Li Yu

Who is Li Yu?

Li Yu, né Li You, briefly Li Zhen, formally the Prince of De, was an imperial prince of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. He was the oldest son of the penultimate emperor Emperor Zhaozong and Empress He and was Crown Prince from 897 to 900. In 900, Emperor Zhaozong was briefly forced by the eunuch Liu Jishu to abdicate in Li Yu's favor; after Emperor Zhaozong was restored, Li Yu was no longer Crown Prince but remained a favored son. After Emperor Zhaozong was assassinated by the powerful warlord Zhu Quanzhong in 904, Li Yu, whom Zhu was apprehensive of, was bypassed in favor of his younger brother Emperor Ai, and in 905, Zhu had Li Yu, along with eight of his younger brothers, killed. As Li Yu's brief reign was under duress from a eunuch, he is not typically considered a true emperor of Tang.