Liu Shan

Liu Shan
Family name :	Líu ( 劉 )
First name :	Shàn ( 禪 )
Major Age Name (Zi):	Gongsi ( 公 嗣 )
Posthumous title : (short)	Xiaohuai ( 懷 皇 )
Posthumous title : (complete)	Prince Si of Anle ( 安樂思 公 )
Reign:	223-263
Era names :	Jianxing (建興) 223 - 237 Yanxi (延熙) 238 - 257 Jingyao (景耀) 258 - 263 Yanxing (炎 興) 263

Liu Shan ( Chinese  劉禪  /  刘禅 , Pinyin Líu Shàn , W.-G. Liu Sh'an ; * 207 ; † 271 ) was the son of the Chinese warlord and later emperor Liu Bei . He ruled from 223 to 263 as the second and last emperor of the Shu Han dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period over what is now Sichuan . His posthumous title is Emperor Xiaohuai (孝 懷 皇帝) or Prince Si von Anle (安樂思 公). His infant name was A Dou (阿斗).

Life

Childhood and youth

Liu Shan was born in 207 as the eldest son of Liu Bei's concubine Gan. In Luo Guanzhong's classic novel The Story of the Three Kingdoms , the legend of his dramatic rescue at the Battle of Changban is described: In 207 the warlord Cao Cao , who had conquered all of northern China at that time, began a campaign against Liu Bei's headquarters in Jingzhou . While retreating south, Liu Bei was overtaken by Cao Cao's cavalry at Changban Bridge and forced to leave Ms. Gan and Liu Shan behind to escape. General Zhao Yun stayed behind to protect the family. With the infant Liu Shan in his arms, he brought mother and child to safety.

After Liu Bei proclaimed himself Emperor of Shu Han in 221, Liu Shan was formally named Crown Prince. The following year Liu Bei left his capital Chengdu on a campaign against the Sun Quan Wu dynasty to the east . He was defeated in the Battle of Yiling and died in Baidi City in 223 . Shortly before the end, Liu Bei entrusted his son to the strategist Zhuge Liang and the Imperial Secretary Li Yan . He even ordered Zhuge Liang to rule himself if Liu Shan was found to be unsuitable.

As emperor under Zhuge Liang's reign

The regent Zhuge Liang .

During his early years in government, Liu Shan acted wisely, treating the highly competent Zhuge Liang with great respect and entrusting him with all important state affairs, since he himself had no particular political talent. Zhuge Liang suggested many trusted officials for key positions at the time, including Guo Youzhi , Fei Yi , Dong Yun, and Xiang Chong . At Zhuge Liang's instruction, Liu Shan also entered into an alliance with the Wu dynasty, which enabled both states to resist the Wei dynasty founded by Cao Cao's heir, Cao Pi . Zhuge Liang's reign was characterized by tight, transparent administration, which is why Shu Han was able to launch campaigns even as a relatively small state.

In 223 the emperor married a daughter of General Zhang Fei ; she became Empress Zhang the Elder .

In the years after Liu Bei's death, the barbarians (non-Han Chinese) of the south rose up against the rule of the Shu Han. In 225 Zhuge Liang went out against them and was able to reintegrate these countries into the empire - on the one hand through military victories and on the other hand through persuasion. In the last years of his reign, the southern peoples were an important ally against the Wei dynasty.

From 227 onwards, Zhuge Liang led five Northern expeditions against the Wei Dynasty, but all failed due to poor supplies before the Wei armies were seriously damaged. During one of these campaigns, the only crisis in Zhuge Liang's reign occurred in 231: when he could not fully supply the troops, the Imperial Secretary Li Yan forged an edict by Emperor Liu Shan that ordered Zhuge Liang to withdraw. When Zhuge found out, he reported it to the emperor, who removed the secretary from his posts and placed him under house arrest.

In 234, Zhuge Liang fell seriously ill on his last campaign against Wei. When the emperor learned of this, he sent his secretary Li Fu to visit the front for instructions on important state affairs. Among other things, Zhuge recommended that Jiang Wan be his successor, and that he be succeeded by Fei Yi . Zhuge Liang refused to make any recommendations about the next tenure. Shortly afterwards he died. In the aftermath of Zhuge Liang's death, Generals Wei Yan and Yang Yi argued , unaware of Zhuge's decisions as to which of them should succeed him in military command. They accused each other of treason and fought, with Yang Yi winning. To his disappointment, however, the attempt to succeed Zhuge Liang was unsuccessful because the Emperor followed Zhuge's decision and installed Jiang Wan as the new regent.

