Emperor Xian (simplified: 汉献帝, traditional: 漢獻帝, pinyin: Hàn Xiàndì), personal name Liu Xie (刘协 Liú Xiè), was the last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty. Enthroned as a boy in 189 after Dong Zhuo deposed his brother Emperor Shao, he spent his reign as a figurehead under Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and Guo Si, and then Cao Cao, who moved the court to Xuchang and ruled in his name. In 220 Cao Pi received his abdication and founded the Wei dynasty; Emperor Xian was enfeoffed as Duke of Shanyang and lived in retirement until his death in 234.
Biography
Enthronement and Dong Zhuo
Liu Xie was a son of Emperor Ling. When Dong Zhuo seized power in 189, he deposed the young Emperor Shao (Liu Bian) and placed Liu Xie on the throne as Emperor Xian. Dong Zhuo moved the court to Chang’an and controlled the emperor until his assassination in 192.
Li Jue, Guo Si, and the flight to the east
After Dong Zhuo’s death, Li Jue and Guo Si seized Chang’an and fought over the emperor. Emperor Xian escaped in 195 and, after a difficult journey, was received by Cao Cao in 196. Cao Cao moved the court to Xuchang and from then on used the emperor’s authority to issue edicts and legitimise his campaigns—the strategy Mao Jie summarised as “holding the Son of Heaven to command the disobedient”.
Under Cao Cao and abdication
For the rest of his reign Emperor Xian was under Cao Cao’s control. Conspiracies to restore real power to the throne (including one involving Empress Fu and her father) were crushed; Cao Cao gave the emperor his daughter in marriage. After Cao Cao’s death in 220, Cao Pi pressured the emperor to abdicate. Emperor Xian did so, and Cao Pi proclaimed the Wei dynasty. Emperor Xian was enfeoffed as Duke of Shanyang (山陽公) and lived in Shan County until his death in 234.
Legacy
Emperor Xian’s reign marks the formal end of the Eastern Han. His abdication to Cao Pi in 220 is the conventional date for the start of the Three Kingdoms period. He is often portrayed as a tragic figure—a sovereign in name only—and as the key to Cao Cao’s legitimacy during the rise of Wei.