Li Deming

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Li Deming was born in 981, the sixth year of Taiping Xingguo under the Song. He was the eldest son of Li Jiqian and Empress Shuncheng Yixiao, Lady Yeli. Historical accounts describe him as reserved and dignified from youth and skilled in political calculation. While Li Jiqian fled to Dijin Marsh and established his power base, Li Deming accompanied his father on campaigns and accumulated both military and political experience. In 1000, the third year of Xianping, Emperor Shengzong of Liao appointed him Military Commissioner of Shuofang, showing that he was already involved in relations between the Liao and the Tangut regime.

Succession and the Policy of “Relying on Liao and Making Peace with Song”

On the second day of the first month of 1004, Li Jiqian died and Li Deming succeeded to the Xia kingship before his father's coffin at the age of twenty-three. He followed Li Jiqian's dying advice and sought peace with the Song. In the third month he sent envoys to the Liao court with his father's remaining possessions. In the seventh month Liao created him Prince of Xiping.

After succeeding, Li Deming sought to secure the borders and restore livelihoods internally while externally submitting to both Liao and Song and concentrating expansion toward the west. Song frontier officials, seeing that he had only recently inherited power, requested an imperial proclamation offering pacification. Emperor Zhenzong issued such an edict. Li sent the officer Wang Min with a memorial of submission and continued to send memorials to Song in subsequent years.

In 1006, the third year of Jingde, Li sent officer Liu Renxu with a sworn memorial, asking that it be deposited in the Song covenant archive and stating that submission to Song had been Li Jiqian's dying command. Emperor Zhenzong praised him highly and granted the ranks and offices of Specially Advanced, acting Grand Preceptor and Palace Attendant, commander with credentials over the military affairs of Xiazhou, acting prefect of Xiazhou, and Supreme Pillar of State. He was also made Military Commissioner of Dingnan and Prince of Xiping and received 10,000 taels of silver, 10,000 bolts of silk, 30,000 strings of cash, and 20,000 catties of tea. A border market was permitted at Bao'an Army.

The central feature of his rule was thus “relying on Liao and making peace with Song.” He submitted simultaneously to the two great powers, accepted titles from both, and used the relative peace to develop the economy and expand westward.

Western Expansion and the Move to Xingzhou

After stabilizing the eastern frontier, Li Deming turned west. He attacked Tibetan and Uyghur groups, killed the Tibetan leader Pan Luozhi, and took Xiliang Prefecture, present-day Wuwei in Gansu. He also attacked the Ganzhou Uyghurs north of present-day Zhangye. The first campaign failed, after which he stationed troops to block their tribute routes to the Song.

In 1010, the third year of Dazhong Xiangfu, Li undertook large-scale palace construction at Aozishan. During a serious drought he also attacked Hezhou, the Zongge people around Ganzhou, and settled communities near Qinzhou. In the same year, Liao envoys invested him as King of Xia.

In 1020, the fourth year of Tianxi, Emperor Shengzong of Liao, Yelü Longxu, personally led what the source describes as 500,000 troops under the pretext of a hunt and attacked Liangdian in the Xia realm. Li Deming sent a large army to resist and defeated the Liao force. In the same year he moved his political center from Xiping Prefecture to Huaiyuan, formerly part of Lingzhou and in present-day Yinchuan, renaming it Xingzhou.

In 1028, the sixth year of Tiansheng, Li sent his son Li Yuanhao to destroy the Ganzhou Uyghurs. Two years later Guazhou, east of present-day Anxi in Gansu, and Shazhou, east of present-day Dunhuang, were also taken. Tangut power now reached the Jade Gate and controlled the Hexi Corridor.

Later Years and Posthumous Honors

In his later years Li Deming built palaces, relay stations, bridges, and roads, standardized ritual institutions, posthumously honored his father as emperor, established Li Yuanhao as crown prince, and installed his principal wife Lady Weimu as queen. In the second month of 1029 he sought closer relations with the Khitan Liao by sending an envoy to request a marriage alliance, and Emperor Shengzong approved.

In the third month of 1030, the eighth year of Tiansheng, Xianshun, the Uyghur ruler of Guazhou, fearing Li Deming's growing power and possible future conquest, submitted with his followers. In the twelfth month Li offered seventy horses to the Song and requested a complete set of Buddhist scriptures; Emperor Renzong granted the request.

Li Deming died in the eleventh month of 1032, the first year of Mingdao, aged fifty-two. He received the posthumous title Guangsheng Emperor and the temple name Taizong.

Major Activities

Political Strategy

Li Deming's most characteristic policy was to “rely on Liao and make peace with Song,” simultaneously submitting to both dynasties, accepting their titles, and seeking opportunities to expand westward. This strategy gave the Western Xia regime relative peace between the two larger powers, allowed internal recovery and economic development, and enabled continued territorial expansion. His peace with Song was also intended to secure the borders and restore the population.

