背景

劉怦生于唐玄宗開元十五年（727年）。他的家族來自幽州。據其子劉濟的墓誌銘，劉怦為蜀漢昭烈帝劉備的二十世孫。父劉貢曾任廣邊大斗軍使，母親是朱泚和朱滔的姑母。劉怦青年時在范陽鎮（後改盧龍鎮）任裨將，後為照顧年邁父母而退伍。李懷仙任盧龍節度使時，曾想召回劉怦，劉怦拒絕了。

效力朱滔

大曆七年（772年），接替李懷仙的朱希彩被殺，劉怦的表弟朱泚成為盧龍節度使。與搞獨立的李懷仙、朱希彩不同，朱泚更傾向與朝廷和解並臣服。九年（774年），朱泚入朝長安，成為京郊的禁軍將領，其弟朱滔控制盧龍。劉怦為朱滔效力，因軍功升為雄武軍（在今河北承德）使。廣屯田，節約軍用，辦事有條理。

十年（775年）十月，朱滔奉唐代宗命，聯合成德節度使李寶臣攻打魏博節度使田承嗣。由于劉怦深得軍心，朱滔命他留守軍部。劉怦以寬緩得眾心。但田承嗣卻說服李寶臣反戈相向。李寶臣奇襲盧龍軍並北上試圖攻占其軍部，但劉怦早已設定方略安撫地方，勒兵守城，李寶臣得知劉怦早有準備，就作罷了。劉怦以功加御史中丞，後又任涿州刺史。

建中二年（781年），李寶臣死，子李惟岳要求繼任，被繼位的唐德宗拒絕。隨後，李惟岳和盟友魏博節度使田悅（田承嗣侄，大曆十四年（779年）繼承）、淄青節度使李納、山南東道節度使梁崇義勾結，意圖對朝廷宣戰。德宗命朱滔從北邊進攻李惟岳，朱滔也照辦了，打了勝仗並最終導致李惟岳的部將王武俊殺死李惟岳後投降。

在成德取勝後，德宗卻同時疏遠了朱滔和王武俊，他拒絕按事先約定把曾由朱滔駐軍的屬于成德的深州劃給盧龍，而是將成德所屬七州分成三個小藩鎮。率先臣服于朱滔的成德主將張孝忠助其攻打李惟岳，被任為新設的易定滄節度使，轄三州；另各劃兩州給王武俊和另一臣服朝廷的成德將領康日知，任他們為團練使。德宗表面上將德州、棣州（今山東濱州）劃給盧龍，其實這兩處都在李納控制下。朱滔因德宗不給他分封成德鎮的領地（尤其是深州）卻要求他自己去打兩個城而生氣，王武俊因殺了李惟岳，也不滿僅僅被德宗封在一個難于把守的地方為團練使。田悅趁機策反朱滔、王武俊，聯合對抗朝廷。當時劉怦受朱滔命知幽州留後，得知，寫信懇求朱滔不要反叛重蹈安祿山、史思明的覆轍，但朱滔沒有接受。但因為他相信劉怦的忠誠，所以並不擔心劉怦會對抗他，只要出兵征伐，就讓劉怦總留後事。朱滔叛變後，張孝忠拒絕合作，他就命劉怦率軍屯要害防備張孝忠偷襲。三年（783年）朱滔僭稱大冀王，偽署劉怦為右僕射、范陽留守。

興元元年（784年）五月，朱滔被王武俊和田悅的堂弟和繼任者田緒聯合朝廷將領昭義節度使李抱真完敗，被迫率殘軍退回盧龍。此時，他深感羞愧，擔心留守盧龍的劉怦會反戈一擊，徬徨不敢回。但劉怦得知後，動員留守軍隊出城，夾道二十里，準備了儀仗，以盛大的儀式歡迎他回府。朱滔看到劉怦，悲喜交加，從此更信任他的忠誠了。劉怦繼續治軍，當時的人也嘉獎劉怦忠義。

朱滔沮喪鬱悶成病，政事都委託劉怦。貞元元年（785年）六月，朱滔去世，士兵擁立劉怦為留後並繼任。劉怦為眾人所服，七月，被德宗任為幽州長史、兼御史大夫、幽州盧龍節度副大使，兼知節度管理度支營田觀察、押奚契丹、經略盧龍等軍使，爵封彭城郡公。

任節度使

劉怦累官開府儀同三司、帶正省兵吏刑戶四尚書、左右僕射、平章事。九月，病倒了，請求以其子兼御史中丞充行軍司馬劉濟權知軍州事，德宗准。當月，只當了3個月節度使的劉怦去世了，謚恭。德宗廢朝三日，贈兵部尚書，賜布帛有差。軍人因河朔故事請求劉濟繼任，德宗就命劉濟繼任節度使。當時劉濟在莫州，胞弟劉澭以父命召回劉濟繼任。

劉怦累贈太師、太保。十年（794年）葬處立碑。金章宗于泰和三年（1203年）發現碑在自己南苑中，說苑中不宜有墓，詔賜劉怦後人東上閣門使劉頍錢三百貫改葬。

劉怦、劉濟父子實質上仍是割據幽州。

家庭

妻妾

• 妻越國太夫人徐氏，貞元年間卒，子劉澭、劉源

子孫

• 劉濟

• 劉澭（759～807）

• 劉源（765～807）

後裔

據《劉鑄墓誌》，劉鑄父即劉怦曾孫劉守敬，遼國南京副留守。但存疑，因劉鑄去世于劉怦去世209年後，不可能只有四代人。

劉守敬子劉景，《遼史》有傳。

注釋

Background

Liu Peng was born in 727, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong. His family was from You Prefecture (幽州, in modern Beijing). According to the Gravestone Epitaph of his son Liu Ji, he was a 20th generation descendant of Liu Bei. His father Liu Gong at one point served as a commander of Dadou Army (大斗軍). In Liu Peng's youth, he served as an officer at Fanyang Circuit (范陽, headquartered in modern Beijing, later renamed Lulong Circuit), but left military service to care for his aging parents. When Li Huaixian served as the military governor of Lulong Circuit, he tried to recall Liu back to military service, but Liu declined.

