李通 / Li Tong (Eastern Han)

Overview

李通 / Li Tong is an early Eastern Han founding-merit figure whose current wiki role is narrowly bounded to Hanji 712. The source presents him as a once-ordinary participant in Liu Xiu’s rise who later seeks distance from central power while retaining honor through special-entry court status.

Current Profile

Hanji 712 gives Li Tong a compact merit-and-retreat profile. He had joined or initiated early uprising work for 光武帝刘秀 and was connected to Princess Ningping, so Liu Xiu remembered him as unusually intimate and meritorious even after the main Shu campaign narrative returns to Wu Han and Chengdu.

The episode’s important point is not a full biography but a political posture. Li Tong asks to retire and returns the Da Sikong seal. Liu Xiu allows the withdrawal from full office while keeping him present as a special-entry participant in court audiences, and later remembers his founding merit by enfeoffing his younger son Li Xiong as Zhao-ling marquis.

Key Characteristics

• Early Eastern Han founding-merit figure remembered by Liu Xiu for uprising-era service.
• Politically close actor whose status is reinforced by the Princess Ningping connection.
• Officeholder who seeks to move away from the power center after merit has already been established.
• Example of honored withdrawal: he gives up the Da Sikong seal but keeps special-entry court status.
• Source-scoped father of Li Xiong, whose later enfeoffment is framed as Liu Xiu remembering old service.

Evidence

• Founding service: Hanji 712 says Li Tong rose from ordinary status, helped launch the uprising, and had old merit in Liu Xiu’s imperial career.
• Court closeness: Hanji 712 connects Li Tong to Princess Ningping and says Liu Xiu valued him especially.
• Honored retreat: Hanji 712 says Li Tong asks to retire, returns the Da Sikong seal, and continues to attend court as special-entry.
• Descendant reward: Hanji 712 says Liu Xiu later remembers Li Tong’s founding merit and enfeoffs Li Xiong as Zhao-ling marquis.

Qualifications

This page intentionally keeps Li Tong’s profile source-bounded. Hanji 712 does not provide a full office chronology, Princess Ningping biography, exact uprising role, or Li Xiong’s independent career. The name is also disambiguated from the later Cao-era 李通 / Li Tong (late Han).

What Changed

• Created this Eastern Han Li Tong page to avoid merging Guangwu’s Gushi marquis with the later Cao-aligned Li Tong.
• Added Li Tong as a source-scoped example of honored retreat after founding merit.

Relationships

• 光武帝刘秀 - ruler who remembers Li Tong’s early merit and allows honored withdrawal from full office.
• 功成退让 - related concept because Li Tong’s withdrawal follows already-recognized founding service.
• 受爵不受官式功臣安置 - related settlement pattern because Li Tong retains honor and court access after giving up office.
• 李通 / Li Tong (late Han) - name-collision contrast for the later Cao-aligned Runan/Yang’an actor.