Last Emperor (末帝) | 24 Histories

Overview

Last Emperor was a Later Tang Last Emperor.

Life and dates

Attested activity

AD 934 to AD 936 唐末帝
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 87, passage 38
AD 934 to AD 936 末帝嗣位
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passages 194, 204
AD 934 末帝起於鳳翔
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 74, passage 119
AD 934 to AD 936 清泰
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 127, passages 20, 29
AD 934 清泰
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 69, passages 171, 204
AD 936 清泰三年
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 51, passage 186

Show 8 more source-backed claims

AD 936 清泰三年
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 139, passage 53
AD 936 清泰三年三月
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 141, passages 87, 89
AD 934 to AD 936 清泰中
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 70, passage 171
AD 934 清泰元年
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 51, passages 201, 207
AD 934 清泰元年
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 139, passages 102, 153
AD 934 清泰初
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 127, passage 7
AD 936 清泰末年
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 141, passage 117
AD 930 長興元年
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 74, passage 138

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Parent of Li Chongji (李重吉)
eldest son 長子
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 51, passage 201
Spouse of Empress of the Last Emperor (末帝皇后)
empress 皇后 · Primary marriage
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 51, passage 193
Parent of Chongmei (重美)
second son 第二子
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 51, passage 186

forebears 先人
Kinship Role forebears · Count 2
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 141, passage 117

Key source chapters

Career and standing

military governor of Qi 岐帥
Held
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 127, passage 6

Places and affiliations

Later Tang 後唐
Relation Ruled
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 51, passage 201; Old History of the Five Dynasties 96, passage 203
Polity Later Tang 唐 · Relation Ruled
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 127, passages 7, 29
Polity Later Tang 唐 · Relation Ruled
Strongly inferred · Old History of the Five Dynasties 139, passage 53
Polity Later Tang 後唐 · Relation Ruled
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 69, passage 171; Old History of the Five Dynasties 141, passage 117

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · With Lu Wenji (盧文紀) · Direct quotation
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 127, passage 18
Speech · Speaker · With Zhang Yanlang (張延朗)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 69, passages 204-205

Events and relationships

Appointed chancellors
Political · Appointing ruler · With Lu Wenji (盧文紀)
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 127, passages 9-10
Attendants shot bear during suburban visit
Hunt · Sovereign
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 141, passage 89

Assessments and attributes

Assessment Heaven had dimmed his vigor in final years · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 127, passage 20
Item ancestral tomb side monastery stone image 先人墳側古佛剎石像 · Relation Associated with
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 141, passage 117

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 139, passage 53

References in the histories

Search passages

History

40 passages

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 51Volume 51 Book of Later Tang 27: Biographies 3: Imperial Family · 4 passages

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重吉，末帝長子，為控鶴都指揮使。 Chongji, the Last Emperor's eldest son, was director of the Crane-Control Directorate.

末帝兵起，為閔帝所害。 When the Last Emperor raised his army, Emperor Min had him killed.

雍王理美，末帝第二子，清泰三年封。 Prince Yong Limei, the Last Emperor's second son, was enfeoffed in Qingtai 3.

晉兵入，與末帝俱自焚死。 When the Jin army entered Luoyang, he and the Last Emperor burned themselves to death.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 69Volume 69 Book of Later Tang 45: Biographies 21: Zhang Xian, Wang Zhengyan, Hu Zhuang, Cui Yisun, Meng Hu, Sun Yue, Zhang Yanlang, Liu Yanhao, Liu Yanlang · 11 passages

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末帝即位，授禮部尚書，兼中書侍郎、平章事、判三司。 When the Last Emperor took the throne he was made minister of rites, concurrently vice director of the Secretariat, Grand Councilor, and judge of the three departments.

末帝優詔答之，召於便殿，謂之曰：「卿所論奏，深中時病，形之切言，頗救朕失。 The Last Emperor answered with a gracious edict, summoned him to the informal hall, and said to him, "What you memorialized strikes deep at the ailments of the times; formed in cutting words, it has considerably remedied Our errors.

及晉陽起兵，末帝議親征，然亦采浮論，不能果決； When troops rose at Jinyang the Last Emperor deliberated on a personal campaign, yet he also adopted floating opinion and could not decide firmly;

延朗獨排眾議，請末帝北行，識者韙之。 Yanlang alone rejected the crowd's opinion and asked the Last Emperor to march north—men of insight approved him.

末帝鎮鳳翔，署延皓元隨都校，奏加檢校戶部尚書。 When the Last Emperor was posted at Fengxiang he appointed Yanhao commander of his original followers and memorialized to add acting minister of revenue.

