Li Zunxu

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Li Zunxu’s precise genealogy is unclear. Historical sources describe him as the son of Li Yanzong, Prince Zhongwu of Qi, a member of the Western Xia imperial clan, and as a great-grandson of Emperor Chongzong Li Qianshun. He was born in 1163 during the Tiansheng era and grew up during the comparatively stable reigns of Emperors Chongzong and Renzong. The sources describe him as dignified, clear-minded, studious from youth, widely read, and skilled in clerical and seal script, making him one of the more learned members of the Western Xia imperial house.

In the third lunar month of 1203, the tenth year of Tianqing, Li Zunxu sat the palace examination of the Western Xia Guihai cycle and “placed first in the announced ranking.” Emperor Huanzong of Western Xia, Li Chunyou, personally selected him as the top graduate. The source presents this as an important event in Western Xia examination history and the beginning of the career of the only emperor in Chinese history described as having been a top examination graduate. After succeeding in the examination, Li Zunxu inherited the title Prince of Qi and was promoted to head of the Grand Military Command, giving him command over troops and considerable prestige within the imperial clan.

Coup and Accession

In the seventh lunar month of 1211, the second year of Huangjian, Li Zunxu launched a palace coup, deposed Emperor Xiangzong Li Anquan, seized the throne, and changed the era name to Guangding. Western Xia was then under growing external pressure from the rising Mongols. Jin had earlier refused to aid Western Xia when Mongol forces besieged Zhongxing Prefecture, contributing to the deterioration of Xia-Jin relations. After his accession, Li Zunxu largely continued Xiangzong’s foreign policy, centered on cooperation with the Mongols while attacking Jin.

In the third lunar month of 1212, the second year of Guangding, Jin sent an envoy to invest Li Zunxu as King of Xia in an attempt to improve relations. Li nevertheless continued military operations along the Jin frontier. His armies repeatedly attacked Jin territory, capturing Bao'an Prefecture, present-day Zhidan County in Shaanxi, Binzhou, present-day Bin County in Shaanxi, Gongzhou, and other places, drawing Western Xia into years of continuing warfare.

Alliance with the Mongols against Jin and Flight to Xiliang

In the autumn of 1216, the sixth year of Guangding, Genghis Khan campaigned against Jin and Western Xia sent troops to cooperate, attacking Yan'an and Fuzhou and later taking Tongguan. That winter Li Zunxu sent more than forty thousand men to besiege Jin’s Dingxi city, but the force was defeated with more than two thousand casualties. In the first lunar month of 1217, Western Xia again answered Mongol demands and sent thirty thousand troops in a joint attack on Jin, suffering a major defeat at Ningzhou.

When the Mongols later invaded the Khwarazmian Empire, they again demanded troops from Western Xia. Unable to bear repeated Mongol levies, Western Xia refused. The Mongols then suddenly attacked Western Xia and besieged Zhongxing Prefecture. Li Zunxu panicked and fled to Xiliang Prefecture, leaving Crown Prince Li Deren to defend Zhongxing. He returned only after the Mongols withdrew. The episode led him to recognize the Mongol threat and attempt to adjust his diplomacy.

Shifting Alliances and Abdication

Li Zunxu attempted to ally with Jin against the Mongols, but Jin rejected his envoy. He then turned toward Southern Song while continuing to oppose Jin. In 1220, the tenth year of Guangding, he concluded an alliance with Southern Song and the two sides jointly captured the Jin city of Huizhou. Later operations were unsuccessful, and in 1223, the thirteenth year of Guangding, a Mongol-Western Xia force failed in an attack on Fengxiang. His repeated changes of alignment left Western Xia isolated among several enemies.

Years of warfare damaged the Western Xia economy severely. The source describes people unable to sustain themselves, agriculture and weaving disrupted, resources exhausted, and even famine severe enough for reports of cannibalism. In 1223, Li Zunxu ordered Crown Prince Li Deren to lead an army against Jin. Li Deren argued that Jin was too strong and should be reconciled with. Li Zunxu rejected the advice, while Li Deren persisted in favoring an alliance with Jin and refused to command the campaign. Li Zunxu angrily deposed him and imprisoned him at Lingzhou.

Censor-in-Chief Liang Deyi submitted a remonstrance arguing that more than a decade of war had devastated agriculture and ruined the people, and asked that the crown prince be restored. Li Zunxu rebuked him in person and dismissed him. At the same time, Genghis Khan ordered Bo'ol to prepare an army for the destruction of Western Xia, while opposition within the Western Xia court to Li Zunxu’s pro-Mongol, anti-Jin policy continued to grow.

In the twelfth lunar month of 1223, the thirteenth year of Guangding, under Mongol pressure and domestic opposition, Li Zunxu announced his abdication, passed the throne to his second son Li Dewang, and styled himself Retired Emperor. He was the only Retired Emperor in Western Xia history.

Final Years and Death

After his abdication, Western Xia power was already in serious decline. In the fifth lunar month of 1226, the first year of Baoyi, while Mongol armies were capturing Western Xia cities in the Hexi region, Li Zunxu died of illness at the age of sixty-four. He received the posthumous title Yingwen Emperor and temple name Shenzong and was buried in satellite tomb no. 161 northwest of Pingqiang Fort in the Western Xia imperial mausoleum complex at the foot of the Helan Mountains in present-day Ningxia.

