Wu Zetian and the Death of Liu Ji

Concerning the death of the prime minister Liu Ji (刘洎) in the Emperor Taizong(太宗) era of the Tang Dynasty (618-906), it has been an old popular belief that Liu was put to death by a false charge made by Chu Suiliang(褚遂良), or that his death was caused by Liu himself through his obstinate personality. On the other hand, recent historians have been insisting on the argument that Liu’s death was due to the Guanlong(关陇) Group which didn’t accept Liu since he belonged to the South Group. First of all, Liu had asked the prison official for paper and brush to write something before his death, but his request was rejected. Emperor Taizong was very angry when he got to know it. Secondly, Taizong believed in a saying about Liu in Chu Suiliang that Liu had committed suicide, and so called in another prime minister Ma Zhou(马周) in testimony, but Taizong didn’t believe a word of it. Thirdly, Ma Zhou proved the innocence of Liu and then kept silent. Certainly, neither Chu Suiliang nor Ma Zhou told the truth, but that was not recorded in history. It is interesting to study an anecdote like this: Liu’s death was related to Wu Zetian and her relation with Prince Li Zhi. The first reason, in fact, was that Taizong had once issued an edict to Wu Zetian, one of his many concubines. Using this edict, we can fix the date when Wu Zetian and Li Zhi established their relation. That was before Liu was taken out. The second reason is that Taizong once planned to kill all the female suspects in the Imperial Palace when he heard a rumor that a queen consort attempted take the throne, but he was dissuaded by Li Chunfeng(李淳风), head of the astronomy institution. The third reason, after Liu died, his son twice attempted to reverse the verdict for his father. He failed at the first time, early in Gaozong era, but succeeded in the Wu Zetian era when she became the Emperess of Zhou. In summery, Liu's death may be read as a punishment for his failure in preventing the development of the love affairs between Wu Zetian and Li Zhi, but this anecdote is certainly a manifestation of the society of Tang Dynasty China with its politics, social relations and marriage systems.