Service under Zhu Tao

In 772, after Li Huaixian's successor Zhu Xicai was assassinated, Liu Peng's cousin Zhu Ci (a son of Liu's mother's brother) became military governor. Contrary to the prior independent stand that Li and Zhu Xicai took as to the imperial government, Zhu Ci was more reconciliatory and submissive to the imperial government, and in 774, he went to the Tang capital Chang'an and thereafter served as an imperial general around the capital, leaving his brother (also Liu's cousin) Zhu Tao in actual control of the circuit. Liu served under Zhu Tao, and through his accomplishments was made the commander of the Xiongwu Army (雄武軍, based on modern Chengde, Hebei). Later, he was made the prefect of Zhuo Prefecture (涿州, in modern Baoding, Hebei).

In 775, Zhu Tao, per mandate of Emperor Daizong, attacked Tian Chengsi the military governor of Weibo Circuit (魏博, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei), along with Li Baochen the military governor of Chengde Circuit (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei). Because Liu was loved by the army, Zhu put him in command of headquarters before launching his campaign. Tian, however, persuaded Li Baochen to turn against Zhu, and late in 775, Li Baochen launched a surprise attack on Zhu's army and then attacked north, hoping to capture Lulong's headquarters. However, with Li Baochen realizing that Liu had taken precautions, he stopped his attack.

After Li Baochen died in 781, Li Baochen's son Li Weiyue requested imperial sanction to succeed him, but Emperor Daizong's son and successor Emperor Dezong refused, and subsequently, Li Weiyue, along with his allies Tian Yue (Tian Chengsi's nephew, who had succeeded Tian Chengsi in 779), Li Na, and Liang Chongyi, prepared to wage war against the imperial government, and the imperial government responded in kind. Emperor Dezong commissioned Zhu to attack Li Weiyue from the north, and Zhu did so; his victories eventually caused Li Weiyue's subordinate Wang Wujun to assassinate Li Weiyue and surrender.

After the victory at Chengde, however, Emperor Dezong made a series of moves that simultaneously alienated Zhu and Wang. He refused to give Chengde's Shen Prefecture (深州, in modern Hengshui, Hebei) to Lulong, as Zhu had requested. Rather, he divided the seven prefectures of Chengde into three smaller circuits, making Zhang Xiaozhong, the first major Chengde officer to submit to Zhu and join Zhu's operations against Li Weiyue, the military governor of a newly created Yidingcang Circuit (易定滄, headquartered in modern Baoding, soon renamed to Yiwu (義武)), consisting of three prefectures, while giving two prefectures each to Wang and Kang Rizhi (康日知, another Chengde general who had submitted to imperial authority during the campaign), with the lesser titles of military prefect (團練使, Tuanlianshi). Emperor Dezong, on paper, gave Lulong two additional prefectures — De (德州, in modern Dezhou, Shandong) and Di (棣州, in modern Binzhou, Shandong) — both still then held by Li Na. Zhu was angered by Emperor Dezong's refusal to give him any part of Chengde territory (in particular, Shen Prefecture) and requiring him to capture two additional prefectures on his own, while Wang was angered that contrary to Emperor Dezong's implicit promises to give whomever killed Li Weiyue Li Weiyue's offices, he not only received a lesser title, but was in a position where he could easily be destroyed. Tian, who was then still under imperial attack, thus persuaded Zhu and Wang to join him in an alliance to defend against imperial forces. When Liu heard that Zhu was planning to turn against imperial forces, he wrote an earnest letter to Zhu trying to change his mind:

Zhu did not accept his suggestion, but it was said that because he knew that Liu was faithful to him, he did not fear that Liu would turn against him. Subsequently, as he was turning against the imperial government but Zhang refused to join his alliance with Wang and Tian, he had Liu take up position to defend a potential attack by Zhang.

By 784, Zhu's campaign had ended in utter failure after Wang and Tian Yue's cousin and successor Tian Xu turned against him and defeated him along with the imperial general Li Baozhen. Zhu was forced to withdraw with his remaining troops back to Lulong. As he was arriving back in Lulong, he was filled with shames of defeat and feared that Liu might turn against him in light of his defeat. As he was arriving at the headquarters at You Prefecture, however, Liu mobilized the remaining troops and exited the city to welcome him in grand ceremony. Zhu was touched in both sadness and joy when seeing Liu, and the popular opinion at the time credited Liu for his faithfulness.

Zhu died in summer 785, and the soldiers supported Liu to succeed him. Emperor Dezong made Liu the military governor and also created him the Duke of Pengcheng.

As Jiedushi

Liu Peng himself, however, soon fell ill, and Emperor Dezong had his son Liu Ji serve as acting military governor in Liu Peng's illness. Liu Peng only served for three months before he himself died, in fall 785. He was given posthumous honors, and Emperor Dezong made Liu Ji military governor to succeed him.

Notes and references

• Old Book of Tang, vol. 143.

• New Book of Tang, vol. 212.

• Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 225, 227, 231, 232.