生平

祖父李璋，父親李韶，追封東平王，贈戶部尚書。618年，李淵建唐，李道宗被封為略陽郡公，次年底隨李世民出征劉武周主力宋金剛部，獻堅守之計，使宋金剛軍最終因為絕糧而潰，李道宗其後更奉命說降劉武周部將尉遲敬德，立下大功。李道宗之後追隨李世民又參與了對王世充、竇建德的戰爭，屢立戰功。武德五年（622年），李道宗隨同李世民征討劉黑闥，期間一度被劉軍包圍，幸得尉遲敬德救出。

戰後，李道宗被任命為靈州總管，進封郡王。唐高祖武德五年（622年），唐王朝與東突厥爆發靈州之戰。武德五年底，李道宗堅守靈州，擊敗東突厥和梁師都的聯軍，進一步攻占五原等地，闢地千里。捷報傳來，唐高祖大喜，將李道宗比作曹魏初年的猛將任城王曹彰，故晉封其為任城郡王，年僅22歲。李道宗長期經略靈州，訓練軍隊有素，為唐朝西北朔方軍的前身。貞觀元年（626），唐太宗拜李道宗為靈州大都督，給予極大的軍事自主權。

貞觀三年（629年）十一月，李道宗在靈州地界擊敗突厥。同年冬，李道宗任大同道行軍總管，受李靖指揮出擊東突厥頡利可汗。次年二月，頡利在陰山之戰中潰敗于李靖，投奔靈州西北的突厥沙缽羅部首領蘇尼失，計劃逃亡吐谷渾。貞觀四年三月十五，李道宗率軍進逼沙缽羅部，三月十五，李道宗的副手張寶相包圍蘇尼失，迫其投降，擒獲頡利。戰後，李道宗因功賜實封六百戶，拜為刑部尚書。唐朝邊境10年沒有大的戰事。

貞觀八年（634年）歲末，李道宗和侯君集被任命為西海道行軍大總管李靖的副將，率軍出征吐谷渾。吐谷渾君主慕容伏允聞知唐軍大至，率軍遠遁。李道宗不顧侯君集的反對，率偏師長途尾追，于次年閏四月初八在庫山之戰中擊潰吐谷渾軍。此後，李又率軍克服艱險，于五月追上慕容伏允殘軍，徹底將其擊敗。

貞觀十一年（637年），李道宗被改封為江夏郡王，不久因為貪贓罪名被下獄，後被削去職務和封邑，但得以保留江夏郡王銜。貞觀十三年（639年），李道宗起複為茂州都督，又轉為晉州刺史。次年任禮部尚書。貞觀十五年（641年），奉命送文成公主前往吐蕃和親松贊幹布，至星宿海而還。

貞觀十八年（644年），李道宗出任遼東道行軍副總管，輔佐大總管李世勣出征高句麗。次年，唐太宗御駕親征，李道宗率百騎馳入高句麗境內進行偵查，歷時二十日，被高句麗軍發現後從小路安全返回。其智勇深得唐太宗嘉許。其後，李道宗率軍連戰連捷，攻占遼東。但之後李道宗長期圍攻安市城不下，使得唐太宗被迫班師。貞觀十九年（645年）歲末，李道宗奉命鎮守朔州，率軍抵禦薛延陀。次年，同阿史那社爾等率軍攻滅薛延陀。

貞觀二十一年（647年），李道宗任太常卿，退出軍職。唐高宗永徽四年（653年），因受房遺愛謀反一案牽連，受到素來關係較差的長孫無忌、褚遂良等誣衊，被流放象州，在途中去世，年五十四歲。長孫無忌等死後，朝廷下詔官複原職。

