Li Anquan

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Li Anquan was born into the imperial clan of Western Xia. He was a grandson of Emperor Chongzong Li Qianshun, while his father, Prince of Yue Li Renyou, was the younger brother of Emperor Renzong Li Renxiao. Li Anquan was born in 1170, the first year of the Qianyou era, when Western Xia under Emperor Renzong Li Renxiao was at the height of its power, with a flourishing economy and culture and peaceful, friendly relations with Jin. As a member of the imperial clan, Li Anquan grew up in a court environment and was naturally close to political power.

In 1196, the seventh year of the Tianqing era, Prince of Yue Li Renyou died. Li Anquan petitioned to inherit his father's title, but Emperor Huanzong Li Chunyou refused and instead reduced him to Prince of Zhenyi. The episode deeply affected Li Anquan. Believing that, as a close imperial relative, he deserved a higher rank and better treatment, he resented being constrained by his nephew and thereby developed the desire to seize the throne. Thereafter he quietly built connections and gathered supporters at court while waiting for an opportunity.

Seizure of the Throne in a Coup

In the third month of 1206, the thirteenth year of the Tianqing era, Li Anquan conspired with Lady Luo, mother of Emperor Huanzong, launched a palace coup, deposed Emperor Huanzong Li Chunyou, enthroned himself, and changed the era name to Yingtian. Lady Luo had been empress to Emperor Renzong Li Renxiao and wielded considerable influence at court; her support gave Li Anquan's coup a degree of legitimacy. Li Chunyou died not long after his deposition, and Li Anquan successfully took the throne. Jin then dispatched an envoy to invest Li Anquan as King of Xia, recognizing the legitimacy of his regime.

Early in his reign, Li Anquan continued the pro-Jin policy maintained since the reign of Emperor Renzong, relying on Jin to resist the emerging Mongol power to the north. The source text states, however, that he lacked governing ability, that corruption within the ruling group intensified, and that social contradictions gradually sharpened. Western Xia began to decline after the high point reached under Emperor Renzong.

Mongol Invasions and His Response

In 1207, the second year of the Yingtian era, Mongol troops entered Western Xia territory and captured Wulahai. Li Anquan mobilized troops from the routes of the right wing to resist them. The Mongols did not penetrate deeply and soon withdrew. This invasion was described as a probing attack on Western Xia.

In 1209, the fourth year of the Yingtian era, Genghis Khan personally led a large force against Western Xia in what the source describes as the third major Mongol invasion of the state. The Mongol army emerged from Heishui City and stormed Hanhailuo City. Li Anquan appointed his son Li Chengzhen commander and Grand Commandant's Office linggong Gao Yi deputy commander, placing fifty thousand troops under them to block the advance. The Mongols concentrated their forces and attacked fiercely. The Western Xia army was defeated; Gao Yi was captured and died without submitting. After a bitter struggle the Mongols captured Hanhailuo City, took Western Xia Grand Preceptor Xibi Eda prisoner, and drove south to Keyimen, an important pass outside Zhongxing Prefecture. The pass was extremely steep, with two mountains facing each other outside it and only one path between them. Li Anquan ordered Weiming Linggong to lead another fifty thousand troops in holding the strong position. At first the Mongol army was repeatedly repulsed and the two sides remained deadlocked for two months. Genghis Khan then exploited a lapse in vigilance, set an ambush in the difficult terrain, and sent mobile troops to lure Weiming Linggong forward. He led his troops out, fell into the ambush, and was captured. The Mongols seized the pass and advanced to the walls of Zhongxing Prefecture.

The Mongols diverted the Yellow River to flood the city, causing heavy casualties among Western Xia soldiers and civilians and bringing the walls close to collapse. Li Anquan sent envoys to Jin to request aid. Jin was then ruled by Wanyan Yongji, Prince Weishao. Despite remonstrances from his officials that Jin and Western Xia depended on each other for survival, he rejected the request, saying in the source text: “When our enemies attack one another, it is to our state’s benefit; what is there to worry about?” As the city stood on the brink of disaster, the Mongols' own diversion embankment collapsed and the floodwaters inundated their forces instead. Genghis Khan then accepted Western Xia's request to surrender, lifted the siege, withdrew, and released Weiming Linggong and Grand Preceptor Xibi Eda. Li Anquan offered his daughter, Princess Chaka, together with large quantities of gold, silver, valuables, and livestock, and sent representatives to the Mongol camp to negotiate peace. Only then did the Mongol army withdraw.

Alignment with the Mongols against Jin and His End

After the Mongol withdrawal, Li Anquan resented Jin for refusing to save Western Xia. In 1210, the first year of the Huangjian era, he sent more than ten thousand cavalry to attack Jin at Jiazhou, in present-day Jia County, Shaanxi, formally breaking relations between the two states. Western Xia thereafter shifted from reliance on Jin against the Mongols to reliance on the Mongols against Jin. The Western Xia–Jin war lasted thirteen years and involved twenty-five engagements of varying scale. The conflict substantially weakened both states militarily and created favorable conditions for the Mongols' eventual destruction of Western Xia and Jin.

In the eighth month of 1211, the second year of the Huangjian era, Prince of Qi Li Zunxu, another member of the imperial clan, launched a palace coup, deposed Li Anquan, and seized the throne. One month later Li Anquan died under unclear circumstances, aged forty-two. His posthumous name was Emperor Jingmu and his temple name was Xiangzong.

