Liu Chong

Biography & Historical Record

This post’s death year (197) and “Han imperial clansman” tag identify Liu Chong (刘宠, Lưu Sủng), King of Chen (陈王), posthumously Prince Min of Chen (陈愍王) — not the earlier honest official Liu Chong of Donglai, courtesy Zurong (祖荣, Tổ Vinh), the “one-cash” Administrator of Kuaiji in Hou Hanshu 76. Import rows glued Zurong onto the 197 death; those are two men. The King of Chen was a descendant of Emperor Ming’s son Liu Xian (陈敬王). In the 180s–190s he trained crossbowmen, held Yangxia, and styled himself General Who Upholds the Han when Dong Zhuo seized the court. His chancellor Luo Jun (骆俊, Lạc Tuấn), courtesy Xiaoyuan (孝远), of Wushang in Kuaiji — father of later Wu officer Luo Tong — fed refugees while other princely houses starved.

In Jian’an 2 (197) Yuan Shu (袁术, Viên Thuật) declared himself emperor in Huainan and demanded Chen grain. Luo Jun refused. Yuan Shu sent the assassin Zhang Kai (张闿, Trương Khải) — the same officer who had murdered Cao Cao (曹操, Tào Tháo)‘s father Cao Song — to kill Luo Jun at a banquet and then the king. Chen collapsed, was occupied, and was later reduced to a commandery under Cao Cao. Romance Chapter 15 is Sun Ce and Taishi Ci in Jiangdong, the same Yuan Shu year but a different front; the novel does not give King Chong a speaking scene. Catalogs that stamp “Ch.15 / Zurong” are mixing the Kuaiji honest official, the Jiangdong chapter number, and the 197 Chen assassination.

Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 15 (Taishi Ci Fights a Great Battle with Sun Ce; Sun Ce Seizes the Southland) is Jiangdong: Sun Ce, Taishi Ci (太史慈, Thái Sử Từ), the break from Yuan Shu (袁术, Viên Thuật). Liu Chong (刘宠, Lưu Sủng) the King of Chen does not ride in that army. His historical death, however, is the other 197 wound Yuan Shu dealt the Han house: while Sun Ce took the Southland, Yuan Shu’s killer Zhang Kai (张闿, Trương Khải) ended Chen’s last prince and the chancellor who had refused imperial grain. Read Chapter 15 as the Jiangdong half of Yuan Shu’s last year; read this page as the Chen half the novel leaves off-stage.

Liu Chong (刘宠) — Historical & Literary Timeline

See Liu Chong (prince) and Luo Jun’s notice.

Key Relationships

Family

• Eastern Han imperial cadet: line of Prince Jing of Chen (刘羡). No spouse or children are needed for the 197 fall; the kingdom itself dies with him.

Friends

• Luo Jun (骆俊, Lạc Tuấn), courtesy Xiaoyuan: Chen chancellor, Kuaiji man, father of Luo Tong of Wu. Refused Yuan Shu’s grain and died first. No site post.

Enemies

• Yuan Shu (袁术, Viên Thuật): pretender who ordered the killings after the grain refusal.
• Zhang Kai (张闿, Trương Khải): the assassin — already infamous for Cao Song’s murder.

Other

• Cao Cao (曹操, Tào Tháo): later absorbs Chen as a commandery after Yuan Shu’s collapse; also the son of Zhang Kai’s earlier victim.
• Taishi Ci (太史慈, Thái Sử Từ) and Sun Ce: Chapter 15’s actual novel leads, fighting on Yuan Shu’s other flank in 197.
• Do not link this 刘宠 to the Zurong honest-official tradition.