Among the emperors of China's dynasties, Tang Ruizong Li Dan is definitely a very special existence.
First of all, he himself was the emperor, and his father Li Zhi of Tang Gaozong, his mother Wu Zetian, his brother Li Xian of Tang Zhongzong, his nephew Li Chongmao of Tang Shaodi, and his son Li Longji of Tang Xuanzong were also emperors. There were 6 emperors in a family, and he was nicknamed the "Six Emperor Maru".
In addition, he ascended to the throne twice.
The first was in 684 AD and the second in 710 AD, which is very rare in Chinese history.
What is even more unbelievable is that Li Dan has refused the throne three times in succession, preferring to give up the position of emperor to others rather than to be his own, which may be unique in Chinese history.
Let's analyze one by one why Li Dan did not want to be emperor.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" >, in 690 AD, Li Dan gave way to his mother Wu Zetian</h1>
To be reasonable, Li Dan could not have become emperor, because his father Li Zhi had a total of 8 sons. As Li Dan's youngest son, no matter how senior he ranked him, the throne could not be turned on his head.
But in fact it made a huge joke to him.
Li Zhi's eldest son, Li Zhong, was made crown prince when he was 9 years old, but later Wu Zetian became empress, and he lost the position of crown prince. Not only that, Wu Zetian also framed him for rebellion, just like that, Li Zhong was only 22 years old, and he was given death by Li Zhi.
Li Zhi's second son, Li Xiao, died of illness in 664, not yet 20 years old. And Li Zhi's third son Li Shangjin, because Wu Zetian hated his birth mother, so Li Shangjin was also targeted by Wu Zetian everywhere, and naturally could not inherit Li Zhi's throne.
Li Zhi's fourth son, Li Sujie, whose birth mother Xiao Shi had fought with Wu Zetian for favors, was hated by Wu Zetian, and when Wu Zetian became empress, Xiao Shi was retaliated against, and even persecuted to death. Li Sujie was also demoted to the local government and put under house arrest, so he could not inherit the throne.
Li Zhi's fifth son, Li Hong, was very capable, and he was very loved by both the government and the public, but what he did not expect was that Li Hong died of illness at the age of 23.
Li Zhi's sixth son, Li Xian, although he was the biological son of Wu Zetian, on the one hand, he blocked the way for Wu Zetian to ascend the throne as emperor, and on the other hand, there was a crisis of trust between the mother and son, so Li Xian was demoted to the local area and lost the possibility of inheriting the throne. Even in 684, he was forced to commit suicide.
Li Zhi's seventh son, Li Xian, ascended the throne after Li Zhi's death. Although Li Xian's ability is not very good, his temper is still quite large, and he often confronts Wu Zetian. This could anger Wu Zetian, who directly expelled Li Xian from the capital and demoted Li Xian to the position of King of Luling.
In this way, in 684, Li Dan succeeded Li Xian, becoming the fifth emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
This throne was not won by Li Dan, but came from heaven by sitting in the family. Although he became emperor, the power was not in his hands, and even his personal freedom was restricted. Later, the Wu family's continuous erosion of the power of the Tang Dynasty, and Wu Zetian's eye for the imperial throne, Li Dan even put his own life at great risk.
In order to save his life, Li Dan, who was not interested in the imperial throne, offered to let Wu Zetian ascend the throne as emperor, and even he could change his surname to "Wu". In this way, Wu Zetian naturally accepted Li Dan's abdication and became emperor.
The reason why Li Dan gave way was that he was very helpless. On the one hand, he wanted to save his life, on the other hand, he also wanted to preserve the bloodline of the Li Tang royal family as much as possible. After all, under the bloody suppression of Wu Zetian, a large number of Li Tang royal families died, and if he did not obey the softness any longer, then if the red-eyed Wu Zetian killed them all, then the Li Tang royal family would be completely finished.
If this is the case, it is better to give way for the time being and seek the opportunity to regain power later.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="65" > ii, in 698 AD, Li Dan gave way to his brother Li Xian</h1>
After Wu Zetian ascended the throne and became emperor, she was thinking about whether she wanted her son or her nephew to succeed her as emperor in the future.
