Liu Bing

Biography

Family and installation as heir

Liu Bing was born in 143 (2nd year of Han’an), his father being Emperor Shun of Han, Liu Bao, and his mother Beauty Yu, also called Noble Lady Yu. In the fourth month of 144 (1st year of Jiankang) Liu Bing was made heir apparent. His birthplace was Luoyang County in Henan Commandery.

Accession and regency

On September 20, 144 (the gengwu day, the 6th day of the 8th month of the 1st year of Jiankang) Emperor Shun died and Liu Bing ascended the throne. Liang Na, Empress of Emperor Shun, was honoured as empress dowager and held the court because the new emperor was a child. On the 13th day of the 8th month of 144 Zhao Jun was transferred from Grand Commandant to Grand Tutor and Li Gu, the Grand Minister of Agriculture, became Grand Commandant in charge of the affairs of the Secretariat. Liang Ji, elder brother of Empress Dowager Liang, was then General-in-Chief. Both source accounts describe the Liang family as holding power in this period; the accession of a child emperor did not mean that he governed in person.

Early death and succession

On February 15, 145 (the wuxu day, the 6th day of the first month of the 1st year of Yongjia), Empress Dowager Liang and Liang Ji installed Liu Zuan, Emperor Zhi of Han. Liu Zuan died young in his turn, and the throne passed to Liu Zhi, Emperor Huan of Han.

Liu Bing was the ninth emperor of the Eastern Han, Emperor Chong, a son of Emperor Shun by the Favored Lady Yu. He was made heir apparent in the fourth month of 144; Emperor Shun died in the eighth month and the two-year-old Liu Bing took the throne with the Empress Dowager Liang Na holding the court as regent, the government lying with the general-in-chief Liang Ji.

He died less than a year later at three, with the posthumous name Xiaochong, and was buried at Huailing. As he left no heir, the empress dowager and Liang Ji raised Liu Zuan, son of the Prince Xiao of Bohai, as Emperor Zhi; Zhi was poisoned by Liang Ji after little more than a year, and the Liangs then installed Emperor Huan, consort domination growing stronger still.

Short as it was, his reign is the beginning of the frequent successions and Liang domination of the middle and late Eastern Han: from Emperor He onward the emperors generally came to the throne as children, dowager regencies and consort rule becoming the norm until Emperor Huan and the eunuchs destroyed Liang Ji.

His brief reign fills almost nothing in the annals of the Eastern Han, his era name Yongjia ending at his death. The arrangements of the empress dowager Liang and Liang Ji before and after his accession make up a complete episode of consort politics in that dynasty: after Emperor Shun's death the Liangs raised Chong, then Zhi after Chong's death, and Huan after Zhi was poisoned, three successions all under Liang direction.

His tomb, Huailing, lies in the area of present-day Luoyang, where most Eastern Han imperial tombs are gathered. What became of his mother, the Favored Lady Yu, under Emperors Zhi and Huan is recorded only briefly, in keeping with the shortness of his reign and the scant record of it.

His brief tenure answers to the frequent changes of emperor in the middle and late Eastern Han.

Very little of the era name and edicts of his reign is recorded.

Liu Bing was a son of Emperor Shun of Han, his mother the consort Yu, his formal mother the empress Liang Na. Before him the emperor's sons had mostly come to grief and the succession had long been unsettled, so that the officials petitioned for an heir; on the fifteenth day of the fourth month of 144 he was made crown prince. On the sixth day of the eighth month that year Emperor Shun died, and Liang Na, having no son, placed the crown prince on the throne as emperor and took the title of empress dowager, holding court herself, while government lay in practice with her and the regent and consort kin general Liang Ji. In his reign earthquakes struck the capital, Taiyuan and Yanmen, Xu Feng and Mian Mian rose in arms at Jiujiang, and there was disorder at Rinan; officials were sent to pacify or to suppress. On the sixth day of the first month of 145 he died in the Yutang hall, three years old.

