Liu Chang (Southern Han)

Liu Chang (Chinese: 劉鋹; 942–980), originally Liu Jixing (劉繼興), was the fourth, last and youngest Chinese emperor of Southern Han during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, reigning from 958 until his country was annexed by the Song dynasty in 971.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Liu.
Liu Chang
劉鋹
4th and last emperor of Southern Han
Reign958–972
PredecessorLiu Sheng (劉晟), father
Born942
Died980
Issue4 sons
Full name
Surname: Liú (劉)
Given name: Jìxīng (繼興), later changed to Chǎng (鋹)
Era dates
Dàbǎo (大寶) 958-972
Liu Chang
Traditional Chinese劉鋹
Simplified Chinese刘鋹

Life

He succeeded his father Liu Sheng because he was the eldest son. He only left eunuchs in power in his court and mandated castration for anyone who he wanted to work for his court because he believed people with children could not be completely loyal.[1] When Liu Chang became Emperor he was only a "mere youth".[2]

Reign

Liu became Emperor when he was sixteen years old. Historical records report that Liu Chang spent so much time with his harem that he abandoned government affairs.[3][4] His most favorite concubine was one young Persian girl he called Mèi Zhū (媚豬).[5] The "History of Five dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" described the Persian woman as having copper colored skin and large eyes. It was told that she loved pearls so Liu Chang ordered fishermen to dive to find thousands of pearls for his Persian lover Mei Zhu. Many of the fishermen died. He gave her a pearl dudou, pearl crowns, pearl blouses, and pearl skirts. He also used pearls and silver to renovate his palaces.[6]

The historical text Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms recorded that Liu Chang indulged in sex games. He had alchemists create aphrodisiacs to induce sexual desire as pregame warmup. One of his games was called "Naked in Twos" (大體雙) in which he paired young men with palace women, made them strip naked and have sex together while he and his Persian lover were carried around to watch them.[7] Liu and Mei Zhu then decided whether the man or woman "won". If the man "defeated" the woman, both were rewarded, but if the woman won and defeated the man, Liu had the man castrated.[8][9]

Liu had sex all day and night and his body was physically unable to bear it, so he started to learn Jianyang techniques (健阳法) to invigorate his "yang" male energy (Jianyang involves increasing sexual desire and delaying ejaculation and orgasm, also see Taoist sexual practices).[10][11] The Historical Records of the Five Dynasties says that Liu Chang spent all his time in the harem, and that he never came out to handle governance work, leaving it to Kong Chengshu and the eunuchs to take over government business.[12] The naked orgies he had were similar to those his uncle Liu Bin had.

Graphic descriptions of what the Persian woman and Liu Chang did together were recorded in Qingyilu written by Tao Gu.[13] The Yanyibian (豔異編) gives the same account as the Qingyilu. They mention a hall installed in his palace called "Hou chuang jian" (候窗監)[14][15][16][17] where he indulged himself with her.[18]

The fact that Liu Chang's harem had Persian girls is seen as evidence for the existence of a Persian community in southern China during this time.[2][19][20] There was a thriving Persian community in Guangzhou during the 10th-12th centuries.[21][22][23][24] The Persians in Guangzhou were called either Bosi 波斯 (Parsi) or Pusaman (菩萨蛮 "Bussulman") meaning "Muslim" in Persian.[25][26][27][28][29]

Liu Chang also employed women shamans.[30] He is also known to have held the "Red Cloud Banquet", a festival for the litchi fruit.[2]

During the same era, another young Chinese Emperor Wang Zongyan who was only 20 years old when he ascended the throne, had a Persian woman as his concubine, Li Shunxian.[31][32][33][34]

He was the last Emperor of Southern Han as his kingdom was defeated and taken over by the Song dynasty in 972. He reigned for a total of 14 years.[35]

Family

Known Concubines

Sons
  • Liu Shoujie
  • Liu Shouzheng
  • Liu Shousu
  • Liu Shoutong

Statues of two of Liu Chang's sons were described as looking like "barbarian devils" and they may have come from the Persian woman.[40]

