History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 748: Returning to One’s Ancestors (Part )

In February, under the enthusiastic appeal of his ministers, Xu Zhigao officially restored his original surname, Li, and changed the country's name to "Da Tang", which is known in history as "Southern Tang". Strictly speaking, the regime change in Huainan should be "Wu-Qi-Tang", but we usually count the "Qi" in these months as "Southern Tang".

Xu Zhigao wanted to change his name. He originally wanted to be called "Li Ang", but someone reminded him that this was the name of Emperor Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty, which was taboo.
So Xu Zhigao thought of another good name, "Li Huang", and then someone reminded him that Zhu Wen changed his name to "Zhu Huang" after usurping the Tang Dynasty, and we are not familiar with him;
Xu Zhigao thought about it and came up with another good name, "Li Tan". The censor Wang Hu said that the character "Tan" is derived from the character "Dan", which violates the taboo of Li Dan, the Emperor Ruizong of Tang Dynasty.

Xu Zhigao was almost driven crazy, and he wanted to find a character with the word "日" in it, because his new name would have to have the word "日" in it, implying that he was the reddest sun.

The ministers racked their brains and finally found a word that had slipped through the net in the dictionary, a word that had never been used by ancestors, bad guys, or radicals - 昪.

So, Xu Zhigao finally had a new name - Li Bian.

Afterwards, Xu Zhigao issued another very important political task - finding relatives.

Comrade Xu Zhigao wanted to trace his ancestry back to his roots, and declared to the outside world that he was a member of the Li Tang royal family, a proper "Uncle Liu". Liu Bei insisted that he was a "descendant of Liu Sheng, the King of Zhongshan". Xu Zhigao certainly had to give a similar answer to the world. Solve one of the ultimate questions of mankind: Where do I come from?

Xu Zhigao first nominated Prince of Wu Li Ke, because Li Ke was the third son of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, and his biological mother was the daughter of Emperor Yang Guang of Sui, so he had a prominent background.

"I recognize Li Ke as my ancestor. What do you think?"

The ministers discussed it heatedly and thought it was inappropriate.

Because Li Ke was involved in a political turmoil and executed for treason, he had a bad reputation. After debate among the ministers, they nominated a new ancestor for the emperor - Prince Zheng Li Yuanyi (Li Yuan's thirteenth son and Li Shimin's half-brother).

Although Li Ke was executed for "treason", he was rehabilitated more than 50 years later. The "treason" at that time was framed and falsely accused by traitors. He was wrongly accused. When Li Ke was unjustly executed, he was deposed as a commoner. More than 50 years later, his reputation was restored, his title was restored, and he was reburied with the ceremony of a king. Therefore, Xu Zhigao did not give up on Li Ke. He announced that Li Ke and Li Yuanyi would enter the semi-finals together, and ordered the relevant departments to continue to examine the descendants of the two to see if any of their descendants were particularly outstanding.

After a careful search, the relevant departments brought good news: Li Ke's grandson Li Yi had made military contributions to the Tang Dynasty. During the Kaiyuan period, he first defeated Tubo, then repelled Xi and Khitan, and captured the enemy chief alive. He died of illness in his 80s. The then emperor Tang Xuanzong Li Longji mourned for a long time and posthumously awarded him the title of Taiwei; Li Yi's son Li Xian was the prime minister of Suzong and Daizong. In the reign of Xuanzong, he was awarded the honor of having his portrait painted in the Lingyan Pavilion.

Xu Zhigao was overjoyed and slapped his thigh, "He is my ancestor!"

The next important political task: find ways to prove that he is the descendant of "King Wu Li Ke."

Please prove that your ancestor is your ancestor.

After careful fabrication, the relevant departments gave the paternity test results: Li Wei gave birth to Li Xian, Li Xian gave birth to Li Chao, Li Chao gave birth to Li Zhi, Li Zhi gave birth to Li Rong, and Li Rong gave birth to Li Bian (Xu Zhigao). Impeccable!
Xu Zhigao took the "family tree" and counted on his fingers. From Li Yuan to his generation, there were only ten generations. So he asked: "The Tang Dynasty lasted for 300 years and had 19 emperors. How come there are only ten generations in my generation? It doesn't sound real."

The relevant departments said that thirty years is one generation, and three hundred years is exactly ten generations. Your Majesty was born in the first year of Wende (889), which is fifty years ago. It seems true.

Therefore, Xu Zhigao approved this statement and posthumously honored Wu Wang Li Ke as Emperor Dingzong Xiaojing. Starting from his great-grandfather Li Chao, these fabricated ancestors were posthumously honored, with the males being called emperors and the females being called empresses, without any need for detailed listing.

It is worth noting that starting from Xu Zhigao’s so-called great-grandfather Li Chao, the names and official positions were fabricated by the relevant departments.

Another interesting detail is that the Khitan Emperor Yelu Deguang treated the Southern Tang with brotherly courtesy. That is to say, Yelu Deguang recognized Xu Zhigao as his "brother", which is not surprising, because Yelu Deguang's father Yelu Abaoji and Li Keyong were brothers, and Li Keyong was also included in the clan register by the Li Tang royal family. According to Xu Zhigao, he was a descendant of Wu Wang Li Ke, who was the third son of Li Shimin and the same generation as Tang Gaozong Li Zhi (Li Shimin's ninth son), while Xu Zhigao should be the same generation as Tang Xianzong Li Chun.

