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Overview Names Identity Roles Life and dates Family Career and standing Places and affiliations Learning and skills Events and relationships Assessments and attributes References in the histories
Overview The translated histories identify Liu Yan as an administrator, aristocrat, official, and ruler. This record brings together 42 passages from 3 chapters across 2 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.
Names Type English Chinese Pinyin
Personal
Liu Yan
刘焉
Liu Yan
Courtesy name
Junlang
君郎
Junlang
Surname
Liu
劉
Surname
Liu
劉
Liú
Personal name
Liu Yan
劉焉
Liu Yan
Personal name
Liu Yan
劉焉
Liú Yān
Given
Yan
焉
Given
Yan
焉
Yān
Identity
Historicity Historical
Identification Named
Sex Male Roles Administrator Aristocrat Official Ruler Warlord Life and dates Death Attested activity Source Date: Text: 入蜀時Western Year: AD 194
Source Date: Text: 劉焉聞董扶之辭則心存益土Western Year: AD 188
Source Date: Text: 求出为益州牧（去后一岁帝崩之前一年）Western Year: AD 188
Source Date: Text: 灵帝时Western Interval: Start: AD 168End: AD 189
Source Date: Text: 興平元年Western Year: AD 194
Source Date: Text: 章帝元和中Western Interval: Start: AD 84End: AD 87
Family
Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.
Descendant of Prince Gong of Lu (魯恭王) Kinship Term: descendant / 之後裔Line: paternal
Parent of Liu Fan (劉範) Kinship Term: son / 子Parentage: biologicalSubject Role: fatherObject Role: son
Parent of Liu Zhang (劉璋) Kinship Term: son / 子Parentage: biologicalSubject Role: fatherObject Role: son
Parent of Liu Mao (劉瑁) Kinship Term: son / 子Parentage: biologicalSubject Role: fatherObject Role: son
Parent of Liu Dan (劉誕) Kinship Term: son / 子Parentage: biologicalSubject Role: fatherObject Role: son
Parent of Liu Mao (劉瑁) Kinship Term: son / 子Parentage: biologicalSubject Role: fatherObject Role: son
Spouse of Wu-clan wife of Liu Yan (吳氏) Kinship Term: Wu-clan wife / 吳氏Union Category: marriageSubject Role: wifeObject Role: husbandRelationship State: formed
Career and standing Label: gentleman of the palace / 中郎Action: appointed
Label: governor of Yizhou / 益州牧Action: appointed
Label: Minister of Ceremonies / 太常Action: heldDate Context: Source Date: Text: 灵帝时Western Interval: Start: AD 168End: AD 189
Label: Shepherd of Yi Province / 益州牧Action: sought and obtainedJurisdiction: Yi province / 益州Date Context: Source Date: Text: 求出为益州牧（去后一岁帝崩之前一年）Western Year: AD 188
Title: Marquis of Yangcheng / 陽城侯Action: enfeoffed
Places and affiliations Place: Jingling, Jiangxia / 江夏竟陵
Place: Shu / 蜀Relation: moved-toDescription: entered Shu together with Dong FuDate Context: Source Date: Text: 求出为益州牧（去后一岁帝崩之前一年）Western Year: AD 188
Place: Chengdu / 成都Relation: moved-seat-toDate Context: Source Date: Text: 興平元年Western Year: AD 194
Place: Yi territory / 益土Relation: aspired-to
Learning and skills Belief: Dong Fu's prophecy about the imperial aura over Yi province / 益州分野有天子气 ·
Relation: believed ·
Source Person Id: Dong Fu (董扶) Events and relationships Kind: military ·
Role: commander ·
Action: killed ·
Other Person Id: Ren Qi (任岐) Kind: politicalRole: appointeeAction: sent-asLabel: supervisory army envoy and Yizhou governor / 監軍使者領益州牧
Kind: politicalRole: actorAction: set ambition on Yi after Dong Fu's words; sought Wu marriage; made imperial carriages and robes; plotted to seize the sacred vesselsDate Context: Source Date: Text: 劉焉聞董扶之辭則心存益土Western Year: AD 188
Kind: political ·
Role: recipient of a prophecy ·
Other Person Id: Dong Fu (董扶) ·
Action: was privately told by Dong Fu that the capital would fall into chaos and that Yi province held the aura of a Son of Heaven ·
Date Context: Source Date: Text: 灵帝时Western Interval: Start: AD 168End: AD 189Assessments and attributes References in the histories Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.
