Mavericks › Uprising Leaders
Xu Jingye
Grandson of the Tang general Li Ji who raised an army at Yangzhou in 684 against Empress Wu's rule, with Luo Binwang drafting his famous proclamation, and was killed by his own officers
A mountain camp at night, with a beacon fire burning on a wooden platform at the upper left, several white tents on the slope and a red cloth tied to a rope; a wooden palisade with a gate stands at the right beyond a timber bridge over a rough river, under a clouded moon.
Also known as Yingguo Gong · Li Jingye
Xu Jingye, known in his lifetime as Li Jingye, was a grandson of the early Tang general Li Ji, whose family name Xu had been replaced by the imperial surname as a reward. He inherited the title Duke of Ying and served as prefect of Meizhou. In 684, after Empress Dowager Wu deposed Emperor Zhongzong and took power, he was demoted to a minor post at Liuzhou; passing through Yangzhou, he rose with his brother Li Jingyou, Tang Zhiqi, Luo Binwang and Wei Siwen and within days gathered more than a hundred thousand men. Luo Binwang wrote the proclamation against Empress Wu. Ignoring Wei Siwen's advice to march straight on Luoyang, he turned south against Runzhou, and the court army under Li Xiaoyi routed him at Xiaxi. He fled toward the sea at Hailing hoping to reach Korea, but his officer Wang Naxiang killed him that winter. The empress stripped Li Ji of his honours and took back the imperial surname, which is why histories call him Xu.
Life and times
Dates Birth unknown–684 CE