生平

其父李隆基在景龍二年（708年）至四年（710年）期間出任潞州別駕。李瑛大約出生在此時。唐睿宗景雲元年（710年）九月，李瑛以皇孫的身份封真定郡王。其父登基後，先天元年八月，李瑛進封郢王；開元三年（715年）正月，被立為皇太子。十三年，改名李鴻。納妃薛氏，是玄宗女唐昌公主駙馬薛鏽的堂妹。

開元二十五年（737年），玄宗寵妃武惠妃召喚太子李瑛、鄂王李瑤、光王李琚三兄弟與薛鏽入宮，說是宮禁有盜賊。三兄弟與薛鏽披甲入宮時，武惠妃卻對玄宗說三兄弟兵變，已經殺入宮內，玄宗大怒，立刻將三兄弟逮捕，薛鏽被處死。在武惠妃和駙馬楊洄的構陷下，與鄂王李瑤、光王李琚一起被廢為庶人並被賜死；民間因為其三人之冤，稱之為「三庶人」。

肅宗即位後，為李瑛平反，恢復其「太子」稱號，並廢絕武惠妃的皇后祭享（武惠妃死後曾被玄宗追封為皇后）。

子女

• 新平郡王李儼（725年—765年3月13日）

• 平原郡王李伸

• 第三子慶王李俅（出繼伯父李琮）

• 李偆

• 李備

• 李儆

• 嗣郢王李佑

• 博平郡主李氏（732—780），母薛妃，嫁永穆公主繼子王訓

Background

It is not known when Li Siqian was born, but it is known that he was the second son of Li Longji, then the Prince of Linzi under Li Longji's uncle Emperor Zhongzong. His mother Consort Zhao, who would eventually receive the imperial consort rank of Lifei (麗妃), the second highest rank for imperial consorts, was said to be a prostitute who was capable in singing and dancing, and who became a concubine of Li Longji's when Li Longji was serving as the secretary general for Lu Prefecture (潞州, roughly modern Changzhi, Shanxi), in 708. In 710, after Li Longji's father Li Dan became emperor (as Emperor Ruizong), Li Longji was created crown prince, and his sons were created princes. Li Siqian was created the Prince of Zhending.

During Emperor Xuanzongs reign

In 712, Emperor Ruizong passed the throne to Li Longji, who took the throne as Emperor Xuanzong. Li Siqian's title was upgraded to Prince of Ying. At this point, Consort Zhao was Emperor Xuanzong's favorite concubine, and he gave high official offices to her father Zhao Yuanli (趙元禮) and brother Zhao Changnu (趙常奴). Further, in 715, he created Li Siqian crown prince, even though Li Siqian was not his eldest son. (Emperor Xuanzong's eldest son Li Sizhi was alive, but his face might have already been badly injured, which was considered unfit for an emperor and might be the reason that he was never created crown prince.)

In 719, Li Siqian ceremonially took on adult clothing, and a ceremony was held at the imperial university to commemorate the start of his formal studies, with the official Chu Wuliang (褚無量) presiding.

Meanwhile, over the years, another concubine of Emperor Xuanzong's, Consort Wu gained great favor, and Empress Wang lost favor. In 724, Empress Wang's brother Wang Shouyi (王守一) was discovered to have used magic to try to regain favor for Empress Wang. Empress Wang was deposed and died soon thereafter, and Wang Shouyi was forced to commit suicide. Emperor Xuanzong considered creating Consort Wu empress, but eventually did not do so due to official opposition based on two grounds—that Consort Wu was of the family of Emperor Xuanzong's powerful grandmother Wu Zetian, who seized the throne herself for over a decade as "emperor" and interrupted Tang Dynasty, and that Consort Wu was not Li Siqian's mother and therefore might seek to endanger Li Siqian. Still, Consort Wu's son Li Qing (李清) the Prince of Shou became Emperor Xuanzong's favorite son, and Li Siqian began to lose favor.

In 725, Li Siqian's name was changed to Li Hong.

In 726, Li Hong's mother Consort Zhao died.

In 728, Emperor Xuanzong decreed a search among officials' daughters who could be the wife to Li Hong, and eventually selected the daughter of Xue Tao (薛縚) the deputy minister of ceremonies, to be Li Hong's wife and crown princess.

Meanwhile, Consort Wu had designs to have Li Qing, whose name was by then changed to Li Mao (李瑁), named crown prince. She and the official Li Linfu entered into an alliance, where Li Linfu agreed to help her to have Li Mao created crown prince, while she recommended Li Linfu to be chancellor. Li Linfu became chancellor in 734, and thereafter began to lobby on Li Mao's behalf.

In 736, Li Hong's name was changed to Li Ying.

At some point thereafter, there was a time when Li Ying met with his brothers Li Yao (李瑤) the Prince of E, born of Consort Huangfu, and Li Ju (李琚) the Prince of Guang, born of Consort Liu, and each of them was complaining about how their mothers, originally favored by Emperor Xuanzong, had lost favor to Consort Wu. Princess Xianyi's husband Yang Hui (楊洄) reported this to Consort Wu, and she tearfully accused Li Ying of defaming her and Emperor Xuanzong. Emperor Xuanzong, in anger, discussed the possibility of deposing Li Ying with the chancellors. The senior chancellor Zhang Jiuling firmly opposed this, and when Consort Wu sent her servant Niu Gui'er (牛貴兒) to try to lobby him, he refused and reported this to Emperor Xuanzong. Because of Zhang's firm opposition to Li Ying's removal—citing examples of Duke Xian of Jin, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Hui of Jin, and Emperor Wen of Sui, each of whose states was destroyed or greatly weakened as the result of a change in the crown prince position—it was said that Li Ying's position was firm for as long as Zhang remained chancellor, but after Zhang was removed later in 736, things began to change.

In 737, Consort Wu decided to try to trick Li Ying, Li Yao, and Li Ju. She had a message sent to the three princes, stating, "There are bandits in the palace. Please report at once in armor!" The three princes arrived in full armor, and she thereafter told Emperor Xuanzong, "The three princes are planning treason. Look, they have come in full armor." Emperor Xuanzong had his eunuchs check out the situation, and the three princes were seen in full armor. Yang Hui subsequently accused Li Ying, Li Yao, and Li Ju of treason. When Emperor Xuanzong discussed this with the chancellors, Li Linfu, by now the most powerful official at court, stated, "This is Your Imperial Majesty's family matter. We will not interfere." The three princes were soon reduced to commoner rank and forced to commit suicide. His sons were raised by his older brother Li Cong. A number of the clan members of his mother Consort Zhao and his wife Crown Princess Xue were exiled. After Li Ying's younger brother Emperor Suzong became emperor, he exonerated Li Ying and rehonored him as Crown Prince; at the same time, Emperor Suzong removed Consort Wu's posthumous honor as empress.

Personal information

• Father

　• Emperor Xuanzong of Tang

• Mother

　• Consort Zhao (d. 726)

• Wife

　• Lady Xue, daughter of Xue Tao (薛縚), the Deputy Minister of Ceremonies

• Sons

　• Li Yan (李俨), Prince of Xinping

　• Li Shen (李伸), Prince of Pingyuan

　• Li Qian (李倩)

　• Li Qiu, Prince of Qing

　• Li Bei (李备)

　• Li Jing (李儆)

Ancestry