Book of Later Han, Chapter 93 Volume 82b: Biographies of Alchemists 2 · 2 passages
Records of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 31 Volume 31: Book of Shu 1: Biographies of the Two Governor Lius · 37 passages
劉焉字君郎，江夏竟陵人也，漢魯恭王之後裔，章帝元和中徙封竟陵，支庶家焉。
Liu Yan, courtesy name Junlang, came from Jingling in Jiangxia. His line descended from Han Prince Gong of Lu; during Emperor Zhang’s Yuanhe reign the fief was reassigned to Jingling, where a younger branch of the house made its home.
焉少仕州郡，以宗室拜中郎，後以師祝公喪去官。
As a young man Liu Yan held posts in local government; his status as imperial clansman won him appointment as a gentleman of the palace. He later resigned to observe mourning for his teacher, Duke Zhu.
焉睹靈帝政治衰缺，王室多故，乃建議言：「刺史、太守，貨賂為官，割剝百姓，以致離叛。
Seeing Emperor Ling’s government falter and the house of Han beset by crisis, Liu Yan proposed: “Prefectural inspectors and grand administrators are buying their posts; they bleed the people until the realm splinters into revolt.
焉內求交阯牧，欲避世難。
Behind the scenes he angled for the governorship of Jiaozhi, hoping to sit out the gathering storm.
議未即行，侍中廣漢董扶私謂焉曰：「京師將亂，益州分野有天子氣。」
Before the plan could take effect, Palace Attendant Dong Fu of Guanghan took him aside: “Luoyang is heading for turmoil, and the stars over Yizhou show the aura of an emperor.”
焉聞扶言，意更在益州。
Those words fixed his mind on Yizhou more firmly than ever.
龍乃選吏卒迎焉。
Jia Long then picked officers and troops to escort Liu Yan in.
焉徙治綿竹，撫納離叛，務行寬惠，陰圖異計。
Liu Yan shifted his seat to Mianzhu, offering refuge to deserters and rebels while preaching mercy—yet all the while he nursed designs of his own.
張魯母始以鬼道，又有少容，常往來焉家，故焉遣魯為督義司馬，住漢中，斷絕谷閣，殺害漢使。
Zhang Lu’s mother practiced spirit mediumship and still looked young; she was a frequent guest in Liu Yan’s house, so Yan appointed Zhang Lu marshal of righteous command and posted him in Hanzhong. Zhang Lu sealed the mountain defiles and murdered imperial messengers.
焉上書言米賊斷道，不得複通，又託他事殺州中豪強王咸、李權等十馀人，以立威刑。
Liu Yan memorialized that “rice-bandit” cultists had severed the roads and cut him off from court, then used other excuses to execute a dozen leading local families—Wang Xian and Li Quan among them—to cow the gentry.
犍為太守任岐及賈龍由此反攻焉，焉擊殺岐、龍。
Ren Qi, grand administrator of Qianwei, and Jia Long then turned their arms on Liu Yan; Yan defeated them and put both men to death.
〈《英雄記》曰：劉焉起兵，不與天下討董卓，保州自守。
〈The Record of Heroes states: Liu Yan mobilized his forces but refused to march with the coalition against Dong Zhuo, holding Yizhou for himself.
犍為太守任岐自稱將軍，與從事陳超舉兵擊焉，焉擊破之。
Ren Qi of Qianwei declared himself a general and, with Clerk Chen Chao, marched against Liu Yan; Yan shattered their army.
董卓使司徒趙謙將兵向州，說校尉賈龍，使引兵還擊焉，焉出青羌與戰，故能破殺。
Dong Zhuo dispatched Minister Zhao Qian against the province and won over Colonel Jia Long, turning him against Liu Yan. Yan answered with Qingqiang auxiliaries and so crushed the attack.
而并州殺刺史張壹，涼州殺刺史耿鄙，焉謀得施。
When Bing Province slew Inspector Zhang Yi and Liang slew Inspector Geng Bi, Liu Yan’s scheme could finally move forward.
《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.
