玄武门之变英文版.ppt

The Incident at Xuanwu Gate 玄武门之变  Background Character: 李世民（秦王）李建成（皇太子） 李元吉（齐王） 李渊（唐高祖） Site:玄武门(大内皇宫的北宫门) Time：公元626年7月2日（武德九年六月初四） 导火线：昆明池政变 In summer 626, the Eastern Tujue general Ashina Yushe (阿史那郁设) had entered Tang territory and put Wucheng (乌城, in modern Yulin, Shaanxi) under siege.  Li Shimin, fearful that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji would use this opportunity to act against him, decided to act, particularly at the urging of his brother-in-law Zhangsun Wuji(长孙无忌) and Yuchi Jingde（尉迟敬德）. He had Fang Xuanling（房玄龄） and Du Ruhui（杜如晦） secretly recalled to his mansion（宅邸） to draw the plans for action, and then one night submitted（递交） a secret accusation to Emperor Gaozu（唐高祖）, accusing Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji of affairs with Emperor Gaozus concubines（妃子） and plans to kill him. Emperor Gaozu was surprised by the accusation and promised to handle Li Shimins accusation the next day, and summoned the high level officers Pei Ji, Xiao Yu, and Chen Shuda to prepare to act on the accusations The next morning, Li Shimin and Zhangsun Wuji first went to Emperor Gaozus palace, and secretly took over the command at Xuanwu Gate . Meanwhile, Emperor Gaozus concubine Consort Zhang（张德妃） had heard what Li Shimin had accused Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji of, and secretly informed them. Li Yuanji advocated not reporting to the palace, but instead preparing troops for battle, but Li Jiancheng, while mobilizing the troops（调动军队）, wanted to go see Emperor Gaozu to see what the situation is, and so they proceeded toward the palace. When Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji reached the palace, they began to sense that something was wrong, and they, on their horses, began to head back to Li Jianchengs palace. Li Shimin personally chased them and yelled out, Big brother! Li Yuanji fired（射箭） three arrows at Li Shimin, missing each time. Li Shimin fired an arrow at Li Jiancheng, killing him.