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Liu Fei 劉肥, Prince Daohui of Qi 齊悼惠王

Sep 12, 2011 © Ulrich Theobald

Prince Daohui of Qi 齊悼惠王, personal name Liu Fei 劉肥, was a son of Liu Bang 劉邦 (Emperor Gaozu 漢高祖, r. 206-195 BCE), the founder of the Han dynasty 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE).

He was invested as Prince of Qi 齊 in 201. In 193 he was invited to the court of Emperor Hui 漢惠帝 (r. 195-188), his half-brother. The Emperor treated him during an banquet with more favour than appropriate. This was a reason for the Emperor's mother, Empress Dowager Lü 呂太后 (r. 188-180), to get rid of a possible competitor for the throne. She tried to poison him, but Emperor Hui was well aware of this and prevented his half-brother drinking the venomed wine.

In order to appease the Empress Dowager, Liu Fei was given advice to present a bath town to the daughter of the Empress Dowager, Princess Yuan of Lu 魯元公主. He also addressed the Princess as "Queen Dowager" (wang taihou 王太后), which was an extreme exaggeration.

He thus survived the reign of the Empress Dowager and died, bestowed the posthumous title of Prince Daohui 悼惠王.

Source:
Cang Xiuliang 倉修良, ed. (1996). Hanshu cidian 漢書辭典 (Jinan: Shandong jiaoyu chubanshe), 951.