Major Activities

Examination Success and the Imperial Examination System

In 1203, the tenth year of Tianqing, Li Zunxu took the Western Xia palace examination and placed first. The source presents him as the only emperor in Chinese history to ascend the throne after having been the top graduate of the imperial examination system. The Xixia Shushi describes him as dignified and intelligent, diligent in study from youth, widely read, and skilled in clerical and seal script. After his examination success, he inherited the title Prince of Qi and was promoted to head of the Grand Military Command. The source states that during his reign he encouraged Confucian culture and helped create a favorable cultural environment in Xingqing Prefecture, now Yinchuan, giving him a place in the cultural and examination history of Western Xia.

Policy of Aligning with the Mongols and Attacking Jin

After taking the throne, Li Zunxu largely continued the foreign policy of Emperor Xiangzong Li Anquan, centered on “aligning with the Mongols and attacking Jin.” Early in his reign he sent troops against Jin’s Dongsheng city, near present-day Togtoh in Inner Mongolia. In the first lunar month of 1213, the third year of Guangding, Western Xia troops captured Bao'an Prefecture, advanced against Qingyang Prefecture, took Binzhou, and then attacked Gongzhou, Qingyuan, Yan'an, and other prefectures. In the autumn of 1216, the sixth year of Guangding, he responded to Mongol demands and attacked Jin, striking Yan'an and Fuzhou and taking Tongguan. In the first lunar month of 1217, the seventh year of Guangding, he sent thirty thousand troops with the Mongols against Jin and suffered a major defeat at Ningzhou.

Alliance with Southern Song against Jin

In 1220, the tenth year of Guangding, Li Zunxu formed an alliance with Southern Song and jointly attacked Jin, taking the Jin city of Huizhou. Such military cooperation between Western Xia and Southern Song was rare, but subsequent campaigns failed to produce greater gains.

Flight to Xiliang

In 1217, the seventh year of Guangding, the Mongols demanded Western Xia troops for the western campaign against the Khwarazmian Empire. Western Xia refused, and the Mongols attacked and besieged Zhongxing Prefecture. Li Zunxu fled to Xiliang Prefecture and left Crown Prince Li Deren to defend the capital. The source treats his flight from the capital during a national crisis as a major stain on his political record.

Deposing the Crown Prince and Abdicating

In 1223, the thirteenth year of Guangding, Li Zunxu ordered Crown Prince Li Deren to lead troops against Jin. Li Deren insisted on reconciliation with Jin and refused. He was deposed and imprisoned at Lingzhou. Censor-in-Chief Liang Deyi remonstrated and was dismissed. In the twelfth lunar month of the same year, under pressure from the Mongols and his own officials, Li Zunxu abdicated as Retired Emperor and passed the throne to his second son Li Dewang.

Personal Relations

• Great-grandfather: Emperor Chongzong Li Qianshun
• Father: Li Yanzong, Prince Zhongwu of Qi
• Sons: Crown Prince Li Deren, deposed for opposing the policy of cooperating with the Mongols against Jin; Emperor Xianzong Li Dewang
• Grandson: Last Emperor Li Xian
• Emperor Huanzong Li Chunyou of Western Xia: Personally selected Li Zunxu as the top examination graduate
• Emperor Xiangzong Li Anquan: Deposed by Li Zunxu
• Censor-in-Chief Liang Deyi: Dismissed after remonstrating with Li Zunxu
• Genghis Khan: Mongol Great Khan who repeatedly applied military pressure to Western Xia
• Bo'ol: Mongol commander ordered to prepare for the destruction of Western Xia
• Emperor Xuanzong of Jin: Jin emperor whose state fought repeatedly with Western Xia

Historical Assessment

Song Period and Contemporary Assessments

• Volume 40 of the Xixia Shushi, discussing Li Zunxu’s flight to Xiliang, argues that a ruler who could neither strengthen himself nor die defending his state had failed in the responsibilities of kingship.
• Volume 41 of the Xixia Shushi, discussing his abdication, contrasts him with Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and argues that Li Zunxu transferred responsibility to his son primarily because of Mongol military pressure.
• Volume 42 of the Xixia Shushi criticizes the repeated wars under Li Zunxu, saying that they exhausted the people and the treasury and ultimately brought warfare back upon the state itself.

Yuan, Ming, and Qing Periods

Qing historian Wu Guangcheng, in the Xixia Shushi, systematically reconstructed Li Zunxu’s life and frequently criticized his abandonment of the capital, deposition of the crown prince, and prolonged warfare, portraying him as a ruler who lacked the resolve expected in a national crisis.

The History of Song, volume 486, “Foreign Countries II: Western Xia,” includes his career as a key part of the history of Western Xia’s decline.

Modern Assessments

Modern scholars generally regard Li Zunxu as one of the important contributors to the collapse of Western Xia. His policy of cooperating with the Mongols while repeatedly attacking Jin exhausted military and economic resources and worsened domestic hardship, placing the state under simultaneous internal and external pressure.

Scholars also note his unique position in Chinese examination history as the only emperor described as a top imperial examination graduate, contrasting his scholarly accomplishments with his political record.

Researchers further argue that his unstable diplomacy—shifting among cooperation with the Mongols, Jin, and Southern Song—left Western Xia surrounded by hostile powers and accelerated its decline.