Who was Liu He?

Depending on which history book you read, Liu He, the Marquis of Haihun, was either the eighth or ninth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24).

In fact, The Book of Han the official history from that time, doesn't even include him in the section about emperors understandable considering he only held the throne for 27 days.

Liu was born in 92 BC to the king of Changyi, an ancient kingdom in the east that covered an area now in modern-day Shandong province. His grandfather was the emperor of China.

At the age of 5, he succeeded his father as king. His grandfather, Emperor Wudi, died some years later, resulting in Liu's uncle becoming Emperor Zhaodi.

When an heirless Zhaodi passed away in 74 BC, Huo Guang, a top general in the royal court, summoned Liu to the capital, Chang'an, now known as Xi'an. He was crowned emperor - but less than a month later was deposed.

According to The Book of Han, Liu was ousted for being too harsh, debauched and licentious. Yet at least one academic has theorized that it was probably more to do with Liu refusing to let Huo run the country his way.

Liu returned to Changyi, and within the year he had been banished to the south by the new ruler-Emperor Xuan, his nephew. He was given the title Marquis of Haihun (the name meant "west of the lake") and ordered to live out his days in what is now Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi province.

He is believed to have died in 59 BC. He would have been only 33 years old.

(China Daily 02/12/2016 page6)