Li Heng

Also known as Tang Suzong · Li Sisheng

Li Heng, Emperor Suzong of Tang, was the third son of Emperor Xuanzong; first named Sisheng, he changed his name several times and was made crown prince in 738. When An Lushan broke through Tongguan in 756, he fled west with his father, parted from him after the mutiny at Mawei, and in the seventh month took the throne at Lingwu, starting the Zhide era; his later eras were Qianyuan, Shangyuan and Baoying. He borrowed Uighur troops on the terms that captured cities' land and people would go to the Tang and their gold, silk and young people to the Uighurs, and in 757 recovered Chang'an and Luoyang. In 759 nine military governors besieging Xiangzhou, with only the eunuch Yu Chao'en as supervisor, were routed, and the eunuch Li Fuguo grew ever stronger. In the fourth month of 762, days after Xuanzong's death, he died ill, while Li Fuguo arrested Empress Zhang, who had plotted to kill him. He was buried at Jianling.