子女

李道宗死後，兒子李景恆，降爵為盧國公，官至相州刺史。李景恆弟李景仁，字楚子，官至潞城令。

• 一女嫁韋待價。

• 一女嫁河州刺史冉實，封金城郡君。

相關條目

• 唐與突厥的戰爭

• 唐擊吐谷渾之戰

• 文成公主

• 唐太宗征討高句麗

• 唐滅薛延陀之戰

During Emperor Gaozus reign

Li Daozong was probably born in 603, during the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui (Yang Jian). His grandfather Li Zhang (李璋) was a Northern Zhou official and a son of the Western Wei general Li Hu (李虎), the grandfather of the major Sui Dynasty general Li Yuan, who had been executed late in Northern Zhou for plotting with the Northern Zhou prince Yuwen Zhao (宇文招) to kill Yang Jian while Yang Jian was regent and on the path to take over the throne. Li Zhang's sons were not killed, however, and one of them, Li Shao (李韶), was Li Daozong's father.

Li Yuan rebelled against Emperor Yang of Sui in 617, and by 618 had established Tang Dynasty as its Emperor Gaozu. He created many of his relatives with nobility titles, Li Daozong was created the Duke of Lüeyang. In 619, a major Tang enemy Liu Wuzhou the Dingyang Khan attacked and captured most of Tang's holdings in modern Shanxi and approached Hedong (, in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi). Li Daozong served under Emperor Gaozu's son Li Shimin the Prince of Qin in resisting Liu, and at his suggestion, Li Shimin did not engage Liu immediately, choosing to wear out Liu's food supplies, eventually allowing Li Shimin to defeat Liu. Further, during the campaign, Li Daozong and Yuwen Shiji were able to persuade Liu's general Yuchi Gong to surrender, and Yuchi later became an important general under Li Shimin.

Li Daozong was then made the commandant at Ling Prefecture (, roughly modern Yinchuan, Ningxia). When Liang Luoren (梁洛仁), the brother of Liang Shidu the Emperor of Liang attacked with assistance from Eastern Tujue, and Li Daozong was able to repel him, and further expel the Eastern Tujue general Ashina Yushe from the Wuyuan (五原, in modern Yulin, Shaanxi). Emperor Gaozong, comparing Li Daozong's accomplishments to those of the Cao Wei imperial prince Cao Zhang the Prince of Rencheng, created Li Daozong the Prince of Rencheng.

During Emperor Taizongs reign

In 626, Li Shimin, then in an intense rivalry with his older brother Li Jiancheng the Crown Prince and fearful that Li Jiancheng was about to kill him, ambushed Li Jiancheng and another brother, Li Yuanji the Prince of Qi, who supported Li Jiancheng, at Xuanwu Gate and killed them. He then effectively forced Emperor Gaozu to create him crown prince and then yield the throne to him (as Emperor Taizong). He recalled Li Daozong from Ling Prefecture, first to serve as the director of vassal affairs, and then as the chief judge of the supreme court. Later on, when Emperor Taizong was planning to attack Eastern Tujue, he again made Li Daozong the commandant at Ling Prefecture. In 630, when the general Li Jing launched the attack on Eastern Tujue, Li Daozong served under him, and eventually participated in the capture of Eastern Tujue's Jiali Khan Ashina Duobi, with Li Daozong's assistant Zhang Baoxiang carrying out the actual capture. Upon return, Emperor Taizong increased Li Daozong's fief by 600 households and made him the minister of justice.

In 634, Li Daozong again served under Li Jing, this time in an operation against Tuyuhun's Busabo Khan Murong Fuyun. Tang forces achieved initial victories, but Tuyuhun forces then burned the grazing grass to cut the food supplies to Tang horses. Most Tang generals wanted to withdraw, but Li Daozong advocated continued advance, and Li Jing agreed, eventually allowing complete victory, as Murong Fuyun was killed by his subordinates, allowing his son Murong Shun, whom Tang supported, to become khan.

