Liu Penzi

Liu Penzi ( Chinese  劉 盆子 , Pinyin Liú Pénzi ; * 11 AD) was proclaimed emperor of the Han dynasty by the " red eyebrows " after the collapse of the Xin dynasty . Emperor Guangwu deposed him in 27 and spared him because Liu Penzi had no real power.

Life

Childhood and youth

Liu Penzi was descended from Liu Zhang , Prince Jing of Chengyang, from whose rule many "red eyebrow" rebels came. The Chengyang people had long worshiped Liu Zhang as a god. Liu Penzi's grandfather Liu Xian ( 劉憲 ) was appointed Marquis of Shi by Emperor Yuan ; his son Liu Meng ( 劉 萌 ) inherited the marrow. When Wang Mang deposed the Han Dynasty in AD 8 and proclaimed himself emperor of the Xin Dynasty, the Mark Shi was dissolved.

Liu Penzi's older brothers were named Liu Gong ( 劉 恭 ) and Liu Mao ( 劉茂 ). The three brothers were forced into the service of the "red eyebrows" as child soldiers. When General Fan Chong ( 樊崇 ) temporarily submitted to Emperor Gengshi , Liu Gong accompanied him to the new capital Luoyang and was appointed Marquis of Shi as his father's heir. When Fan Chong later fled Luoyang and went to the Puyang Fortress , Liu Gong stayed in the capital and served Emperor Gengshi. His brothers Liu Mao and Liu Penzi stayed with the "red eyebrows" as drovers.

When the "Red Eyebrows" set out to campaign against Emperor Gengshi in 25, they thought about a successor as Emperor of Han. They found a good 70 descendants of Prince Liu Zhang, of which only three came from the main line: Liu Mao, Liu Penzi and Liu Xiao ( 劉孝 ), the former Marquis of Xi'an. The rebels drew lots and declared Liu Penzi emperor. The drover was horrified when all the generals bowed to him. He tried to chew up the lot and destroy it, but to no avail. However, even after his election as emperor, he remained a drover until the rebels defeated Wang Mang and moved into the capital Chang'an .

Proclamation as emperor

As successful as the generals of the "Red Eyebrows" were on the battlefield, they were just as unsuitable as rulers. The residents of the Guanzhong region ( 關 中 , today's middle Shaanxi ) initially submitted and paid tribute, but were soon shocked to find that the "red eyebrows" stole and plundered on the way to Chang'an. So they soon holed up in their cities again and fought the rebels again.

On New Year's Day 26, Liu Penzi made one last attempt to retire from the top of the movement. One of his relatives asked the generals to let Emperor Penzi relinquish the throne. Liu Penzi rose from the throne, took off his imperial seal and said, weeping: “Now there is an emperor, but everyone is still behaving like robbers. The people hate us and do not trust us, because of this: You have chosen the wrong Son of Heaven. Please give me my body back. But if you want to kill me to avert the shame from you, I must die. ” Fan Chong and the other leaders were ashamed. They rose from their seats, bowed to Emperor Penzi and asked forgiveness for their offenses. They forcibly forced Emperor Penzi back to the throne and handed him the imperial seal. Even weeks after the crisis, the generals withheld their soldiers from attacks, for which the people praised Emperor Penzi as an gracious and brilliant ruler. After a while, however, the army reverted to its old behavior. She drove the people out of the last food supplies, burned down many palaces and other buildings in Chang'an and finally marched west into what is now eastern Gansu.

The warlord Wei Ao ( 隗 囂 ) quickly repulsed the attack and forced the rebels to retreat east. After losing battles against the troops of the current emperor Liu Xiu , they were devastated and surrendered to him in the spring of 27. Liu Penzi gave up his title and was spared by the emperor, who recognized his subordinate role among the rebels. He made him assistant to his uncle Liu Liang ( 劉良 ), the prince of Zhao. Liu Penzi later lost his eyesight due to an illness , which is why the emperor provided him with enough leasehold land to be able to live on the lease. Liu Penzi's further fate is unknown.

literature

• Rafe de Crespigny : A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23-220 AD) , Leiden / Boston: Brill 2007. pp. 535-536.