Kao-Chung

(personal name, Li Chih). Born July 19, 628; died Dec. 27, 683. Chinese emperor (650-83) of the T’ang dynasty. His reign was marked by a sharp power struggle between two feudal factions—the Kuanchung-Lunghsi and Shangtung groups. Relying on the latter group, the wife of Kao-Chung, Wu Tse-t’ien, gradually concentrated the administration of the country in her own hands, reducing the emperor to a puppet.