Liu Ying (Prince)

Liu Ying ( Chinese  劉英 , Pinyin Liú Yīng ; † 71 ) was a son of the Han Emperor Guangwu and a half-brother of the Emperor Ming . After being named Prince of Chu, he became known as a promoter of many religions . In particular, his commitment to Buddhism in 65 is the first documented evidence of Buddhist activity in China .

He was born the son of Ms. Xu ( 許 氏 ), who was a minor concubine of Emperor Guangwu. Liu Ying received the rank of prince in 39, and two years later that of prince ( wáng ). In 42 he received Chu as a hereditary fief , the capital of which was Pengcheng (now Xuzhou , Jiangsu ). As a boy, Liu Ying seems to have been very close to his half-brother Liu Zhuang, who later became emperor. He is also said to have traveled a lot and expressed his keen interest in Daoism and Buddhism. After becoming a prince, he promoted both religions in search of a miracle cure for longevity or immortality .

Because of his pursuit, Liu Ying was suspected of conspiratorial activities and was the subject of an Imperial Edict from Emperor Ming. It is handed down in the Hou Hanshu and shows that Buddha was associated with Daoism at the imperial court at that time. Like a god, sacrifices and feasts were dedicated to him. The Buddhist religion is described as "people-friendly" and generally accepted by the upper class.

Five years later, Liu Ying was again denounced by senior officials and charged with conspiring against the throne. This crime was commonly punishable by the death penalty. Officer Yuan An investigated the matter . The two main charges were "inadmissible assumption of the emperor's privileges" and "enormous impropriety and immorality in dealing with the throne" ( 大逆不道 ). However, Emperor Ming refused to execute his half-brother and instead degraded him to mean and banished him to Danyang near the Yangtze River . After Liu Ying got to his exile location the next year, he committed suicide there.

Liu Ying was buried with the honors of a full marquis ( 侯 ). In the course of his fall, thousands of his supporters were arrested and charged with torture . Nevertheless, the Buddhist community in Pengcheng survived. For more than a century later, it prospered under the protection of local official Ze Rong . It is also possible that some followers followed Liu Ying and established communities in the Yangtze River basin.