In 637, as part of Emperor Taizong's scheme to bestow prefectures on his relatives and great generals and officials as their permanent domains, Li Daozong's title was changed to Prince of Jiangxia, and he was given the post of prefect of E Prefecture (roughly modern Ezhou, Hubei), to be inherited by his heirs. Soon, however, with many objections to the system, the strongest of which came from Zhangsun Wuji, Emperor Taizong cancelled the scheme, although Li Daozong's title remained Prince of Jiangxia and he remained the Prefect of E Prefecture. At one point, he was accused of corruption, and Emperor Taizong, in anger, removed him from the post and reduced his fief, but permitted him to return to his mansion as a prince. Eventually, he was made the minister of ceremonies. After Hou Junji destroyed Gaochang in 640, allowing Tang to annex Gaochang, Hou was unhappy that Emperor Taizong did not reward him as much as he expected and had further investigated him for stealing from the Gaochang treasury. Li Daozong, knowing that Hou was unhappy, warned Emperor Taizong that Hou may commit treason—a warning that Emperor Taizong did not believe, but later, in 643, after Hou was implicated in a plot with the crown prince Li Chengqian and executed, reminded Li Daozong about and thanked him for.

In 641, Li Daozong sent his daughter, who was adopted by Emperor Taizong and titled Princess Wencheng, to Tibet to be married to the Tibetan king Songtsen Gampo, as a part of the treaty of peace between Tang dynasty and Tibetan Empire. Li Daozong met Tibetan escorts at Xingxiuhai (near the Gyaring Lake and the source of Yellow River) and then returned to Chang'an.

In 645, Li Daozong accompanied Emperor Taizong in attacking Goguryeo, and he served as assistant to the forward commander Li Shiji. In summer 645, they captured Gaemo (蓋牟, in modern Fushun, Liaoning), and then defeated Goguryeo forces at Yodong/Liaodong (, in modern Liaoyang, Liaoning), allowing Emperor Taizong to then capture Liaodong. However, after another victory over Goguryeo forces at Ansi (安市, in modern Anshan, Liaoning), Emperor Taizong became bogged down in his siege of Ansi, and Li Daozong suggested, instead, that he skip Ansi and directly attack the Goguryeo capital Pyongyang. Emperor Taizong initially agreed, but Li Shiji and Zhangsun Wuji opposed, believing that if they did not capture Ansi first, Ansi's defender (a capable general known in Korean popular legends as Yang Manchun, although whether that was his real name is unknown) would attack them from the rear. Emperor Taizong therefore continued to siege Ansi. During Ansi's siege, part of Ansi's city walls collapsed, and Tang forces had an opportunity to enter, but at that time, Fu Fu'ai, an officer under Li Daozong, was not paying attention, and instead Goguryeo forces fought out from the breach and captured the part of the offensive earthworks that Li Daozong was responsible for, using it instead for defense. For this offense, Emperor Taizong executed Fu, and when Li Daozong, baring his feet to show remorse, requested forgiveness, Emperor Taizong rebuked him but kept him in command of his forces. Subsequently, with Ansi's defenses holding, Emperor Taizong withdrew, with Li Shiji and Li Daozong serving as the rear guard. After returning to Chang'an, Li Daozong offered to resign on account of illness, and Emperor Taizong made him the director of imperial clan affairs, a much less stressful position.

During Emperor Gaozongs reign

In 649, Emperor Taizong died and was succeeded by his second crown prince, Li Zhi (as Emperor Gaozong). Emperor Gaozong's uncle Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang served as the lead chancellors. In 652, a plot was discovered, centered around Empress Taizong's daughter Princess Gaoyang and her husband Fang Yi'ai that, allegedly, sought to install Emperor Taizong's brother Li Yuanjing (李元景) the Prince of Jing as emperor. Zhangsun expanded the scope of the investigations and, in spring 653, the co-conspirators were killed. However, as Zhangsun and Chu both had rivalries with Li Daozong, they exiled Li Daozong, as well as the chancellor Yuwen Jie and the general Zhishi Sili, to Xiang Prefecture. Li Daozong died on the way to his place of exile, at the age of 53, probably in 656. Later, after Zhangsun's and Chu's own downfalls (at the hands of Emperor Gaozong's wife Empress Wu and her associates), Li Daozong's posts were posthumously restored.

It was said that late in his life, Li Daozong was studious and humble. The New Book of Tang praised Li Daozong and his cousin Li Xiaogong to be the most capable princes early in Tang history.