《漢靈帝紀》曰：帝引見焉，宣示方略，加以賞賜，敕焉為益州刺史。
The Annals of Emperor Ling record that the emperor received Liu Yan in audience, laid out his plans, rewarded him, and appointed him inspector of Yizhou.
前刺史劉雋、郤儉皆貪殘放濫，取受狼籍，元元無聊，呼嗟充野，焉到便收攝行法，以示萬姓，勿令漏露，使癰疽決潰，為國生梗。
His predecessors Liu Juan and Xi Jian had been rapacious and lawless, their extortion so rampant that the people were destitute and the countryside rang with lament. Yan was to arrest them at once, enforce the law before the people, and drain the abscess before it festered into a national crisis.
焉受命而行，以道路不通，住荊州東界。
Liu Yan set out on his commission but, with the roads blocked, halted on Jing Province’s eastern frontier.
巴西趙韙去官，俱隨焉。
Zhao Wei of Baxi, director of the Imperial Granary, resigned his post, and both men went with Liu Yan.
焉意漸盛，造作乘輿車具千馀乘。
Liu Yan’s ambitions swelled until he was building over a thousand sets of imperial carriage fittings.
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.
時焉子範為左中郎將，誕治書御史，璋為奉車都尉，皆從獻帝在長安，
His sons held court rank in Chang’an with Emperor Xian: Fan as left general of the gentlemen of the palace, Dan as imperial clerk censor, Zhang as commandant for the imperial chariot,
父焉為益州牧，董卓所徵發，皆不至。
He learned that his father was governor of Yizhou and that none of Dong Zhuo’s summons had been obeyed.
子別部司馬瑁素隨焉。
The youngest, Mao, a major of a separate division, had stayed with his father in the west.
獻帝使璋曉諭焉，焉留璋不遣。
The emperor sent Liu Zhang west to reason with his father; Liu Yan kept him and never let him return.
焉託疾召璋，璋自表省焉，焉遂留璋不還。〉
Liu Yan feigned illness to summon him; Zhang asked leave to visit his father—and never came back to court.
時征西將軍馬騰屯郿而反，焉及範與騰通謀，引兵襲長安。
When Ma Teng, general who conquers the west, rose in rebellion from his camp at Mei, Liu Yan and Liu Fan conspired with him to strike Chang’an.
〈《英雄記》曰：範從長安亡之馬騰營，從焉求兵。
〈The Record of Heroes says: Fan slipped out of Chang’an to Ma Teng’s camp and begged his father for reinforcements.
焉使校尉孫肇將兵往助之，敗於長安。〉
Liu Yan sent Colonel Sun Zhao with troops; they were routed before Chang’an.
議郎河南龐羲與焉通家，乃募將焉諸孫入蜀。
Pang Xi of Henan, a gentleman-adviser who was tied to the Liu family by marriage, raised men and shepherded Liu Yan’s grandsons to safety in Shu.
時焉被天火燒城，車具蕩盡，延及民家。
Heaven-sent fire then consumed his city, devouring the carriage stockpiles and spreading into the commoners’ quarters.
焉徙治成都，既痛其子，又感祅災，興平元年，癰疽發背而卒。
He moved his government to Chengdu. Grief for his executed sons and shock at these portents broke him; in the first year of Xingping a carbuncle on his back killed him.
〈《英雄記》曰：焉死，子璋代為刺史。
〈The Record of Heroes adds: When Liu Yan died, his son Liu Zhang succeeded as inspector.
璋字季玉，既襲焉位，而張魯稍驕恣，不承順璋，璋殺魯母及弟，遂為讎敵。
Liu Zhang, courtesy Jiyu, inherited his father’s post. Zhang Lu grew insolent and defied him, so Liu Zhang executed Lu’s mother and brother, and the two became bitter enemies.
而劉焉聞董扶之辭則心存益土，聽相者之言則求婚吳氏，遽造輿服，圖竊神器，其惑甚矣。
Liu Yan took Dong Fu’s talk to heart and fixed his ambition on Yizhou, listened to a physiognomist and wed the Wu family, rushed out imperial-style carriages and robes, and angled for the throne—folly in its purest form.
Records of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 34 Volume 34: Book of Shu 4: Biographies of Concubines and Sons of the Two Lords · 3 passages