Emperor Dezong of Tang
唐德宗
“Tried to break the warlords, and had to flee his own capital”
He began by refusing the accommodations his father had made with the provinces, and by 783 a mutiny of troops passing through Chang'an drove him out of the city. He came back a changed ruler: the two-tax reform of 780 is the most important fiscal change of the dynasty, and the rest of his twenty-five years were spent trusting no one but eunuchs.
The two-tax system replaced a per-head levy that assumed an allocation of land the state could no longer make, and taxed households twice a year on what they actually held. It survived the dynasty by seven hundred years.
After the Jingyuan mutiny he put the palace armies permanently under eunuch command — the arrangement that would let eunuchs make and unmake the next eight emperors.
Empress Wang, his consort since before he took the throne and the mother of his heir, was dying in 786 when he finally had her invested as empress. She lived three days after the ceremony.
The empress of this reign
Painted on silk in gemstone mineral pigments by Xiang Li.
About this page
Written for this site to place Dezong's reign around the paintings. For the full biography, the dynastic histories and the scholarship behind them, start at Wikipedia.
Every Tang emperor
| Reign | Emperor | Painted empresses |
|---|---|---|
| 618 – 626 | Gaozu 唐高祖 Li Yuan 李淵 / 李渊 | |
| 626 – 649 | Taizong 唐太宗 Li Shimin 李世民 | |
| 649 – 683 | Gaozong 唐高宗 Li Zhi 李治 | |
| 690 – 705 | Wu Zetian 武則天 / 武则天 Wu Zhao 武曌 | |
| 684, and 705 – 710 | Zhongzong 唐中宗 Li Xian 李顯 / 李显 | |
| 684 – 690, and 710 – 712 | Ruizong 唐睿宗 Li Dan 李旦 | |
| 712 – 756 | Xuanzong (Li Longji) 唐玄宗 Li Longji 李隆基 | |
| 756 – 762 | Suzong 唐肅宗 / 唐肃宗 Li Heng 李亨 | |
| 762 – 779 | Daizong 唐代宗 Li Yu 李豫 | |
| 779 – 805 | Dezong 唐德宗 Li Kuo 李适 | |
| 805, for 186 days | Shunzong 唐順宗 / 唐顺宗 Li Song 李誦 / 李诵 | |
| 805 – 820 | Xianzong 唐憲宗 / 唐宪宗 Li Chun 李純 / 李纯 | |
| 820 – 824 | Muzong 唐穆宗 Li Heng 李恆 / 李恒 | |
| 824 – 826 | Jingzong 唐敬宗 Li Zhan 李湛 | |
| 826 – 840 | Wenzong 唐文宗 Li Ang 李昂 | |
| 840 – 846 | Wuzong 唐武宗 Li Yan 李炎 | |
| 846 – 859 | Xuanzong (Li Chen) 唐宣宗 Li Chen 李忱 | |
| 859 – 873 | Yizong 唐懿宗 Li Cui 李漼 | |
| 873 – 888 | Xizong 唐僖宗 Li Xuan 李儇 | — |
| 888 – 904 | Zhaozong 唐昭宗 Li Ye 李曄 / 李晔 | |
| 904 – 907 | Ai (Aidi) 唐哀帝 Li Zhu 李柷 | — |