Military Expansion

Li attacked Tibetan and Uyghur groups, killed the Tibetan leader Pan Luozhi, and captured Xiliang Prefecture. After an initial failure against the Ganzhou Uyghurs, he stationed forces to block their route for tributary relations with the Song. In 1028 he sent Li Yuanhao to destroy the Ganzhou Uyghurs, and within two more years Guazhou and Shazhou had also been taken. Western Xia power thereby reached the Jade Gate and controlled the Hexi Corridor.

Move of the Capital to Xingzhou

In 1020 Li moved the political center from Xiping Prefecture to Huaiyuan and renamed it Xingzhou, later Xingqing Prefecture, capital of Western Xia and present-day Yinchuan. The move established the geographical and political center of the later Western Xia state.

Economic Development

The policy of maintaining nominal submission to both Liao and Song helped create periods of peace in which agriculture within Li Deming's territory expanded. In addition to official border-market trade between Song and Xia, Li sent agents to sell prohibited goods secretly along the frontier. The historical record states that he “frequently sent people carrying prohibited goods to trade secretly at the border.” Merchants and tributary envoys from the Western Regions and other states who passed through his territory were also subjected to levies and sometimes seizure.

Succession and Marriage Diplomacy

In 1028 Li formally made his eldest son Li Yuanhao crown prince. He had earlier arranged for Li Yuanhao to marry Lady Weimu from his mother's clan. As Tangut power increased, Li considered Khitan support increasingly important, and in the second month of 1029 he sent an envoy to request a marriage alliance with Liao, which Emperor Shengzong approved.

Personal Relations

Family

• Father: Li Jiqian, later honored as Emperor Taizu of Xia
• Mother: Lady Yeli, Empress Shuncheng Yixiao
• Sons: Li Yuanhao, later Emperor Jingzong of Western Xia; Li Chengyu; Li Chengwei
• Wives and consorts: Lady Weimu, mother of Li Yuanhao; Lady Miemi, mother of Li Chengyu; Lady Ezang Quhuai, mother of Li Chengwei

Ruler–Subject Relations

• Emperor Zhenzong of Song: invested Li Deming as Prince of Xiping and Military Commissioner of Dingnan and granted other titles
• Emperor Renzong of Song: granted him a complete Buddhist canon
• Emperor Shengzong of Liao: invested him as Prince of Xiping, King of Xia, Prefect of the Masters of Writing, and King of Great Xia

Contemporaries

• Pan Luozhi: Tibetan leader killed by Li Deming
• Wang Dan: Song Grand Councilor who advised Emperor Zhenzong concerning Li Deming's request for a million shi of grain
• Cao Wei: Song general assigned to defend against Li Deming's attack
• Xiao Xiaocheng: Liao senior guard general ordered to conduct one of Li Deming's investitures

Historical Assessment

Song / Contemporary Period

• The History of Song, juan 485, “Xia State, Part One,” describes Li Deming as “reserved and dignified, with many political stratagems.”
• Song Grand Councilor Wang Dan reportedly regarded Li Deming highly and said that there were capable men at his court, reflecting Song recognition of his political skill.
• After Li submitted to Song, Emperor Zhenzong praised him and granted high titles and large gifts, illustrating the importance Song attached to his allegiance.

Yuan and Ming Periods

• The History of Liao, juan 115, “Accounts of Two Foreign States,” records Li Deming under the name Li Dezhao and describes his exchanges with Liao, including the presentation of Li Jiqian's remaining possessions and receipt of Liao titles.
• Yuan historian Tuo Tuo and his collaborators recorded Li Deming's life in detail in the History of Song, giving a relatively factual account of his diplomacy and military expansion.

Qing Period

• Qing historian Wu Guangcheng, in Events of Western Xia, commented on Li Deming's designation of Li Yuanhao as crown prince: “The title crown prince was not one a subordinate state dared to use; Yuanhao was ambitious and formidable, and Deming treated him according to imperial forms in advance. His later assumption of the imperial title was therefore certain.” Wu took this as evidence that Li Deming already possessed imperial ambitions.
• Events of Western Xia also records Li's installation of Lady Weimu as queen and remarks that after establishing Yuanhao as crown prince, he elevated Lady Weimu as queen in order to honor her.

Modern Period

• Modern scholars generally treat Li Deming as a major transitional figure in Western Xia history. He preserved his father's power base while continuing to expand it, thereby preparing the way for Li Yuanhao's foundation of the state.
• Some scholars consider the policy of “relying on Liao and making peace with Song” one of the most successful elements of early Western Xia diplomacy because it allowed the Tangut regime to survive and grow between two larger powers.
• Li Deming's move to Xingzhou established the basis for Western Xia's later capital at Yinchuan and had long-term consequences for the state's development.