What is the reason why Li Longji killed Shangguan Wan’er

What is the reason why Li Longji killed Shangguan Wan’er? Interested readers and history encyclopedia editors, let’s take a look together!
The Tang Dynasty can be said to be the most inclusive period, which is reflected not only in the cultural field but also in the social status of women. Whether before or after the Tang Dynasty, society was very strict with women. It was only during the Tang Dynasty that every woman was open and bold. In addition to poetry and painting, she could also enter the court and become an official. There were even female emperors like Wu Zetian.
Shangguan Wan’er was also one of the promiscuous women at that time, and many of her actions have sparked continuous discussion among later generations. Unfortunately, this beauty was ultimately killed by Li Longji. In fact, she did a lot of bad things in the early stage, even daring to touch the male pet of the Empress, and Li Longji had little to do with her. So why did she have to kill Guan Wan’er?
I don’t know why, but in ancient times, most talented people had very difficult backgrounds, and Shangguan Wan’er’s background was particularly easy to make people feel sad. Her grandfather Shangguan Yi was originally a prime minister during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, responsible for writing edicts for the emperor.
Later, he suffered a catastrophic disaster for drafting the edict to abolish Wu Hou, and all the men in his family were killed, leaving only Shangguan Wan’er, who was under one year old, and her mother. At this point, Shangguan Wan’er also went from being a descendant of the aristocracy to becoming the lowest level slave.
Fortunately, her mother is a very thoughtful person who, despite facing great changes, has not given up on her daughter’s education. She raised Shangguan Wan’er as her son, teaching her the Four Books and Five Classics, poetry, and painting, hoping that her daughter would not be inferior to men in the future. In addition, at that time, Wu Zetian was in power, but as a woman, she was able to sit on the throne, and Shangguan Wan’er’s mother saw hope even more.
Shangguan Wan’er has perfectly inherited the good genes of her family, and at a young age, she has already read extensively and is quite talented. And her appearance is also bright and charming. After Empress Wu Zetian learned of the existence of this person, she ordered someone to bring her into the palace and test her. After seeing that Shangguan Wan’er indeed had extraordinary talent, she became even more fond of her. Not only did she remove her servant status, but she also took charge of the imperial edicts in the palace.
Shangguan Wan’er is very strong. Her strength is not only reflected in her talent, but also in her mind. She handles everything very well and knows how to speak based on people’s faces, which is very pleasing to Wu Zetian. Under her painstaking efforts, Shangguan Wan’er quickly became a confidant of Wu Zetian and held a higher status than other senior officials for a while.
As they got along, Wu Zetian had completely lost her guard against Shangguan Wan’er, even when she was with her male pet Zhang Zongchang. However, as a woman and in the prime of her youth, facing those romantic affairs all day long, she naturally developed inappropriate thoughts in her heart.
And Zhang Zongchang was also a lecherous person, enjoying various favors from the Empress while coveting the beauty of Shangguan Wan’er. The two of them came and went, and soon mixed together.
However, there is no impenetrable wall in the world, and this matter was quickly discovered by the Empress, who even captured the scene. It is said that the Empress Dowager was very angry when she discovered it and directly drew her sword to attack Shangguan Wan’er. However, her knife did not take the life of Shangguan Wan’er, but instead made a severe cut on her forehead.
The reason why Shangguan Wan’er did not end her life with a single blow was not because the Empress had poor eyesight, but because she cherished her talent and was reluctant to let her die. However, the death penalty can be waived, but the living crime must still be borne. The Empress ordered her to keep that scar for life and not seek medical treatment.
For the words of the Empress, Shangguan Wan’er naturally dared not listen. In order to cover up the scar, Shangguan Wan’er stabbed a red plum on the scar. Her original intention was just to make herself look less unattractive, but she didn’t expect it to make her look even more charming. After other women saw her approach, they followed suit and it became a very popular makeup look in the Tang Dynasty.
After learning from Scar’s lesson, Shangguan Wan’er became even harder because she knew that only by completely eliminating the negative impact of that romantic affair could her life be smoother. Apart from the officialdom, she is very skilled in poetry and has written many poems, and her strength is not inferior to that of Li Qingzhao,
She once wrote a poem called ‘The Lament of Colorful Books’:
Under the leaves of Dongting Lake in autumn, there are thousands of miles of thoughts about the emperor.
The strong fragrance of dew is cold, the moon sets and the golden screen is empty.
Wanted to play Jiangnan opera, greedy for the title of Jibei Shu.
There is no other meaning in the book, but the account has been separated for a long time.
This poem is also the most wonderful one among the poems written by Shangguan Wan’er. Many people thought it was written for Crown Prince Li Xian because she had had feelings for him before, but there was no evidence.
When Wu Zetian fell ill, Shangguan Wan’er had already found a way out for herself, and this backing was none other than Li Xian. On Li Xian’s path to power, Shangguan Wan’er also put in a lot of effort. She originally thought that Li Xian was very powerful, so she joined him, but gradually she realized that Li Xian was completely incapable of being an emperor, lacking the authority and ability to be an emperor.
Soon, she established a relationship with Empress Wei of Li Xian. Although Wei was powerful, she was not familiar with politics and needed help from Shangguan Wan’er. Shangguan Wan’er also keeps wooing people who are useful to her. Not long after, she pushed her lover Wu Sansi to Wei Hou’s side again, and the three of them committed adultery together in the harem.
The two women followed by Shangguan Wan’er are both strong willed women. Under their influence, they increasingly value power and even use men to gain greater power. However, although her behavior was not good enough, she never stopped pursuing knowledge. She also specially asked the emperor to expand the literary museum, recruit many scholars, and often hold poetry and literature events.
After gaining the favor of the emperor, Shangguan Wan’er became even more unrestrained and colluded with many ministers in the court. Some handsome men also benefited from this.
Later, Empress Wei eliminated Li Xian and asked Shangguan Wan’er to write a decree for her to take charge of politics. Shangguan Wan’er, who had been wandering in the officialdom and harem for so many years, suddenly saw the conspiracy behind it. She immediately gave up on Empress Wei and set her sights on Princess Taiping.
Under the collusion of these two women, a temporary forged ‘will’ was issued. The “testament” established Li Chongmao as the Crown Prince, with Empress Wei in charge of politics and Li Dan participating in national affairs. However, this’ testament ‘was later invalidated.
Li Xian’s death prompted Li Longji to take action in advance. He gathered his army at night, rushed to the palace and killed Empress Wei and her daughter, and then had the army surround Shangguan Wan’er’s home. Shangguan Wan’er, however, remained completely calm and took out the “will” for the leader to give to Li Longji.
Unexpectedly, Li Longji had just finished reading it and executed Shangguan Wan’er. Originally, although the “posthumous edict” allowed Li Dan to discuss matters, its actual effect was not significant. Li Longji had long intended to become an emperor, and Shangguan Wan’er was talented, but not wise enough. That’s why Li Longji killed her so decisively.
Shangguan Wan’er’s mistake lies in being too blindly confident, thinking that she must be fine, but the result is so tragic. If she had been more cautious, maybe Li Longji wouldn’t have killed her.