Jieyou Liu

Background

Liu Jieyou was born in 121 B.C. She was the granddaughter of the Prince of Chu who in 154 B.C. committed suicide after participating in the failed rebellion of the seven princes. There is no exact information about the place of her birth and about her parents.

Career

As Liu Jieyou was the granddaughter of the disgraced Prince Liu Wu who had taken part in the disastrous Rebellion of the Seven States, her status was low enough that she was sent to replace Princess Liu Xijun after her untimely death and marry the Wusun king Cunzhou.

After his death, she married his cousin and successor, Wengguimi. Although Wengguimi had a Xiongnu wife whose position as Lady of the Left was senior to Liu Jieyou’s as Lady of the Right, Liu Jieyou played an active role in Wusun politics and relations with the western region of China. From 87 to 71 B.C. she helped to transform the western region from Xiongnu domination to Chinese influence. It is said that Liu Jieyou was the unofficial liaison representative between Han China and the western region. When word came that the Xiongnu planned to attack Wusun, she convinced her husband to send for aid from the Han Emperor. Emperor Wu of Han sent 150,000 cavalrymen to support the Wusun forces and drive back the Xiongnu.

After the death of Wengguimi, Nimi (Mad King), who was the son of Liu Jieyou’s first husband by his Xiongnu wife, obtained the throne in 64 and married Liu Jieyou. She soon conspired with several Han emissaries to have him assassinated, but the assassination attempt failed and Jieyou was nearly killed by his supporters in retaliation. In the end, Nimi was killed by Wengguimi’s son, Wujiutu who, upon negotiating with Feng Liao, agreed to co-rule with Jieyou’s son, Yuanguimi.

In 51 B.C.E. at the age of 70, Jieyou asked to be allowed to retire and return to the Han. Emperor Xuan of Han agreed and had her escorted back to Chang'an where she was welcomed with honor. She was given a grand palace with servants usually reserved for princesses of the imperial family.

Achievements

• Liu Jieyou was known in Chinese history as a woman who was deeply involved in the politics and cultural exchange between the western region and Han China.

Personality

Liu Jieyou was a wise woman who understood politics and helped her husbands to rule.

Connections

Liu Jieyou was the wife of the Wusun king Cunzhou. After his death, she married his cousin and successor, Wengguimi, to whom she bore five children including Yuanguimi.

Later, after the death of Wengguimi, Liu Jieyou became the wife of Nimi and bore him a son Chi Mi.

late-husband:

Cunzhou

Cunzhou was the king of Wusun.

late-husband:

Wengguimi

Wengguimi was the king of Wusun.

Grandfather:

Liu Wu

Liu Wu was the son of Liu Yingke, Prince Yi of Chu.

husband:

Nimi

Nimi was the king of Wusun.

Son:

Chi Mi

Son:

Yuanguimi

References

• China in central Asia: The early stage, 125 B.C.-A.D. 23 An annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of The history of the former Han dynasty.
  1979
• Peace, War, and Trade Along the Great Wall: Nomadic-Chinese Interaction through Two Millenia In 1577, during a great court debate over the formulation of china's policy toward its nomadic neighbors, the Ming scholar-official Feng Feng-shih observed: "When there are markets and tribute, there is no war." For two millennia, tension between nomad and chinese along China's northern frontier threatened to erupt into war, and for two millennia, the essential element determining whether peace or war existed was trade. This fascinating book tells the story of the centuries-long confrontation along the Great Wall of China.
  1989
• A Biographical Dictionary of the Qin, Former Han and Xin Periods (221 BC - AD 24) This is a unique and conclusive reference work about the 6,000 individual men and women known to us from China's formative first empires. Over decennia, Michael Loewe (Cambridge, UK) has painstakingly collected all biographical information available. Not only those are dealt with who set the literary forms and intellectual background of traditional China, such as writers, scholars, historians, and philosophers, but also those officials who administered the empire, and the military leaders who fought in civil warfare or with China's neighbors.
  2000
• Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E. - 618 C.E This new volume of the "Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women" spans more than 2,000 years from antiquity to the early seventh century. It recovers the stories of more than 200 women, nearly all of them unknown in the West.
  1998