See also

References
  1. Xiu Ouyang; Richard L. Davis (2004). Historical records of the five dynasties (illustrated, annotated ed.). Columbia University Press. p. 544. ISBN 0-231-12826-6. Retrieved January 4, 2012. Liu Chang, originally named Jixing, had been invested Prince of Wei. . .Because court affairs were monopolized by Gong Chengshu and cohort, Liu Chang in the inner palace could play his debauched games with female attendants, including a Persian. He never again emerged to inquire of state affairs
  2. Miles, Steven B. (June 2002). "Rewriting the Southern Han (917-971): The Production of Local Culture in Nineteenth-Century Guangzhou". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. Harvard-Yenching Institute. 62 (1): 48–49. doi:10.2307/4126584. JSTOR 4126584.
  3. Ouyang, Xiu (2004). "Chapter 65 Hereditary House of Southern Han". Historical Records of the Five Dynasties. Translated by Davis, Richard L. Columbia University Press. pp. 535–547. ISBN 9780231128278. JSTOR 10.7312/davi12826.53.
  4. Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society (1890). Journal of the Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society. The Society. p. 299.
  5. 東方文化學院 (Tokyo, Japan). 京都硏究所, 東方文化硏究所 (Kyoto, Japan), 京都大學. 人文科學硏究所 (1954). Journal of Oriental studies, Volume 25, Issue 1. 東方文化學院京都硏究所. p. 364. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 5) Ch'ang was particularly fond of a Persian girl whom he styled " Seductive Pig ". Like his uncle Pin, Ch'ang enjoyed naked revels ; see CIL a.7b for a description of his "Great Body Pairing" game. For more on Persians in Canton, see my "Iranian Merchants in T'ang Dynasty Tales ", Semitic and Oriental Studies, University of California Publications in Semitic Philology, XI. 403-422 (1951).CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. Franke, Herbert (1976). Sung Biographies, Part 2. Münchener ostasiatische Studien, vBd. 16 vBd. 16-17. Steiner. p. 620. ISBN 3515024123.
  7. 吳, 任臣. 十國春秋 [Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms]. 六十一 61. (link: stream/06072245.cn). 美人李氏亦托養女後主既立托長女為貴妃復以其次女充美人之職一時竝寵宫中稱極盛焉又同時有宫人素馨以殊色進性喜揷白花遂名其花曰素馨花波斯女失其名氏黒腯而慧光艷絶人性善淫後主甚嬖之賜名媚豬後主荒縱無度益求方士媚藥為淫䙝之戲又選惡少年配以宫婢使褫衣露偶扶波斯女循覽為樂號曰大體雙卒以此亡國
  8. 许, 慕羲. "第二十九回 霞裾云幄启巫风 斗虎抵象残民命 29". 宋代宫闱史 [Song dynasty palace living quarters history]. (link: Quanxue.cn).
  9. 蔡, 東藩 (2015). 宋史通俗演義: 蔡東藩歷史演義-宋朝. 谷月社.
  10. "文人误会：宋真宗写错了一个字（5）". 官场怪圈定律. 凤凰网. Archived from the original on 2010-02-26.
  11. 情史. 大体双 　　刘 得波斯女，年破瓜。丰腯而慧艳，善淫，曲尽其妙。 嬖之，赐号媚猪。延方士求健阳法，久乃得，多多益办。好观人交，选恶少年，配以雏宫人，皆妖俊美健者，就后园，褫衣使露而偶。 扶媚猪巡行览玩，号曰“大体双”。又择新采异，与媚猪对。鸟兽见之熟，亦作合。
  12. Ouyang, Xiu (1073). 新五代史 [=Historical Records of the Five Dynasties]. 卷六十五　南漢世家第五: 劉隱 卷65 Chapter 65: Hereditary House of Southern Han. (links: Zggdwx.com/Xinwudaishi, Guoxue123.com/Shibu). 澄樞等既專政，鋹乃與宮婢波斯女等淫戲後宮，不復出省事。 鋹，初名继兴，封卫王。晟卒，以长子立，改元曰大宝。晟性刚忌，不能任臣下，而独任其嬖倖宦官、宫婢延遇、琼仙等。至鋹尤愚，以谓群臣皆自有家室，顾子孙，不能尽忠，惟宦者亲近可任，遂委其政于宦者龚澄枢、陈延寿等，至其群臣有欲用者，皆阉然后用。澄枢等既专政，鋹乃与宫婢波斯女等淫戏后宫，不复出省事。延寿又引女巫樊胡子，自言玉皇降胡子身。鋹于内殿设帐幄，陈宝贝，胡子冠远游冠，衣紫霞裾，坐帐中宣祸福，呼鋹为太子皇帝，国事皆决于胡子，卢琼仙、龚澄枢等争附之。胡子乃为鋹言：“澄枢等皆上天使来辅太子，有罪不可问。”尚书左丞钟允章参政事，深嫉之，数请诛宦官，宦官皆仄目。
