Li Jing (Southern Tang)

Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang
南唐元宗
Emperor of (Southern) Tang (more...)
Li Jing, detail from a larger painting by Zhou Wenju (fl. 942-961)
2nd ruler of Southern Tang
Reign943 – 961
PredecessorLi Bian (Emperor Liezu), father
SuccessorLi Yu, son
BornXu Jingtong (徐景通)
916 or January 917
Probably Sheng Prefecture, possibly Guangling
DiedAugust 12, 961 (Aged 44-45)
Nanchang
Burial
Shun Mausoleum (順陵, in modern Jiangning District, Nanjing, Jiangsu)
SpouseEmpress Zhong
ConcubineLady Ling (凌氏)
Issue
Among others
  • Li Hongji, son
  • Li Hongmao (李弘茂), son
  • Li Yu, son
  • Li Congshan, son
  • Li Congyi (李從益), son
  • Li Congqian (李從謙), son
  • Li Congdu (李從度), son
  • Li Congxin (李從信), son
Names
Surname: Xú (), changed to Lǐ () with father
Given name: Jǐngtōng (), changed to Yáo (), then to Jǐng (), and eventually to Jǐng ()
Era dates
Bǎodà (保大): 943–957
Zhōngxīng (中興): 958
Jiāotài (交泰): 958
Adopted the era name of Later Zhou:
Xiǎndé (顯德): 958[1]–960
Adopted the era name of Song:
Jiànlóng (建隆): 960–961
Regnal name
Emperor (before 958)
King of Tang (唐國主) (after 958)
Posthumous name
Emperor Míngdào Chóngdé Wénxuān Xiào (皇帝)
Temple name
Yuánzōng ()
HouseLi (by birth)
Xu (adoptive)
DynastySouthern Tang
FatherLi Bian
MotherEmpress Song

Li Jing (Chinese: 李璟, later changed to 李景; 916[2] – August 12, 961[3][4]), originally Xu Jingtong (徐景通), briefly Xu Jing (徐璟) in 937–939, courtesy name Boyu (伯玉), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang (南唐元宗), also known in historiography as the Middle Lord of Southern Tang (南唐中主), was the second and penultimate monarch of China's Southern Tang dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. He reigned his state from 943 until his death.

During Li Jing's earlier reign, he expanded Southern Tang's borders by extinguishing smaller neighboring states: Min in 945 and Ma Chu in 951. However, the warfare also exhausted the wealth of the country, leaving it ill-prepared to resist the Later Zhou invasion in 956. Forced to cede all prefectures north of the Yangtze River, he also had to relinquish his title as an emperor and accept the Later Zhou's overlordship in 958, and later the Northern Song's overlordship after 960.