Li Zhi

Also known as Zi Weishan · Tang Gaozong · Tianhuang Dadi

Li Zhi, courtesy name Weishan, was the ninth son of Emperor Taizong by Empress Zhangsun and was made Prince of Jin in 631. When the crown prince Li Chengqian was deposed in 643 he became heir, and he took the throne in 649, adopting the reign title Yonghui the next year and a dozen more later, the last being Hongdao. In 653 he promulgated the legal commentary drafted under Zhangsun Wuji, known today as the Tang Code with Commentary (Tanglu shuyi), and in 655 he deposed Empress Wang to make the consort Wu Zhao empress. His generals destroyed Baekje under Su Dingfang in 660 and Goguryeo under Li Ji in 668, after which a protectorate was set up at Pyongyang. Often ill in later years, he left much business to Empress Wu, and from 674 the pair were styled Heavenly Emperor and Heavenly Empress. He died at Luoyang in 683, received the temple name Gaozong and was later joined in the Qianling tomb by Wu Zetian.