Li Qianshun

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Li Qianshun was born in 1083, the ninth year of the Da'an era. His grandmother, Empress Dowager Liang, had a grandson late in life and was extremely fond of him, often caring for him personally. His father was Emperor Huizong of Western Xia, Li Bingchang; his mother was Empress Zhaojian Wenmu Liang; and his grandmother was Empress Liang, the empress of Emperor Yizong. All three are described in the source text as Han Chinese. With “two empresses in one family,” the Liang clan wielded enormous influence at the Western Xia court.

In the seventh lunar month of 1086, the first year of the Tian'an Liding era, Empress Dowager Liang and Li Bingchang died one after the other. Li Qianshun ascended the throne at only three years of age, with his mother Empress Dowager Liang and his maternal uncle Liang Yibu jointly acting as regents. In the eighth lunar month, the era name was changed to Tianyi Zhiping. In the first lunar month of the following year, 1087, the Song court sent envoys to invest Li Qianshun as King of Xia. In the seventh lunar month of 1089, the Liao also sent envoys to confer the title King of Xia upon him.

Rule of the Maternal Clan (1086–1099)

During the early years of Li Qianshun's reign, the Liang maternal clan once again monopolized political power. Empress Dowager Liang and her brother Liang Yibu relied on the prestige of a family that had produced two empresses to expand their faction and firmly control government. Former confidants and senior officials of Li Bingchang were framed, attacked, and excluded. To ease domestic tensions, the regime followed earlier precedent and continued an aggressive war policy, repeatedly campaigning against the Song as a means of diverting internal crisis. From 1085 to 1099, the source states that Western Xia launched more than fifty military actions of varying scale against the Song, with six or seven in some years.

As Liang Yibu's power grew, he increasingly sought to control the empress dowager and even attempted to usurp her authority, producing a struggle between the siblings. In the tenth lunar month of 1092, during the Song-Xia battle at Huaiqing, Empress Dowager Liang personally led the army and denied Liang Yibu command authority. Suspicious and resentful, he intensified his efforts to seize power. In the tenth lunar month of 1094, Empress Dowager Liang received a report that Liang Yibu was plotting rebellion. With the support of the imperial clansman Weiming Awu and Renduo Baozhong, she arrested and executed Liang Yibu and his family. Having removed her opponents, she ruled directly, kept the young Li Qianshun under her control, and continued warfare against the Song.

In the tenth lunar month of 1096, under his mother's order, Li Qianshun accompanied Empress Dowager Liang on a personal campaign. Their forces were claimed to number 500,000 and invaded the Song's Fuyan Circuit, capturing Jinming Stockade. Song prisoners taken in the campaign were presented to the Liao. In the tenth lunar month of 1098, Empress Dowager Liang again secured Li Qianshun's approval and personally led a force claimed to number 400,000 against Pingxia City, in the region of modern Guyuan, Ningxia. After thirteen days of assault the city had not fallen. With provisions running short, the army was then struck by a violent storm and fled in defeat.

Personal Rule and Domestic Reform (1099–1119)

In 1099, the second year of the Yong'an era, Emperor Daozong of Liao concluded that Empress Dowager Liang's autocratic rule had lost popular support and could no longer be sustained. He therefore sent agents into Western Xia to poison her and ordered Li Qianshun to rule personally. Li Qianshun was sixteen years old.

After taking personal control, Li Qianshun drew lessons from earlier domination by consort clans and worked to weaken the Liang faction. By this time Weiming Awu, a confidant of Empress Dowager Liang, had died. Li Qianshun suspected the military commander Renduo Baozhong of disloyal intentions and removed him from military command. At the same time, he strengthened imperial power through grants of princely titles to members of the ruling house. In the ninth lunar month of 1103 he made his brave and resourceful younger half-brother Chage Prince of Jin and placed troops under his control. In the eleventh lunar month of 1120, he enfeoffed Renzhong, son of the imperial clansman Jingsi, as Prince of Pu, and Renli as Prince of Shu. He also conferred on the minister Weiming Anhui the title Prince Zhengxian of Liang.

