introduction
In the third year of the Han Jing Emperor (154 BC), in order to weaken the power of the princes and strengthen the centralization of power, Liu Qi, the Emperor of Han Jing, adopted the suggestions in the "Cutting The Strategy" of the Imperial Master Chao, and successively issued an edict to cut and seize the fiefs of the Chu and Zhao princely states, kicking off the prelude to the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms". Unwilling to sit idly by, Liu Tao, the king of Wu, colluded with Liu Peng the King of Chu, Liu Sui the King of Zhao, Liu Peiguang the King of Jinan, Liu Xian the King of Zichuan, Liu Ang the King of Jiaoxi, and Liu Xiongqu the King of Jiaodong to launch a rebellion, but the rebellion was quelled after only three months.
01
As one of the four famous works, the book "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has been filmed and televisionized many times, and the story inside must be familiar to everyone. Liu Bei, one of the protagonists in the book, always said when he appeared in the early stages: "In the next Liu Bei, after the King of Zhongshan Jing." This gave him an orthodox and noble origin, and people at the time honored him as Uncle Liu Huang. However, in the hundreds of years of history of the Han Dynasty, the wise emperors did not know how many, and Liu Bei simply claimed to be a descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan.
▲Liu Bei stills
Liu Sheng, the Prince of Jing of Zhongshan, was the son of Liu Qi, the Emperor jing of Han, whose mother was Lady Jia, and was the half-brother of Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty. In the third year of the Han Jing Emperor (154 BC), Liu Qi made his son Liu Sheng the King of Zhongshan, and after the death of Liu Sheng, the King of Zhongshan in the fourth year of yuan ding (113 BC), he was given the title of Jing, so history called him the King of Zhongshan Jing. His father was the emperor, his brother was also the emperor, and he himself did not commit any great rebellious mistakes, and it was reasonable to say that he should be a very good prince. But the fate of this thing is really difficult to say, in view of the lessons of the Wuchu Seven Kingdoms Rebellion, the ministers were quite harsh on the clan relatives, it can be said that they were all picky, and they went to the emperor to complain about it, saying how these princes and princes made mistakes, and Liu Sheng naturally suffered from the encroachment and bullying of the officials.
▲Photos of cultural relics excavated from Liu Sheng's tomb
If it were not for the fact that the crying children had sugar to eat, at a banquet of Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Sheng cried loudly and accused himself of being far away from Kyoto, the news was closed, the ministers gathered together to talk about it, and they talked nonsense, and he had no way to solve it, only to be secretly sad, saying that it would kill him. In addition, Liu Sheng also cried that although his status was not high, he was also the brother of Emperor Wu of Han, and the chancellor of the DPRK was not related to Emperor Wu of Han, but he formed a party to build a private clan, which caused the imperial family of the clan to be attacked and ostracized, and hurt the flesh and blood kinship of the Heavenly Family, for which he was really very sad. Because King Jing of Zhongshan told Emperor Wu of Han that his ministers were oppressing their relatives, Emperor Wu of Han abolished the power of his ministers to report the princes and imposed favors on their relatives.
▲Stills of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty
In Liu Sheng's view, the princes should indulge in pleasure, and the Biography of the Thirteen Kings in the Fifty-Three Views of the Book of Han records Ban Gu's evaluation of Liu Sheng: "Victory is good for people to enjoy wine and wine." The "Records of History" also records That Liu Sheng's preference for wine, and it is even recorded that Liu Sheng had "more than one hundred and twenty branches". It shows that it is the opening and scattering of the branches and leaves of the Great Han Sect, and indeed has made a great contribution.
02
The heirs of Liu Sheng, the King of Zhongshan Jing, are really too many, and there are really countless generations of reproduction. Therefore, by the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, no one could say which people were descendants of King Jing of Zhongshan. And Liu Bei was born in Zhuo County, Hebei Province, which happened to be in Liu Sheng's fiefdom, so when Liu Bei claimed to be a descendant of King Jing of Zhongshan, no one could prove that he was not, then he could only be.
Liu Bei found a very good background for himself in this way, in order to lean back against the tree to cool off, he had to emphasize his identity as Emperor Liu everywhere he went. Since the imperial family background is so useful, why doesn't Liu Bei claim to be the descendant of the more famous emperors such as Emperor Jing of Han and Emperor Gaozu of Han? Wouldn't that be better?
The Northern Song Dynasty historian Liu Shu recorded in the Tongjian Waiji: "Those whose surnames are derived from their ancestors; those whose clans are not divided by their descendants." "The succession to the throne is in the backbone of the emperor's line, and the princes and kings are divided into branches, and the inheritance is still in the branch, which cannot be confused.
▲Liu Bei Huiling photo
According to the records in the Zhou Li, even if Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, was the ancestor of the entire Han Dynasty, Liu Bei could not violate the etiquette law and claim to be a descendant of Han Gaozu, and could only claim that Liu Sheng, the first person to be crowned in his own branch, was his ancestor. Only an orthodox emperor who inherits the throne can call the former emperor his ancestor, and Liu Bei is not qualified for this. And he thought that he was a descendant of Liu Sheng, the King of Zhongshan Jing, which was not easy to verify, but also allowed people to recognize his background, which was really the best choice at that time.
▲ Liu Bei called the emperor stills
In the first year of Zhang Wu (221 AD), Liu Bei declared himself emperor in Chengdu and established the Shu Han Dynasty. As the founding emperor of the Shu Han Dynasty, according to the Zhou Li, Liu Bei is qualified to posthumously recognize Liu Bang as his ancestor this time. Therefore, in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", when Liu Beicheng became emperor, there is no description of him after he claimed to be the King of Zhongshan Jing. After all, an orthodox emperor also believes that it is not proper etiquette for a branch to be ancestors. In the third year of Zhang Wu (223 AD), Liu Bei died of illness, and his nickname was Emperor Zhaolie, and later he was called Emperor Zhaolie of Han.
Interestingly, Liu Bei's early introduction to himself after being the King of Zhongshan Jing was really too much, and this identity was simply deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In any case, mentioning Liu Bei will always remind him that he is a descendant of Liu Sheng. Liu Bei originally wanted to rub the name of king Jing of Zhongshan, but instead brought Liu Sheng to fire, which was really unpredictable. In this regard, experts said that if they come out to mix, they will pay back, and there is no free food in the world.
epilogue
The anime "Fullmetal Alchemist" has a passage at the beginning: "Without sacrifice, there is no gain, and if you want to get something, you must pay the same price." Just as Liu Bei borrowed the fame of King Jing of Zhongshan, he was also borrowed by King Jing of Zhongshan. Getting and giving has always been an equal exchange, don't want empty gloves white wolves, wolves also want to eat.
Resources
"Cutting the Clan Strategy"
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The Biography of the Fifty-Three Kings of the Book of Han
Historia