Under Jiang Wan's reign

Depiction of Jiang Wan from the Qing Dynasty .

Jiang Wan was an able administrator, and he continued Zhuge Liang's authoritarian policies so that the government administration remained efficient. He was also known for his tolerance of other opinions and his humility. Nevertheless, he lacked military talent, so that he quickly gave up Zhuge Liang's campaigns against Wei and even withdrew most of the troops from the border town of Hanzhong and stationed them in Fu. From now on, Shu Han was in a defensive position and no longer posed a threat to Wei. For many Wu generals this was a mistaken sign of the end of the alliance and the beginning of a relationship with Wei, but Sun Quan saw it correctly Sign of weakness Shu Hans.

Jiang Wan fell ill in 243 and transferred most of his authority to Fei Yi and his assistant Dong Yun. Fei Yi led the army to Hanzhong in 244 when Wei Chancellor Cao Shuang attacked there, and inflicted a significant defeat on the Wei. Jiang Wan maintained his influence until his death in 245. Dong Yun died shortly afterwards, so that the eunuch Huang Hao (a favorite of the emperor, whose power Dong Yun had always restrained) could expand his power. Huang was viewed as corrupt and manipulative, and the efficient government of Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wan began to disintegrate.

Under Fei Yi's reign

After the deaths of Jiang Wan and Dong Yun, the emperor appointed the able general Jiang Wei as his assistant, but both were preoccupied with military plans, whereas the emperor became increasingly preoccupied with personal matters. At this time he also began his travels through the empire and increased the luxury at court, which put an intense strain on the state budget. Jiang Wei wanted to resume Zhuge Liang's attacks on the Wei, in which Fei Yi partially agreed. Therefore, he allowed him to raid the borders of Wei, but never gave him enough troops to seriously threaten Wei.

In 253, Fei Yi was murdered by General Guo Xun , who had previously defected from Wei to Shu. Jiang Wei was now given supreme command of Shu Han's armed forces, but a power vacuum in internal affairs arose because Jiang Wei stayed on the border to wage campaigns against Wei. Huang Hao gained more and more influence at court.

Jiang Wei's half-reign

Depiction of Jiang Wei from the Qing Dynasty .

Despite his ambitions and powers, Jiang Wei could not really threaten his big neighbor Wei because of poor supplies. His campaigns did more harm to the Shu Han, because the government was no longer as tight as it was in the days of Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wan, and supplies to the border troops came to a standstill.

In 253, Jiang Wei led a joint attack with the Wu regent Zhuge Ke , the Shu Han's oldest ally, against the Wei Empire. However, he had to give up again because of poor supplies and in this way also inflicted a crushing defeat on the Wu dynasty. The Wei troops focused entirely on Zhuge Ke's force, which fell in battle. This was the second and final joint attack by Shu and Wu on the Wei dynasty.

After all, Jiang Wei was able to inflict a significant defeat on the Wei army in 255, in which he almost captured the important border town of Didao, but a year later he was so devastated that Jiang Wei's reputation was defeated in his second attack by Wei General Deng Ai suffered considerably. Many officials now questioned Jiang Wei's strategy, but the emperor did nothing to stop him. He even allowed Jiang Wei to carry out a daring plan in 259: Jiang withdrew troops from all border towns in order to induce the Wei to attack. This plan turned out to be Shu's undoing.

In 261, Huang Hao's power had reached its peak. Of the officers, only Dong Jue and Zhuge Zan , Zhuge Liang's son, could keep their posts without flattery. In 262, Huang even tried to replace Jiang Wei with his friend Yan Yu. When Jiang found out, he ordered the emperor to execute Huang Hao, but the emperor refused. Jiang Wei withdrew to Tazhong for fear of retaliation.

According to the report of Wu Ambassador Xue Xu, who visited Shu Han in 261 on behalf of Emperor Sun Xiu , the state was in the following condition:

“The emperor is incompetent and does not recognize his mistakes; his subordinates are just trying to get by without difficulty. When I visited them, I did not hear any honest words, and when I visited their country, I saw the people starving. I've heard of a story about swallows and sparrows who made their nests on the roofs of palaces, believing that this was the safest place. They do not realize that the haystack and the supporting beams were on fire and that disaster was soon to come. This may be her likeness. "

Destruction of Shu Han

Three Kingdoms Territories in 262.

