Liu Yin

Biography

Family Background and Early Life

Liu Yin traced his ancestral home to Shangcai (present-day Shangcai, Henan). The New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 65, "Hereditary House of Southern Han," records: "Liu Yin's grandfather Anren was a man of Shangcai. He later moved to central Fujian, traded in Nanhai, and settled there." Liu Yin's grandfather Liu Anren was originally from Shangcai, later moved to Fujian for commerce, and traded in the Nanhai area (present-day Guangzhou, Guangdong), eventually settling at Mapu in Quanzhou.

Liu Yin's father Liu Qian was considered talented and served as a military officer. For merit in intercepting Huang Chao, he was appointed prefect of Fengzhou and Pacification Officer of the He River in 878, the fifth year of Qianfu, with responsibility for areas west of Wuzhou and Guizhou. In little more than a year he commanded more than ten thousand troops and one hundred warships and became influential along the southern coast. Liu Qian married Lady Wei, a niece of Wei Zhou, Military Commissioner of Nanhai, and they had three sons: Liu Yin, the eldest; Liu Tai, the second; and Liu Yan, the third.

In 894, the first year of the Qianning era of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, Liu Qian died. While Liu Yin was observing mourning at the He River, more than one hundred soldiers and civilians plotted rebellion. Liu Yin killed all of them in a single night, displaying decisive and ruthless methods. Liu Chonggui, Military Commissioner of the Qinghai Circuit, appreciated his ability, summoned him to serve as Right Chief Staff Officer and Pacification Officer of Heshui, and memorialized the court to appoint him acting prefect of Fengzhou in place of Liu Qian.

Destruction of Rebel Commanders in Guangzhou and Reception of the Military Commissioner

In 896, the third year of Qianning, Liu Chonggui died, and the court appointed Li Zhirou, Prince of Xue, to proceed to Guangzhou as his successor. When Li reached Hunan, the Guangzhou military officers Lu Ju and Tan Hongqi (also written Qin Qi) rebelled, occupied Guangzhou, and refused him entry; Tan Hongqi held Duanzhou (present-day Duanzhou District, Zhaoqing, Guangdong). Li Zhirou therefore dared not enter the region.

Tan Hongqi established relations with Liu Yin and promised his daughter to Liu in marriage. Liu pretended to accept. Under the pretext of welcoming the bride, he concealed troops and weapons in boats, entered Duanzhou at night, and unexpectedly killed Tan. He then exploited the victory to attack Guangzhou and killed Lu Ju. Afterward Liu Yin put his forces in order and welcomed Li Zhirou into Guangzhou to assume the duties of military commissioner. Li memorialized the court and had Liu Yin appointed Adjutant.

Later, Grand Councillor Xu Yanruo replaced Li Zhirou as Military Commissioner of Qinghai and memorialized that Liu Yin should be appointed deputy military commissioner, entrusting all military and administrative affairs to him. In 898, the first year of the Guanghua era, Zeng Yan, prefect of Shaozhou, raised troops and attacked Guangzhou, while the Guangzhou commander Wang Liao supported him with warships. Liu Yin defeated Zeng's forces in a single engagement and then suppressed Liu Tong, a Shaozhou commander who had reoccupied Zhenyang and Han County, executing him.

Acting Commander and Consolidation of Lingnan

In the eleventh month of 901, the first year of Tianfu, Military Commissioner Xu Yanru died and in his final memorial recommended Liu Yin as acting commander of Qinghai. The court appointed Cui Yuan, Minister of War, as Military Commissioner of Qinghai, but after reaching Jiangling Cui heard that Lingnan was full of bandit disorder and feared that Liu Yin would not accept replacement. He therefore did not proceed, and the court had to recall him to the capital.

In 902, the second year of Tianfu, Lu Guangchou, prefect of Qianzhou, attacked Lingnan, captured Shaozhou, stationed his son Lu Yanchang there, and then advanced to besiege Chaozhou. Liu Yin sent troops and drove Lu Guangchou out of Shaozhou, then pressed the attack. His younger brother Liu Yan warned that Lu Yanchang had support from Qianzhou forces and should not be attacked hastily, but Liu Yin ignored the advice and laid siege to Shaozhou.

At the time, the river rose rapidly and the current became fierce, disrupting the transport of provisions. Lu Guangchou brought reinforcements from Qianzhou. His commander Tan Quanbo hid ten thousand elite troops in a valley and used weaker soldiers to provoke battle. South of Shaozhou he inflicted a major defeat on Liu Yin's army, and Liu Yin escaped alone back to Guangzhou.