  13. Tōyō Bunko (Japan). Kenkyūbu (1928). Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko (the Oriental Library), Issue 2. Publications - Tōyō Bunko. Ser. B. Volume 10171 of Harvard anthropology preservation microfilm project. Toyo Bunko. p. 55.
  14. 息庵居士. 豔異編. 13. 大體雙 　　劉昏縱角出，得波斯女，年破瓜，豐鷂而慧豔，善淫，曲盡其妙。嬖之，賜號「媚豬」。延方士求健陽法，久乃得，多多益辦。好觀人交，選惡少年配以雛宮人，皆妖俊美健者，就後園褫衣，使露而偶。扶媚豬巡行覽玩，號曰：「大體雙」，又擇新彩異與媚豬對。鳥獸見之，孰亦作合。
  15. 清異録 (四庫全書本). 卷上. 大體雙 　　劉鋹昏縱角出得波斯女年破𤓰黑腯而慧艷善淫曲盡其妙鋹嬖之賜號媚猪延方士求健陽法乆乃得多多益辦好觀人交選惡少年配以雛宫人皆妖俊美健者就後園禠衣使露而偶鋹扶媚猪延行覽玩號曰大體雙又擇新採異與媚猪對鳥獸見之熟亦作合
  16. 陶, 穀. 清異錄. 君道門 候窗監. 候窗監 南漢劉晟，殿側置宫人望明窻以候曉，宫人謂之“候窗監”。
  17. "君道門". 清異錄.
  18. （清）吴兰修撰，王甫校注：《南汉纪》征引《清异录》，广东高等教育出版社，1993年，第67页。“刘鋹昏纵，得波斯女，年破瓜，黑腯而慧艳”
  19. Schafer Jr., Edward Hetzel (1947). The Reign of Liu Ch'ang, Last Emperor of Southern Han: A Critical Translation of the Text of Wu Tai Shih, with Special Inquiries Into Relevant Phases of Contemporary Chinese Civilization (Ph.D. diss.) (reprint ed.). University of California.
  20. University of California, Berkeley (1951). University of California Publications in Semitic Philology, Volumes 11-12. University of California Press. p. 407.
  21. University of California (1868-1952), University of California (System), University of California, Berkeley (1951). University of California Publications in Semitic Philology, Volumes 11-12. University of California Press.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. "唐朝境内的波斯人及其活动". 搜狐. 2017-07-03. Archived from the original on 2018-04-20. 广州波斯妇，绕耳皆穿穴带环，有二十余枚者。家家以篾为门，人食槟榔，唾地如血。
  23. （南宋）庄绰：《鸡肋篇》卷中，中华书局，1983年，第53页。
  24. Kuwabara Jitsuzō [桑原騭藏] (1870–1931). 1928 and 1935. P’u Shou-keng 蒲寿庚. A Man of the Western Regions, Who was Superintendent of the Trading Ships’ Office in Ch’üan-chou 泉州 towards the End of the Sung Dynasty, together with a General Sketch of Trade of the Arabs in - 27 -China during the T’ang and Sung eras, Memoirs of the Research Department of the Tōyō Bunko, part I, 2 (1928), 1–79; Part 2, 7 (1935), 1–104.
  25. "蕃坊里的回族先民". 人民网-中国民族新闻. 2010-04-01. Archived from the original on 2018-04-20.
  26. 伊斯兰教传入中国的两个阶段. 2005-04-10.
  27. Tōyō Bunko (Japan). Kenkyūbu (1928). Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko (the Oriental Library)., Issue 2. Publications - Tōyō Bunko. Ser. B. Volume 10171 of Harvard anthropology preservation microfilm project. Toyo Bunko. p. 34.
  28. Tōyō Bunko (Japan). Memoirs of the Research Department. Tokyo Bunko publications. p. 34.
  29. Jaschok, Maria; Shui, Jingjun (2000). The History of Women's Mosques in Chinese Islam: A Mosque of Their Own (illustrated ed.). Psychology Press. p. 73. ISBN 0700713026.
  30. Phi Theta (University of California, Berkeley), Oriental Languages Students Association (University of California, Berkeley) (1984). Phi Theta Papers: Publication of the Honor Society in Oriental Languages of the University of California, Berkeley, Volume 16. Phi Theta, Department of Oriental Languages, University of California. p. 9.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. University of Hawaii at Manoa. Center for Chinese Studies (2007). China Review International, Volume 14. University of Hawaiʻi, Center for Chinese Studies and University of Hawaii Press. p. 219. While in the first years of the Former Shu many of the literati in Chengdu were aristocratic Émigrés who had fled from the upheavals in the Yellow River Valley (such as Wei Zhuang ## (836–910]), within a decade or two (if we can judge from the poets of the Huajian ji) there were both commoners (such as Yan Xuan soliń) and foreigners (such as Li Xun ##!, a poet from a Persian family that had moved to Shu before the fall of the Tang; Li's sister was one of Wang Yan's consorts and a ...