延皓始以後戚自藩邸出入左右，甚以溫厚見稱，故末帝嗣位之後，委居近密。 At first Yanhao, as a maternal relative from the princely household, came and went at the sovereign's side and was greatly praised for his mildness; therefore after the Last Emperor succeeded to the throne he was entrusted with intimate duties.

時執政以延皓失守，請舉舊章，末帝以劉後內政之故，止從罷免而已，由是清泰之政弊矣。 At the time the chief ministers, because Yanhao had lost his command, asked to apply the old regulations; the Last Emperor, because of Empress Liu's influence in the inner court, only went so far as dismissal—thereby the government of Qingtai was harmed.

末帝鎮河中時，為鄆城馬步都虞候，後納為腹心。 When the Last Emperor was posted to Hezhong he was chief inspector of cavalry and infantry at Yancheng; later he was taken in as a trusted confidant.

末帝將圖起義，為捍禦之備，延朗計公私粟帛，以贍其急。 When the Last Emperor was planning to raise an uprising and made preparations for defense, Yanlang calculated public and private grain and cloth to supply the urgent need.

及西師納降，末帝赴洛，皆無所闕焉，末帝甚賞之。 When the western army submitted and the Last Emperor went to Luoyang, nothing was lacking in any respect, and the Last Emperor greatly rewarded him.

凡藩侯郡牧，自外入者，必先賂延朗，後議進貢，賂厚者先居內地，賂薄者晚出邊藩，故諸將屢有怨訕，末帝不能察之。 Whenever frontier lords and prefects came in from outside, they had first to bribe Yanlang and only afterward discuss advancing tribute; those who bribed heavily were first placed in inner territories, those who bribed lightly were sent out late to border commands—therefore the generals often had resentful complaints, which the Last Emperor could not perceive.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 70Volume 70 Book of Later Tang 46: Biographies 22: Yuan Xingqin, Xia Luqi, Yao Hong, Li Yan, Li Renju, Kang Sili, Zhang Jingda · 4 passages

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末帝以其年高，征居環衛。 Because of his advanced age, the Last Emperor summoned him to serve in the palace guard.

未幾，晉高祖建義，末帝詔以敬達為北面行營都招討使，仍使悉引部下兵圍太原，以定州節度使楊光遠副焉。 Before long, when the Jin founder rose in revolt, the Last Emperor appointed Jingda overall pacification commissioner of the northern campaign and ordered him to lead all his troops to besiege Taiyuan, with Yang Guangyuan, military governor of Dingzhou, as his deputy.

末帝自六月繼有詔促令攻取，敬達設長城連柵、雲梯飛炮，使工者運其巧思，窮土木之力。 From the sixth month onward the Last Emperor repeatedly ordered him to take the city. Jingda built long walls and linked palisades, cloud ladders and siege engines, set artisans to every device, and exhausted every effort of engineering.

末帝聞其歿也，愴慟久之。 When the Last Emperor heard of his death, he mourned deeply for a long time.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 74Volume 74 Book of Later Tang 50: Biographies 126: Kang Yanxiao, Zhu Shouyin, Yang Li, Dou Tingwan, Zhang Qianzhao, Yang Yanwen · 6 passages

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及末帝起於鳳翔，閔帝詔令虔釗帥部兵會王師於岐下。 When the Last Emperor rose at Fengxiang, Emperor Min ordered Qianzhao to lead his troops and join the imperial army at Qi.

天成中，為河中副指揮使，及末帝鎮河中，尤善待之，因奏為衙內都指揮使。 During Tiancheng he served as deputy commander at Hezhong. When the Last Emperor governed there, he treated Yanwen with special favor and had him appointed chief commander of the inner guards.

長興元年四月，乘末帝閱馬於黃龍莊，據城謀叛。 In the fourth month of the first year of Changxing, while the Last Emperor was inspecting horses at Yellow Dragon Manor, Yanwen seized the city and rebelled.

末帝遣人詰之曰：「吾善待汝，何苦為叛？」 The Last Emperor sent a messenger to demand, "I have treated you well. Why turn rebel?"

數日，詔末帝歸朝。 Within days an edict ordered the Last Emperor back to court.