Alliance with Zhu Wen and Formal Appointment

In 904, the first year of Tianyou, Liu Yin sent envoys with lavish gifts to establish relations with Zhu Wen, the powerful minister who dominated the Tang court. Zhu Wen then petitioned for Liu Yin to be appointed Military Commissioner of Qinghai. Liu thereby obtained formal central-court recognition and overall command of military and political affairs in Lingnan. In 905, the second year of Tianyou, the Tang court additionally appointed him Participant in Determining Government Matters.

In 907, the first year of Kaiping, Zhu Wen deposed Emperor Ai of Tang, proclaimed himself emperor, and founded Later Liang. Liu Yin repeatedly submitted memorials urging and supporting Zhu Wen's accession and was rewarded for his support. On the third day of the fifth month, Zhu Wen appointed him Acting Grand Commandant and Palace Attendant and enfeoffed him as Prince of Dapeng Commandery. In 908 he was concurrently appointed Military Commissioner of Jinghai and Protector-General of Annam. In 909 he was further appointed Acting Grand Preceptor and Secretariat Director and enfeoffed as Prince of Nanping.

Final Years and Death

In the ninth month of 908, the Prince of Chu, Ma Yin, sent Infantry Commander Lü Shizhou to attack Lingnan. Lü fought Liu Yin more than ten times and captured the six prefectures of Zhao, He, Wu, Meng, Gong, and Fu. In 909, Military Commissioner Pang Juzhao of Ningyuan and Liu Changlu, Defense Commissioner of Gaozhou, refused to obey Liu Yin. Liu sent his brother Liu Yan to attack Gaozhou but Liu Yan was defeated by Liu Changlu. Judging that he could not ultimately resist Liu Yin, Liu Changlu wrote to submit instead to the Prince of Chu Ma Yin.

In 911, the first year of Qianhua, Later Liang elevated Liu Yin to Prince of Nanhai and added the office of Secretariat Director. In the third month, gravely ill, Liu memorialized that his younger brother and deputy military commissioner Liu Yan should temporarily administer the command. On the dinghai day of the third month (April 4), Liu Yin died at age thirty-eight and was buried at Deling. News of his death did not reach the Later Liang court until the fifth month, whereupon the emperor suspended court audiences for three days. Liu Yan then succeeded to his offices and military command.

In 917, the third year of Zhenming, Liu Yan proclaimed himself emperor and founded Great Yue, later changing the state's name to Han, known historically as Southern Han. He posthumously honored Liu Yin as Emperor Xiang with the temple name Liezong.

Major Activities

Defeating Local Powers and Consolidating Lingnan

Beginning from Fengzhou, Liu Yin used surprise attacks on Duanzhou and Guangzhou to destroy military officers such as Lu Ju and Tan Hongqi who resisted court authority. He received the court-appointed military commissioners Li Zhirou and Xu Yanru and gradually took effective control of the Qinghai Circuit. He later defeated the attack of Zeng Yan, prefect of Shaozhou, and suppressed Liu Tong, strengthening control over Guangzhou and neighboring areas. Liu Yin came to hold a broad zone extending from Tianlin in present-day Guangxi and Chen County in present-day Hunan to the coast of the South China Sea, making him the strongest regional power in Guangdong and Guangxi.

Alliance with Zhu Wen and Court Recognition

As Tang central authority weakened, Liu Yin astutely chose to establish ties with Zhu Wen. In 904, the first year of Tianyou, he sent envoys with lavish gifts and transmitted tribute of aromatics presented by states including Fozhe, Ling, and Luoyue. Zhu Wen then petitioned the court to appoint Liu Yin Military Commissioner of Qinghai. After Later Liang was founded, Liu Yin repeatedly memorialized in support of Zhu Wen's accession and received the titles Acting Grand Commandant and Palace Attendant, then the princely ranks of Prince of Dapeng Commandery, Prince of Nanping, and Prince of Nanhai. By cultivating Zhu Wen, Liu Yin secured legitimate titles for his regional rule in Lingnan.

Respecting Court-Appointed Military Commissioners

Unlike many other late-Tang regional military rulers, Liu Yin continued to respect and receive military commissioners sent by the court even though he himself held effective military power and the commissioners had little real authority. Historical accounts state that when other military commands at the end of the Tang refused replacements, Li Zhirou, Prince of Xue, was appointed commissioner of Guangzhou for his service escorting the emperor at Shimen, and Grand Councillor Xu Yanru later replaced him. Liu Yin received both men, winning praise at court, and soon afterward became military commissioner himself. This strategy allowed him to expand his power in Lingnan under a cloak of legitimacy and won the goodwill of successive Qinghai military commissioners. Before his death, Xu Yanru personally memorialized that Liu Yin should act as commander of both military jurisdictions.