  32. Larsen, Jeanne, ed. (2005). Willow, wine, mirror, moon: women's poems from Tang China. Lannan translations selection series. BOA Editions. p. 137. ISBN 1929918747. Wang's capital was a haven for literati and artists in that difficult era. When his son Yan ascended to the throne, both women were promoted to ranks suiting the mothers of princes and wielded considerable power. They — and Wang Yan — were killed after Shu's conquest by a short-lived dynasty called the Later Tang. Li Xunxian (d. 926?), daughter of a Persian immigrant, had a reputation as a poet. She became a consort of Wang Yan, dissolute monarch of the state known as [the ...
  33. National Translation Center (USA) (1995). Delos. p. 91. He joined the Li Bamboo-Hat Poetry Society in 1970, and later served as the editor of the magazine. Since the eighties, his creative works and critical essays show strong social, political, and cultural concerns. Li Xunxian (d. 926?), was the daughter of a Persian immigrant to the Sichuan basin in the Tang empire's southwest. Her elder brother, Li Xun, was also reputedly a fine poet. Li became a consort of Wang Yan, dissolute monarch of the short-lived "Former Shu" dynasty.
  34. Chen 陳, Ming 明 (2007). "The Transmission of Foreign Medicine via the Silk Roads in Medieval China: A Case Study of Haiyao Bencao 海葯本草". Asian Medicine. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV. 3 (2): 241–264. doi:10.1163/157342008X307866. ISSN 1573-420X. (section link) – via E-ISSN 1573-4218.
  35. Gan Fuxi; Fuxi Gan; Robert Brill (2009). Ancient glass research along the Silk Road. World Scientific. p. 387. ISBN 981-283-356-0. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  36. 屈, 大均. "○名園". 廣東新語. 卷17. 鋹與女侍中盧瓊仙、黃瓊芝、蟾姬、李妃、女巫樊胡子及波斯女，為紅雲宴於此。
  37. 御定佩文韻府 (四庫全書本). 卷006之3. 媚豬〈十國春秋漢劉鋹妃本波斯女號
  38. 御定駢字類編 (四庫全書本). 卷138. 黑腯〈清異録劉鋹得波斯女丨丨而慧艷鋹嬖之賜號媚豬〉
  39. 張, 岱. "卷13 媚豬". 夜航船. 媚豬 南漢主劉得波斯女，黑而妖艷，嬖之，賜號媚豬。
  40. 刘, 波. "第三章广州海洋文明文物撷萃". 广州市地方志. Archived from the original on 2018-04-20. 该“波斯女”或许留有后代，吴兰修《南汉金石志?跋》称，广州“元妙观西院功德林，有伪南汉王刘鋹及二子铜像，状豪恶可憎，俗称'蕃鬼'”。
  •  This article incorporates text from Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 24, by Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. North China Branch, Shanghai, China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. China Branch, Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society, a publication from 1890, now in the public domain in the United States.
  •  This article incorporates text from Journal of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society for the year ..., Volumes 24-25, by Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. China Branch, a publication from 1890, now in the public domain in the United States.
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