When Li Shimin asked Yuan Tiangang when the Tang Dynasty would perish, how did he answer? Next, the History Encyclopedia editor will take you to a detailed understanding of the historical truth. Let’s take a look together!
China has a history of over 5000 years, during which countless dynasties were born. However, among the many dynasties, the Tang Dynasty can definitely be considered a prosperous one, especially during the reign of Li Shimin. Li Shimin was a very wise monarch, and everyone must have heard of his story with Wei Zheng. There were not many emperors in history who could humbly accept the opinions of their subjects, so the Tang Dynasty also flourished under his rule.
Li Shimin was very confident when he was young. He led his troops to conquer almost the entire world of the Tang Dynasty. However, in his later years, Li Shimin’s physical condition deteriorated day by day, and his confidence in his youth no longer existed. He began to worry that the world he had conquered would be taken by others, and even believed in ghosts and gods. We all know that there were many fortune tellers in ancient times who claimed to know the past and future, and the ancients also believed in them. Li Shimin thought of finding a fortune teller to calculate the fate of the Tang Dynasty and see when it would perish.
After extensive investigation, Li Shimin learned that there was a master of physiognomy named Yuan Tiangang among the common people. His divination was very effective, and the common people called Yuan Tiangang a master. Li Shimin then had Yuan Tiangang invited to the palace to predict when the Tang Dynasty would perish.
Yuan Tiangang is different from the fortune tellers who cheat money on the street. He has real abilities. Although he was born into a poor peasant family, he is very eager to learn and has been interested in physiognomy since childhood. Later, he devoted his whole life to studying physiognomy and eventually achieved success, even creating his own school of thought.
He was highly sought after by the people because he was very accurate in judging his appearance. Later, some high-ranking officials and nobles would also ask Yuan Tiangang to tell their fortunes. This time when Li Shimin entered the palace, he had a very good conversation with Yuan Tiangang. Then Yuan Tiangang was highly valued by Li Shimin and held a high position in the court. Whenever something happened, Li Shimin would ask Yuan Tiangang to calculate it for him.
In his later years, Li Shimin was most worried about the world of the Tang Dynasty, so he asked Yuan Tiangang to calculate when the Tang Dynasty would perish. Yuan Tiangang also knew that if this answer did not satisfy Li Shimin, he would definitely be beheaded by Li Shimin. After careful deduction, he said to Li Shimin, “When the sow goes up the tree, it is the time when the Tang Dynasty will perish.” Li Shimin did not understand the profound meaning of Yuan Tiangang’s words at all. He believed that pigs would never go up the tree, so the Tang Dynasty would continue to exist. Therefore, Li Shimin was happy and rewarded Yuan Tiangang with many things.
The final result was that the Tang Dynasty was first usurped by Wu Zetian, and later destroyed by Emperor Zhu Wen of Liang, which perfectly fulfilled Yuan Tiangang’s deduction.