Li Qianshun admired the highly developed Confucian culture and civilization of the Han Chinese and decided to promote Chinese culture in Western Xia. In 1101 he used the remonstrance of Censor-in-Chief Xue Yuanli to promote Confucian learning. Accepting Xue's proposal, he ordered that, in addition to the existing “Fan school,” a “National School” be established for Chinese learning. Three hundred children of the imperial family and nobility were selected, and an institution called the “Office for Nurturing Worthies” was established to provide them with state-supported food and teachers. In 1112, he formally promulgated rules for appointing officials according to qualifications. Members of aristocratic families could receive one rank of preferential treatment in both Tangut and Chinese official systems on grounds of merit or kinship, while men strong in literary learning could receive exceptional promotion. Li Qianshun himself also enjoyed literary display. When lingzhi mushrooms grew in the rear garden of the minister Gao Shouzhong's residence, he treated them as an auspicious sign; when officials offered congratulations, he composed a “Song of the Lingzhi” in exchange with his ministers and had the auspicious event engraved on stone.

Song-Xia War and Diplomatic Reorientation (1104–1124)

After Emperor Huizong of Song came to the throne, the Song court appointed Cai Jing as chief minister and began renewed military operations against Western Xia. In the fifth lunar month of 1104, Tao Jiefu, the Song Shaanxi transport commissioner and prefect of Yanzhou, attacked Shibao Stockade, seized stored grain, and built fortifications to hold the position. Li Qianshun angrily declared that the Song had taken their “Jinkuguo” and sent cavalry against them, but the Western Xia troops were driven back. In the sixth lunar month, Western Xia forces again lost to the Song general Zhe Keshi at Lingzhou River. In the tenth lunar month, Li Qianshun sent envoys to request peace. After the request was refused, he gathered forces from the four military-supervision commands and attacked the Song's Jingyuan region, besieging Pingxia City and attacking Zhenrong Army. During the two years after 1105, Song armies repeatedly invaded Western Xia, and Western Xia forces suffered successive defeats. In the second lunar month of 1106, under Liao pressure and as a temporary expedient, the Song agreed to return the Western Xia border territories it had occupied since the Chongning era and made peace with Western Xia. The policy of Cai Jing and Tong Guan's faction, however, continued to favor military expansion against Western Xia, and after more than seven years of preparation the Song resumed the war.

From 1115 to 1119, Song forces repeatedly penetrated Western Xia territory. Liu Fa, the Song military commissioner of the Xihe region, advanced deep toward Xingzhou and Lingzhou, at the heart of Western Xia. Li Qianshun ordered Prince Chage of Jin to meet him with more than ten thousand infantry and cavalry. The Western Xia army fought fiercely and defeated the Song force. The History of Song records that one hundred thousand Song soldiers died in the battle. Western Xia troops then captured Tong'an City and besieged Zhenwu City. In the sixth lunar month of 1119, after this major victory, Li Qianshun again used the Liao's name to request peace, and the Song accepted negotiations.

Alliance with the Jin, Fall of the Liao, and Territorial Expansion (1122–1139)

After the Jurchen Jin dynasty was founded, it moved southward against the Liao. In the third lunar month of 1122, Li Qianshun sent five thousand troops to aid the Liao Western Capital, but they withdrew after that city fell. In the fifth lunar month, learning that Emperor Tianzuo of Liao had fled into the Yin Mountains, Li Qianshun sent the general Li Liangfu with thirty thousand troops to assist him. The Western Xia army met the Jin general Wanyan Loushi on the banks of the Yichuan River and suffered a major defeat. In the seventh lunar month, Li Qianshun sent the minister Cao Jia to inquire after Emperor Tianzuo and provide him with provisions. In the first lunar month of 1123, Li Qianshun again sent troops to aid the Liao, but Jin forces blocked their advance. In the fifth lunar month Emperor Tianzuo pretended to surrender to the Jin and fled west to Yunnei Prefecture. Li Qianshun sent envoys to the Western Xia frontier to welcome him into Western Xia territory. In the sixth lunar month, Emperor Tianzuo sent envoys to invest Li Qianshun as Emperor of Xia and ordered him to send troops to save the Liao. At the same time, the Jin sent envoys to Western Xia demanding that, if Emperor Tianzuo entered Western Xia territory, he be seized and delivered to the Jin. The Jin also promised that if Western Xia served the Jin with the same ritual deference it had shown the Liao, the Jin would cede former Liao territory in the northwest. Seeing that the fall of the Liao was inevitable and wishing to preserve Western Xia's independent power base, Li Qianshun accepted the Jin terms. In the third lunar month of 1124 he submitted an oath memorial declaring submission to the Jin. After the Liao fell, Li Qianshun's consort Yelü Nanxian, Princess Cheng'an of Liao, was overcome by grief over the destruction of her homeland and died in the palace after refusing food.

