Liu Biao (刘表) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Liu Biao as an administrator, family member, official, and ruler. This record brings together 11 passages from 4 chapters across 3 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Liu Biao	刘表	Liú Biǎo
Given	Biao	表	Biǎo
Courtesy	Jingsheng	景升	Jingsheng
Surname	Liu	劉	Liu
Surname	Liu	劉	Liú
Personal	Liu Biao	劉表	Liu Biao
Personal name	Liu Biao	劉表
Personal name	Liu Biao	劉表	Liú Biǎo

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Explicit · houhanshu:113:s0152, jiuwudaishi:017:s0230, sanguozhi:031:s0128, sanguozhi:063:s0008
Sex: male
Strongly inferred · sanguozhi:031:s0132, sanguozhi:031:s0135

Roles

Administrator
Family Member
Official
Ruler
Warlord

Life and dates

Death

Manner: died / 卒 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 建安十三年秋 · Western Year: AD 208
Explicit · houhanshu:113:s0153
Date Context: Source Date: Text: 明年戊子 · Western Year: AD 208
Explicit · sanguozhi:063:s0008, sanguozhi:063:s0013

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 出為監軍使者，領益州牧 · Western Year: AD 188
Explicit event contextual date · sanguozhi:031:s0132
Western Interval: Start: AD 190 · End: AD 208 · Source Date: Text: 劉景升
Explicit event contextual date · jiuwudaishi:017:s0230
Source Date: Text: 建安十二年十月 · Western Year: AD 207
Explicit event contextual date · houhanshu:113:s0151, houhanshu:113:s0152
Source Date: Text: 明年戊子 · Western Year: AD 208
Explicit · sanguozhi:063:s0008, sanguozhi:063:s0013
Source Date: Text: 明年秋 · Western Year: AD 208
Explicit event contextual date · houhanshu:113:s0153
Source Date: Text: 興平元年 · Western Year: AD 194
Explicit event contextual date · sanguozhi:031:s0049
Source Date: Text: 說劉表 · Western Year: AD 200
Explicit · sanguozhi:031:s0128
Source Date: Text: 靈帝崩 · Western Year: AD 189
Explicit event contextual date · sanguozhi:031:s0135

Family

Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.

Parent of Liu Cong (刘琮)
Kinship Term: young son / 小子 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son
Kinship Term: young son / 小子 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: son · Object Role: father

Kinship Role: sons · Statement: Liu Jingsheng's sons / 劉景升之子 · Quantity: plural
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0230

Career and standing

Label: shepherd of Jingzhou / 荆州牧 · Action: held
Explicit · houhanshu:113:s0152

Places and affiliations

Label: Later Han / 後漢 · Relation: active-in
Explicit · houhanshu:113:s0152
Polity: Jingzhou / 荊州 · Relation: ruled
Explicit · sanguozhi:063:s0008

Works and attributed material

Kind: prediction · Role: subject · Speaker Person Id: Zhou Qun (周群) · Quoted: false
Explicit · houhanshu:113:s0152

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: his sons invoked as a type for lords who could not sustain their inheritance · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · jiuwudaishi:017:s0230

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 113Volume 102: Astronomy Part Three · 2 passages

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荆州分也，时荆州牧刘表据荆州，益州从事周群以为荆州牧将死而失土。 That sector maps Jingzhou, then held by Liu Biao; Zhou Qun of Yizhou read the sign as Biao’s death and the loss of his province.

明年秋，表卒，以小子琮自代。 The following autumn Liu Biao died, leaving his young son Cong as heir.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 17Volume 17 Book of Later Liang 17: Biographies 7: Cheng Rui, Du Hong, Tian Yun, Zhao Kuangning, Zhang Ji, Lei Man · 1 passage

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匡凝一門昆仲，千里江山，失守藩垣，不克負荷，斯乃劉景升之子之徒歟！ The Kuangning brothers held a thousand li yet lost their domain and could not sustain it—were they not Liu Biao's sons reborn?

Records of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 31Volume 31: Book of Shu 1: Biographies of the Two Governor Lius · 6 passages

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《續漢書》曰：是時用劉虞為幽州，劉焉為益州，劉表為荊州，賈琮為冀州。 The Continuation of the Book of Han records that Liu Yu was made governor of You, Liu Yan of Yizhou, Liu Biao of Jing, and Jia Cong of Ji.

臣松之按：靈帝崩後，義軍起，孫堅殺荊州刺史王叡，然後劉表為荊州，不與焉同時也。 Pei Songzhi remarks: After Emperor Ling died and the loyalist armies rose, Sun Jian killed Jing inspector Wang Rui; Liu Biao’s appointment to Jing came only afterward and was not contemporaneous with Liu Yan’s.

荊州牧劉表表上焉有似子夏在西河疑聖人之論。 Governor Liu Biao of Jing memorialized the throne, likening Liu Yan to Zixia west of the River—whose teaching had led men to doubt Confucius himself.

州大吏趙韙等貪璋溫仁，共上璋為益州刺史，詔書因以為監軍使者，領益州牧，以韙為征東中郎將，率眾擊劉表。 Senior officers led by Zhao Wei, liking Liu Zhang’s mild temper, jointly nominated him inspector of Yizhou. The court named him military overseer and governor of the province, appointed Zhao Wei general of the east who expands might, and ordered him to campaign against Liu Biao.

荊州別駕劉闔，璋將沈彌、婁發、甘寧反，擊璋不勝，走入荊州。 Liu He, chief clerk on Liu Biao’s staff, with Liu Zhang’s officers Shen Mi, Lou Fa, and Gan Ning rose against their master, failed, and bolted into Jingzhou.

劉先之說劉表，退不告絕奔亡，若陳平、韓信之去項羽，而兩端攜貳，為謀不忠，罪之次也。〉〔Liu Xian〕 in counseling Liu Biao, or on retreating failed to announce a clean break before fleeing, as Chen Ping and Han Xin had done when they left Xiang Yu—yet they played both sides; such disloyal scheming is the lesser crime.

Records of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 63Volume 63: Book of Wu 18: Biographies of Wu Fan, Liu Dun, and Zhao Da · 2 passages

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明年戊子，荊州劉表亦身死國亡。” Next year falls under wuzi—Liu Biao of Jingzhou will die and his domain collapse.”

劉表竟死，荊州分割。 Liu Biao died on schedule and Jingzhou was partitioned.