Recruiting Scholars from the Central Plains

Liu Yin valued talented scholars. As disorder spread across the empire, many scholars from the Central Plains took refuge in Lingnan. Descendants of Tang officials exiled to Lingnan often remained there, while local officials unable to return north because of the wars also stayed in the region. Liu Yin obtained the assistance of figures including Wang Dingbao, Ni Shu, Liu Jun, Zhou Jie, Yang Dongqian, Zhao Guangyi, and Li Yinheng. Their service helped bring a measure of stability to Lingnan and provided a pool of talent for the later establishment of the Liu regime.

His career at the transition from the late Tang to the Later Liang can be set out by year: in 905 (second year of Tianyou), at thirty-one, the Tang court gave him the title of joint manager of state affairs; in 907 (first year of Kaiping), at thirty-three, Zhu Wen founded the Later Liang and he repeatedly petitioned for his accession, being given the offices of acting grand commandant and concurrent attendant of the palace and enfeoffed as Prince of Dapeng Commandery; in 908 (second year of Kaiping), at thirty-four, he held concurrently the military commission of Jinghai and the protectorate of Annan, fought more than ten engagements with Lü Shizhou, a commander of Ma Yin, King of Chu, and lost the six prefectures of Zhao, He, Wu, Meng, Gong and Fu; in 909 (third year of Kaiping), at thirty-five, he was given the titles of acting grand preceptor and concurrent secretariat director and enfeoffed as Prince of Nanping, sending his brother Liu Yan against Gaozhou to be defeated by Liu Changlu; in 911 (first year of Qianhua), at thirty-seven, the Later Liang advanced him to Prince of Nanhai, and in the third month, gravely ill, he had his cousin Liu Yan take charge as actingacting commissioner, dying on the dinghai day of that month at thirty-eight; and in 917 (third year of Zhenming) his brother Liu Yan took the imperial title and founded the Southern Han, honouring him posthumously as Emperor Xiang with the temple name Liezong. His passage from a late Tang provincial commander to a Later Liang enfeoffment and then to posthumous imperial honours in the Southern Han is a typical form of the change of regime in Lingnan at the end of the Tang and in the Five Dynasties.

As to the situation in Lingnan, Liu Yin held Guangzhou in the last years of the Tang as military commissioner of the Qinghai army, and although his territory shrank in the fighting of 908 he retained his base in the Pearl River delta; his repeated petitions for Zhu Wen's accession and the titles he received show that a Lingnan regime at the beginning of the Five Dynasties still needed the standing conferred by a Central Plain dynasty. That his brother Liu Yan succeeded him and founded the Southern Han also shows how the regime was continued within the family.

His consolidation at Guangzhou and his tribute missions to the Later Liang ran together, forming the basic pattern of the Lingnan regime in its early years.

His regime at Guangzhou rested on the Qinghai army and drew on the salt revenues and maritime trade of Lingnan.

His tribute missions and petitions to the Central Plain dynasties went together with an autonomous consolidation in Lingnan.

His foreign policy in office was chiefly to maintain a relation of investiture with the Central Plain dynasties.

After losing six prefectures in 908 he turned to consolidating the Pearl River delta, laying the base for his brother Liu Yan's later founding of the Southern Han; his repeated petitions and enfeoffments also show the Lingnan regime's dependence on Central Plain standing at the beginning of the Five Dynasties.

His measures in office aimed at securing Lingnan, while outwardly he maintained standing through tribute.

As to Lingnan at the end of the Tang and in the Five Dynasties, Liu Yin's power began with the Qinghai army and his regime stood between a provincial command and a kingdom: he governed, taxed and maintained troops in the name of a military commissioner, while seeking recognition from the Central Plain dynasties through tribute, petitions and enfeoffment. The twofold form was completed as a dynasty when his brother Liu Yan took the imperial title, and the Southern Han lasted until the early Song.

After his death his brother Liu Yan took over, and on founding the Southern Han honoured him as emperor posthumously.

His rule in Lingnan centred on Guangzhou and drew on salt, iron and maritime customs revenue.

His rise in the late Tang is directly connected with the transfer of military power in the Qinghai army.

His petitioning for the Later Liang founder also won him comparatively secure titles at the beginning of the Five Dynasties.

His military actions in office were chiefly against Chu and against Gaozhou.

