Liu Long

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Liu Long was born to Emperor He of Han, Liu Zhao, and a palace woman whose identity is unknown. During Emperor He's reign, more than ten princes born in the imperial harem died in succession. Emperor He suspected that eunuchs or members of consort clans had secretly harmed them. In addition, beliefs current within the palace held that the inner court was unfavorable for raising infants, so later-born princes were secretly sent outside the palace to be fostered, without the court officials knowing. Liu Long was born and raised outside the palace under these circumstances.

Brought Back and Enthroned

On the twenty-second day of the twelfth month of the first year of Yuanxing (February 13, 106), Emperor He of Han died in the front hall of Zhangde. Empress Deng immediately sent for the imperial sons who had been fostered outside the palace. Liu Long was then only a little over one hundred days old, while his elder brother Liu Sheng was somewhat older. Empress Deng argued that Liu Sheng suffered from a chronic illness that could not be cured and was therefore unfit to inherit the throne and preside over the ancestral sacrifices. She selected the infant Liu Long, adopted him as her own son, and that same night made him Crown Prince and then emperor. Liu Sheng was enfeoffed as Prince of Pingyuan.

Reign

After Liu Long's accession, the era name was changed to Yanping and Empress Deng was honored as Empress Dowager. Because the emperor was still an infant, Empress Dowager Deng ruled at court in the capacity of a female sovereign, issuing commands and deciding military and civil affairs. Her elder brother Deng Zhi, General of Chariots and Cavalry, was the principal official exercising government authority. During her regency, Empress Dowager Deng proclaimed a general amnesty, in particular restoring political rights to officials who had earlier been implicated in the Dou consort-clan faction. Eunuch influence also developed during this period: there were ten Palace Attendants and twenty Lesser Yellow-Gate Attendants. Considering the young emperor's frail health, Empress Dowager Deng also kept twelve-year-old Liu Hu, son of Liu Qing, Prince of Qinghe, in the capital Luoyang as a possible successor.

Early Death and Aftermath

On the sixth day of the eighth month of the first year of Yanping (September 21, 106), Liu Long died quietly after only 220 days on the throne. He was two years old by traditional reckoning, though not yet one full year old. Because he died in infancy, he was given the posthumous title Emperor Xiaoshang. He was later buried at Kangling within the cemetery grounds of the Shenling mausoleum of his father, Emperor He. As repeated imperial funerals had imposed heavy labor burdens on the population, Empress Dowager Deng ordered the grave goods and construction work for Kangling reduced to one-tenth of the originally planned scale. After Liu Long's death, many court officials favored enthroning his elder brother Liu Sheng, Prince of Pingyuan. Empress Dowager Deng, however, feared that Liu Sheng might harbor resentment because he had previously been passed over for succession. She and her elder brother Deng Zhi therefore decided to enthrone Liu Hu, son of Liu Qing, Prince of Qinghe, who became Emperor An of Han.

Major Activities

Accession and Imperial Succession

Liu Long ascended the throne as an infant only a little more than one hundred days old, becoming the youngest emperor to take the throne in Chinese history. His accession itself resulted from Empress Dowager Deng's political maneuvering and provided an institutional basis for her regency. After Liu Long's early death, the succession again became disputed. Empress Dowager Deng passed over Liu Sheng, a closer member of the imperial line, and selected the more distant Liu Hu, a decision that had a far-reaching influence on later Eastern Han succession patterns.

Empress Dowager Deng's Regency

During Liu Long's reign, Empress Dowager Deng personally governed in the capacity of a female sovereign. She issued edicts in her own authority, decided major matters herself, and retained military and civil power. Historical accounts describe Empress Hexi as governing personally as a female ruler. Measures during her regency, including the general amnesty and reductions in funeral expenditure, were all promulgated in Liu Long's name. This period helped establish the later Eastern Han pattern of regency by empress dowagers and the political involvement of consort clans, with a profound influence on the dynasty's political structure.

Political Measures

During the Yanping era, Empress Dowager Deng issued a general amnesty, pardoning officials who had lost political rights because of earlier involvement with the Dou consort-clan group. At the same time, after repeated imperial deaths had placed heavy labor demands on the people, she ordered the construction of Emperor Shang's Kangling mausoleum reduced to one-tenth of the planned scale. These measures alleviated the burden of corvée labor to some extent.

The stages from his birth to his early death were as follows: born into the imperial house in 105 and secretly fostered among the people because so many of Emperor He's sons had died young; on 13 February 106 Emperor He died in the front hall of Zhangde, and that night Empress Deng brought the prince back from the people and installed Liu Long as crown prince and then emperor; in the same year the era name was changed to Yanping, Empress Deng was honoured as empress dowager and held court as regent, and his brother Liu Sheng was enfeoffed as Prince of Pingyuan; on 21 September of that year Liu Long died, having reigned only two hundred and twenty days, and was given the posthumous title Emperor Shang and buried at the Kang Mausoleum; in the eighth month of the same year Empress Deng and her brother Deng Zhi decided to install Liu Hu, son of Liu Qing, Prince of Qinghe, as emperor, namely Emperor An of Han. Coming to the throne as an infant of a little over a hundred days, he left all edicts and decisions of his reign to Empress Dowager Deng, and his significance in political history lies chiefly in the way the succession was worked.

The change of era name to Yanping in 106, the honouring of Empress Deng as empress dowager and the enfeoffment of his brother Liu Sheng as Prince of Pingyuan were all decided by the empress dowager during her regency; the surviving sources contain no edict or decision attributable to Liu Long himself, and his place in the histories rests chiefly on the succession problem raised by his accession and death.

Personal Relations

• Father: Emperor He of Han, Liu Zhao
• Adoptive mother: Empress Hexi Deng Sui (Empress Dowager Deng)
• Elder brother: Liu Sheng (Prince Huai of Pingyuan)
• Sisters: Liu Bao (Grand Princess Xiuwu), Liu Cheng (Princess Gongyi), Liu Li (Princess Linying, married Jia Jian), Liu Xing (Princess Wenxi)
• Deng Zhi: elder brother of Empress Dowager Deng; General of Chariots and Cavalry; principal official exercising government authority
• Liu Hu: son of Liu Qing, Prince of Qinghe; later succeeded to the throne as Emperor An of Han

Historical Assessment

Eastern Han / Contemporary Accounts

• Dongguan Hanji stated that Emperor Xiaoshang inherited the throne while still in swaddling clothes, fell ill, and died early, leaving the state without a ruler until the Empress Dowager governed at court; it cited Confucius' remark about there being “a woman” who governed.
• Fan Ye's Book of the Later Han commented that Emperor Shang's life was exceptionally short and that the Prince of Pingyuan did not succeed him.
• Ruan Yi's commentary on Zhongshuo stated that Emperor Shang was two years old and Empress Deng governed at court, adding that by then the Han institutional order had already broken down.

Later Historians

• Later historians have often regarded Liu Long's enthronement as a product of Empress Dowager Deng's personal political calculations, arguing that placing an infant on the throne made it easier for the Deng consort clan to monopolize power.
• Another view holds that Liu Long's enthronement was a temporary expedient intended to stabilize imperial authority under the political conditions of the time, and that Empress Dowager Deng's regency objectively maintained continuity in Eastern Han government.

Modern Assessments

• Modern scholars often assess Empress Dowager Deng's regency from the perspective of women's political participation, arguing that Liu Long's accession gave her a platform on which to exercise political ability and that a number of her policies were commendable.
• As the youngest emperor to ascend the throne and one of the shortest-lived emperors in Chinese history, Liu Long is often used as an extreme case in discussions of the irrational features of ancient imperial succession systems.