生平经历

家世

刘启为汉文帝刘恒长子。刘启出生时，父亲刘恒为代王，母亲窦姬为妾。前180年，吕太后驾崩，陈平、周勃等人诛灭诸吕，立刘恒为帝，是为汉文帝。嫡母代王王后早已逝世，而她所生的世子也在此时病死，刘启成为父亲刘恒事实上的长子。同年正月，刘启以刘恒长子的身份被立为太子。其后，母亲窦姬亦被立为皇后。

误杀吴国太子刘贤而埋下七国之乱

刘启为太子时性格刚烈，因与吴国太子刘贤下围棋（一说六博）发生争执，而拿棋盘打死了刘贤，汉文帝敕命送遗体回去埋葬，到了吴国，刘贤的父亲吴王刘濞大怒，说道：「天下都是刘家的，死在长安就埋在长安，何必回吴国埋葬！」遂又把遗体送回长安埋葬，以示对朝廷的不满，从此刘濞怨恨刘启，也怨恨朝廷。另外刘启为太子曾经和梁王刘武一起被时任公车令的张释之弹劾说「过司马门不下车」，刘启即位后，将张释之贬谪为淮南国相国。

前157年7月6日（六月己亥），汉文帝崩于长安未央宫，7月14日（丁未），皇太子刘启即位，是为汉景帝。

景帝前元三年（前154年），御史大夫晁错建议削藩，景帝听从，引起那些早就想反叛的诸侯王们的不满，于是以吴王刘濞、楚王刘戊为首的七国之乱开始了。七国诸侯王以「诛晁错，清君侧」为藉口叛乱，欲夺天下。晁错政敌袁盎献策景帝，诛晁错以平叛乱。景帝「嘿然良久，曰：『顾诚何如，吾不爱一人以谢天下。』」。于是有丞相青翟等一众臣子劾奏晁错。景帝「制曰：『可』」，令中尉以上朝议事为名，诱晁错上朝，行中错道，至东市，中尉宣汉景帝刘启诏书，当场腰斩晁错。但晁错死后，七国之乱不但没有停止，反而越演越烈，占领了不少土地。景帝无可奈何，只得派太尉周亚夫、窦婴镇压，前后三个月即平定七国之乱。

和亲外交

七国之乱以后，景帝开始专心打理朝政，据说景帝十分朴素，仁厚爱民。除了平定七国之乱以外，从来没有大规模用过兵，和匈奴的战争始终控制在一定的规模内，依然对匈奴采取和亲政策。

立储

前元六年（前151年），皇后薄氏被废。第二年（前150年），废太子刘荣。同年四月，立王氏为皇后，随后立王氏的独子胶东王刘彻为太子。

。文景之治

景帝崇尚黄老之说，减少刑罚，减少赋税，兴修水利，提倡农业，要求人心不服的案子进行重审，以免冤狱发生。百姓在和平稳定的环境下创造了大量财富，其间百姓富裕，丰衣足食，安居乐业，天下太平安乐，一派盛世景象，与其父汉文帝统治时期并称文景之治。

病重身亡

景帝后元三年正月甲子（前141年3月9日），景帝崩于未央宫，遗诏赐予诸侯王与列侯骏马两匹、吏二千石、黄金两斤，吏民户百钱；又命放出一批宫人，使其归家再嫁。景帝享年48岁，諡号孝景皇帝，无庙号，二月癸酉（3月18日），葬于阳陵。景帝崩后由皇太子刘彻即位，是为汉武帝。汉书·景帝纪记载，景帝逝前对刘彻说：人不患其不知，患其为诈也；不患其不勇，患其为暴也；不患其不富，患其亡厌也。

