Li Deyu

Leader of the Li faction in the Niu–Li factional strife; during the Huichang era he pacified Zelu and crushed the Uyghurs.

Life

Son of a chancellor

Li Deyu was the son of the chancellor Li Jifu and entered officialdom through hereditary privilege. He was long at odds with Niu Sengru, Li Zongmin and others, and the two sides fought for 40 years, an episode known as the "Niu–Li factional strife."

Niu–Li factional strife

When Emperor Wuzong of Tang came to the throne in 840, he summoned Li Deyu to be chancellor. Emperor and minister worked well together during his tenure: in 842 he defeated the Uyghur Ugai Khan, who had advanced south, and in 843–844 he pacified Liu Zhen, the Zelu jiedushi who had used his army to make himself independent. This became known as the "Huichang Restoration."

Huichang Restoration

In 845 Emperor Wuzong carried out a large-scale suppression of Buddhism, in which Li Deyu also took part. When Emperor Xuanzong of Tang came to the throne in 846, he was demoted, eventually exiled to Yazhou (modern Hainan), where he died in 850.

Legacy

Li Deyu was the most capable chancellor of the late Tang, and the brief restoration of the Huichang era was mainly his design.

Major works & achievements

• Defeated the Uyghurs
• Pacified Zelu

Did you know? Li Shangyin called him "a good chancellor for all ages."

Key dates

• 840Emperor Wuzong of Tang enthroned; became chancellor
• 842Defeated the Uyghurs
• 844Pacified Zelu
• 846Demoted after Xuanzong's accession
• 850Died in Yazhou