Royals › Monarch / Emperor
Emperor Ping of Han
Young Western Han Monarch under Wang Mang's Regency
In a side chamber of a palace, a yellow ceremonial robe embroidered with a dragon hangs on a wooden stand, its hem worked with waves and rocks, before a carved folding screen, while a black lacquer chest sits on a low table by a lattice window and no person is in view.
Also known as Liu Kan · Liu Jizi · Emperor Ping · Han Pingdi · Xiao Ping
- Roles
- Monarch / Emperor
Emperor Ping of Han, Liu Kan, originally named Liu Jizi, was the son of Liu Xing, Prince Xiao of Zhongshan, and a grandson of Emperor Yuan. He succeeded Emperor Ai in 1 BCE, aged nine by Chinese reckoning, as the fourteenth emperor of the Western Han. Grand Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun held court, and Wang Mang controlled government and was made Duke Anhan. He died in 6 CE aged fourteen. The rebel Zhai Yi and the Gengshi regime said Wang Mang poisoned him; the Book of Han gives no cause, while the Zizhi Tongjian accepts the poisoning account.
Life and times
Dates 9 BCE - 6 CE