Background
Lǐ Shìmín was born in 599 at Wugong (武功, in modern Xianyang, Shaanxi). His father Li Yuan the Duke of Tang was a general of the Sui Dynasty and a nephew, by marriage, to Sui's founding emperor Emperor Wen, as Li Shimin's grandmother Duchess Dugu was a sister of Empress Dugu Qieluo – both were daughters of Dugu Xin (獨孤信), a major general during Sui's predecessor dynasty Northern Zhou. Li Shimin's mother was Li Yuan's wife Duchess Dou, who was a daughter of Dou Yi (竇毅) the Duke of Shenwu and Dou Yi's wife, Northern Zhou's Princess Xiangyang. Duchess Dou bore Li Yuan four sons—an older brother to Li Shimin, Li Jiancheng, and two younger brothers, Li Xuanba (李玄霸, who would die in 614) and Li Yuanji – and at least one daughter (the later Princess Pingyang). Li Yuan named Li Shimin "Shimin" as a shortened form of the phrase "save the earth and pacify the people" (濟世安民, jishi anmin). Li Shimin apparently showed talent early in his life, and in 613, the official Gao Shilian, impressed with him, gave him a niece (the later Empress Zhangsun) in marriage as his wife; he was 14 and she was 12. In 615, when Emperor Wen's son and successor Emperor Yang was ambushed by Eastern Tujue forces at Yanmen (雁門, in modern Xinzhou, Shanxi), a general call was made for men to join the army to help rescue the emperor. Li Shimin answered that call and served under the general Yun Dingxing (雲定興), apparently doing so with distinction. In 616, when Li Yuan was put in charge of the important city of Taiyuan, Li Shimin followed his father to Taiyuan, while leaving at least three other sons—Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, and Li Zhiyun (李智雲, by Li Yuan's concubine Lady Wan) – at the ancestral home Hedong (河東, in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi).
Read more about this topic: Emperor Taizong Of Tang
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