In the third lunar month of 1126, taking advantage of the Jin invasion of the Song, Li Qianshun sent forces to capture fortifications the Song had built along the Western Xia frontier. Acting on the Jin promise to Western Xia, he occupied Tiande, Yunnei, Wuzhou, the Eight Garrisons east of the Yellow River, and the Song frontier stronghold of Zhenwu, in the area of modern Yulin, Shaanxi. Western Xia also captured Xi'an Prefecture, Jianning Stockade in Linzhou, and Huaide Army, then seized Tiandu Stockade and besieged Lanzhou before withdrawing with extensive plunder. Soon afterward the Jin general Wanyan Zongbi sent forces to seize Tiande, Yunnei, and other prefectures. Li Qianshun protested to the Jin. In the third lunar month of 1127, the Jin and Western Xia demarcated their boundary, and the Jin ceded several thousand li of territory in northern Shaanxi to Western Xia as compensation for Tiande, Yunnei, and other areas. From the ninth lunar month of 1128 through the seventh lunar month of the following year, Li Qianshun sent troops that captured the Song's Dingbian Army, in the area of modern Wuqi, Shaanxi, and Dejing Stockade, in the area of modern Yulin. In the seventh lunar month of 1136, Western Xia also captured Xining Prefecture, in modern Xining, Qinghai. In the ninth lunar month of 1138, Li Qianshun sent envoys bearing large amounts of gold to the Jin, requesting the territories beyond the Yellow River in Xi and Qin. The Jin agreed to cede Lezhou, in modern Ledu, Qinghai, Jishi Prefecture, in the area of modern Guide, Qinghai, and Kuozhou, in the area of modern Hualong, Qinghai. Western Xia thereby acquired the Huangshui River valley and reached what the source describes as an unprecedented territorial extent.

Li Qianshun died on the fourth day of the sixth lunar month in 1139. He received the posthumous title Emperor Shengwen, the temple name Chongzong, and the tomb name Xianling.

Major Activities

Political Reform

After taking personal control, Li Qianshun reorganized official administration, strengthened centralized imperial authority, and ended the recurring domination of government by consort clans. He promulgated a graded system of official ranks and titles, divided into seven grades apart from the emperor and heir apparent, and Western Xia's political institutions became increasingly complete. He also established rules for appointment according to qualifications and granted exceptional promotion to those strong in literary learning.

Cultural Measures

Li Qianshun admired Han Chinese culture and promoted Chinese learning within his realm while training officials. In addition to the existing “Fan school,” he ordered the establishment of a “National School” for Chinese learning. Three hundred children of the imperial family and nobility were selected, supported by the government through the “Office for Nurturing Worthies,” and taught by appointed instructors. He composed the “Song of the Lingzhi,” which was engraved on stone at the school. In the second lunar month of 1103, he built the imposing Reclining Buddha Temple in Ganzhou, modern Zhangye, Gansu, to pray for blessings for his mother.

Diplomatic Activities

Li Qianshun pursued a flexible foreign policy. As both the Liao and Song weakened, he first allied with the Liao against the Song and seized territory, and later, when Emperor Tianzuo of Liao sought Western Xia aid, the source states that he ultimately refused continued rescue and aligned with the Jin amid the destruction of the Liao and Northern Song, taking the opportunity to acquire territory. In the second lunar month of 1099, he sent troops to help the Liao suppress the Basimu tribal uprising. In the eleventh lunar month of 1100, he requested a marriage alliance with the Liao in an effort to repair relations damaged by the death of Empress Dowager Liang. In the third lunar month of 1104, the Liao ruler enfeoffed the imperial clanswoman Nanxian as Princess Cheng'an and married her to Li Qianshun.

Military Activities

Military operations were frequent during Li Qianshun's reign. Under Liang clan domination in the early period, the source records more than fifty wars or military actions against the Song. After Li Qianshun began ruling personally, conflict with the Song continued. In 1119 Western Xia inflicted a major defeat on the Song, with the source recording one hundred thousand Song dead. In the later period, Li Qianshun exploited the Jin destruction of the Liao and Song to capture large amounts of territory, bringing Western Xia to an unprecedented territorial extent according to the source.

The stages and measures around his assumption of personal rule were as follows: in 1094 the empress dowager Liang killed the powerful minister Liang Yibu and took power herself, and in 1099 Emperor Daozong of Liao had her poisoned, so that Li Qianshun began to rule in person and the dominance of the consort clan ended; in 1100 he sought a marriage alliance with the Liao without success, and in 1104 the Liao gave him a princess of the imperial clan, Nanxian, as Princess Cheng'an; in 1103 he enfeoffed his younger half-brother Chage as Prince of Jin with command of troops and built the Reclining Buddha Temple at Ganzhou; in 1112 he promulgated rules for appointing officials by qualification and favoured men of letters; in 1120 he enfeoffed the clansmen Renzhong as Prince of Pu and Renli as Prince of Shu; in 1122 he sent troops to aid the Liao against the Jin, was defeated at the Yichuan River and lost heavily. After he took personal rule the Western Xia saw a gradual completion of its ranks, appointment rules and state academy, interwoven with the rapid changes in Liao and Jin fortunes at the same time.

