Liu Xuan 劉璿

Liu Xuan, Crown Prince of the Later Sovereign, had the courtesy name Wenheng. His mother, Honored Lady Wang, had originally been a maid of Empress Jing'ai. In the 1st month of spring in the 1st year of Yanxi (238), the Later Sovereign installed Empress Zhang, proclaimed a general amnesty and changed the era name, and made his son Liu Xuan Crown Prince and his son Liu Yao Prince of Anding. Records, Shu 4 §24Records, Shu 3 §19

The decree of appointment said that since ancient times emperors and kings had established an heir to continue the line and to stand second in the succession of the state, and it made Liu Xuan Crown Prince, sending Xiang Lang, General of the Left acting as Chancellor, bearing the tally of authority, to confer the seal and ribbon on him. It then charged him to strive to cultivate his fine nature, to observe the Way and righteousness with reverence, to inquire into and learn the rites and canons, and to respect and befriend his tutors so as to perfect his virtue. Liu Xuan was then fifteen years old. Records, Shu 4 §24–25

When the Later Sovereign established the Crown Prince, Li Zhuan became his Cadet and was then moved to Supervisor (puye), and even after being transferred to Palace Grandee (zhongsan dafu) and General of the Household of the Right, he still attended the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince valued his wide learning and was very fond of him, but Li Zhuan was frivolous in bearing and fond of jests and banter, so the world did not hold him in high regard. Qiao Zhou too became Coachman of the Crown Prince and was then moved to Household Steward, and even after becoming Palace Grandee he attended the Crown Prince. Records, Shu 12 §47 · 53 · 60

Huo Yi became Inner Cadet (zhong shuzi) to the Crown Prince Liu Xuan. Liu Xuan loved riding and archery and came and went without restraint, and Chen Shou wrote that Huo Yi, drawing on the principles of antiquity and admonishing him without holding back, fully achieved the spirit of mutual polishing and refinement. Records, Shu 11 §6

Meng Guang asked Xi Zheng what the Crown Prince studied and read and what his temperament and tastes were. Xi Zheng answered that the Crown Prince served his parents with reverence and respect, never slackening day or night, so that he had the bearing of the heirs of old, and that his conduct toward the officials sprang from benevolence and forbearance. When Meng Guang said that such things were found in every household and asked about his strategic sense and wits, Xi Zheng said that the way of an heir lay in carrying out his father's will and giving him every joy, and that whether he had wit and strategy could not be determined in advance. Meng Guang said that since the realm was not yet settled, wit came first, and that the heir's reading should not be like an academician drawing questions for an oral examination, but should attend to what was urgent. Xi Zheng deeply agreed with him. Records, Shu 12 §35–37

The eldest daughter of Fei Yi was married to the Crown Prince Liu Xuan and became his consort. Records, Shu 14 §27

Shu fell in the winter of the 6th year of Jingyao (263). In the 1st month of the 1st year of Xianxi (264), when Zhong Hui raised a revolt in Chengdu, Liu Xuan was killed by mutinous soldiers. Records, Shu 4 §25

In his assessment for the Biographies of the Consorts and Sons of the Two Rulers (Records of Shu 4), Chen Shou wrote only that, since the Book of Changes says there are husband and wife before there are father and son, nothing ranks above this as the beginning of human relations, and that he recorded these lives in order to examine the structure of a state. He did not assess the Crown Prince Liu Xuan separately. Records, Shu 4 §27