He was given the posthumous title Xiaochong and buried at Huailing. The minister Li Gu, arguing from the disorders everywhere, the heavy military costs and the recent building of the Xianling tomb, advised that his grave be placed within the park of Emperor Shun's tomb and built on the reduced scale of the Kangling, and the empress dowager agreed; Huailing is thus a tomb of diminished scale. As to its site, the sources speak of fifteen li northwest of Luoyang, and modern archaeology, combining texts with survey, conjectures the Zhucang Shengzi mound in the Mang hills, though nothing yet proves whose grave it is. The History of the Later Han sums Liu Bing up as "a child cut off before he could know anything", meaning that he died too young to understand or conduct government. His brief reign displays in concentrated form the entanglement of child emperors, empress dowagers holding court and consort clans in power in the later Eastern Han; indeed Liang Ji had already summoned Liu Zuan, a great-great-grandson of Emperor Zhang, to Luoyang as a candidate while Liu Bing lay ill, and on his death Liu Zuan was at once set up by the empress dowager and Liang Ji as Emperor Zhi.

Major Activities

Disasters and Unrest During His Reign Earthquakes struck the capital, Taiyuan, and Yanmen during Liu Bing's reign. Xu Feng, Ma Mian, and others rose in Jiujiang, and there was also unrest in Rinan. one account summarizes the court's responses as sending officials to negotiate or undertake military operations. Another account adds that the Jiujiang rebels reached Hefei early in 145（Yongjia 1; These were events during the reign, rather than decisions attributed to the infant emperor. the “major achievements” field lists economy and punishment of corruption, but its quoted passage from the Book of the Later Han concerns Empress Dowager Liang. Those policies are therefore not assigned to Liu Bing as personal achievements. ### Mausoleum Construction and Commemoration Liu Bing received the posthumous title Emperor Xiaochong and was buried at Huailing. Li Gu cited regional unrest, military expenses, and the recent construction of Xianling to recommend building Emperor Chong's tomb within Emperor Shun's Xianling cemetery and reducing its scale according to the Kangling precedent. Empress Dowager Liang accepted the proposal. The caches differ on the burial date: Another account gives 145（Yongjia 1, first lunar month, jiwei）, with March 8 as the Gregorian date; 145（Yongxi 1, first lunar month, twenty-first day）. These accounts are retained separately rather than combined into one precise date. one account quotes the Diwang Shiji as placing Huailing fifteen li northwest of Luoyang. Modern research has suggested that Zhucang Shengzizhong on Mount Mang might be the tomb, but archaeological evidence has not conclusively identified its occupant. one account also reports a square mound measuring 183 paces on each side. These are statistics for his reign, not evidence of his personal administrative ability.

Personal Relations

• Father: Emperor Shun of Han, Liu Bao, also his predecessor
• Mother: Beauty Yu, also called Noble Lady Yu in one account, which records her later posthumous title Noble Lady of Xianling under Emperor Ling
• Emperor Shun's principal wife（Liu Bing's dimu, not his birth mother）: Empress Shunlie, Liang Na, who became Empress Dowager Liang and governed after his accession
• Sister: Liu Sheng, Baike; that cache gives her princess title as both Wuyin and Wuyang, so neither is adopted as the sole form
• Sister: Liu Chengnan, Senior Princess of Guanjun, Baike
• Sister: Liu Guang, Senior Princess of Ruyang, Baike
• Grand Tutor: Zhao Jun
• Defender-in-chief: Li Gu, who assisted the regency and proposed reduced mausoleum construction
• General-in-Chief: Liang Ji, the empress dowager's brother, who helped select the successor
• Successor: Emperor Zhi of Han, Liu Zuan, son of Liu Hong, Prince of Le'an; the available caches do not establish his precise degree of kinship to Liu Bing

Historical Assessment

The Historical Account of the Liu Song Dynasty one account quotes Fan Ye's Book of the Later Han as describing Liu Bing with the phrase “died young before he could be known,” indicating that he died young before he could understand and conduct government. This assessment concerns the child emperor, and must be distinguished from the same page's quotations praising Empress Dowager Liang's diligence and economy. His reign was extremely short, and the policies described in the caches chiefly concern the empress dowager and ministers. The available material does not support treating those actions as his personal achievements.