The Marquess of Beixiang (; died 10 December 125), personal name Liu Yi, also referred to as Emperor Shao (少帝, literally "young emperor"), was an
emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
of the Chinese
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
. He was selected to succeed
Emperor An after Emperor An's sudden death in April 125, but died soon after he became emperor and a
eunuch
A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function.
The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...
coup in favour of
Emperor Shun overthrew the regime of
Empress Dowager Yan, who put him on the throne.
No historical records indicate his age, but later references to him imply that he was young, perhaps a child. As his reign was short and considered at least somewhat illegitimate, he is often omitted from the official list of emperors.
Family background
It is not known when Liu Yi was born—other than he was described as young at the time he ascended the throne on 18 May 125 and therefore must have been born late in the reign of
Emperor An. His father was Liu Shou (劉壽), Prince Hui of
Jibei
Jibei Kingdom ( zh, 濟北國) was a kingdom of Han dynasty, in present-day northern Shandong and southern Hebei.
The kingdom was first established on the lands of Qi Kingdom (Han dynasty), Qi in 178 BC for Liu Xingju, son of Liu Fei, Prince of ...
, who was the fifth son of
Emperor Zhang, making him Emperor An's cousin. Nothing is known about his mother. He was likely created a marquess in 120, when five brothers of his oldest brother, Liu Deng (劉登), Prince Jie of Jibei, were created marquesses
[According to Emperor An's biography in ''Book of the Later Han'', Liu Shou died on the ''dingyou'' day of the 3rd month of the 1st year of the ''Yong'ning'' era. This corresponds to 26 April 120 in the Julian calendar.].
Brief reign
Empress Dowager Yan's decision was supported by other powerful people trusted by Emperor An—his stepuncle Geng Bao (耿寶), the
eunuch
A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function.
The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...
s Jiang Jing (江京) and Fan Feng (樊豐), and his
wet nurse
A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, or if she is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cu ...
Wang Sheng (王聖). Soon, however, Empress Yan and her brother Yan Xian (閻顯) wanted to have full control of power, and they falsely accused Fan, Wang, and Geng of crimes. Fan was executed, while Wang and Geng, along with their families, were exiled. The Yan brothers became the most powerful officials in the capital
Luoyang
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang ...
and ruled autocratically.
Late in the year, however, the young emperor grew gravely ill, and eunuchs loyal to Prince Bao, led by
Sun Cheng (孫程), formed a conspiracy to overthrow the Yans. As soon as the emperor died, the eunuchs overthrew the Yans in a coup d'état and made Prince Bao emperor (as
Emperor Shun). The Yans were slaughtered, except for Empress Dowager Yan, who was however rendered powerless.
Emperor Shun, recognizing that the former Marquess of Beixiang was young and not complicit in Empress Yan's plot, did not posthumously dishonor him or carry out reprisals against his family, but nor did he recognize his predecessor as a legitimate emperor. Later in the year, he had the former emperor buried with the honors of an imperial prince—in other words, higher than of his previous title of marquess but lower than that of an emperor. No official posthumous name was recorded for this young emperor.
Ancestry
See also
*
Family tree of the Han Dynasty
References
* ''
Book of Later Han'',
vol. 5.
* ''
Zizhi Tongjian
''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song (960–1127), Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959&n ...
'',
vol. 51.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beixiang, Marquess of
125 deaths
Eastern Han dynasty emperors
Rulers who died as children
Child rulers from Asia
2nd-century Chinese monarchs
Year of birth unknown