Emperor An of Han

Also known as Liu Hu

Liu Hu, Emperor An of Han, was a grandson of Emperor Zhang and a son of Liu Qing, Prince Xiao of Qinghe, born in 94. When the infant Emperor Shang died in 106, Empress Dowager Deng and her brother, the general Deng Zhi, chose the thirteen-year-old Liu Hu as emperor; the next year his reign title became Yongchu. The empress dowager governed for fifteen years, through a great Qiang rebellion in the west and repeated floods and droughts. After her death in 121 he took power, believed palace accusations against the Deng family, and drove Deng Zhi to suicide, while favouring his wet nurse Wang Sheng, the eunuchs Jiang Jing and Li Run and the brothers of Empress Yan. In 124 the grand commandant Yang Zhen, dismissed after repeated remonstrance, took poison, and the emperor deposed his heir Liu Bao. He fell ill on a southern tour and died at Ye in the spring of 125, aged thirty-two; his temple name Gongzong was withdrawn by court decision in 190.