Princess Anle

Background

Li Guo'er was the youngest of four children that Emperor Zhongzong (Li Zhe) had with his wife Empress Wei. She is said to have been born at a time when Li Zhe had, after a brief reign in 684, been deposed by his mother Empress Dowager Wu (later known as Wu Zetian), reduced to the title of Prince of Lulin, and exiled to Fang Prefecture (房州, in modern Shiyan, Hubei). He was replaced by his brother Li Dan the Prince of Yu (as Emperor Ruizong). It was recorded in her biography in the New Book of Tang that at her birth, Li Zhe took off his shirt and wrapped her in it; thereafter, she was named Guo'er (meaning "the child that was wrapped"). The same biography also recorded that as she was born in times of trouble, Guo'er was pampered by her parents; Empress Wei, in particular, favoured her when she became older, as she was beautiful and eloquent.

In 698, at the urging of the chancellor Di Renjie, Wu Zetian (who had taken the throne herself in 690, reducing Li Dan to the rank of crown prince) recalled Li Zhe to the capital. Li Dan offered to yield the position of crown prince to Li Zhe, and Wu Zetian agreed, creating Li Zhe crown prince (and subsequently changing his name, first to Li Xian, and then to Wu Xian). Wu Zetian was surprised to see her and stated that she was likeness of herself. Sometime after the end of exile, Li Guo'er married Wu Chongxun (武崇訓) the Prince of Gaoyang, the son of Wu Zetian's nephew Wu Sansi the Prince of Liang.

During Emperor Zhongzong's second reign

In 705, a coup led by Zhang Jianzhi, Cui Xuanwei, Jing Hui, Huan Yanfan, and Yuan Shuji overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong to the throne. However, Wu Sansi, who was carrying on an affair with Empress Wei, became a trusted advisor of Emperor Zhongzong, and Zhang and his cohorts soon lost power (and eventually all were killed or died in exile in 706). Li Guo'er and Emperor Zhongzong's concubine Consort Shangguan Wan'er also became powerful figures. Li Guo'er, in particular, as she was favored by both Emperor Zhongzong and Empress Wei, was said to be powerful, arrogant, and corrupt.

In spring 706, Emperor Zhongzong issued an edict that, in an unprecedented manner, established staffs for seven princesses: his sister Princess Taiping; his daughters Princesses Changning, Yicheng, Xindu, Ding'an, and Anle; and Princess Jincheng, the daughter of his cousin Li Shouli the Prince of Yong. It was said that among the seven, Li Guo'er had a particularly large staff, and she also sold governmental offices, even to people who were of low social stations, as long as they had the money. Because the offices she sold had their commissions placed in envelopes that were sealed in a slanted manner to indicate that they need not be approved by the examination bureau (門下省, Menxia Sheng), they were known as the "slanted-sealed officials" (斜封官, xiefeng guan). She even murdered officials who opposed her, wrongfully occupied lands belonging to others, captured free people, especially children, as slaves, and engaged in other illegal activities. She spent money recklessly, building many magnificent buildings, palaces, parks, and temples on a large scale, especially on behalf of her father, which caused great strain on the imperial treasury and the burden of the common people. Although her father was aware of these violations, corruptions, and indiscretions, he refused to reprimand her. It was said that at times, she would even draft edicts for Emperor Zhongzong and then, covering the text of the edicts, ask him to sign them, and that he did so willingly. Also, many officials bribed her to be promoted to the emperor on her behalf or even to intercede for them to obtain the emperor's pardon for a sin she had committed. It seems that the taste of unlimited freedom, vast powers and the splendor of wealth increased her greed and arrogance, all because of her father's love and compassion. She also requested that she be made crown princess (huangtainü). Emperor Zhongzong, as advised by the senior chancellor Wei Yuanzhong, refused, and she, disappointed, replied rather irreverently:

Wei Yuanzhong is simply a stubborn man from east of the Taihang Mountains. What right does he have to comment on affairs of state? If that Wu woman [(i.e., Wu Zetian)] could become the Emperor, why cannot the daughter of the Emperor become an Emperor?

Death

In summer 710, Emperor Zhongzong died suddenly. Traditional historians assert that it was a poisoning (with the poison placed into a cake), carried out after a conspiracy by Empress Wei, her new lovers Ma Qinke (馬秦客) and Yang Jun (楊均), and Li Guo'er—with Li Guo'er's motive being that she hoped that Empress Wei would become "emperor" like her grandmother Wu Zetian and that she could become crown princess. After Emperor Zhongzong's death, Empress Wei placed his son (not by her) Li Chongmao the Prince of Wen on the throne (as Emperor Shang), but retained power herself as empress dowager and regent. Less than a month later, however, imperial guards, incited by Li Dan's son Li Longji the Prince of Linzi and Princess Taiping, attacked the palace. According to Zizhi Tongjian, during the attack, Li Guo'er was looking at herself in the mirror and putting on makeup when a soldier charged in and killed her. Also killed were Empress Dowager Wei, Wu Yanxiu, and Lady Helou. Subsequently, other members of the empress dowager's and Li Guo'er's factions were also killed.

Afterwards, at the urging of Princess Taiping, Li Longji, and Li Longji's elder brother Li Chengqi the Prince of Song, Li Dan took the throne again, displacing Emperor Shang. He posthumously reduced Empress Wei to commoner rank and reduced Li Guo'er further to the unusual rank of "rebellious commoner." However, he still buried her with honors due an official of the second rank. Her husband Wu Chongxun's grand tomb, however, was destroyed.