On this issue, Di Renjie made the following advice:
First, the world today was laid down by Tang Taizong Li Shimin, and Tang Gaozong Li Zhi entrusted his son to you Wu Zetian, if you really hand over this world to the Wu family, it is obviously against the will of Heaven, and it is unreasonable to reason and reason;
Second, the relationship between aunt and nephew is obviously closer to mother and child than the relationship between mother and child. If you give the world to your son, then you can still enter the Taimiao Temple and enjoy the sacrifices of future generations. But if the world is handed over to his nephew, from ancient times to now, I have never heard of any emperor who would move his aunt into the Taimiao Temple and sacrifice her.
It was precisely because of These two advices from Di Renjie that Wu Zetian decided to return power to the Li Tang imperial family in the future. At first, Wu Zetian intended to pass the throne to Li Dan, but he did not expect that Li Dan had repeatedly refused, so Wu Zetian had no choice but to send someone to welcome Back Li Xian, and in 698 he made Li Xian crown prince.
In this way, Li Dan gave way for the second time, ceding the position of emperor to his brother Li Xian. And there are several reasons for his abdication.
First, the ministers of the DPRK and China were more supportive of Li Xian.
From the perspective of the primogeniture system, it is true that Li Xianlai should inherit the throne. Moreover, in his attitude toward Wu Zetian, Li Xian would appear more rigid, so it was reasonable that the ministers of the court were more supportive of Li Xian, and Li Dan also pushed the boat along the water to make a personal feeling.
Second, Wu Zetian's health is still very good, and it is inevitable that something will happen in the future.
In 698, Wu Zetian was 74 years old, but her health was still very good, and she still had several years to live. No one could guarantee that in the last few years of Wu Zetian, nothing would happen again, which would affect Li Dan.
Since this is the case, it is better to stay away from the political whirlpool, throw these troubles to Li Xian, and become a free-spirited prince himself.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="66" >, in 712 AD, Li Dan gave way to his son Li Longji</h1>
In 705, Wu Zetian died, and Li Xian ascended the throne as emperor, becoming emperor for the second time. But his ability was really not bad, after only 5 years on this throne, he was poisoned by his wife, that is, Empress Webster.
This empress Wei Shi was not very capable, but she wanted to emulate Wu Zetian and also wanted to become a female emperor. And if she wanted to be a female emperor, Li Dan and Princess Taiping were the biggest obstacles, so she had to find a way to kill Li Dan and Princess Taiping first.
But what she didn't expect was that her plan would be leaked out. When Li Dan's son Li Longji learned of this, he and Princess Taiping jointly launched a mutiny and killed Wei Shi and his henchmen.
After Wei Shi was killed, Li Chongmao, the Young Emperor of Tang, who was supported by Wei Shi, was frightened and took the initiative to cede the throne to Li Dan.
Li Dan thus became emperor for the second time in 710 AD with the support of his son.
But he did not stay on the throne for long, and in 712 he offered the throne and ceded the throne to his son Li Longji. And there are several reasons why he gave way this time.
First, although Li Dan was emperor, power was held by Li Longji and Princess Taiping.
As the initiators of the coup, after the coup, Li Longji and Princess Taiping both seized a lot of power. Coupled with Li Dan's lack of political interests, the court was actually controlled by Li Longji and Princess Taiping.
In any case, there is no real power, so it is better to abdicate and be happy to be idle.
Second, princess Taiping's power was expanding day by day, but Li Dan had no way to contain it.
With the continuous expansion of Princess Taiping's power, Li Dan couldn't help but feel threatened. However, Li Dan also knew that he could not play with Princess Taiping, but his son could. Since this is the case, it is better to abdicate the throne and leave the big trouble of princess Taiping to his son to deal with.
Of course, the main reason for Li Dan's three abdications is that he has no political heart and really has no interest in power.
As the youngest son of Li Zhi, Li Dan did not expect to become emperor one day, so he studied calligraphy from an early age and studied knowledge with all his heart.
In his opinion, it would not be better to be a prince who was at ease and had a respectable status, practicing calligraphy and writing poetry on weekdays. If in order to go further, in case you put your own life in it, it is not worth the loss.
After all, some people want to make a difference, but some people want to spend their lives in peace. Li Dan belonged to the latter, and therefore on the issue of the throne, Li Dan chose to give up the throne to others three times.