When it came to Emperor Xianzong's son, Emperor Xuanzong Li Chen, Li Keyong and his father Li Guochang (Zhu Ya Chixin) were included in the royal family register for their contributions in suppressing Pang Xun's rebellion. It is clearly recorded in historical records that Zhu Ya Chixin and Li Keyong were included in the "Zheng Wang Fang". This Zheng Wang was exactly Xu Zhigao's "ancestor candidate" Zheng Wang Li Yuanyi.

I really don't know whether Yelu Deguang was trying to get close to Xu Zhigao in a roundabout way or was deliberately trying to disgust him.

It was Xu Zhigao who fabricated his origins out of thin air and made up a lie like "the descendant of Liu Sheng, King Jing of Zhongshan". The historical records about his origins are complicated and varied:
——"Jiangnan Unofficial History", "Jiangnan Records", and "History of the Southern Tang Dynasty": descendants of Li Ke, Prince Jian, the son of Emperor Xianzong of Tang.

This Li Ke is not that Li Ke. This Jian Wang Li Ke is the elder brother of Xuanzong Li Chen and the younger brother of Muzong Li Heng. His exact birthday is unknown, but Li Heng (the third son of Xianzong) was born on July 795, 7. As the eighth son (some say the tenth son), Li Ke must have been born later than this time point.
Xu Zhigao was born in 889, which means that from 795 to 889, about 94 years, the breeding work of Li Ke - Li Chao - Li Zhi - Li Rong - Xu Zhigao had to be completed, with an average of less than 20 years to breed a generation... The time was tight and the task was heavy.

If he could not prove that Li Chao was Li Ke's son, or that there was one or several generations between Li Ke and Li Chao, then the task would be extremely difficult.

——"Records of the Last Lord of Shu": son of Li Zhirou, successor to Prince Xue (great-great-grandson of Li Dan, Emperor Ruizong).

Li Zhirou appeared in the previous chapter of this book. During the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, he was appointed as the governor of Lingnan. Emperor Zhaozong had high hopes for him and regarded him as the seed of reviving imperial power, sowing him in the local areas. As a result, he was excluded by the eunuch group and Zhu Wen and other power groups, and later died in office. According to the "Records of the Later Lord of Shu", Xu Zhigao was the son of Li Zhirou;
From a biological point of view, this statement is more tenable than "descendants of King Jian Li Ke".

——"Old History of the Five Dynasties" and "Veritable Records of Zhou Shizong": Descendants of Yongwang Li Lin, son of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Li Longji.

——Although the above-mentioned historical books have different opinions, they all acknowledge that Xu Zhigao was born in the royal family of the Tang Dynasty. However, "Wu Yue Bei Shi" gives a completely different statement:

Xu Zhigao had nothing to do with the Li Tang royal family. His surname was not even Li, but Pan! He lived in Anji County, Huzhou. His father was the garrison commander of Anji. He was defeated by Li Shenfu, a general under Qian Liu of Hangzhou. Little Xu Zhigao was captured and became a slave of Li Shenfu. Later, he was spotted by Xu Wen and bought. After Xu Zhigao came to power, he also proposed to the Wuyue Kingdom to exchange the Piling County of Huainan for the Anji County of the Wuyue Kingdom to facilitate his sacrifice to his ancestors, but was rejected by the Wuyue Kingdom.

and many more……

Xu Zhigao's background is confusing and there is no evidence to prove it, so it is difficult to find out the truth. But this is not important. No matter who his ancestors were, it did not prevent him from becoming the founding emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, nor did it prevent him from leaving a significant mark in Chinese history.

The Xu Zhigao Group compiled the eight generations of Xu Zhigao's ancestors and also compiled a mythological legend.

According to them, Xu Wen once had a strange dream. He dreamed that he was standing by the water, and there were more than a dozen yellow dragons playing in the water. Xu Wen was staring at them in a trance. Suddenly, a god wearing the official uniform of the Zhou Dynasty who was in charge of the emperor's sacrifice appeared beside him and told Xu Wen that he could go down and catch any one. Xu Wen took off his shirt, jumped into the water, caught a yellow dragon, and then woke up. As a result, he adopted Xu Zhigao on the same day he woke up.

What this means is that Xu Zhigao is the yellow dragon in the dream.

If you don’t believe me, go ask Xu Wen.

In addition, the propaganda agency of Xu Zhigao Group also compiled another "Approaching Science":
According to legend, there was an old pear tree in front of Xu Zhigao's home. On a certain day of a certain year, the tree bore a very large pear. His father invited neighbors to come and eat the pear. When the pear was cut open, they found a red snake inside. Everyone was shocked, but the red snake took the opportunity to slip away and hid under Xu Zhigao's mother's bed. Afterwards, Xu Zhigao's mother became pregnant and eventually gave birth to Xu Zhigao.

(End of this chapter)