广陵王刘荆 / Liu Jing, Guangling King (Eastern Han)

Overview

广陵王刘荆 / Liu Jing, Guangling King is Mingdi’s royal brother whose current profile now begins in Hanji 732 with an anonymous-letter attempt to incite Liu Qiang after Guangwu dies. Hanji 733-1 then gives his Shanyang-to-Guangling relocation, and Hanji 738 gives the later physiognomy, rebellion-language, witchcraft, and suicide case.

Current Profile

Hanji 732 supplies the earliest visible danger signal. Liu Jing sends Liu Qiang an anonymous letter arguing that Liu Qiang had been wrongly deposed from heir status and that Queen Guo had been wrongly removed. The letter tries to convert a real succession grievance into rebellion pressure. Liu Qiang reports it, and Mingdi keeps Liu Jing’s role private because Liu Jing is presented as his full brother in the source.

Hanji 733-1 supplies the next containment layer. Liu Jing has already been sent away from the capital as Shanyang King, but still hires astrologers and hopes for disorder. Mingdi responds by changing his fief from Shanyang to Guangling and sending him there, choosing distance and reassignment rather than final punishment.

Hanji 738 then presents Liu Jing as a royal kinsman testing a more explicit dangerous thought. He consults a physiognomist, asks whether he resembles the former emperor, notes that the former emperor took the throne at thirty, and asks whether he could raise troops to “do great things.” When the words reach the court, he becomes frightened enough to lock himself in prison.

Mingdi initially chooses containment rather than execution. He forbids Liu Jing from governing officials and people in his fief but still lets him receive fief income. That leniency does not end the case. Liu Jing then turns to shamans, sacrifice, and curse practice, prompting Fan Tiao and other reviewers to recommend death. The case ends with Liu Jing’s suicide in 67 CE and removal of the fief.

Key Characteristics

• Eastern Han royal kinsman whose danger signal begins at Mingdi’s accession with an anonymous letter to Liu Qiang.
• Uses displaced-heir grievance as a political provocation before later astrology and physiognomy branches.
• Receives early confidential containment and later Shanyang-to-Guangling reassignment.
• Tests rebellion possibility through age comparison, resemblance language, and “great things” speech.
• Receives initial fraternal leniency from Mingdi through loss of governance authority rather than immediate death.
• Continues the danger through shamanic sacrifices and curse activity, ending in suicide and fief removal.

Evidence

• Anonymous-letter provocation: Hanji 732 says Liu Jing sends Liu Qiang a letter trying to activate former-heir and Queen Guo grievances.
• Confidential containment: Hanji 732 says Mingdi keeps the matter private because Liu Jing is his full brother and handles Liu Qiang’s branch first.
• Early relocation: Hanji 733-1 says Liu Jing, already outside the capital as Shanyang King, hires astrologers and hopes for disorder.
• Containment by reassignment: Hanji 733-1 says Mingdi changes Liu Jing’s title to Guangling King and sends him there.
• Rebellion-signal opening: Hanji 738 says Liu Jing asks whether he resembles the former emperor and whether he can raise troops to “do great things.”
• Initial containment: Hanji 738 says Mingdi bars him from managing fief officials and people while preserving fief income.
• Renewed offense and final outcome: Hanji 738 records continued shamanic sacrifice and curse activity, Liu Jing’s suicide in 67 CE, and removal of the fief.

Qualifications

Hanji 732 uses 刘京, while Hanji 738 source transcript forms include 刘经 and 刘金; this page normalizes the case to 刘荆 / Liu Jing because the Guangling king, Mingdi-brother, “great things,” witchcraft, suicide, and abolished-fief pattern match that received Eastern Han figure. Hanji 732’s full-brother explanation is preserved as source-scoped and should not be used to infer a full genealogy beyond the listed evidence.

What Changed

• Added Hanji 732 as Liu Jing’s earliest visible accession-provocation layer.
• Reframed Hanji 733-1’s Shanyang-to-Guangling relocation as a second containment step rather than the first signal.
• Preserved Hanji 738 as the later explicit treason-law escalation.
• Connected Liu Jing to accession kinship containment as well as royal-kin treason law.

Relationships

• 汉明帝 - imperial brother whose private containment, reassignment, leniency, and later legal pressure define the case.
• 东海恭王刘强 - displaced former heir whom Liu Jing tries to provoke through an anonymous letter.
• 继位亲族安抚与隔离 - concept grounded by Mingdi’s early private handling of Liu Jing’s anonymous-letter provocation.
• 樊鯈 - reviewer who argues that Liu Jing’s kinship cannot erase treason liability.
• 宗室谋逆法度边界 - later concept directly grounded by Liu Jing’s 66-67 CE case.
• 谋反指控陷阱 - adjacent danger pattern because “great things” language can turn status and ambition into ruler-security evidence.
• 亲情名分边界 - related court-family boundary, though Liu Jing’s case concerns criminal suspicion rather than excess favor.