人物评价

司马迁在《史记》中评价：「至孝景，不复忧异姓，而晁错刻削诸侯，遂使七国俱起，合从而西乡，以诸侯太盛，而错之不以为渐也。」

班固在《汉书》中评价：「孝景遵业，五六十载之间，至于移风易俗，黎民醇厚。周云成康，汉言文景，美矣！」

唐代司马贞在《史记索隐》中评价景帝以德待臣子、鼓励耕作，面对吴楚之叛，引领将领翦除逆贼。但是平叛的周亚夫，受到景帝的猜忌，仓促下狱，这对于一个治理国家的明君来说，是很可惜的：『【索隐述赞】景帝即位，因修静默。勉人于农，率下以德。制度斯创，礼法可则。一朝吴楚，乍起凶慝。提局成衅，拒轮致惑。晁错虽诛，梁城未克。条侯出将，追奔逐北。坐见枭黥，立翦牟贼。如何太尉，后卒下狱。惜哉明君，斯功不录！』

家族成员

后妃

• 皇后

　• 薄皇后，景帝祖母薄太后族人，后被废。

　• 王娡，汉武帝生母。

• 妃嫔

　• 栗姬

　• 程姬

　• 贾夫人

　• 唐姬

　• 王儿姁，王皇后之妹。

子女

子

• 皇太子→临江闵王刘荣（母栗姬）

• 鲁恭王刘余（母程姬）（东汉刘表、刘璋为其后裔）

• 河间献王刘德（母栗姬）

• 临江哀王刘阏于（母栗姬）

• 江都易王刘非（母程姬）

• 长沙定王刘发（母唐姬）（更始帝刘玄、光武帝刘秀为其后裔）

• 胶西于王刘端（母程姬）

• 赵敬肃王刘彭祖（母贾夫人）

• 中山靖王刘胜（母贾夫人）（汉昭烈帝刘备为其后裔）

• 广川惠王刘越（母王夫人）

• 胶东王→皇太子→汉武帝刘彻（母王皇后）

• 胶东康王刘寄（母王夫人）

• 清河哀王刘乘（母王夫人）

• 常山宪王刘舜（母王夫人）

女

汉景帝的女儿，有史可查的仅平阳、南宫、隆虑三人：

• 平阳公主（母王皇后）。

• 南宫公主（母王皇后）

• 隆虑公主（母王皇后）

纪年

影视形象

• 《汉武帝》，由刘毓滨饰演

• 《汉武大帝》，由焦晃饰演

• 《美人心计》，由高昊饰演，但奇怪的是在此剧中的刘启在十八岁登基，与史实中三十二岁并不符合。

注释

Early life and career as crown prince

Emperor Jing was born to Emperor Wen, then Prince of Dai, and Consort Dou, one of his favorite consorts, in 188 BC. He was his father's oldest son. After his father became emperor in 180 BC, then-Prince Qi was made crown prince in 179 BC. At the same time, his mother was made empress.

In his childhood as crown prince, Prince Qi was praised for being compassionate. He was deeply influenced by his mother Empress Dou, who was a Taoist and required all of her children and grandchildren to study Taoist doctrines. He also developed deep bonds with his older sister Princess Liu Piao (刘嫖) and his younger brother Liu Wu (刘武), both also born of Empress Dou.

As Prince Qi grew in age, as was customary, he established his own household, and a member of his household, Chao Cuo (晁错), known for his intelligence and ruthless efficiency as well as his rhetorical talent, became a trusted adviser of Prince Qi. Despise this, Liu Qi has been known to taken an epicurean lifestyle to the point that emperor Wen once consider deposed him as Crown Prince to Liu Wu, Prince of Liang, but dropped the matter as many officials opposed the idea.

In 157 BC, Emperor Wen died, and Prince Qi became emperor. In accordance with Emperor Wen's will, the period of mourning was shortened. Emperor Jing's grandmother Empress Dowager Bo became grand empress dowager, and Empress Dou became empress dowager. Prince Qi's wife, Crown Princess Bo (a member of his grandmother's clan) became empress.

