Liu Jingxian (劉景先) (died 689), né Liu Qixian (劉齊賢), was a Chinese politician of the Chinese

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, serving as

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

late in the reign of Emperor Gaozong and the subsequent

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

of Emperor Gaozong's wife Empress Dowager Wu (later known as Wu Zetian) over their sons Emperor Zhongzong and Emperor Ruizong. In 684, he offended Empress Dowager Wu by defending fellow chancellor

Pei Yan Pei Yan (裴炎) (died November 30, 684), courtesy name Zilong (子隆), was a Chinese politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, as well as the regency of his wife Empress Wu (later known as ...

against charges of treason and was arrested and then exiled. He was rearrested in 689 and committed suicide by hanging.

Background

It is not known when Liu Qixian was born. His family was from what would become Wei Prefecture (魏州, part of modern

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

). His grandfather Liu Linfu (劉林甫) served as a mid-level official under

's founder Emperor Gaozu and his son and successor Emperor Taizong, and carried the title of Baron of Leping, a title that Liu Qixian's father Liu Xiangdao inherited. Liu Xiangdao later served as

during the reign of Emperor Taizong's son Emperor Gaozong and was created the Duke of Guangping. He died in 666, and Liu Qixian inherited the title.

During Emperor Gaozong's reign

Liu Qixian had, at one point, served as an assistant imperial censor, before becoming the military advisor to the prefect of Bing Prefecture (并州, roughly modern

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

, Shanxi). Emperor Gaozong heard of his integrity and respected him. On one occasion, when the general Shi Xingzong (史興宗) attended to Emperor Gaozong during a hunt, Shi stated that Bing Prefecture was known for its hunting eagles and that Emperor Gaozong should have Liu seize some and deliver them to Emperor Gaozong. Emperor Gaozong responded, "Is Liu Qixian someone who should be capturing eagles? Why do you treat him like this?" He declined Shi's suggestion. At one point, to observe

naming taboo A naming taboo is a cultural taboo against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons, notably in China and within the Chinese cultural sphere. It was enforced by several laws throughout Imperial China, but its cultural and possibly ...

of the name of Emperor Gaozong's second

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

Li Xian, Liu Qixian changed his name to Liu Jingxian (different character).As Li Xian became crown prince in 675 and was deposed in 680, this name change probably occurred during that timespan. As of 682, Liu was serving as ''Huangmen Shilang'' (黃門侍郎), the deputy head of the examination bureau of government (門下省, ''Menxia Sheng''), when he was given the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Sanpin'' (同中書門下三品), making him a chancellor de facto. In late 683, when Emperor Gaozong grew critically ill, he had the crown prince Li Zhe (Li Xian's brother, who replaced Li Xian as crown prince after Li Xian was deposed in 680) take over matters of state, assisted by Liu,

, and

Guo Zhengyi Guo Zhengyi () (died September 10, 689) was a Chinese politician of the Chinese Tang dynasty, serving as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Gaozong and the regency of Emperor Gaozong's powerful wife Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian) ov ...

. He died soon thereafter, and Li Zhe took the throne (as Emperor Zhongzong), although his mother (Emperor Gaozong's wife) Empress Dowager Wu maintained her power.

During Empress Dowager Wu's regency

Around the new year 684, Liu Jingxian was made ''Shizhong'' (侍中) -- the head of the examination bureau and a post considered one for a chancellor. Soon thereafter, when Emperor Zhongzong showed signs that he would exercise independent powers, Empress Dowager Wu deposed him and replaced him with his brother Li Dan the Prince of Yu (as Emperor Ruizong), but held onto power even more firmly. As Pei Yan several times suggested that she return imperial powers to Emperor Ruizong, he soon drew her ire. After

Li Jingye Li Jingye (; 636 – December 29, 684), also known as Xu Jingye (), was a Chinese general and politician who was a grandson of the Tang dynasty general Li Shiji who, after Emperor Gaozong's powerful wife Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian) ...

the Duke of Ying rose in rebellion later in 684, claiming to want to restore the emperor's powers, and Pei again proposed that Empress Dowager Wu return imperial powers to Emperor Ruizong to defuse the rebellion, Empress Dowager Wu accused him of treason and imprisoned him. While Pei was imprisoned and interrogated, a number of officials tried to intercede on his behalf—include Liu and his deputy Hu Yuanfan (胡元範). It was said that Liu and Hu said, "Pei Yan is a senior official to the state who had great accomplishments. The whole empire knows that he is careful in his service. We can guarantee that he was not treasonous." She responded, "There is evidence that he committed treason, and you do not know this." They responded, "If he is someone who would commit treason, then so are we." She responded, "I know that he committed treason, and I know that you did not commit treason." However, despite her comments, she soon arrested Liu and Hu as well. After Pei was executed later that year, Liu was demoted several times successively—to be prefect of Pu Prefecture (普州, roughly modern

Ziyang Ziyang ( zh, s=资阳 , t=資陽 , p=Zīyáng , w=Tzu-yang) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Sichuan province, China. It is bordered by the provincial capital of Chengdu to the northwest, Deyang to the north, Suining to the northeast, Chong ...

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

), then the prefect of Chen Prefecture (辰州, roughly modern

Huaihua Huaihua () is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Hunan province, China. It is known as the "Western Gate" of Hunan and is the largest prefecture-level city in the province.It covers and is bordered by Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous P ...

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

), finally the secretary general of Ji Prefecture (吉州, roughly modern

Ji'an Ji'an ( zh, c=吉安 , p=Jí'ān) is a prefecture-level city situated in the central region of Jiangxi province of the People's Republic of China and bordering Hunan province to the west. It has an area of and as of the 2020 census, had a popu ...

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

). In 689, secret police in Empress Dowager Wu's administration accused Liu of crimes and arrested him. He committed suicide, and his assets were seized.

Notes and references

* ''

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

'', vol. 81. * ''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'', vol.

106 106 may refer to: * 106 (number), the number * AD 106, a year in the 2nd century AD * 106 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 106 (emergency telephone number), an Australian emergency number * 106 (MBTA bus), a route of the Massachusetts Bay Transpor ...

. * ''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

'', vols.

201 Year 201 ( CCI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fabianus and Arrius (or, less frequently, year 954 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 201 for this yea ...

203 Year 203 ( CCIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Plautianus and Geta (or, less frequently, year 956 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 203 for this ye ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Jingxian 689 deaths Chancellors under Emperor Gaozong of Tang Chancellors under Emperor Ruizong of Tang Chancellors under Emperor Zhongzong of Tang Chinese politicians who died by suicide Suicides by hanging in China Suicides in the Tang dynasty Year of birth unknown