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to the North Army in charge of guarding the capital, but the commander-in-charge, Ren An (任安), refused to get involved. Without regular army support, Prince Ju's forces, consisting only palace guards and armed civilians, were no match for Liu Qumao's army. Furthermore, after
Emperor Wu's banner was displayed outside the capital city, it became clear that Emperor Wu was still in charge and Prince Ju did not have his father's authorisation. So public support for the Crown Prince disappeared. The two sides then battled in the streets of Chang'an for five days, and Liu Qumao's forces prevailed. On 9 September, Prince Ju was forced to flee the capital with two of his sons. On that same day, his mother, Empress Wei, committed suicide after Emperor Wu sent messengers to seize her
408:. Knowing the financial burden imposed on his warm-hearted host, Liu Ju attempted to seek help from an old friend living in Hu County, but this exposed his whereabouts. Local officials quickly tracked down and surrounded the house. Seeing no chance of escape, Liu Ju committed suicide by hanging. His two sons and the family hosting them all died when government soldiers finally broke in and killed everyone. The officials in charge, Li Shou (李壽) and Zhang Fuchang (張富昌), then wasted no times to take Liu Ju's body to Chang'an and claim rewards from Emperor Wu, who had to keep his word despite great sorrow over his son's death.
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to mobilise her palace guards and distribute weapons to any civilian supporters he could muster in preparation to defend himself against any retaliation from Jiang's co-conspirators. Meanwhile, Su Wen fled to
Ganquan Palace and told Emperor Wu that the Crown Prince was going to overthrow him in a rebellion. Emperor Wu, refusing to believe his benevolent son would commit treason and (correctly at this point) concluding that Prince Ju was merely angry at Jiang Chong. So the Emperor decided to send a low-ranking eunuch to the capital
341:. Overjoyed that he could still father a son with such divine implications at the age of 66, the superstitious Emperor Wu named Lady Zhao's household the "Gate of Yao's Mother" (堯母門). This gesture did not go unnoticed, and speculations started to rise that he intended to replace Liu Ju with the 3-year-old Prince Fuling as the new crown prince. Such speculation fuelled further conspiracies to dethrone Liu Ju.
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everywhere, leaving barely room for the
Empress and Crown Prince to lay their beds. Jiang Chong then planted dolls and pieces of cloth with mysterious writing in Liu Ju's palace, and then announced that he found evidence of witchcraft. Liu Ju, initially believing that he had nothing to hide, was shocked and forced to consider his options, and his teacher Shi De (石德), invoking the story of
428:, and killed every official who had received promotions for tracking down the Crown Prince. He also promoted Tian Qianqiu to prime minister, and made major policy changes that supported the ideals supported by his dead son. To express his regret over causing his son's death, Emperor Wu also built the Palace of Son-Grieving (思子宮) and Platform of Longing for Return (歸來望思台), officially
420:(田千秋), then the superintendent of Emperor Gao's temple, filed a report claiming that "a white-haired old man" told him in a dream that for the offence of armed uprising, Prince Ju would at most be caned, not killed, as a punishment, Emperor Wu realised what had really happened. Furious that the conspirators had abused his trust and plotted his son's death, he had Su Wen
268:, interested more in the social well-being and economic recovery of the people, and openly opposed his father on many policies. He was well known for his hospitality and openness to different opinions, and he maintained a large group of advisers and friends at his palace. Because Liu Ju favoured more lenient policies and often helped overturn
451:. Out of respect for Emperor Zhao, Emperor Xuan did not initially attempt to restore the title of his grandfather. It was not until 73 BC that he restored Crown Prince Ju's title (but with the rather unflattering posthumous name of "Li", which means "unrepentant") and reburied his grandparents and parents.
