Alternative-Heir Protection Failure / 备位继承人保护失灵

Alternative-heir protection failure / 备位继承人保护失灵 is the succession pattern Hanji 181 derives from 刘邦’s treatment of 戚姬 / 戚夫人 and 刘如意. Liu Bang considers replacing crown prince 刘盈 with Liu Ruyi, but cannot or does not complete the change. The favored branch is therefore visible enough to threaten 吕雉 and Liu Ying, yet not strong enough to rule.

The failure is not simply that the replacement plan does not happen. The source’s sharper claim is that Liu Bang creates fear and resentment by raising the possibility, then gives the exposed branch only a narrow protection device: 周昌 is sent to Zhao as chancellor after 赵尧 recommends a strong protector. In the host’s reading, Zhou Chang’s prestige cannot substitute for central court power, military command, or a real ministerial base.

This concept is adjacent to 宠爱驱动的立储风险 and 宠幸驱动的废嫡立庶, but it focuses on the aftermath of an incomplete displacement. A ruler’s affection can make an alternative heir dangerous to others; protection failure appears when the ruler then leaves that alternative branch dependent on personal favor or a single official rather than durable institutions.

Key Claims

• Raising an alternative heir can endanger that branch even if the formal heir is never replaced.
• A protector appointed outside the central power core may signal concern without providing real security.
• Personal favor is weaker than court, military, and factional support when succession becomes a survival contest.
• The established heir branch may read a failed replacement attempt as evidence that it must neutralize future risk.
• The concept differs from simple non-designation because the danger comes from an announced or attempted alternative, not silence.

Connections

• 刘邦, 戚姬 / 戚夫人, 刘如意, 刘盈, and 吕雉 - source case.
• 周昌, 赵尧, and 赵国 - protective arrangement whose limits define the concept.
• 宠爱驱动的立储风险 and 宠幸驱动的废嫡立庶 - upstream succession pressures.
• Autocratic Succession, Succession Non-Designation Risk / 未定继承人风险, and 靠山更替暴露风险 - adjacent succession and patron-dependence frames.
• 同姓王分封 - Liu Ruyi’s royal title becomes a platform for protection and exposure, not only territorial control.