Li Hong: Why did he die young when he was crowned as the Crown Prince at the age of 4? Below, the editor of the History Encyclopedia will bring you a detailed interpretation. Let’s continue reading~
Li Hong was the first son of Wu Zetian and Tang Gaozong Li Zhi. It was the birth of Li Hong that gave Wu Zetian the capital to compete for the empress; It was precisely with the existence of Li Hong that Tang Gaozong hesitated repeatedly when he wanted to depose Wu Zetian. From a utilitarian perspective, the arrival of Li Hong brought great benefits to Wu Zetian.
In Li Hong, one can see the shadow of both his father Tang Gaozong and his mother Wu Zetian. He has a passion for literature, enjoys reading, and is intelligent and clever, much like Wu Zetian in her youth; He is kind-hearted, kind-hearted, and a little cowardly, which is exactly the same as Li Zhizhen, a young Tang Gaozong.
Li Hong, who is clever and a bit timid
So, Tang Gaozong liked this son very much and appointed him as the Crown Prince when Li Hong was 4 years old. At the age of 8, Emperor Gaozong of Tang intended to train his son, so he left him in Chang’an and had him attend court every day to exercise his ability to handle national affairs. He himself went on vacation with Empress Wu Zetian to Luoyang.
But Li Hong didn’t like this arrangement. He didn’t want to spend all day talking about national affairs in front of a group of old men, coupled with missing his parents, so he cried day and night, leaving the old ministers with no way out. He could only truthfully report the situation to the emperor and empress, and let them return to Chang’an to personally manage this crying son.
Li Hong, who has been crying all along
This Li Hong doesn’t like negative energy things, he likes to read positive energy stories when reading. Tang Gaozong arranged for a teacher to give him lectures, using the textbook “Spring and Autumn Annals”, which is a historical book that is said to have been compiled by Confucius. When Li Hong read the story of the Crown Prince of Chu killing the monarch, he was puzzled.
Li Hong asked the teacher, isn’t Confucius a sage? How could such a thing be written in a book? The teacher explained that although Confucius was a sage, compiling historical books cannot only record good things. He recorded such bad things in historical books to punish evil and promote good.
Li Hong, who loves positive energy stories
Although the teacher’s words were not unreasonable, Li Hong still had objections to “Spring and Autumn Annals”. He refused to read “Spring and Autumn Annals” again and demanded that the teacher change the textbooks. The teacher was very smart, so he told Li Hong the Book of Rites. The Book of Rites is a standard for telling behavioral norms, and of course, it is all stories of positive energy. Li Hong obediently studied it.
Although Li Hong has enjoyed the generous treatment of the Crown Prince since childhood, with delicious food and drinks to serve, he is still weak and sickly. According to historical records, Li Hong was diagnosed with a disease called tuberculosis, which in modern language means tuberculosis. This is a chronic disease that does not immediately lead to death, but gradually worsens. Unfortunately, Li Hong contracted this disease at a very young age.
Li Hong, who has been weak and sickly since childhood
In the first year of Xianheng, when Li Hong was 18 years old, his condition worsened. When the condition worsened, Emperor Gaozong of Tang was still sending him to supervise the country. At this point, Li Hong was so sick that he could no longer receive ministers. Many courtiers have not seen Li Hong for several days and suspect him of neglecting his duties. This is a wrongful accusation against Li Hong. He is currently very ill and unable to handle political affairs effectively.
From then on, his condition worsened day by day. In the second year of Shangyuan, when Li Hong was 23 years old, he could no longer resist the invasion of illness and passed away. Before his death, his father Emperor Tang Gaozong declared his intention to pass on the throne to him in order to make Li Hong, who was on his deathbed, happy. Unexpectedly, Li Hong’s excitement accelerated his death.
Li Hong, who passed away at a young age
Historian Ye Zi once said: Li Hong was very lucky to be born into an imperial family. He became the crown prince at the age of 4 and supervised the country at the age of 8, which was very glorious; Li Hong is also very unfortunate. Although he lives a luxurious life, his body has been plagued by illness for a long time. At the age of 23, when he was in his prime, he bid farewell to this world. It is regrettable.