皆以為安重誨方弄國權，尤忌末帝之名，故巧作窺圖，究莫能傾陷也。 Most believed that An Chonghui, who was then wielding state power and especially feared the Last Emperor's standing, had engineered the affair as a probe — yet in the end failed to bring him down.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 87Volume 87 Book of Later Jin 13: Biographies 2: Imperial Family · 1 passage

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重信歷事唐明宗及閔帝、末帝，不恃貴戚，能克己復禮，常恂恂如也，甚為時論所稱。 Chongxin served Emperors Mingzong, Min, and Mo of Tang. He did not trade on his noble kinship; he could restrain himself and return to propriety, always earnest and deferential, and won high praise from his contemporaries.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 96Volume 96 Book of Later Jin 22: Biographies 11: Kong Chongbi, Chen Baoji, Wang Yu, Zhang Jizuo, Zhen Ruan, Hu Rao, Liu Suiqing, Fang Gao, Meng Chenghui, Liu Jixun, Zheng Shouyi, Cheng Xun, Li Yu, Zheng Xuansu, Ma Zhongji, Chen Xuan · 4 passages

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會末帝鎮其地，阮稍狎之。 When the Last Emperor governed the region, Ruan grew somewhat familiar with him.

末帝嗣位，以阮為趙州刺史。 When the Last Emperor succeeded to the throne, he appointed Ruan prefect of Zhao.

天成中，唐末帝出鎮河中，暠於路左迎謁，求事軍門，末帝愛之，使治賓客。 During Tiancheng, when the Last Emperor of Tang went out to govern Hezhong, Gao met him at the roadside and sought service at headquarters. The Last Emperor took a liking to him and put him in charge of guests.

及末帝登極，歷南北院宣徽使，尋與趙延壽同為樞密使。 When the Last Emperor ascended the throne, Gao served successively as commissioner of the southern and northern palace secretariat bureaus, and soon shared the post of confidential commissioner with Zhao Yanshou.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 127Volume 127 Book of Later Zhou 29: Biographies 7: Lu Wenji, Ma Yisun, He Ning, Su Yugui, Jing Fan · 7 passages

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奉使蜀川，路由岐下，時唐末帝為岐帥，以主禮待之，觀其儀形旨趣，遇之頗厚。 While on embassy to Shu he traveled through Qi, where the future Last Emperor of Tang held the Qi governorship and received him with a host's courtesy. Struck by Wenji's bearing and manner, he showed him exceptional regard.

清泰初，中書闕輔相，末帝訪之於朝，左右曰：「臣見班行中所譽，當大拜者，姚顗、盧文紀、崔居儉耳。」 Early in Qingtai, with no vice-chancellor in the Secretariat, the Last Emperor asked the court whom to appoint. Attendants said, "Of those the ranks most commend for great promotion, I see Yao Hao, Lu Wenji, and Cui Jujian."

時末帝季年，天奪其魄，聲言救寨，其實倦行。 The Last Emperor was in his final years; Heaven had dimmed his vigor. He spoke of relieving the camp, but in truth he had grown weary of campaigning.

故令延壽北行，末帝坐俟其敗。 So Yanshou was sent north while the Last Emperor sat back expecting his failure.

唐末帝即位，用為翰林學士、戶部郎中、知制誥，賜金紫，未滿歲，改中書舍人、禮部侍郎，皆帶禁職。 When the Last Emperor of Tang acceded, Yisun became Hanlin academician, revenue bureau director, and drafting officer for edicts, with gold-purple insignia. Within the year he was made secretariat drafter and vice minister of rites, retaining palace duties.

及太原事起，唐末帝幸懷州，裔孫留司在洛。 When trouble broke at Taiyuan the Last Emperor went to Huai Prefecture; Yisun stayed in Luoyang as capital chief.

及廢居裏巷，追感唐末帝平昔之遇，乃依長壽僧舍讀佛書，冀申冥報。 Dismissed to the lanes, he remembered the Last Emperor's kindness and read Buddhist texts at Longevity Monastery, hoping to repay him beyond the grave.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 139Volume 139: Treatises 1 Astronomy · 2 passages

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末帝清泰三年，九月己丑，彗出虛、危，長尺餘，形細微，經天壘、哭星。 In the third year of Qingtai under the Last Emperor, on jichou of the ninth month a comet rose from the Emptiness and Rooftop asterisms, a little over a foot long and faint in form, crossing the Celestial Ramparts and the Weeping Star.

末帝清泰元年，六月甲戌，太白犯右執法。 In the first year of Qingtai under the Last Emperor, on jiaxu of the sixth month Venus encroached on the Right Enforcer star.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 141Volume 141: Treatises 3 Five Elements · 1 passage

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清泰末年，末帝先人墳側古佛剎中石像，忽然搖動不已，觀者鹹訝焉。 Near the end of the Qingtai era, a stone image in an ancient Buddhist monastery beside the tomb of the Last Emperor's ancestors suddenly began to shake without cease, astonishing all who saw it.