Personal Relations

• Father: Emperor Huizong of Western Xia, Li Bingchang
• Mother: Empress Zhaojian Wenmu Liang
• Grandmother: Empress Liang, empress of Emperor Yizong
• Younger half-brother: Chage, Prince of Jin
• Imperial clansmen: Renzhong, Prince of Pu; Renli, Prince of Shu
• Sons: Heir Li Ren'ai, born to Yelü Nanxian; Emperor Renzong Li Renxiao; Li Renyou, Prince of Yue
• Empresses: Yelü Nanxian, Princess Cheng'an of Liao; Empress Ren, daughter of Ren Dejing
• Consort: Noble Consort Cao
• Emperor Daozong of Liao: supported Li Qianshun's assumption of personal rule and had Empress Dowager Liang poisoned
• Emperor Tianzuo of Liao: connected by the marriage to Princess Cheng'an; later denied continued rescue
• Emperor Taizong of Jin: ruler to whom Li Qianshun submitted; demarcated the border with Western Xia
• Emperor Huizong of Song: adversary in the Song-Xia wars
• Ren Dejing: Song defector to Western Xia who presented his daughter as a consort
• Chage: Prince of Jin, holder of military command
• Liang Yibu: maternal uncle and powerful minister, executed by Empress Dowager Liang
• Empress Dowager Liang: mother and regent, later poisoned by the Liao

Historical Assessment

Song and Contemporary Accounts

The History of Song: Account of the Xia State records the major Song defeat at the hands of Western Xia, including the statement that “one hundred thousand died in this campaign.” Although written from the perspective of an adversarial state, the record nevertheless attests to the strength of Western Xia forces during Li Qianshun's reign.

The Song envoy Li Zhizhong praised Li Qianshun to Emperor Tianzuo of Liao as a ruler “of keen intelligence, cautious in handling affairs, and capable of preserving what he inherited.” The source text notes that this appraisal, coming from an envoy connected with Western Xia, may contain flattering language but still reflects perceptions of Li Qianshun's governing style.

Wu Guangcheng, the Qing author of History of the Western Xia, lived much later, but his work drew heavily on Song-period records. Its description that “Qianshun was already of an age to govern, while the Liang clan acted autocratically and did not permit him to manage state affairs” reflects criticism of Liang clan domination and expectations surrounding Li Qianshun's personal rule.

Yuan and Ming Periods

When Yuan historians compiled the History of Song, they recorded the Song-Xia wars of Li Qianshun's reign in detail. Although written from a Song-centered perspective, the work records multiple Western Xia victories over Song armies.

Ming scholars discussing Western Xia history often focused on its diplomatic strategy of preserving itself while dealing with larger powers. Works such as Outline of Western Xia Affairs analyzed Li Qianshun's use of contradictions among the Liao, Song, and Jin to preserve Western Xia.

Ming-Qing Period

The Qing scholar Wu Guangcheng, author of History of the Western Xia, evaluated Li Qianshun favorably, describing him as a ruler of broad talent and strategy and giving detailed, approving accounts of his destruction of the Liang faction, reorganization of official administration, and promotion of Chinese learning.

The Qing scholar Zhang Jian, in Events of Western Xia Arranged by Topic, discussed Li Qianshun's diplomacy separately and regarded his ability to assess circumstances and deal effectively with powerful states as a major reason Western Xia endured.

Modern Scholarship

The Chinese edition of The Cambridge History of China: Alien Regimes and Border States, 907–1368, edited by Denis Twitchett and others, states that Chongzong and his advisers led the country through the final period of struggle with the Song and supported the Liao against the Jurchen conquerors of the Jin until the fall of the Liao in 1124, when the new circumstances forced Western Xia to reach an accommodation with the new rulers of northern China. It further emphasizes their creation of a system for controlling the Tangut government.

Modern Western Xia scholar Li Fanwen, in A General History of Western Xia, identifies Li Qianshun as a pivotal ruler linking earlier and later periods of Western Xia history. According to the source text, his establishment of centralized imperial authority and promotion of Sinicizing policies laid foundations for the prosperous reign of his son, Emperor Renzong.