Emperor Xian of Han

"Emperor Xian" redirects here. For other uses, see Emperor Xian (disambiguation).
Liu Xie

A Qing dynasty illustration of Emperor Xian (center), Consort Dong (left) and Empress Fu Shou (right)
Reign 28 September 189 – 10 December 220
Regent Dong Zhuo, Li Jue, Guo Si, Cao Cao
Born 181
Died 21 April 234 (aged 52-53)
Empress Fu Shou
Cao Jie
Concubine Cao Xian
Cao Hua
Issue 7 sons and 3 daughters
Full name

Family name: Liu (劉)
Given name: Xie (協)

Titles


Emperor Xian (獻帝)
Duke of Shanyang (山陽公)

Posthumous name
Short: Xian (獻)
Full: Xiaoxian (孝獻)
dynasty Han dynasty
Father Emperor Ling of Han
Mother Concubine Wang
Emperor Xian of Han
Traditional Chinese 漢獻帝
Simplified Chinese 汉献帝

Emperor Xian of Han (181 – 21 April 234; reigned 28 September 189 – 10 December 220), personal name Liu Xie, courtesy name Bohe, was the last emperor of the Han dynasty period of Chinese history. He was forced to abdicate in favor of Cao Pi and was given the title of Duke of Shanyang.

Emperor Xian was the son of Emperor Ling and was the brother of Emperor Shao (who later became known as Prince of Hongnong). He was placed on the throne in 189 after Dong Zhuo removed his brother from the throne. This act was seen as a sign to all the other lords that Dong Zhuo was in full control of the empire. However, after Dong Zhuo was assassinated in 192, Emperor Xian became first a puppet and then was stranded in Luoyang with the warlords formally acknowledging him but giving him no aid. Eventually, Emperor Xian came under the control of Cao Cao in 196, and Cao used Emperor Xian as a nominal ruler effectively, issuing edicts beneficial to him in Emperor Xian's name, greatly helping him in his quest to reunify the empire, which appeared inevitable until Cao Cao's defeat by Sun Quan and Liu Bei at the Battle of Red Cliffs, leading to Sun and Liu's entrenchment in their territories. In 220, the Han dynasty was finally deposed by Cao Cao's son Cao Pi, ending more than 400 years of Han dynastic rule and ushering in the era of the Three Kingdoms.

Although Emperor Xian was demoted to a rank of nobility (Duke of Shanyang), he lived in comfort and enjoyed preferential treatment. He died in 234 at the age of 53, 14 years after the fall of his dynasty.

Family background

Liu Xie was born in 181 to Emperor Ling and his Consort Wang. During her pregnancy, Consort Wang, fearful of Emperor Ling's Empress He, had taken drugs that were intended to induce an abortion, but was not successful in her attempt. Soon after she gave birth to Liu Xie, the jealous Empress He poisoned her by putting poison in her food. Emperor Ling was enraged and wanted to depose her, but the eunuchs pleaded on her behalf, and she was not deposed. Liu Xie was raised personally by Emperor Ling's mother Empress Dowager Dong and known by the circumspect title "Marquess Dong". (This is due to superstition; Emperor Ling had lost a number of sons previously, and therefore both Liu Xie and his older brother Liu Bian were known by such titles; Liu Bian, having been raised by Shi Zimiao (史子眇), was known as "Marquess Shi"). Liu Bian was born of the empress and was older, but Emperor Ling viewed his behavior as being insufficiently solemn and therefore considered appointing Liu Xie as his crown prince, but hesitated and could not decide.

When Emperor Ling died in 189, an influential eunuch official whom he trusted, Jian Shuo, wanted to first kill Empress He's brother, General-in-Chief He Jin, and then install Liu Xie on the throne, and therefore set up a trap at a meeting he was to have with He Jin. He Jin found out, and pre-emptively declared Liu Bian as Emperor Shao. Later that year, Emperor Shao granted Liu Xie the title of Prince of Bohai, and later changed his title to Prince of Chenliu (陈留王).

