Li Xiong (李雄) (274 – 11 August 334[(咸和九年六月，...成主雄生疡于头。身素多金创，及病，旧痕皆脓溃，诸子皆恶而远之；独太子班昼夜侍侧，不脱衣冠，亲为吮脓。雄召大将军建宁王寿受遗诏辅政。丁卯，雄卒，太子班即位) Zizhi Tongjian, vol.95. Li Xiong's biography in vol.121 of Jin Shu recorded that he was 61 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died.]), courtesy name Zhongjuan (仲雋), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Wu of Cheng (Han) (成(漢)武帝), was the first emperor of the Ba-Di-led Cheng Han and commonly regarded as its founder (although some historians date Cheng-Han's founding to Li Xiong's father Li Te). Li Xiong's declaration of himself as the Prince of Chengdu in late 304 (and thus independence from the Jin dynasty, Sima Ying being the Jin-sanctioned Prince of Chengdu) is commonly regarded as the start of the Sixteen Kingdoms era. The Book of Jin describes Li Xiong as a beautiful-looking and courageous man who was over two meters tall.
Participation in his father's and uncle's campaigns
Li Xiong,
Li Te's third son, by his wife Lady Luo, was first mentioned in history as having been commissioned by his father as a general in winter 301, after his father had defeated a surprise attack by Xin Ran (辛冉), the chief aide to the Jin governor of
Yi Province (modern
Sichuan and
Chongqing)
Luo Shang and had been urged by the Qin Province (秦州, modern eastern
Gansu) refugees that he led to assume imperial powers. However, he did not come to the forefront of the action until spring 303 when Li Te, after a major victory over Luo, carelessly believed Luo's request for a truce (against the advice of Li Xiong himself and of Li Te's brother and Li Xiong's uncle Li Liu). Luo subsequently made a surprise attack and killed Li Te in March.
[Vol.85 of Zizhi Tongjian recorded that Li Te was killed in the 2nd month of the 2nd year of the Tai'an era of the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin. The month corresponds to 5 Mar to 2 Apr 303 in the Julian calendar.] The remnants of Li Te's army made Li Liu their leader and were able to fight back, but when Li Xiong's older brother Li Dang (李蕩) then died in battle, Li Liu became convinced that he should surrender to Jin authorities, against the advice of Li Xiong and another of Li Xiong's uncle, Li Xiang (李驤). Li Xiong then, without Li Liu's knowledge, made a surprise attack against Jin forces, forcing them to withdraw. From that point on, Li Liu trusted and followed Li Xiong's judgment. In October 303,
[Vol.85 of Zizhi Tongjian recorded that Li Liu fell ill and then died in the 9th month of the 2nd year of the Tai'an era of the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin. The month corresponds to 28 Sep to 26 Oct 303 in the Julian calendar.] Li Liu grew ill and, before his death, appointed Li Xiong his successor.
Reign
In February 304,
[leap 12th month of the 2nd year of the Tai'an era, per vol.85 of Zizhi Tongjian; the month corresponds to 24 Jan to 21 Feb 304 in the Julian calendar.] Li Xiong captured
Chengdu, the capital of
Yi Province, forcing Luo Shang to flee. He then offered the throne to the hermit
Fan Changsheng, who was respected by the refugees as a god-like figure and who had supplied his army with food. Fan refused, and the generals then requested that Li declare himself emperor. In November or December of that year,
[(永兴元年冬，十月，雄即成都王位，大赦，改元曰建兴。除晋法，约法七章。) Zizhi Tongjian, vol.85. The month corresponds to 14 Nov to 13 Dec 304 in the Julian calendar.] Li declared himself the Prince of Chengdu, effectively declaring independence from Jin. He made Fan and elders of the Li clan his senior advisors. In July 306,
[ Zizhi Tongjian, vol.86] he declared himself emperor and named his empire "Cheng" (成). He also honored his mother Lady Luo as
empress dowager and posthumously honored his father as an emperor. For the next few years, he gradually pacified and stabilized his borders, occupying all of Yi Province—but then generally stopped, not expanding any further. In particular, oddly enough, he made no serious attempts to capture Jin's Ning Province (寧州, modern
Yunnan and
Guizhou), to his southwest. (Very late in his reign, in 333, his cousin
Li Shou was able to capture Ning Province.) He appeared to, by his actions and inactions, seek to rest his people and stabilize his regime. One area of contention that he did have with Jin was over Liang Province (梁州, modern southern
Shaanxi, not to be confused with the more important 涼州 (modern central and western
Gansu)), which during his reigns reverted several times between Jin and Cheng-Han rule.
Historians generally viewed Li Xiong's reign of Cheng-Han as one characterized by leniency and lack of interference with the people's livelihoods. As Li's empire was generally peaceful during his reign while other places were ravaged by warfare, his empire received large numbers of refugees who settled down and added to the richness of the realm. He was also not wasteful. However, he was also criticized for having lack of order in his government. His officials were not given salaries, and therefore, when they needed supplies, they directly requisitioned the supplies from the people which, while in Li Xiong's reign did not appear to create massive corruption, appeared to do so in his successors' reigns.
Late in Li Xiong's reign, Zhang Jun, the leader of Former Liang, a Jin vassal state, made repeated overtures to him to ask him to remove his imperial title and become a Jin vassal. Li Xiong did not do so, but continuously stated to Zhang that he would be willing to do so if Jin was to become more stable. He also maintained friendly relations with Zhang, and Cheng-Han and Former Liang thereafter maintained a trade relationship. Li Xiong also, with some reluctance, allowed Jin and Former Liang messengers to pass through his territory to communicate with each other.
Succession issues and death
In 315, Li Xiong created his wife
Empress Ren empress. She was sonless, although Li Xiong had more than 10 sons by
. Li Xiong, however, resolved in 324 to create his nephew
Li Ban, the son of Li Dang, who had been raised by Empress Ren,
crown prince, reasoning that the empire's foundation was actually built by Li Te and Li Dang, and that it would be proper for him to pass the throne to Li Dang's son. He also valued Li Ban highly for his kindness and studiousness. Li Xiang and Wang Da (王達), foreseeing that this action would bring succession issues, objected, but were overruled by Li Xiong.
In August 334,[Li Xiong's biography in Book of Jin recorded that he died about six days after his head wound became infected. (咸和八年，雄生疡于头，六日死，时年六十一，在位三十年。) Jin Shu, vol.121.] Li Xiong grew ill from an infected head wound, which then spread to other wounds that he had suffered over the years over his body. His body was said to be causing such a great stench that his sons avoided him, but Li Ban cared for him day and night. He died on 13 August and was succeeded by Li Ban. However, as Li Xiang had predicted, Li Xiong's sons were unhappy they were passed over, and later in the year, his son Li Yue (李越) assassinated Li Ban and made another son of his, Li Qi, emperor. Under Li Qi's rule, Cheng-Han began to decline.
Personal information
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Father
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Mother
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Wife
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Major
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Consort Ran, mother of Prince Qi
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Children (Li Xiong was said to have more than 10 sons, but most were not mentioned in historical records)
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Li Yue (李越), the Prince of Jianning (created 334, executed)
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Li Ba (李霸), died (likely poisoned) during Li Qi's reign
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Li Qi (李期), later emperor
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Li Bao (李保), died (likely poisoned) during Li Qi's reign