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to curse
Emperor Wu's other concubines (aimed at Wei Zifu in particular), she was officially deposed in August 130 BC, leaving open the position of empress. Wei Zifu had become Emperor Wu's new favourite consort since 138 BC and had by then already given him three daughters. In 128 BC, she gave birth
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One of the conspirators against Crown Prince Ju was Jiang Chong (江充), the ruthless and opportunistic head of the secret intelligence, who once had a run-in with Prince Ju after arresting one of Prince Ju's assistants for improper use of an imperial right of way. Fearing that with
Emperor Wu's health
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Emperor Wu had high hopes for Prince Ju, and made sure he got the best education possible, even constructing the "Broad Vision
Academy" (博望苑) to allow his son exposure to all schools of scholars. It is unclear when Liu Ju became involved in government affairs, but as he matured and Emperor Wu began
210:
Liu Ju led an uprising against his father's army and died as a consequence of the rebellion. Emperor Wu sent soldiers to hunt Liu Ju down, so Liu Ju committed suicide by hanging himself. Liu Ju's two sons and the family hosting them all died when government soldiers broke into their house and killed
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Prince Ju also sent two messengers in attempts to mobilise regular armies. One was sent to a detachment of surrendered
Xiongnu cavalry stationed outside the capital, but Emperor Wu's messenger had arrived just earlier and ordered the cavalry to attack Prince Ju instead. The other messenger was sent
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Liu Ju arranged for one of his men to impersonate a messenger from
Emperor Wu and arrest Jiang Chong's party. However, Su Wen managed to escape arrest. After they were subdued, Liu Ju personally executed Jiang on 1 September. He then reported his actions to his mother, who authorised him the right
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and raising the possibility that
Emperor Wu might already be deceased, suggested that Liu Ju should start an uprising to remove Jiang. Liu Ju initially hesitated and wanted to speedily proceed to Ganquan Palace and explain himself to his father, but he found out that Jiang's messengers were already
361:
In the same year, Jiang Chong and Su Wen decided to move against Liu Ju, once again using witchcraft as an excuse. Jiang, with the approval of
Emperor Wu, searched through various palaces, ostensibly for witchcraft items, eventually reaching Empress Wei and Liu Ju's household. Jiang's men dug holes
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to summon Prince Ju to provide an explanation for his actions. This messenger did not dare to proceed to Chang'an, but instead falsely reported to Emperor Wu that he fled because Prince Ju was going to kill him. By now enraged, Emperor Wu ordered his nephew, Prime Minister Liu Qumao (劉屈犛), to put
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while his father was absent. His mother Empress Wei, ageing and no longer a favourite of Emperor Wu, was still entrusted to look after domestic palace and royal famil affairs and warning the crown prince to follow the rules and customs and prevent his wrong actions. Both Liu Ju and Empress Wei
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Emperor Wu ordered that Prince Ju be hunted down, but after a junior official, Linghu Mao (令狐茂), risked his life and spoke on Prince Ju's behalf, Emperor Wu's anger began to subside, but he had not yet issued a pardon for his son. At this point, Liu Ju had fled to Hu County (湖縣, in modern
349:
Su Wen (蘇文), who had falsely and repeatedly accused Liu Ju of committing adultery with Emperor Wu's junior concubines. Su Wen also blocked any attempts by Liu Ju and Empress Wei to communicate with Emperor Wu, who was then staying at his summer palace in Ganquan (甘泉, in modern
319:), Liu Ju's sisters (and Emperor Wu's own daughters) Princesses Yangshi (陽石公主) and Princess Zhuyi (諸邑公主), as well as Wei Qing's son Wei Kang (衛忼), effectively removing almost all of the Crown Prince's political supporters in the Han court.
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declining, Crown Prince Ju would one day ascend to the throne and punish him for their past clashes, Jiang Chong decided that he had to remove the Crown Prince once and for all. One other conspirator was Emperor Wu's chief
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beating him with sticks. A massive crackdown was ordered and those who were suspected of witchcraft were often summarily executed along with their entire clans. Many important people became victims of this
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Near the end of his reign, the physically deteriorating Emperor Wu became increasingly paranoid and fearful of others using witchcraft against him, especially after incidents involving the sighting/
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celebrating the arrival of the "grand prince", hinting Liu Ju would become his imperial heir by default. Prince Ju was later formally created crown prince in June 122 BC, at the age of 6.
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Furthermore, Emperor Wu's favourite concubine was now the young Lady Zhao (趙婕妤), who was also known as "Lady Fist" (拳夫人) or "Lady Hook" (鉤弋夫人) due to legend that she was born with a
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as a punishment of supporting her son's uprising. The rest of Prince Ju's family were then killed, with the only exception of the months-old grandson
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was alive, Crown Prince Ju was safe politically. After Wei Qing died in 106 BC, certain officials and factions started plotting against Liu Ju.
287:, who was only months old when his entire family were killed during the 91 BC political turmoil. Liu Ju also had two other sons and a daughter.