Accession to the throne and collapse of the Han dynasty

Further information: End of the Han dynasty

Rise of Dong Zhuo

After Liu Bian became emperor, He Jin became the most powerful official in the imperial court, and he and his advisor Yuan Shao quickly entered into a conspiracy to exterminate the eunuchs. They were, however, rebuffed by Empress Dowager He, and they hatched the plan to secretly order a number of generals to advance on the capital Luoyang to force Empress Dowager He to agree to their demands. One of these generals was Dong Zhuo, who saw this as an opportunity to control the central government.

He Jin's plan was discovered by the eunuchs, who laid a trap for him and killed him. Yuan Shao then led his forces into the palace and killed the majority of the eunuchs. The remaining eunuchs initially took the young emperor and Liu Xie hostage, but were eventually forced to commit suicide when the battle turned against them. When Dong Zhuo then arrived on scene, he, impressed with his own power and unimpressed with the nervous Emperor Shao, forced the young emperor to yield the throne to Liu Xie (partly because he was raised by Empress Dowager Dong who, while no relation to Dong Zhuo, was therefore respected by Dong Zhuo), who then ascended the throne as Emperor Xian. Dong Zhuo then murdered Empress Dowager He and the former Emperor Shao, and became firmly in control of the political scene.

Forced relocation west and the death of Dong Zhuo

In the spring of 190, a number of local officials, loosely forming a coalition led by Yuan Shao, quickly rose up against Dong Zhuo. Even though they still feared Dong Zhuo's military power and did not directly advance on Luoyang, Dong Zhuo was also fearful of their collective strength, and therefore determined to move the capital west to the old Western Han capital Chang'an, closer to his power base in Liang Province (涼州; covering present-day Gansu). On 9 April 190, he forced Emperor Xian to relocate to Chang'an and set fire to Luoyang, leaving it largely in ruins.

After the revolting coalition collapsed, a number of officials, led by Wang Yun and Dong Zhuo's adopted son Lü Bu, assassinated Dong on 22 May 192. For a while, it appeared that the Han regime might return to normal, as Wang Yun quickly established relatively friendly relations with the local officials resisting Dong but by this time acting more as local warlords. However, due to Wang Yun's failure to pacify Dong Zhuo's former subordinates, they rose in revolt and killed Wang.

Return to Luoyang's ruins

Dong Zhuo's former subordinates, led by Li Jue and Guo Si, took Emperor Xian and the imperial court under their control. However, Li Jue and Guo Si did not have serious ambitions, and their incompetence in governance furthered the breakdown of the Han empire into warlord regimes. In 195, Li Jue and Guo Si had a major fallout, and Li took Emperor Xian hostage while Guo took the officials hostage as they battled. Later in the year, after peace talks between Li Jue and Guo Si, they agreed to allow Emperor Xian to return to Luoyang, but as soon as Emperor Xian departed Chang'an, they regretted their decision and chased him with their troops. While they were never able to capture him, Emperor Xian's court was rendered poor and unable to fend for itself, and once it returned to Luoyang, it lacked even the basic essentials of life. Many officials starved to death. At this time, Yuan Shao's strategist Ju Shou suggested that he welcome Emperor Xian to his province so that he could effectively be in control of the central government, but the other strategists Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong opposed — under the faulty logic that if he did, he would have to yield to Emperor Xian on key decisions. Yuan Shao listened to Guo Tu and Chunyu Qiong and never again considered welcoming Emperor Xian.

Tight control by Cao Cao

What Yuan Shao would not do, Cao Cao did. Cao Cao was at this time a relatively minor warlord, as the governor of Yan Province (兗州; covering present-day western Shandong and eastern Henan), with his headquarters at Xu (present-day Xuchang, Henan). He saw the strategic advantage in having the emperor under his control and protection, and in 196 he marched west to Luoyang and, after securing an agreement with Emperor Xian's generals Dong Cheng and Yang Feng, convincing them of his loyalty, he entered Luoyang and technically shared power with Dong and Yang, but was in fact in command.