His titles of commandery prince, Prince of Nanping and Prince of Nanhai followed one another within a few years.

His late Tang offices connect with the titles conferred by the Later Liang.

Personal Relations

• Grandfather: Liu Anren, originally of Shangcai, who later moved to central Fujian for trade and settled in Nanhai.
• Father: Liu Qian, prefect of Fengzhou and Pacification Officer of the He River; posthumously honored by Southern Han as Emperor Shengwu.
• Mother: Lady Wei; posthumously honored by Southern Han as Empress Wu.
• Second younger brother: Liu Tai.
• Third younger brother: Liu Yan, founding emperor of Southern Han, who later succeeded Liu Yin's offices and military command.
• Daughter: Princess of Zengcheng, married Zheng Renmin, emperor of the Great Changhe state.
• Daughter: Princess of Qingyuan, Liu Dexiu, born to Lady Yan; married Wang Yanjun, emperor of Min.
• Li Ye, Emperor Zhaozong of Tang: nominal sovereign who appointed Liu Yin Participant in Determining Government Matters.
• Zhu Wen, Emperor Taizu of Later Liang: Liu Yin established ties through lavish gifts and obtained appointment as Military Commissioner of Qinghai and princely titles.
• Li Zhirou: Military Commissioner of Qinghai; Liu Yin welcomed him and was recommended by him as Adjutant.
• Xu Yanruo: Military Commissioner of Qinghai; recommended Liu Yin as deputy military commissioner and, in his final memorial, proposed him as acting commander.
• Lu Ju and Tan Hongqi: rebel military officers in Guangzhou destroyed by Liu Yin.
• Zeng Yan: prefect of Shaozhou who attacked Guangzhou and was defeated by Liu Yin.
• Lu Guangchou and Tan Quanbo: Qianzhou leaders who heavily defeated Liu Yin in the Battle of Shaozhou.
• Lü Shizhou: general of the Prince of Chu Ma Yin who fought Liu Yin more than ten times and seized six prefectures in Lingnan.
• Pang Juzhao and Liu Changlu: Military Commissioner of Ningyuan and Defense Commissioner of Gaozhou; refused Liu Yin's authority and later submitted to the Prince of Chu.

Historical Assessment

Five Dynasties / Contemporary Period

• The Old History of the Five Dynasties described Liu Yin as "remarkable from childhood," recognizing the extraordinary ability he displayed while still young.
• Xu Yanru's final memorial recommending Liu Yin as acting commander indicates his recognition of Liu's abilities.
• The Later Liang court repeatedly bestowed higher titles on Liu Yin, from Prince of Dapeng Commandery to Prince of Nanhai, reflecting his standing among contemporary regional military rulers.

Song and Yuan Periods

• Xue Juzheng and others included Liu Yin in the "Biographies of Usurpers" in the Old History of the Five Dynasties, acknowledging the reality of his separatist rule in Lingnan.
• Ouyang Xiu placed Liu Yin in the "Hereditary House of Southern Han" in the New History of the Five Dynasties, treating him as the founder of Southern Han's political base.
• Sima Guang's Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance recorded Liu Yin's activities in detail and presented his reception of military commissioners and alliance with Zhu Wen in a largely factual manner.

Ming and Qing Periods

• Wu Renchen's Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms established a "Hereditary House of Liezong of Southern Han" and systematically reconstructed Liu Yin's life. It argued that he died in the third month and that the fifth month in some accounts was the date when news of his death reached court.
• Ming and Qing scholars generally regarded Liu Yin as the founder of the Southern Han regime and held that he laid the foundations for later independent statehood.

Modern Period

• Fujita Toyohachi (1935) proposed that Liu Yin's family descended from Dashi (Arab) merchants and had falsely claimed ancestry in Shangcai, Henan.
• Kuwabara Jitsuzō questioned Fujita's theory, arguing that people surnamed Liu in Guangzhou's foreign quarter during the Yuanyou era of the Song may have received the surname from Southern Han and therefore could not prove that the Liu family was of Arab descent.
• Chen Yinke (1939), in "The Dating and Ancestral-Worship Problem in the Surviving Writings of Liu Fuyu", argued that the Liu family may have descended from foreign merchants. According to later research, however, Liu Yin's family was actually Han Chinese from the Huaibei region, rejecting the claims of Fujita Toyohachi and Chen Yinke.
• Modern historians generally regard Liu Yin as the practical founder of Southern Han, whose rule in Lingnan laid the foundations for Liu Yan's later proclamation as emperor.