齐王刘襄 / Liu Xiang (King of Qi)

Overview

齐王刘襄 / Liu Xiang is the Qi king presented as the first royal mobilizer against the Lü faction after Lü Zhi’s death and as the preferred imperial candidate of his brother 刘章.

Current Profile

Hanji 213 uses Liu Xiang to explain the political debt behind 刘兴居’s rebellion. Liu Xiang reportedly raised forces in Qi while Liu Zhang acted in Chang’an, but senior ministers installed 刘恒 instead. The episode interprets the later territorial settlement as offering the Qi branch less than its contribution and expectation seemed to warrant.

Liu Xiang’s death is important in the source chiefly because it removes one of Liu Xingju’s close political supports. The host speculates that imperial pressure may have contributed, but supplies no evidence of an order, plot, or direct causal mechanism.

Key Characteristics

• Qi king in the immediate post-Lü succession crisis.
• Early mobilizer against the Lü faction in the episode’s account.
• Preferred throne candidate of Liu Zhang rather than the ministers’ eventual choice, Liu Heng.
• Political reference point for the Qi branch’s later reward grievance.
• Death becomes part of Liu Xingju’s isolation, without an established imperial-causation case.

Evidence

Anti-Lü role and succession claim:

• Hanji 213 says Liu Xiang first raised forces in Qi and that Liu Zhang expected him to become emperor.

Afterlife in the Jibei crisis:

• Hanji 213 treats his death as one condition increasing Liu Xingju’s fear and political isolation.

Qualifications

This is a one-source, source-scoped profile. It does not reconstruct Liu Xiang’s full military actions, succession claim, family network, territorial settlement, date or cause of death. The episode’s suggestion that Liu Heng’s pressure contributed to his death is interpretive and does not establish responsibility.

What Changed

• Created a disambiguated profile distinct from 刘向, the later Western Han scholar.
• Preserved the difference between the episode’s succession politics and its unsupported death-causation speculation.

Relationships

• 城阳王刘章 - brother and capital ally who preferred Liu Xiang for the throne.
• 济北王刘兴居 - royal relative whose later grievance is framed through the Qi branch’s settlement.
• 汉文帝刘恒 - rival succession outcome chosen by senior ministers.
• 刘兴居济北叛乱 - later crisis for which Liu Xiang’s contribution and death supply background.