Unlike the situation with Dong Zhuo, though, Cao Cao knew how to assuage the other generals and nobles, and while he gave them little power, he made sure that they remained honoured, so minimal opposition against him developed at the imperial court. He then moved the capital to Xu to affirm his control over the central government, and while Yang Feng opposed him, he defeated Yang and was able to move the capital.

Cao Cao then began to issue imperial edicts in Emperor Xian's name — including a harshly-worded edict condemning Yuan Shao for taking over nearby provinces — even though it still bestowed Yuan with the highly honorific post of commander of the armed forces. Cao Cao and Emperor Xian maintained a superficially cordial relationship, but this did not prevent two major confrontations involving Cao and other court officials.

The arrest of Consort Dong, with Emperor Xian helpless in the background. A depiction from a Qing dynasty version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

In early 199, as Cao Cao was facing a major military confrontation against Yuan Shao, Dong Cheng claimed to have received a secret edict issued by Emperor Xian (hidden in a belt), and he entered into a conspiracy with Liu Bei, Zhong Ji (种輯), and Wang Fu (王服) to assassinate Cao. Late in 199, Liu Bei started a rebellion and waited for Dong Cheng to act in the capital, but in 200, Dong's conspiracy was discovered, and he, along with Zhong Ji and Wang Fu, were killed. Liu Bei was later defeated by Cao Cao and forced to flee to Yuan Shao's territory. Dong Cheng's daughter, an imperial consort, was pregnant, and Emperor Xian personally tried to intercede for her, but Cao Cao had her executed anyway.

Emperor Xian's empress, Fu Shou, angry and fearful about how Consort Dong died, wrote her father, Fu Wan (伏完), a letter accusing Cao Cao of cruelty, and implicitly asking her father to start a new conspiracy against Cao. Fu Wan was fearful of Cao Cao and never acted on the letter, in 214, her letter was discovered. Cao Cao was extremely angry and forced Emperor Xian to have Empress Fu deposed. Emperor Xian was hesitant, and Cao Cao sent his soldiers into the palace to put pressure on the emperor. Empress Fu hid inside the walls, but was finally discovered and dragged out. As she was led away, she cried out to Emperor Xian for him to save her life, but his only response was that he could not even know what would happen to him. She was killed, along with her two sons and family. Cao Cao soon forced Emperor Xian to instate his daughter Cao Jie, then an imperial consort, as the new empress.

Abdication and death

Cao Cao died on 15 March 220. His son and successor, Cao Pi, soon forced Emperor Xian to abdicate the throne in favor of himself, ending the Han dynasty. Cao Pi established a new state known as Cao Wei (sometimes known inaccurately as the Kingdom of Wei), and he granted Emperor Xian a title – Duke of Shanyang (山陽公). The former Emperor Xian died in 234 and was buried with honors due an emperor, using Han ceremonies, and the then emperor of Wei, Cao Rui, was one of the mourners. As Emperor Xian's crown prince was already dead, his grandson Liu Kang (劉康) inherited his duchy, which lasted for 75 more years and two more dukes, Liu Jin (劉瑾) and Liu Qiu (劉秋), until the line was exterminated by invading Xiongnu tribes in about 309, during the Jin dynasty.

Era names

Family

See also

References

Emperor Xian of Han
Born: 181 Died: 21 April 234
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Prince of Hongnong		 Emperor of China
Eastern Han
189–220
with Dong Zhuo (189–192)
Li Jue (192–196)
Cao Cao (196–220) 		Succeeded by
Liu Bei
Succeeded by
Cao Pi
Succeeded by
Sun Quan
Royal titles
Vacant
Last known title holder:
Liu Jing		 Duke of Shanyang
220–234 		Succeeded by
Liu Kang
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