Li Qianshun

Timeline

1. 1086–1099Xingqing Prefecture · Xingqing PrefectureSucceeded in 1086 after his father Li Bingchang died, at only three years old, with Empress Dowager Liang and his uncle Liang Yitu as regents. During Liang rule military and civil administration was corrupt; Song forces repeatedly invaded and Western Xia repeatedly lost.
2. 1099–1113Xingqing Prefecture · Xingqing PrefectureAfter Empress Dowager Liang was poisoned by Liao envoys in 1099 he took personal power, stripped maternal relatives of military command, reformed administration, cut taxes and promoted agriculture, built waterworks, founded a national academy teaching Chinese learning, and made his brother Chage Prince of Jin in charge of the army; state power gradually grew.
3. 1111–1120Northwestern frontier of Western Xia · Northwestern frontierChanged the era name to Yongning in 1114 and to Yuande in 1119. In this period he first allied with Liao against Song, refused to aid Liao's Emperor Tianzuo, then faced the large-scale Xuanhe-era campaigns of Tong Guan and others; Western Xia forces repelled Song armies at Lingzhou and elsewhere. In 1120 he enfeoffed imperial clansmen Renzhong, Renli, and others as princes to consolidate rule.
4. 1121–1139Xingqing Prefecture · Xingqing PrefectureAfter Jin destroyed Liao, Western Xia submitted as a vassal; taking advantage of the Jin–Song war, it acquired Lezhou, Jishizhou, Kuozhou, and other key Hexi territories from Jin, reaching its greatest territorial extent. He died at Xianling in 1139, posthumously named Emperor Shengwen, and was succeeded by his son Li Renxiao.