Liu Honggao

Liu Honggao (劉弘杲) (923–943), formally the Prince of Xun (循王), was an imperial prince and chancellor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Southern Han. He was falsely accused of treason and killed during the reign of his brother Liu Sheng (né Liu Hongxi, Emperor Zhongzong). Background Liu Honggao was born in 923, his mother was Consort Xie Yiqing who was favored by his father Liu Yan, and he was Liu Yan's 10th son. In 932, Liu Yan created 19 of his sons, including Liu Honggao, imperial princes, with Liu Honggao receiving the title of Prince of Xun. During Liu Bin's and Liu Sheng's reigns By 942, when Liu Honggao's older brother Liu Bin (né Liu Hongdu, Emperor Shang) was emperor, a group of agrarians, believed that a god had foreordained that Zhang Yuxian, a lowly county administrator at Bolo County (博羅, in modern Huizhou, Guangdong), was to be their ruler, rose against Southern Han rule. Liu Bin sent Liu Honggao's older brother Liu Hongchang the Prince of Yue to command the army against Zhang, with Liu Honggao serving as his deputy. However, Liu Hongchang and Liu Honggao were defeated and surrounded by Zhang's agrarian army. They escaped capture only due to the efforts of the officer Chen Daoxiang (陳道庠). Much of the eastern part of the Southern Han realm was captured by Zhang's army. Liu Bin was arrogant and licentious, and he ignored advice from Liu Hongchang and the eunuch Wu Huai'en (吳懷恩), both of whom tried to change his behavior. Another brother, Liu Hongxi the Prince of Qin, was plotting to take over the state, and therefore encouraged Liu Bin's behavior. As Liu Bin favored arm wrestling, Liu Hongdu had Chen train five arm wrestlers to wrestle with Liu Bin. In 943, one night, when Liu Bin was drunk, Chen and the arm wrestlers, at Liu Hongxi's order, killed Liu Bin and his attendants. The next morning, the princes and the officials, realizing that Liu Bin had been killed, were initially not daring to enter the palace. Liu Hongchang led his younger brothers in welcoming Liu Hongxi to the palace and offering the throne to him. Liu Hongxi then took the throne (as Emperor Zhongzong) (and changed his name to Liu Sheng).