Liu Shan - Early Life

Early Life

Born in 207, Liu Shan was the oldest son of the wandering warlord Liu Bei, by his concubine Lady Gan. In the next year, the warlord Cao Cao, who had by then occupied the entire northern China, launched a campaign against Jing Province (荆州; covering present-day Hubei and Hunan). During his retreat south, Liu Bei was caught up by an elite cavalry force led by Cao Cao at the Battle of Changban, and forced to leave behind Lady Gan and Liu Shan to resume his escape. Liu Bei's general Zhao Yun stayed behind to protect the family members of Liu Bei. Holding the infant Liu Shan in his arms, Zhao Yun led the mother and child to safety. (It appears likely that Lady Gan had died sometime before 209, because when Liu Bei's wife Lady Sun effectively divorced Liu Bei in 211, he was in her custody.)

An alternative story of Liu Shan's early life was given in A Brief History of Wei by Yu Huan. It was said that Liu Shan, then already several years old, was separated from Liu Bei when the latter was attacked by Cao Cao in Xiaopei (小沛; present-day Pei County, Jiangsu) in 200. He somehow landed in Hanzhong and was sold by human traffickers. Only when Liu Bei declared himself emperor in 221 was Liu Shan reunited with his father. However, this story was rejected by Pei Songzhi, annotator of the Records of Three Kingdoms, taking into account of various sources.

After Liu Bei declared himself the first emperor of Shu in 221, Liu Shan was formally made the crown prince. In the next year, Liu Bei left the capital Chengdu on a campaign against Sun Quan (then a nominal vassal of Wei who would soon declare his independence as the first emperor of Eastern Wu). Liu Bei was defeated at the Battle of Xiaoting and, having retreated to the city of Baidicheng, eventually died in 223. With his last breaths, Liu Bei entrusted the young Liu Shan to the care of his chancellor, Zhuge Liang. Liu Bei even told Zhuge Liang to take the throne if Liu Shan proved to be incapable.