Li Shen

Li Shen (died July 29, 846), courtesy name Gongchui, formally Duke Wensu of Zhao, was a Chinese historian, military general, poet, and politician of the Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Wuzong. Background It is not known when Li Shen was born. His family claimed ancestry from the southern branch of the prominent Li clan of Zhao Commandery (趙郡, roughly modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), but was only able to trace its ancestry back to the Northern Wei official Li Shanquan and Li Shanquan's descendants who served as officials of Northern Wei and Sui Dynasty. Li Shen's great-grandfather Li Jingxuan served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, and his great-granduncle Li Yuansu served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong's wife Wu Zetian. Both Li Shen's grandfather Li Shouyi and father Li Wu served as county magistrates. In Li Wu's case, he served three times at Jintan (金壇, in modern Changzhou, Jiangsu), Wucheng (烏程, in modern Huzhou, Jiangsu), and Jinling (晉陵, in modern Changzhou as well). He therefore settled his family in the region, at Wuxi. Li Shen was five years old when Li Wu died, and he therefore was raised by his mother Lady Lu, who taught him the Confucian classics. It was said that Li Shen was short in stature but energetic, and was capable in songs and poetry. The year that he submitted himself to the local preliminary round of the imperial examinations, his poems became well known in the region. During Emperor Xianzong's reign Early in the Yuanhe era (806–821) of Emperor Xianzong, Li Shen passed the imperial examinations, and he was there made an assistant professor at the imperial university (國子助教, Guozi Zhujiao). He did not like his role, however, and subsequently resigned and returned to his home region. The warlord Li Qi, who then ruled the region as the military governor (Jiedushi) of Zhenhai Circuit (鎮海, headquartered in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu), was impressed with his talent and invited him to serve on staff as a secretary. According to the Old Book of Tang, Li Shen rejected Li Qi's invitation; Li Qi subsequently wanted to kill him, so he fled and hid until Li Qi was eventually defeated and killed.