Liu Zhuan (劉瑑; 796 – June 20, 858

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, ; zh, t=中央研究院) is the national academy of the Taiwan, Republic of China. It is headquartered in Nangang District, Taipei, Nangang, Taipei. Founded in Nanjing, the academy supports research activities in mathemat ...

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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 ...

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courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Ziquan (子全), was an official of the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

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 ...

, who served briefly as a

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 ...

during the reign of Emperor Xuānzong.

Background and early career

Liu Zhuan was born in 796, during the reign of Emperor Dezong.''

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 ...

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Pengcheng Xuzhou ( zh, s=徐州), also known as Pengcheng () in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area m ...

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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 ...

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Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

prince Liu Kai () the Prince of Hejian, a son of

Emperor Zhang of Han Emperor Zhang of Han (; 56 – 9 April 88''renchen'' day of the 2nd month of the 2nd year of the ''Zhang'he'' era, per Emperor Zhang's biography in ''Book of the Later Han''. The biography also indicate that he was 33 (by East Asian reckoning) ...

. Liu Zhuan was a fifth-generation descendant of the early Tang

and general

Liu Rengui Liu Rengui (劉仁軌) (602 – March 2, 685), courtesy name Zhengze (正則), formally Duke Wenxian of Lecheng (樂城文獻公), was a Chinese military general and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of E ...

; his grandfather Liu Fan () served on the staff of a military governor (''

jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (, Old Turkic: Tarduş) or jiedu, was a regional military governor in China; the title was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissi ...

''), and his father Liu Wei () served as a prefectural prefect. Liu Zhuan passed the

imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

s in the ''Jinshi'' class early in the ''Kaicheng'' era (836–840) of Emperor Dezong's great-great-grandson Emperor Wenzong. Subsequently, when the former chancellor Chen Yixing served as the prefect of Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern

Weinan Weinan ( zh, s=渭南 , p=Wèinán) is a prefecture-level city in east-Guanzhong, central Shaanxi, Shaanxi province, northwest China. The city lies on the lower section of the Wei River confluence into the Yellow River, about east of the provinc ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

), he invited Liu to serve as his assistant in his capacity as the commander of the Hua Prefecture-based Zhenguo Army ().As Chen Yixing served at Hua Prefecture from 839 to 841, Liu's service under him must be during that period. See ''Old Book of Tang'', vols. 17, part 2 and

177 Year 177 ( CLXXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Commodus and Plautius (or, less frequently, year 930 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 177 for thi ...

. Liu was later recalled to the capital

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

to serve as ''Zuo Shiyi'' (), a low-level advisory official at the examination bureau of government (門下省, ''Menxia Sheng''). It was said that he submitted many petitions advising Emperor Wenzong's brother and successor Emperor Wuzong against believing in the claims of

Taoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

alchemist Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

s. Late in Emperor Wuzong's ''Huichang'' era (841–846), he was put in charge of drafting edicts, and was also made ''Zhongshu Sheren'' (), a mid-level official at the legislative bureau (中書省, ''Zhongshu Sheng'').

During Emperor Xuānzong's reign

Early in the ''Dazhong'' era (847–860) of Emperor Wuzong's uncle and successor Emperor Xuānzong, Liu Zhuan was made an imperial scholar (翰林學士, ''Hanlin Xueshi''). At that time, Emperor Xuānzong was conducting a campaign to recover the territory that had been lost to Tufan decades earlier, and there were numerous campaign-related edicts to be issued, sometimes numbering tens each night. It was said that Liu, while drafting them, was able to use appropriate language despite the large volumes he needed to draft. In 850, during a campaign against the

Dangxiang The Tangut people (Tangut language, Tangut: , ''mjɨ nja̱'' or , ''mji dzjwo''; ; ; ) were a Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan people who founded and inhabited the Western Xia, Western Xia dynasty. The group initially lived under Tuyuhun aut ...

, he was made the monitor of the troops against the Dangxiang. After his return from the Dangxiang campaign, Liu was made the deputy minister of justice (刑部侍郎, ''Xingbu Shilang''). While serving that role, he collected a large number of edicts that could be used as precedents for rulings, on 2,865 matters, into a collection titled the ''Collection of Precedents for ''Dazhong'' Laws'' (), and it was said that legal scholars applauded the collection for its completeness. Liu later served as the mayor of Henan Municipality (河南, i.e., the region of the eastern capital

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

), and then the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

). It was customary at that time that there would be dancing women at feasts that governors held for the soldiers, but Liu considered it inappropriate for a military feast; he thus selected a group of 1,000 soldiers and trained them in the use of spears and shields, and had them serve as the ceremonial dancers. He also ended the night curfew for the people so that the people could be convenienced. It was said that the region was peaceful while he governed it. He was later transferred to Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in 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 Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

). Soon thereafter, he was recalled to Chang'an to serve as the deputy minister of census (戶部侍郎, ''Hubu Shilang'') and the director of finances. It was said that because Emperor Xuānzong had respected Liu greatly, he personally wrote the edict recalling Liu, such that Liu's departure from Hedong Circuit came as a complete surprise to his staff and others. In early 858, Emperor Xuānzong gave Liu the designation ''Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi'' (), making him a chancellor ''de facto''. After Liu was made chancellor, there was an occasion when his chancellor colleague Cui Shenyou, when discussing the policy priorities of the time with Emperor Xuānzong, mentioned that he wanted to make distinguishing officials' ancestries a top priority. Liu sharply disagreed and pointed out that the priorities should be to make sure that the officials' talents were appropriate for their positions, and Cui was unable to respond. Liu, however, would only serve several months as chancellor before he fell seriously ill. Even when he fell ill, he was still writing policy suggestions to Emperor Xuānzong. After he died on June 20, 858, Emperor Xuānzong was saddened. He was given posthumous honors.

Notes and references

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'', vol. 177. * ''

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'', vol. 249. {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu, Zhuan 796 births 858 deaths Chancellors under Emperor Xuānzong of Tang Chinese legal writers Chinese non-fiction writers Mayors of Luoyang Tang dynasty jiedushi of Xuanwu Circuit Tang dynasty jiedushi of Hedong Circuit Tang dynasty writers Writers from Xuzhou Politicians from Xuzhou Tang dynasty generals from Jiangsu