his relatives, and if he was not careful, the heavens and people were separated, and the cruel political reality made Li Dan fear in his heart and fear for the politics of the court. Whether it was The sealing of Wu Zetian and Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, or the establishment of Tang Long as the Son of Heaven after the coup d'état, he has always vigorously resigned in terms of political appointments.
When Li Shimin was first enthroned by the crown prince, he also had a similar "resignation", but the analysis shows that the attitude and mood of these two people are completely different. Li Shimin deliberately resigned to show his courtesy and humility, in other words, he wanted to ascend the throne immediately, but he had to make a play, otherwise he would not have launched the Xuanwumen Rebellion in June of the ninth year of Wude (626), when he was made crown prince and august was the emperor, and the speed of his speed showed that he had coveted the throne for a long time. And Li Dan's "fixed words" are sincere, because of the character shaped by many years of court life. In the harem, he was well aware of the dangers within the court, and since his birth, he had witnessed the deceit of the court. For the sake of power, father and son, brothers and brothers, he personally experienced the death of his brother Hong, Xian, the abolition of Xian, the innocent killing of concubines, but also personally experienced his own abolition on the throne, and all this seems to be caused by his mother Wu Zetian's lust for power, not so much from childhood, but rather than hearing about it from an early age, it is better to say that this fear is innate.
Regarding Li Dan himself, the historical data has left the impression that he is cowardly, has no opinion, is not psychologically strong, and his political means are not tough, just like an image that is inconsistent with those who sit in the court. During the reign of Wu Zetian, most of the descendants of the Li Tang imperial family were persecuted by Wu Zetian and experienced many court turmoils, but Li Dan was left alone and had been in politics for nearly thirty years, and the reasons for this are worth exploring. The Zizhi Tongjian explains this: "King Xiang was generous and respectful, and he was kind and good, so the world of Jingwu and Wei was spared." Obviously, Li Dan was able to survive the fierce tang royal court struggle, and there was a close connection with his "magnanimous and respectful" and "peaceful and good", and Li Dan lived in the harem for a long time, close to the court, personally experienced and seen, and realized the true meaning of "no dispute with the world" and "Mingzhe to protect himself"