Liu Xie 劉協

Since Chen Shou's Records contain no biography of Liu Xie, this section gathers in chronological order the records that refer to him as "the Son of Heaven," "the Emperor," "the Emperor of Han" or "the Duke of Shanyang" in the Annals of Emperor Wu, the Annals of Emperor Wen, the Annals of Emperor Ming, the biography of Dong Zhuo and elsewhere. After Emperor Ling died, Dong Zhuo, who had entered the capital, deposed Emperor Shao, making him Prince of Hongnong, and soon afterward killed the Prince of Hongnong and Empress He; he set up Emperor Ling's young son, the Prince of Chenliu, who became Emperor Xian. The Annals of Emperor Wu record that year as the 6th year of Zhongping (189). Records, Wei 6 §8Records, Wei 1 §5–6

In the 1st year of Chuping (190), when armies rose east of the passes to attack Dong Zhuo, in the 2nd month Dong Zhuo moved the Son of Heaven and made Chang'an the capital. Yuan Shao and Han Fu, saying that the young emperor was controlled by treacherous ministers, sought to set up Liu Yu, Governor of You Province, as emperor, but Liu Yu would not accept. The Son of Heaven in Chang'an wished to return east, and had Liu Yu's son Liu He, who was serving as Palace Attendant (shizhong), pretend to flee from Dong Zhuo, slip out through the Wu Pass and tell Liu Yu to come with troops to meet him. But Yuan Shu detained Liu He. Records, Wei 6 §11Records, Wei 1 §8Records, Wei 8 §9–10

In the 4th month of the 3rd year of Chuping (192), when the Son of Heaven, having just recovered from an illness, held a great assembly in the Weiyang Hall, Lü Bu, carrying an imperial edict, killed Dong Zhuo. But Dong Zhuo's generals Li Jue, Guo Si and others took Chang'an and seized control of the court's affairs. Later, when Li Jue and Guo Si came to suspect each other and fought in Chang'an, Li Jue held the Son of Heaven hostage in his own camp, burned the palaces and city gates, and took the emperor's carriages and garments into his own house. Records, Wei 6 §16 · 20–21 · 24

When Zhang Ji came from Shan County and reconciled the two, the Son of Heaven was at last able to get away and reached the area between Xinfeng and Baling, but Guo Si again tried to coerce him into going back to make his capital at Mei. The Son of Heaven fled to Yang Feng's camp, and Yang Feng and Dong Cheng escorted him toward Luoyang. When Li Jue and Guo Si caught up with them at Caoyang in Hongnong and killed the high ministers and the hundred officials, the Son of Heaven fled to Shan County and crossed the Yellow River northward; having lost the baggage train, he went on foot, with only the empress and the Honored Ladies following him. After stopping in a commoner's house at Dayang, he made his capital at Anyi, where he rode in an ox cart and the officials attending him ate jujubes and wild greens. Records, Wei 6 §25–27

Yang Feng, Han Xian and Dong Cheng escorted the Son of Heaven back to Luoyang, but the palaces had all burned down and the streets lay in ruin; officials from the Gentlemen of the Secretariat downward went out themselves to gather firewood and pick wild greens, and some starved to death among the walls. In the 1st year of Jian'an (196), when Cao Cao reached Luoyang and guarded the capital, the Son of Heaven lent him the tally and axe (jieyue) and put him in charge of the affairs of the Secretariat (lu shangshu shi), and in the 9th month the imperial carriage moved to Xu. The Annals of Emperor Wu record that at this point the institutions of the ancestral temples and the altars of state were for the first time established at a court that had grown more disordered by the day since the Son of Heaven moved west. Records, Wei 6 §28Records, Wei 1 §38–39

In the 1st month of the 5th year of Jian'an (200), the plot of Dong Cheng and others leaked out, and all of them were executed. According to the Biography of the First Sovereign, Dong Cheng, saying that he had received a secret edict hidden in the emperor's sash, declared that Cao Cao must be put to death. In the 5th month of the 18th year of Jian'an (213), in the patent appointing Cao Cao Duke of Wei, the Son of Heaven said that in his youth he had met with calamity and turmoil, drifted in the western lands and moved to the old lands of Tang and Wei, in peril like tassels dangling from a banner. In the 7th month of that year he took three of Cao Cao's daughters as Honored Ladies (guiren). Records, Wei 1 §58 · 120–121 · 134Records, Shu 2 §15

In the 11th month of the 19th year of Jian'an (214), it came to light that Empress Fu had earlier sent her father Fu Wan a letter saying that the emperor resented Cao Cao over the execution of Dong Cheng; the empress was deposed and died, and her brothers were all executed. In the 1st month of the 20th year of Jian'an (215) the Son of Heaven made Cao Cao's middle daughter empress, and in the 5th month of the 21st year of Jian'an (216) he raised Cao Cao's rank, making him King of Wei. Records, Wei 1 §136 · 142 · 145 · 154

In the winter of the 1st year of Yankang (220), the Emperor of Han, declaring that the hopes of the multitude lay with Wei, summoned the high ministers, reported to the ancestral temple of Gaozu, and had Zhang Yin, acting Imperial Counsellor, present the imperial seal and ribbons and hand over the throne to Cao Pi, King of Wei. In the patent of abdication he said that the way of Han had gradually declined, that in his own time it had fallen into great chaos and the realm had been overturned, and that he was following the precedent of Yao yielding the throne to Shun. In the 11th month of the 1st year of Huangchu (220), Cao Pi enfeoffed him as Duke of Shanyang with 10,000 households of the town of Shanyang in Henei Commandery, allowing him to use the Han calendar (zhengshuo), to perform the suburban sacrifices with the rites of the Son of Heaven, and not to call himself a subject when submitting documents, and enfeoffed his four sons as marquises. The Duke of Shanyang presented two daughters to Wei as consorts. Records, Wei 2 §12–17Records, Wei 5 §20

The Biography of the First Sovereign records that in this year, when a rumor spread that the Emperor of Han had been killed, Liu Bei announced mourning, put on mourning dress and conferred on him the posthumous title Emperor Xiaomin. But the Duke of Shanyang died on the gengyin day of the 3rd month of the 2nd year of Qinglong (234). Emperor Ming put on white mourning and grieved for him, sent an envoy to take charge of the funeral, posthumously titled him Emperor Xiaoxian of Han, and buried him with the rites of Han. Wang Su said in a memorial that Wei had generously honored the Duke of Shanyang and had not treated him as a subject, and that when he died, the rules for his encoffining and the adornments of his hearse were all the same as for a sovereign. Records, Shu 2 §55Records, Wei 3 §35Records, Wei 13 §77–78