Liu Chengyou

Liu Chengyou (劉承祐) (28 March 931^[1] – 2 January 951^[2]), also known by his posthumous name Emperor Yin (隱皇帝), was the 2nd and final emperor of imperial China's short-lived Later Han Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, reigning from 948 until his death.

Liu Chengyou was only 16 years old when he succeeded his father Liu Zhiyuan who died suddenly. His reign was marked by arbitrary killing of his important ministers, and it eventually led to his downfall. When he killed the entire family of general Guo Wei in 951, Guo's army attacked the capital, and Liu Chengyou was killed by another inferior in a desperate attempt to escape.

Becoming the emperor

Liu Chengyou was the second son of Liu Zhiyuan,^[1] about 9 years younger than his elder brother Liu Chengxun (劉承訓).^[3] In 947, when Liu Zhiyuan founded the Later Han Dynasty and named himself the emperor, Liu Chengxun was the heir apparent. However, Liu Chengxun died suddenly in January 948, leaving the aging emperor grief-stricken to the point that he also fell gravely ill a few weeks later. At his death bed, Liu Zhiyuan summoned his trusted ministers Su Fengji (蘇逢吉), Yang Bin (楊邠), Shi Hongzhao (史弘肇) and Guo Wei, asking them to help 16-year-old Liu Chengyou, clearly the new crown prince now, after his death.^[4]

The old emperor died on 10 March 948, but the senior ministers did not disclose the news until they used a made-up imperial decree to kill another minister Du Chongwei (杜重威) in the absence of any emperor to check their actions. Liu Chengyou did not ascend the throne until 4 days after his father's death. He was only 16 and cared little about traditions. As an example, his given name Chengyou shared a character with his father's era name Qianyou (乾祐), so naturally either one ought to be changed due to naming taboo, but nothing was done.

He sometimes played games with Guo Yunming (郭允明), Hou Zan (後贊) and Li Ye (李業) in the palace. His mother Empress Dowager Li (李太后) repeatedly admonished him, but he countered by saying: "Affairs of empire reside with the outer court, which the Dowager has no right to address!" Zhang Zhao (張昭), the chamberlain for ceremonies (太常卿), overheard this exchange and submitted a memorial suggesting the emperor listen to the "erudite" and "upright", but this warning was also ignored.^[5]

Li Shouzhen's rebellion

Guo Wei's rebellion

Family

Ancestry

References

Sources

• Mote, F.W. (1999). Imperial China: (900-1800). Harvard University Press. p. 13. 
• (Chinese) Xue Juzheng et al., ed. (974). Wudai Shi (五代史) [History of the Five Dynasties]. 
• (Chinese) Ouyang Xiu (1073). Wudai Shiji (五代史記) [Historical Records of the Five Dynasties]. 
• (Chinese) Sima Guang (1086). Zizhi Tongjian (資治通鑑) [Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government].