Early reign

When he rise as Emperor, opposite to what the officials thought Emperor Jing is a bad leader like Jie, Zhou and You, with the danger of collapse of the Han dynasty could be imminent, the officials were shocked as Liu Qi's sudden change of personality and proved to be a capable ruler. Emperor Jing largely continued his father's policy of non-interference with the people and reduction of tax and other burdens. Under Jing, taxes were cut in half, to one-thirtieth of the crop. He continued his policy of reducing criminal penalties, and in 156 BC, in reaction to the reality that his father's abolition of corporal punishments of cutting off nose and feet were in fact causing more people to die from whipping, reduced the number of whips that criminals would receive. (He would later reduce the penalty again in 144 BC.) He also continued his father's policy of heqin (marriage treaties) with Xiongnu, which largely avoided large conflicts with that northern neighbor. However, one immediate issue confronting Emperor Jing was the power possessed by princes of collateral lines of the imperial clan. The princes often built up their own military strengths and resisted edicts issued by the emperor. This was already an issue in Emperor Wen's days, but Emperor Wen did not take any decisive actions on the issue.

Emperor Jing did not designate a crown prince for the first few years of his reign, because Empress Bo did not have any sons. His mother, the Dowager Empress Dou, wanted him to make his younger brother Liu Wu, the Prince of Liang, the crown prince, but this did not happen because of opposition by officials. However, Liu Wu was given many privileges not given to other princes.

The Rebellion of the Seven States

The issue of dealing with powerful princes would soon erupt into a war later known as the Rebellion of the Seven States. Emperor Jing already had an inimical relationship with his cousin-once-removed (the nephew of his grandfather Emperor Gaozu) Liu Pi (刘濞), the prince of the wealthy Principality of Wu (modern southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang, southern Anhui, and northern Jiangxi), which enjoyed, among other natural resources, abundant copper and salt supplies. While Emperor Jing was crown prince, Liu Pi's heir apparent Liu Xian (刘贤) had been on an official visit to the capital Chang'an, and they gambled together by playing the liubo board game (heavily tied to divination and predictions of the future). While playing the board game, Liu Xian offended then-Crown Prince Qi, and Prince Qi threw the wooden board at Liu Xian, killing him.. Liu Pi thus had great hatred for the new emperor.

Chao Cuo's advice for Emperor Jing was to, using as excuses offenses that princes have committed which had generally been ignored by Emperor Wen, cut down the sizes of the principalities to make them less threatening. Chao explicitly contemplated the possibility that Wu and other principalities may rebel, but justified the action by asserting that if they were going to rebel, it would be better to let them rebel earlier than later, when they might be more prepared. Under this theory, Emperor Jing, in 154 BC, carved out one commandery each from the Principalities of Chu (modern northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui) and Zhao and six counties from the Principality of Jiaoxi (roughly modern Weifang, Shandong), before carving two commanderies out of Wu.

Wu did indeed start a rebellion, in alliance with Chu, Jiaoxi, Zhao, and three other smaller principalities—Jiaodong, Zichuan, and Jinan. Two other principalities that originally agreed to join, Qi (modern central Shandong) and Jibei (modern northwestern Shandong), reneged at the final moment. Wu also sought assistance from the independent kingdoms of Donghai (modern Zhejiang) and Minyue (modern Fujian), and both kingdoms contributed forces. Zhao sought assistance from Xiongnu, but while Xiongnu initially agreed to help, it did not actually enter the war.

In accordance with instructions left by Emperor Wen, Emperor Jing commissioned Zhou Yafu as the commander of his armed forces to face the main rebel force—joint forces of Wu and Chu. However, he soon panicked at the prospect of losing, and at the suggestion of Chao Cuo's enemy Yuan Ang, he executed Chao to try to appease the seven princes, to no avail.

Wu and Chu forces were fiercely attacking the Principality of Liang (modern eastern Henan), whose prince Liu Wu, prince of Liang was Emperor Jing's beloved younger brother, and Emperor Jing ordered Zhou to immediately head to Liang to save it. Zhou refused, reasoning that the proper strategy would involve first cutting off the Wu and Chu supply lines, thus starving them, so he headed to the northeast side of Liang and around the Wu and Chu forces to cut off their supplies. The strategy was effective. Wu and Chu, unable to capture Liang quickly and realizing that their supplies were dwindling, headed northeast to attack Zhou. After being unable to get a decisive victory against Zhou, the Wu and Chu forces collapsed from starvation. Liu Pi fled to Donghai, which killed him and sought peace with Han. Liu Wu, the Prince of Chu, committed suicide. The other principalities involved were all eventually defeated as well.

