Emperor AI of Tang

Emperor Ai of Tang (Chinese: 唐哀帝) (892–908), also known as Emperor Zhaoxuan (昭宣帝), born Li Zuo (Chinese: 李祚), later known as Li Zhu (Chinese: 李柷), was the last emperor of the Tang dynasty of China. He reigned from 904 to 907. Emperor Ai was the son of Emperor Zhaozong.

Emperor Ai ascended the throne at the age of 11 after his father, the Emperor Zhaozong, was assassinated on the orders of the paramount warlord Zhu Quanzhong in 904, and while Emperor Ai was emperor, the Tang court, then at Luoyang, was under the control of officials Zhu put in charge. In 905, under the instigation of his associates Liu Can and Li Zhen, Zhu had Emperor Ai issue an edict summoning some 30 senior aristocrats at Baima Station (白馬驛, in modern Anyang, Henan), near the Yellow River; the aristocrats were thereafter ordered to commit suicide, and their bodies were thrown into the Yellow River. Less than two years later in 907, Zhu made his final move against Emperor Ai himself, forcing the young emperor to abdicate to him. In Zhu's new Later Liang Dynasty, the former Tang emperor carried the title of Prince of Jiyin, but in 908, Zhu had the prince poisoned, at the age of 15.

Read more about Emperor Ai Of Tang:  Background, Reign, Death, Chancellors During Reign, Personal Information

Famous quotes containing the words emperor and/or tang:

    Even the emperor has straw-sandaled relatives.
    Chinese proverb.

    The art of cursing people seems to have lost its tang since the old days when a good malediction took four deep breaths to deliver and sent the outfielders scurrying toward the fence to field.
    Robert Benchley (1889–1945)