Major Activities

Political Activity

Li Anquan reigned for six years. His political activity centered on three areas: seizing the throne by coup and consolidating his position; seeking survival during the Mongol invasions; and launching war against Jin. By deposing Emperor Huanzong and enthroning himself, he established a precedent in Western Xia for a member of the imperial clan to seize the throne through a coup. Under Mongol military pressure he first sought aid from Jin, but after being refused he turned to the Mongols, offered his daughter in exchange for peace, and made Western Xia a Mongol subordinate. In 1210, the first year of the Huangjian era, he attacked Jin, causing a complete rupture in Western Xia–Jin relations and drawing the two states into prolonged war.

Military Conflicts

Western Xia experienced several major military conflicts during Li Anquan's reign. In 1207, the second year of the Yingtian era, the Mongols attacked Wulahai and Li Anquan dispatched troops to resist them. In 1209, the fourth year of the Yingtian era, a large Mongol army invaded; Western Xia forces suffered major defeats at Hanhailuo City and Keyimen, and Zhongxing Prefecture was besieged, bringing the state close to destruction. In 1210, the first year of the Huangjian era, Li Anquan took the initiative to attack Jin at Jiazhou, beginning the Western Xia–Jin war. The source states that these military actions ended either in defeat or in gains outweighed by their costs, accelerating Western Xia's decline.

Diplomatic Relations

Li Anquan's foreign policy shifted from relying on Jin against the Mongols to relying on the Mongols against Jin. At the beginning of his reign he accepted investiture from Jin and relied on it. When the Mongols besieged Zhongxing Prefecture, Jin refused to send troops, causing relations between the two states to break down. Li Anquan then turned to the Mongols, offered his daughter in exchange for peace, and cooperated with Mongol attacks on Jin. The source argues that this change in alignment did not bring Western Xia security and instead pushed it into a deeper crisis.

Children

Li Anquan had a son, Li Chengzhen, who was appointed commander to resist the Mongol invasion in 1209, the fourth year of the Yingtian era. He also had a daughter, Princess Chaka, who was offered to Genghis Khan to seek peace when Zhongxing Prefecture was besieged in the same year.

Personal Relations

• Grandfather: Emperor Chongzong of Western Xia, Li Qianshun
• Father: Prince of Yue Li Renyou
• Paternal uncle: Emperor Renzong of Western Xia, Li Renxiao
• Nephew: Emperor Huanzong of Western Xia, Li Chunyou
• Son: Li Chengzhen
• Daughter: Princess Chaka
• Ally in coup: Lady Luo, mother of Emperor Huanzong
• Deposed by: Prince of Qi Li Zunxu (Emperor Shenzong of Western Xia)
• Ruler: Wanyan Yongji, Prince Weishao of Jin (ruler of the nominal suzerain state)
• Subordinates: Gao Yi, linggong of the Grand Commandant's Office (died in battle); Grand Preceptor Xibi Eda (captured); Weiming Linggong (captured)
• Genghis Khan (Temüjin) of the Mongol Empire
• Jin, after relations ruptured when it refused his request for aid

Historical Assessment

Contemporary / Song Period

• Jin officials remonstrated with Prince Weishao, arguing that Jin and Western Xia depended on each other and that Jin should send troops to save Western Xia. This indicates that some Jin officials sympathized with Li Anquan's request for aid and viewed Western Xia as a strategic buffer for Jin.
• By the final years of Western Xia, the source states that Li Anquan was viewed very negatively at court and among the public and was blamed as a foolish and incompetent ruler under whom the state's power declined.

Yuan, Ming, and Qing Periods

• Qing historian Wu Guangcheng wrote in Xixia Shushi: “An Quan took up the methods of usurpation and provoked the Zongzong faction, taking advantage of the heart of Wang Si and seizing the power of the army, and repeatedly serving Heaven's retribution: his guilt is grievous! Even more, in six years on the throne he had no good deed to record.Jian MengGuZhi Qiang，NaYiNv；Bei Jin Yuan ZhiDe，JiaYiBing。Xian Chi GuaEn，HeZuGua Chi！Ran Zhi NengJiShen，ErBuNeng Chuan Shi，ZeYou TianYiCun Yan。” The source describes this as a comprehensive condemnation of Li Anquan's character and rule, criticizing his usurpation, offering of his daughter for peace, and attack on Jin, while also interpreting his failure to transmit the throne to his descendants as the working of Heaven.
• Qing scholarship largely focused its criticism on the failure of his foreign policy, regarding his abandonment of Jin and alignment with the Mongols as a key turning point in Western Xia's decline.

Modern Period

• Modern scholars of Western Xia history, according to the source, hold that Western Xia faced mounting external pressure from the rise of the Mongols during Li Anquan's reign. His policy of relying on the Mongols while attacking Jin temporarily eased Mongol military pressure but, in the longer term, drew Western Xia into an exhausting war with Jin, severely depleting its strength and creating conditions for the Mongol conquest.
• Some scholars argue that Li Anquan lacked political foresight and, after Jin refused aid, reacted emotionally by launching war against Jin instead of adapting to the situation, thereby becoming an important contributor to Western Xia's destruction.
• The documentary Mysterious Western Xia portrays Li Anquan as an incompetent ruler who harmed the state and the people.