Tang Dynasty

Explore Tang Dynasty on RootsLore — a living, time-lapsed map of births, marriages and migrations across the generations.

People in this family tree

• Li Yuan · 566–06/25/635 · Chang'an, China → Chang'an, China — Founder and first emperor of the Tang dynasty (reigned 618–626); a Sui general, he rose in the rebellion that toppled the Sui and was eased into retirement after his sons fought for the succession. Posthumously the Gaozu Emperor.
• Li Jiancheng · 589–07/02/626 · Chang'an, China → Chang'an, China — Eldest son of Li Yuan and the first Tang crown prince; he was killed by his brother Li Shimin at the Xuanwu Gate in 626.
• Li Shimin · 01/23/598–07/10/649 · Wugong, China → Chang'an, China — Second son of Li Yuan; after killing his brothers at the Xuanwu Gate he took the throne as the Taizong Emperor (reigned 626–649), whose Zhenguan era became the Chinese model of good government. Posthumously the Taizong Emperor.
• Empress Zhangsun · 03/15/601–07/28/636 · Luoyang, China → Chang'an, China — Wife of Taizong and mother of the Gaozong Emperor; remembered as a model empress whose counsel restrained the throne, she died young in 636.
• Li Yuanji · 603–07/02/626 · Chang'an, China → Chang'an, China — Fourth son of Li Yuan and ally of the crown prince Li Jiancheng; he was cut down beside his brother at the Xuanwu Gate in 626.
• Li Chengqian · 619–645 · Chang'an, China → China — Eldest son of Taizong and Empress Zhangsun and his first crown prince; deposed in 643 after plotting a coup, which opened the succession to his younger brother.
• Li Tai · 620–652 · Chang'an, China → China — Fourth son of Taizong and Empress Zhangsun; his open campaign for the succession against his brothers led Taizong to pass over them all for the milder Li Zhi.
• Wu Zetian · 02/17/624–12/16/705 · Lizhou, China → Luoyang, China — Empress of Gaozong and then, from 690, sole ruler as emperor of her own Zhou dynasty — the only woman ever to reign as emperor in Chinese history (reigned 690–705). Mother of the emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong, she dominated the court for half a century.
• Li Zhi · 07/21/628–12/27/683 · Chang'an, China → Luoyang, China — Ninth son of Taizong and Empress Zhangsun; he reigned as the Gaozong Emperor (649–683) and raised his father's former concubine Wu Zetian to empress, ceding much of his power to her. Posthumously the Gaozong Emperor.
• Li Hong · 652–05/25/675 · Chang'an, China → Luoyang, China — Eldest son of Gaozong and Wu Zetian and a popular crown prince; he died suddenly in 675, rumoured poisoned by his mother, and was honoured as Emperor Xiaojing.
• Zhongzong · 11/26/656–07/03/710 · Chang'an, China → Chang'an, China — Personal name Li Xian; son of Gaozong and Wu Zetian and twice emperor (684 and 705–710). Deposed by his mother within weeks the first time, he was poisoned after her fall — it was said by his own wife and daughter. Posthumously the Zhongzong Emperor.
• Ruizong · 06/22/662–07/13/716 · Chang'an, China → Chang'an, China — Personal name Li Dan; younger son of Gaozong and Wu Zetian and a reluctant emperor twice over (684–690 and 710–712), who yielded the throne first to his mother and finally to his own son. Posthumously the Ruizong Emperor.
• Xuanzong · 09/08/685–05/03/762 · Luoyang, China → Chang'an, China — Personal name Li Longji; son of Ruizong and the Xuanzong Emperor (reigned 712–756), whose long reign carried the Tang to its cultural height and then to ruin in the An Lushan Rebellion, after which he abdicated. His love for Yang Guifei is the most famous romance in Chinese poetry. Posthumously the Xuanzong Emperor.
• Suzong · 10/19/711–05/16/762 · Chang'an, China → Chang'an, China — Personal name Li Heng; son of Xuanzong who took the throne as the Suzong Emperor (reigned 756–762) amid the An Lushan Rebellion, recovering the capitals with allied armies while his father lived out his last years in seclusion. Posthumously the Suzong Emperor.
• Yang Guifei · 06/22/719–07/15/756 · China → Mawei, China — Beloved consort of Xuanzong and one of the Four Beauties of ancient China; when the An Lushan Rebellion drove the court into flight, the emperor's own guards demanded her death and she was strangled at the Mawei post station in 756.
• Li Bing · ?–572 · China → China — Duke of Tang under the Northern Zhou and father of Li Yuan; posthumously honoured as Emperor Yuan when his son founded the Tang.
• Duchess Dou · ?–613 · China → China — Wife of Li Yuan and mother of his principal sons and of Princess Pingyang; she died before the dynasty was founded and was honoured as Empress Taimu.
• Princess Pingyang · ?–623 · China → Chang'an, China — Daughter of Li Yuan; she raised and led the "Army of the Lady" that helped her father seize the capital, and is the only woman in Chinese history given a general's military funeral.