Middle reign and succession issues

In 153 BC, because Empress Bo did not have a son, Emperor Jing made his oldest son Liu Rong (刘荣) crown prince. This made Liu Rong's mother, Consort Li (栗姬), who was one of Emperor Jing's favorite concubines, think she would be made empress, particularly after Empress Bo was deposed in 151 BC, following Grand Empress Dowager Bo's death. She hated Emperor Jing's sister Princess Liu Piao, because Princess Piao had often given her brother beautiful women as concubines, drawing Consort Li's jealousy. When Princess Piao wanted to end this dispute by giving her daughter Chen Jiao as wife to Prince Rong, Consort Li refused.

Princess Piao, seeing the precarious state that she would be in if Consort Li became empress dowager one day, carried out an alternative plan. She gave Chen Jiao as wife to Liu Che, the son of Emperor Jing's other favorite concubine, Wang Zhi, the Prince of Jiaodong. She then incessantly criticized Consort Li for her jealousy—pointing out that, if Consort Li became empress dowager, many concubines might suffer the fates of Consort Qi, Emperor Gao's favorite concubine who was tortured and killed by Emperor Gao's wife Empress Dowager Lü after Emperor Gao's death. Emperor Jing eventually agreed, and he deposed Prince Rong from his position in 150 BC. Consort Li died in anger. That year, Consort Wang was made empress, and Prince Che the crown prince.

Prince Rong would not be spared. In 148 BC, he was accused of intruding onto the grounds of his grandfather Emperor Wen's temple when building the walls to his palace. He was imprisoned and not permitted to write to his father. His granduncle Dou Ying (窦婴, Empress Dowager Dou's brother or cousin) slipped in a knife pen; he wrote a letter and then committed suicide.

A major incident involving another potential heir, Prince Wu of Liang, erupted in 148 BC as well. Prince Wu, because of his contributions to the victory during the Rebellion of the Seven States, was further given privilege to use imperial ceremonies and colors. Members of his household encouraged him to seek to become crown prince. This was favored by the empress dowager Dou as well, but opposed by the minister Yuan Ang, who believed such a move would bring instability to dynastic succession. When Prince Wu sought permission to build a highway directly from his capital Suiyang to Chang'an, Yuan, fearing that the highway might be used for military purposes if Liang rebelled, opposed it. Prince Wu had him assassinated. Emperor Jing was extremely angry and sent many investigators to Liang to track down the conspirators, whom Prince Wu eventually surrendered. Emperor Jing, afraid of offending his mother and still affectionate for his brother, pardoned Prince Wu but no longer considered him as possible heir.

Late reign

The late reign of Emperor Jing was marked by an incident for which he was much criticized: the death of Zhou Yafu, who had been instrumental in the victory against the Seven States. As prime minister, Zhou offended nearly every powerful figure around Emperor Jing, in particular his brother Prince Liu Wu and his mother Empress Dowager Dou (for refusing to save Liang first when Liang was sieged by the combined forces of Wu and Chu), and his wife Empress Wang and her brother Wang Xin (王信), whom Emperor Jing wanted to make a marquess but whose candidacy Zhou rebuffed. By 143 BC, he was retired when his son, in anticipation of his death, purchased retired armor and weapons from the imperial armory to serve as burial decorations. Zhou's son refused to pay the delivery workers, and the delivery workers, in retaliation, accused the Zhous of treason. Emperor Jing had Zhou Yafu arrested and interrogated, and the interrogator, when told by Zhou that the armor and weapons were for burial purposes, accused him of "underground treason"—i.e., ready to commit treason against the spirits of the emperors after he himself dies. Zhou committed suicide in prison.

