Liu Yan (劉龑) | 24 Histories

Overview

Liu Yan was a ruler.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal name	Zhi	陟	Zhi
Changed name	Gong	龔	Gong

Life and dates

Death

AD 942 晉天福七年
died 卒
Dated from the passage context · History of Song 481, passage 15

Attested activity

AD 911 to AD 942 隱卒…晉天福七年
Dated from the passage context · History of Song 481, passages 11-12, 15

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Child of Liu Qian (劉謙)
father 父
Strongly inferred · History of Song 481, passages 4, 11
Parent of Liu Sheng (劉晟)
father 父
Strongly inferred · History of Song 481, passage 15
Parent of Liu Bin (劉玢)
son 子
Directly stated · History of Song 481, passage 15
Sibling of Liu Yin (劉隱)
younger brother 弟 · Full siblings
Directly stated · History of Song 481, passage 11

Career and standing

Succeeded brother
Directly stated · History of Song 481, passage 11

Places and affiliations

Polity Southern Han / Great Han 大漢 · Relation Ruled
Directly stated · History of Song 481, passage 12

Events and relationships

Performed suburban sacrifices
AD 917 貞明三年 · Ritual · Sovereign
Dated from the passage context · History of Song 481, passage 12
Took imperial title named Great Han era Qianheng
AD 917 貞明三年 · Political · Claimant
Dated from the passage context · History of Song 481, passage 12

Assessments and attributes

Assessment favored eunuchs though limited their number and rank · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · History of Song 481, passage 25

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · History of Song 481, passage 11
Favored eunuchs numbering barely over 300; ranks not above palace bureau chiefs and assistants
Directly stated · History of Song 481, passage 25
Invented the character 龑, pronounced yan; absent from dictionaries
Directly stated · History of Song 481, passage 14
From Gong 龔 · To Yan 龑
Directly stated · History of Song 481, passages 13-14
From Yan 岩 · To Gong 龔
Directly stated · History of Song 481, passage 13
From Zhi 陟 · To Yan 岩
Directly stated · History of Song 481, passage 13

References in the histories

History of Song, Chapter 481Volume 481 Biographies 240: Hereditary Houses 4: Southern Han and Liu Clans Liu Chang (Gong Chengshu, Li Tuo, Xue Chongyu, Pan Chongche) · 4 passages

Open chapter

隱卒，弟陟襲位。 After Yin died, his younger brother Zhi took the throne.

改名岩，又改龔，終改龑。 He changed his name first to Yan, then to Gong, and at last to a character of his own devising.

「龑」讀為「儼」，字書不載，蓋其妄作也。 The character 龑 was pronounced "yan," like the ordinary graph for that sound; it appears in no dictionary and was plainly his own fabrication.

初，龑雖寵任中官，其數裁三百餘，位不過掖庭諸局令丞。 At first, even though that ruler favored eunuchs, their number was barely three hundred, and none rose above the chiefs and assistants of the palace bureaus.