He succeeded his father Liu Sheng because he was the eldest son. He only left eunuchs in power in his court and mandated castration for anyone who wanted to work for his court because he believed people with children could not be completely loyal.[1] When Liu Chang became Emperor he was only a "mere youth".[2]
Reign
Liu became Emperor when he was sixteen years old. Historical records report that Liu Chang spent so much time with his harem that he abandoned government affairs.[3][4] His most favorite concubine was one young Persian girl he called Mèi Zhū (媚豬).[5] The "History of Five dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" described the Persian woman as having copper colored skin and large eyes. It was told that she loved pearls so Liu Chang ordered fishermen to dive to find thousands of pearls for his Persian lover Mei Zhu. Many of the fishermen died. He gave her a pearl dudou, pearl crowns, pearl blouses, and pearl skirts. He also used pearls and silver to renovate his palaces.[6]
The historical text Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms recorded that Liu Chang indulged in sex games. He had alchemists create aphrodisiacs to induce sexual desire as pregame warmup. One of his games was called "Naked in Twos" (大體雙) in which he paired young men with palace women, made them strip naked and have sex together while he and his Persian lover were carried around to watch them.[7] Liu and Mei Zhu then decided whether the man or woman "won". If the man "defeated" the woman, both were rewarded, but if the woman won and defeated the man, Liu had the man castrated.[8][9]
Liu had sex all day and night and his body was physically unable to bear it, so he started to learn Jianyang techniques (健阳法) to invigorate his "yang" male energy (Jianyang involves increasing sexual desire and delaying ejaculation and orgasm, also see Taoist sexual practices).[10][11] The Historical Records of the Five Dynasties says that Liu Chang spent all his time in the harem, and that he never came out to handle governance work, leaving it to Kong Chengshu and the eunuchs to take over government business.[12] The naked orgies he had were similar to those his uncle Liu Bin had.
Graphic descriptions of what the Persian woman and Liu Chang did together were recorded in Qingyilu written by Tao Gu.[13] The Yanyibian (豔異編) gives the same account as the Qingyilu. They mention a hall installed in his palace called "Hou chuang jian" (候窗監)[14][15][16][17] where he indulged himself with her.[18]
The fact that Liu Chang's harem had Persian girls is seen as evidence for the existence of a Persian community in southern China during this time.[2][19][20] There was a thriving Persian community in Guangzhou during the 10th-12th centuries.[21][22][23][24] The Persians in Guangzhou were called either Bosi 波斯 (Parsi) or Pusaman (菩萨蛮 "Bussulman") meaning "Muslim" in Persian.[25][26][27][28][29]
Liu Chang also employed women shamans.[30] He is also known to have held the "Red Cloud Banquet", a festival for the litchi fruit.[2]
He was the last Emperor of Southern Han as his kingdom was defeated and taken over by the Song dynasty in 972. He reigned for a total of 14 years.[31]
^Xiu Ouyang; Richard L. Davis (2004). Historical records of the five dynasties (illustrated, annotated ed.). Columbia University Press. p. 544. ISBN0-231-12826-6. Retrieved January 4, 2012. Liu Chang, originally named Jixing, had been invested Prince of Wei. . .Because court affairs were monopolized by Gong Chengshu and cohort, Liu Chang in the inner palace could play his debauched games with female attendants, including a Persian. He never again emerged to inquire of state affairs
^ abcMiles, Steven B. (June 2002). "Rewriting the Southern Han (917-971): The Production of Local Culture in Nineteenth-Century Guangzhou". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 62 (1). Harvard-Yenching Institute: 48–49. doi:10.2307/4126584. JSTOR4126584.
^東方文化學院 (Tokyo, Japan). 京都硏究所, 東方文化硏究所 (Kyoto, Japan), 京都大學. 人文科學硏究所 (1954). Journal of Oriental studies, Volume 25, Issue 1. 東方文化學院京都硏究所. p. 364. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 5) Ch'ang was particularly fond of a Persian girl whom he styled " Seductive Pig ". Like his uncle Pin, Ch'ang enjoyed naked revels ; see CIL a.7b for a description of his "Great Body Pairing" game. For more on Persians in Canton, see my "Iranian Merchants in T'ang Dynasty Tales ", Semitic and Oriental Studies, University of California Publications in Semitic Philology, XI. 403-422 (1951).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Ouyang, Xiu (1073). 新五代史 [=Historical Records of the Five Dynasties]. Vol. 卷六十五 南漢世家第五: 劉隱 卷65 Chapter 65: Hereditary House of Southern Han. (links: Zggdwx.com/Xinwudaishi, Guoxue123.com/Shibu). 澄樞等既專政,鋹乃與宮婢波斯女等淫戲後宮,不復出省事。 鋹,初名继兴,封卫王。晟卒,以长子立,改元曰大宝。晟性刚忌,不能任臣下,而独任其嬖倖宦官、宫婢延遇、琼仙等。至鋹尤愚,以谓群臣皆自有家室,顾子孙,不能尽忠,惟宦者亲近可任,遂委其政于宦者龚澄枢、陈延寿等,至其群臣有欲用者,皆阉然后用。澄枢等既专政,鋹乃与宫婢波斯女等淫戏后宫,不复出省事。延寿又引女巫樊胡子,自言玉皇降胡子身。鋹于内殿设帐幄,陈宝贝,胡子冠远游冠,衣紫霞裾,坐帐中宣祸福,呼鋹为太子皇帝,国事皆决于胡子,卢琼仙、龚澄枢等争附之。胡子乃为鋹言:"澄枢等皆上天使来辅太子,有罪不可问。"尚书左丞钟允章参政事,深嫉之,数请诛宦官,宦官皆仄目。
^Kuwabara Jitsuzō [桑原騭藏] (1870–1931). 1928 and 1935. P’u Shou-keng 蒲寿庚. A Man of the Western Regions, Who was Superintendent of the Trading Ships’ Office in Ch’üan-chou 泉州 towards the End of the Sung Dynasty, together with a General Sketch of Trade of the Arabs in - 27 -China during the T’ang and Sung eras, Memoirs of the Research Department of the Tōyō Bunko, part I, 2 (1928), 1–79; Part 2, 7 (1935), 1–104.
^刘, 波. "第三章广州海洋文明文物撷萃". 广州市地方志. Archived from the original on 2018-04-20. 该"波斯女"或许留有后代,吴兰修《南汉金石志?跋》称,广州"元妙观西院功德林,有伪南汉王刘鋹及二子铜像,状豪恶可憎,俗称'蕃鬼'"。
This article incorporates text from Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 24, by Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. North China Branch, Shanghai, China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. China Branch, Shanghai Literary and Scientific Society, a publication from 1890, now in the public domain in the United States.
This article incorporates text from Journal of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society for the year ..., Volumes 24-25, by Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. China Branch, a publication from 1890, now in the public domain in the United States.
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