Emperor Jing died in 141 BC and was buried in the Han Yang Ling Mausoleum in Chang'an. He was succeeded by Crown Prince Che (as Emperor Wu).

Legacy

His reign, along with that of his father Emperor Wen, known as the Rule of Wen and Jing, was considered to be one of the golden ages in Chinese history. However, it is also apparent from his actions that he lacked the warmth and openness his father had, and in many ways his reign was marked by political intrigue and treachery. Emperor Jing can also be credited for furthering the study of Taoist text after he recognized the Tao Te Ching as a Chinese classic during his rule.

In 2016, the discovery of the earliest tea traces known to date from the mausoleum of Emperor Jing in Xi'an was announced, indicating that tea was drunk by Han Dynasty emperors as early as 2nd century BC.

Era names

These "era names" are not true "era names" in the sense that the era name system, as instituted by Emperor Jing's son Emperor Wu, had not come into place. Emperor Jing, in accordance to prior imperial calendaring systems, would have simply referred to the number of years in his reign, but for unknown reasons reset the count twice, thus requiring historians to refer to them separately.

• Qianyuan (前元, "Former Era") 156 BC – 150 BC

• Zhongyuan (中元, "Middle Era") 149 BC – 144 BC

• Houyuan (后元, "Later Era") 143 BC – 141 BC

Family

Consorts and Issue:

• Empress, of the Bo clan (皇后 薄氏; d. 147 BC), second cousin

• Empress Xiaojing, of the Wang clan (孝景皇后 王氏; d. 126 BC), personal name Zhi (娡)

　• Grand Princess Yangxin (阳信长公主)

　　• Married Cao Shi, Marquis Pingyang (曹时; d. 131 BC), and had issue (one son)

　　• Married Xiahou Po, Marquis Ruyin (夏侯颇; d. 115 BC)

　　• Married Wei Qing, Marquis Changping (d. 106 BC)

　• Princess Nangong (南宫公主)

　　• Married Zhang Zuo, Marquis Nangong (张坐)

　　• Married Er Shen (耏申) in 123 BC

　• Princess Longlü (隆虑公主)

　　• Married Chen Jiao, Marquis Longlü (陈蟜; d. 116 BC), and had issue (one son)

　• Liu Che, Emperor Xiaowu (孝武皇帝 刘彻; 157–87 BC), tenth son

• Lady, of the Li clan (栗氏)

　• Liu Rong, Prince Min of Linjiang (临江闵王 刘荣; 172–148 BC), first son

　• Liu De, Prince Xian of Hejian (河间献王 刘德; 171–130 BC), second son

　• Liu Eyu, Prince Ai of Linjiang (临江哀王 刘阏于; 170–154 BC), fourth son

• Lady, of the Cheng clan (程氏)

　• Liu Yu, Prince Gong of Lu (鲁恭王 刘馀; d. 128 BC), third son

　• Liu Fei, Prince Yi of Jiangdu (江都易王 刘非; 168–128 BC), fifth son

　• Liu Duan, Prince Yu of Jiaoxi (胶西于王 刘端; 165–107 BC), seventh son

• Lady, of the Tang clan (唐氏)

　• Liu Fa, Prince Ding of Changsha (长沙定王 刘发; d. 129 BC), sixth son

• Furen, of the Jia clan (夫人 贾氏)

　• Liu Pengzu, Prince Jingsu of Zhao (赵敬肃王 刘彭祖; 166–92 BC), eighth son

　• Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of Zhongshan (中山靖王 刘胜; 165–113 BC), ninth son

• Furen, of the Wang clan (夫人 王氏), personal name Erxu (儿姁)

　• Liu Yue, Prince Hui of Guangchuan (广川惠王 刘越; d. 135 BC), 11th son

　• Liu Ji, Prince Kang of Jiaodong (胶东康王 刘寄; d. 120 BC), 12th son

　• Liu Cheng, Prince Ai of Qinghe (清河哀王 刘乘; 153–135 BC), 13th son

　• Liu Shun, Prince Xian of Changshan (常山宪王 刘舜; 152–113 BC), 14th son

Ancestry