Sima Zhao , the regent of Wei, devised a plan in 262 to destroy Shu Han once and for all. When rumors spread about this, Jiang Wei warned the emperor against the mustering of Wei troops under Generals Zhong Hui and Deng Ai at the border. However, Huang Hao relied on the fortune-tellers, who declared an attack by the Wei unlikely, and persuaded the emperor not to do anything.

The following year, Sima Zhao began the attack led by Zhong Hui and Deng Ai. Liu Shan, following Jiang Wei's old plan, withdrew the troops from the border and had them set the trap for Wei. But instead of besieging the border towns, Deng Ai and Zhong Hui ignored them and took the Yang'an Pass. At first, Jiang Wei was able to join his troops and call them back, but Deng Ai led his forces through the almost impassable mountains deep into Shu territory and launched a surprise attack on Jiangyou. After defeating Zhuge Zan there, there were no more troops between Deng Ai and the capital Chengdu. In view of the hopeless situation, the emperor accepted the advice of his secretary Qiao Zhou and surrendered. While many criticized this move, Weng Yin described it in his Shu notes as an act of benevolence to the people.

In 264, General Zhong Hui made an attempt to break the power of the Sima family in the Wei Empire and rose with the support of Jiang Wei, who wanted to proclaim Liu Shan again as Emperor of Shu. After the miserable end of Zhong and Jiang, Liu Shan was unharmed, only his son, Crown Prince Liu Xuan, was killed in the turmoil.

Life after deposition

After Zhong Huis and Jiang Wei's death, Liu Shan and his clan were ordered to the capital Luoyang . He was made Prince of Anle, and his sons and grandsons were made Marquises. According to the spring and autumn annals of Han and Jin , Sima Zhao invited Liu Shan to a festival one day where he played traditional Shu dances and music. When all of this left Liu Shan among his wistful officials unmoved, Sima asked him if he didn't miss his kingdom. Liu Shan replied:

「此間 樂 ， 不 思 蜀」

"I enjoy life here and don't think about Shu at all."

This saying became a Chinese proverb meaning “too happy to think of home”, mostly with a negative implication. Sima Zhao viewed Liu Shan as an incompetent fool. Later historians consider it a sign of Liu Shan's wisdom not to appear as a threat to Sima Zhao.

After Liu Shan's death in 271, he was given the title of Prince Si von Anle ( si = "the deeply thinking one").

Offspring

• Wives:
  • Zhang the Elder , Empress 223; † 237
  • Zhang the Younger , Empress 238
• Concubines:
  • Ms. Li, † (suicide) 264
  • Ms. Wang
    • Liu Xuan ( 劉 璿 ), 238 Crown Prince, † (murdered) 264
    • Liu Yao ( 劉 瑤 ), 238 Prince of Anding
  • from other women
    • Liu Cong ( 劉 琮 ), 252 Prince of Xihe; † 262
    • Liu Zan ( 劉 瓚 ), 256 Prince of Xinping
    • Liu Chen ( 劉 諶 ), 259 Prince of Beidi, † (suicide) 263
    • Liu Xun ( 劉 恂 ), 259 Prince of Xinxing, 271 Prince of Anle
    • Liu Qian ( 劉 虔 ) or Liu Qu ( 劉 璩 ), 259 Prince of Shangdang

Source studies

The most important source for the life of Liu Shan are the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms of Chen Shou (* 233, † 297), who served as an officer of the Shu Han until 263 and later under the Jin Dynasty as a historian his views and experiences over time who put down the Three Kingdoms in writing. In addition, there are the later written notes of Shu ( 蜀 記 ) by Wang Yin ( 王 隱 ). The spring and autumn annals of Han and Jin ( 漢 晉春秋 ) by Xi Zuochi ( 习 鑿齒 ) are only preserved from later quotations.

In the 11th century, the historian Sima Guang created an extensive history work for the time from 403 BC with his summarized Zeitspiegel to aid the government . Chr. To 959 AD. For the time of the three kingdoms he made particular use of the chronicles of Chen Shou.

literature

• Bo Yang (Ed.): Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian. Modern Chinese Edition . Taipei 1982-1989.
• The Three Kingdoms and Western Jin. A history of China in the Third Century AD ( Memento from April 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). Article by Rafe de Crespigny , professor at the Faculty of Asian Studies at the Australian National University (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Liu Bei	Emperor of China 223–263	Cao Huang from Wei

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on March 31, 2007 .