1315:
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It was recorded that Emperor Wu, who was already 29 years old when his first son was born, was overjoyed and ordered poets to write
192:(衛太子) and posthumously as Crown Prince Li (戾太子, literally "the Unrepentant Crown Prince", "Li" being an unflattering name) was a
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Eventually, Emperor Wu began to realize that the witchcraft cases during 91 BC were often false accusations. In 89 BC, when
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Liu Ju's mother was made empress on 30 April 128 BCE on account of his birth. Thus, Liu Ju should be born in early 128 BC.
272:. He frequently had conflicts with legal officials who had received promotions from following his father's harsher, more
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315:, which peaked during early 91 BC, including the entire family of Prime Minister Gongsun He (公孫賀, Liu Ju's maternal
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and always looking for territorial expansion which burdened his people to their limit, Liu Ju was regarded as a
207:, until his death at age 38 (by East Asian reckoning) during the political turmoil that occurred during 91 BC.
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d clenched fist, which somehow magically opened up when Emperor Wu massaged it, revealing a
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to Liu Ju, Emperor Wu's first son, and was created empress as a result in April that year.
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of an armed stranger walking by as well as a nightmare of hundreds of small wooden
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on their way to report the "crime". So he decided to accept Shi's suggestion.
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443:) in 74 BC following the death of Crown Prince Ju's childless younger brother
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to take more time away from the capital, from 113 BC he was entrusted as the
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after a rumoured 14-month-long pregnancy, same as the legendary
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admired, trusted and remained well respected by Emperor Wu.
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in the palm. She gave birth to Emperor Wu's youngest son
26:
188:; early 128 – 30 September 91 BC), formally known as
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435:Liu Ju's only surviving offspring, his grandson
279:In 113 BC, Liu Ju married his only well-known
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1233:day of the 7th month of the 2nd year of the
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227:(who was also his older cousin). She was
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58:1 June 122 BC – 30 September 91 BC
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77:Crown Prince Liu Shi
67:Crown Prince Liu Che
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566:Emperor Jing of Han
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144:Crown Prince Li 戾太子
900:Liu Ju (128–91 BC)
508:Emperor Wen of Han
366:'s plot to murder
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75:
71:
68:
65:
61:
57:
53:
50:
46:
42:
37:
29:
28:
23:
19:
1296:91 BC deaths
1260:
1248:
1238:
1234:
1230:
1226:
1217:
1209:
1205:
1201:
1197:
1190:
1186:
1182:
1178:
568:(188–141 BC)
510:(203–157 BC)
484:(256–195 BC)
445:Emperor Zhao
441:Emperor Xuan
434:
422:burned alive
418:Tian Qianqiu
415:
394:
382:
373:
360:
343:
321:
317:uncle-in-law
301:
289:
278:
266:man of peace
259:
250:
238:
218:
209:
197:crown prince
189:
177:
176:
90:early 128 BC
45:Crown prince
25:
18:Chinese name
1250:Book of Han
1239:Book of Han
1210:Book of Han
1191:Book of Han
794:(d. 126 BC)
681:(157–87 BC)
627:(d. 135 BC)
542:(d. 155 BC)
540:Empress Gao
339:Emperor Yao
324:contracture
262:megalomanic
114:Consort Shi
63:Predecessor
49:Han dynasty
22:family name
1285:Categories
1170:References
1118:(d. 91 BC)
740:Wang Zhong
437:Liu Bingyi
390:Liu Bingyi
335:Liu Fuling
313:witch-hunt
276:policies.
233:witchcraft
211:everyone.
128:a daughter
1187:Yuan'shou
601:Dou Chong
406:shoemaker
398:Sanmenxia
368:Ying Fusu
229:infertile
225:Chen Jiao
73:Successor
1265:, vols.
1235:Zheng'he
1206:Zheng'he
455:Ancestry
377:Chang'an
364:Zhao Gao
352:Xianyang
292:Wei Qing
221:Wei Zifu
170:Wei Zifu
168:Empress
16:In this
1255:vol. 63
1183:dingmao
849:Zang Er
356:Shaanxi
308:puppets
281:consort
182:Chinese
124:Liu Jin
47:of the
1202:xinhai
347:eunuch
241:paeans
184::
178:Liu Ju
165:Mother
155:Father
111:Spouse
55:Tenure
39:Liu Ju
20:, the
1231:renwu
402:Henan
120:Issue
386:seal
331:hook
328:jade
95:Died
87:Born
358:).
105:Han
27:Liu
24:is
1287::
1275:22
1273:,
1271:19
1269:,
1267:18
1253:,
400:,
354:,
186:劉據
103:,
101:Hu
1277:.
1257:.
180:(
30:.
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