王后脩 / Queen Xiu of Changshan (Western Han)

Overview

王后脩 / Queen Xiu is the queen of 常山宪王刘舜 and mother of 刘勃, accused of neglecting her dying husband, excluding 刘棁, and sharing responsibility for the succession crisis that ends the Changshan kingship.

Current Profile

Hanji 342-2 presents Queen Xiu inside a divided royal household. Liu Shun favors other consorts, while jealousy allegedly keeps her away from his sickbed. She and crown prince Liu Bo reject requests to allocate property to the disfavored elder son Liu Zhuo, who later denounces both of them.

Officials seek execution after the investigation, but Han Wudi instead characterizes Xiu’s prior conduct as helping create the accusation and approves her deposition together with Liu Bo’s removal and exile. Her profile is therefore evidence about household hierarchy becoming central political liability, not a complete biography or independent finding about her character.

Key Characteristics

• Queen of Liu Shun and mother of crown prince Liu Bo.
• Presented as less favored than Liu Shun’s other consorts.
• Accused of avoiding the sickbed because of jealousy.
• Rejects requests to share property with the excluded elder son Liu Zhuo.
• Denounced for failures of care and mourning conduct.
• Spared execution but stripped of royal status when Liu Bo is deposed.

Evidence

Household position and care:

• Hanji 342-2 describes Liu Shun’s favored consorts attending him while Queen Xiu repeatedly returns to her own quarters.

Property conflict and denunciation:

• Hanji 342-2 says she and Liu Bo refuse a property share to Liu Zhuo, who then reports them to the Han envoy.

Removal:

• Hanji 342-2 says officials request death, but Han Wudi approves deposition rather than execution.

Qualifications

This is a hostile-case profile derived from one short source. It does not give Queen Xiu’s natal family, dates, independent testimony, exact legal charges, property authority, later life, or the full court record. Jealousy and bad character are reported explanations, not independently established diagnoses. The transcript’s “王后须” is normalized to received-text 王后脩.

What Changed

• Created the first canonical Queen Xiu profile while separating household allegation, political consequence, and missing biography.

Relationships

• 常山宪王刘舜 / Liu Shun, King of Changshan (Western Han) - husband whose favor structure and final illness shape the accusation.
• 常山王刘勃 / Liu Bo, King of Changshan (Western Han) - son and successor removed with her.
• 刘棁 / Liu Zhuo (Western Han Changshan) - excluded stepson and accuser.
• 西汉常山国 / Changshan Kingdom (Western Han) - royal polity whose succession collapses through the household case.
• Accession Mourning Legibility / 继位守丧可读性 - ritual-political standard under which care and grief become publicly judged.