刘棁 / Liu Zhuo (Western Han Changshan)

Overview

刘棁 / Liu Zhuo is the elder half-brother of 刘勃 whose exclusion from paternal favor, inheritance, and post-succession support precedes his denunciation of Liu Bo and 王后脩.

Current Profile

Hanji 342-2 presents Liu Zhuo as 刘舜’s elder son by a disfavored concubine. His mother’s low standing transfers to him: Liu Shun does not favor him or allocate property to him, and Queen Xiu and Liu Bo reject advice to give him a share.

When a Han envoy attends Liu Shun’s funeral, Liu Zhuo reports failures of sickbed service and mourning conduct. The denunciation is both an information channel and a product of household conflict. His grievance gives him a motive to retaliate, but it does not by itself establish that the allegations were false; Liu Bo’s later obstruction gives the investigation a separate institutional basis.

Key Characteristics

• Elder son of Liu Shun by an unfavored concubine.
• Excluded from paternal affection and inheritance.
• Receives no support from Liu Bo after the succession.
• Reports Queen Xiu’s and Liu Bo’s conduct to a visiting Han envoy.
• Accusation joins filial duty, sexual and entertainment conduct, and public impropriety.
• Interested witness whose grievance and factual claims must be assessed separately.

Evidence

Household exclusion:

• Hanji 342-2 says Liu Zhuo and his mother are disfavored, he receives no property, and requests for a share are refused.

Denunciation:

• Hanji 342-2 says he reports nonattendance during illness, early departure from mourning quarters, and Liu Bo’s prohibited conduct.

Evidentiary boundary:

• Hanji 342-2 also reports later witness concealment and official coercion by Liu Bo, so the case does not rest only on Liu Zhuo’s motive.

Qualifications

The source does not provide Liu Zhuo’s dates, later life, formal status, the estate rules governing his claim, or the full evidence behind his accusations. “Revenge” is a plausible source interpretation, not proof that every allegation was invented. The transcript’s “刘卓” is normalized to the received form 刘棁; the romanization follows the common reading zhuo.

What Changed

• Created a bounded profile that holds exclusion, retaliatory motive, and possible evidentiary value together without collapsing one into another.

Relationships

• 常山宪王刘舜 / Liu Shun, King of Changshan (Western Han) - father who excludes Liu Zhuo from affection and property.
• 常山王刘勃 / Liu Bo, King of Changshan (Western Han) - half-brother and successor whom Liu Zhuo denounces.
• 王后脩 / Queen Xiu of Changshan (Western Han) - royal household authority accused alongside Liu Bo.
• 西汉常山国 / Changshan Kingdom (Western Han) - succession field in which household grievance becomes a central-court case.
• 居丧行为法律化 / Mourning Conduct Legalization - framework through which the reported behavior becomes legally consequential.