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| Emperor Guangwen of Han 漢光文帝 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Emperor of Han-Zhao | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 304 – 29 August 310 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Liu He | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 29 August 310 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Burial | Yongguang Mausoleum (永光陵) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Issue | see #Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| House | Liu | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | Han-Zhao | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Liu Bao | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Lady Huyan | ||||||||||||||||||||
Liu Yuan (劉淵) (died 29 August 310[1]), courtesy name Yuanhai (元海), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Guangwen of Han (Zhao) (漢(趙)光文帝) was the founding emperor of the Xiongnu-led Han-Zhao dynasty of China during the Sixteen Kingdoms period.[2] Due to Tang dynasty naming taboo, he is referred to by his courtesy name as Liu Yuanhai (劉元海) in the Book of Jin.[3]
With the dissolution of the Southern Xiongnu in 216, the last vestiges of their power were divided into Five Divisions in Bing province around modern-day Shanxi. Liu Yuan was born into the aristocracy of the Five Divisions and was sent to the Chinese capital, Luoyang as a hostage during his youth, where he became highly sinicized and later held several government offices under the Western Jin dynasty. As the War of the Eight Princes weakened Jin authority in northern China, Liu Yuan was called upon by the Five Divisions to lead their rebellion, and in 304, he declared independence from the Jin and founded the Han-Zhao dynasty, one of the first of the Sixteen Kingdoms. His declaration, along with the founding of the Cheng-Han dynasty in Sichuan that same year, marked the formal end of the Western Jin's brief unification of China following the Three Kingdoms period.
Liu Yuan proclaimed himself a direct descendant of the Southern Xiongnu chanyus and, by extension, the Han dynasty, since his ancestors had married Han princesses through the practice of heqin. His state of Han (renamed Zhao in 319) was initially depicted as a restoration of the Han dynasty, and as anti-Jin sentiment continued to grow, Liu Yuan soon found himself leading a coalition of Han Chinese and tribal rebels in northern China. Though he would not live long to see it, his family and generals would eventually drive the Jin dynasty out of the north.
- ^ jimao day of the 7th month of the 4th year of the Yong'jia era, per vol.87 of Zizhi Tongjian
- ^ Grousset, Rene (1970). The Empire of the Steppes. Rutgers University Press. pp. 56. ISBN 0-8135-1304-9.
- ^ Liu Yuan (劉淵) shares the same given name as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, whose real name is Li Yuan (李淵).