Liu Bei
Liú Bèi (Chinese 劉備 / 刘备, IPA (High Chinese) [[List of IPA characters#|li̯oʊ̯35 b̥ɛɪ̯51]], * 161 in Zhuo County, present-day Hebei and Beijing; † June 10, 223 in Baidicheng) was founder of the Shu Han state (221-261) in southern China during the "Three Kingdoms" era. He was the brother in arms of the tiger generals Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
The founder of the Shǔ Hàn dynasty Liú Bèi claimed to be a relative of the Han imperial house. However, it remains doubtful whether this corresponded to the facts, since Liú Bèi's family lived only in simple circumstances in the late Han period. It is certain that his grandfather Liu Xong was a land magistrate and his father Liu Hong held a post in the local government. After the death of his father, his mother supported the family by selling straw sandals. Liú Bèi was sent for further education to the academician Lu Zhi, where he made the acquaintance of Gongsun Zan and became friends with him.
Liú Bèi decided to pursue a military career at a relatively early age. He met Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who swore their loyalty to him. In general, Liú Bèi seems to have been quite charismatic, since, in addition, two rich merchants gave him gold, with which he raised troops. Liú Bèi distinguished himself in 184 by his participation in the fight against the Yellow Turbans uprising and gained recognition. In 187 he fought against the rebels Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju, and soon after against other rebels, excelling and being assigned to new posts accordingly. In 191, he supported Gongsun Zan and won a victory against Yuan Shao. The latter was one of the numerous warlords who wanted to take advantage of the decline of the Han dynasty and established their own rule. The state structures increasingly collapsed, and military commanders either obeyed local rulers or acted on their own account.
Liú Bèi joined Governor Tao Qian in 192, who supplied him with troops, but the latter died by 194. Liú Bèi succeeded him as governor of Xu Province, acting not on behalf of the imperial court but of influential local forces. In 196, the warlord Yuan Shu (a relative of the aforementioned Yuan Shao) attacked him. Liú Bèi was awarded the title of general and a title of nobility by the influential warlord Cao Cao during this period, but Liú Bèi was forced by Yuan Shu's attacks to come to an understanding with General Lü Bu for the time being and to cede the supreme title of governor to him. However, Lü Bu and Yuan Shu also came to an understanding, so Liú Bèi again faced hostile attacks. Lü Bu played a double game in this context, as he wanted to prevent one of his rivals from gaining too much power. On his behalf, in 198, the generals Gao Shun and Zhang Liao now attacked Liú Bèi, detained his family, and forced him to flee to the north, where Cao Cao was becoming more powerful. Liú Bèi and Cao Cao went together against Lü Bu and defeated him devastatingly; he was subsequently executed.
Liú Bèi was rewarded with titles, but seems to have definitely conspired against Cao Cao. In the meantime, his old enemy Yuan Shu was greatly weakened. Liú Bèi was able to finally destroy him in 199 and now openly rose up against Cao Cao. He took the city of Pei in Xu province as his residence. However, in the beginning of 200 Cao Cao attacked surprisingly, so Liú Bèi was forced to flee to Qing province, his wife and children falling again into enemy hands. Liú Bèi now allied himself with Yuan Shao, but he was defeated by Cao Cao in 201. Again he had to flee, this time to the governor of Jing province, Liu Biao. There he stayed for seven years.
In the fall of 208, Cao Cao marched south. By this time, Liu Biao had died and Liú Bèi was forced to flee further, as his power base in Jing was insufficient. He gathered the remnants of his forces, but they were insufficient to stop Cao Cao. However, supported by his advisor Zhuge Liang, he was now able to build an alliance with Sun Quan (181-252) and stop Cao Cao's expansion in the famous Battle of Chibi. His role in the fighting, however, was rather marginal.
Cao Cao was still a threatening power factor who continued to score some successes in the following years. From 212 to 214, Liú Bèi nevertheless operated quite successfully against Cao Cao (not least thanks to capable generals), which in turn made Sun Quan suspicious. In 215, Sun Quan demanded the return of occupied territories (such as Jing Province), and a confrontation ensued between the two warlords, who at the same time remained at odds with Cao Cao. In 217, Liú Bèi attacked Cao Cao-held Hanzhong and won a major victory against one of Cao Cao's generals in 219. That same year he proclaimed himself king of Hanzhong. Cao Cao was stopped, but in the winter of 219 Sun Quan regained Jing province. When Cao Cao died in 220 and his son Cao Pi deposed the last Han emperor Han Xiandi in December of the same year and proclaimed himself emperor, Liú Bèi immediately followed suit and also proclaimed himself emperor in 221.
However, this was basically only recognition of the de facto political situation, since in the power struggles of the previous years, the emperor as head and state unity had been an illusion. In this context, Liú Bèi behaved no better or worse than the other warlords active during this period, although he is romanticized in Chinese lore.
He named his state Han. Since various dynasties in Chinese history called themselves Hàn, this state is now commonly referred to as Shu Han (蜀漢) (after the location of the state, 蜀, Shǔ is another name for Sìchuān, after the eponymous state of Shu of the Zhou dynasty). In the south, Sun Quan proclaimed himself king of Wú. Liú Bèi went against him once again in his last years to recapture the lost provinces of Húnán and Húběi. The campaign that began in 221 ended disastrously when the army was repulsed in 222. Liú Bèi died in 223 on the way to his capital, whereupon his son Liú Shán became emperor. Zhuge Liang had been commissioned by Liú Bèi to assist his son in all matters.
