Liu Hang

Life

He passed the imperial examination in 1030, the eighth year of the Tiansheng era of Emperor Renzong, ranking second on the list, and was first appointed to the Court of Judicial Review and as assistant prefect of Shuzhou. He later served as a judge in the expenditure and revenue bureaus of the State Finance Commission and as imperial diarist; after successive promotions to assistant and erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, he was made a Right Rectifier of Words, drafter of edicts, and given charge of the Bureau of Personnel Evaluation. As prefect of Hengzhou he decided a case in which a prominent family had seized farmland with a forged deed. He also governed Jianzhou, Shengzhou, Ezhou, Jianglingfu and Hongzhou.

Sent on a mission to the Khitan, he disgraced himself through drunkenness and insulted his hosts, and was posted out as prefect of Tanzhou, Hezhou and Jiangzhou. When the Yao of Hunan rose in revolt, he was made a senior academician of the Longtu Pavilion, appointed prefect of Tanzhou and pacification commissioner, and suppressed the rising. He was afterwards placed in charge of the Bureau for the Review of Sentences, appointed to Yongxingjun, then made acting prefect of Kaifeng with the title of academician of the Longtu Pavilion, and promoted to vice minister of works.

In 1051, the third year of the Huangyou era, he was appointed joint administrator of state affairs. In 1054, the first year of the Zhihe era, he became a chancellor as Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi and Grand Academician of the Jixian Hall, and was moved to the office of commissioner for the imperial tomb; he proposed abolishing three abuses — the recommendation of close courtiers, petitions on behalf of relatives, and advancement by seniority of service. In 1056, the first year of the Jiayou era, he was censured for having impeached and dismissed a censor out of personal spite, and was removed to the offices of Grand Academician of the Guanwen Hall and minister of works, serving as prefect of Yingtianfu; he was then promoted to minister of justice and transferred to Chenzhou. He died in 1060, aged sixty-six, and was posthumously granted the offices of left vice director of the Department of State Affairs and director of the Chancellery.

Family and associates

His grandfather was Liu Xu (劉煦) and his grandmother née Zhang; his father was Liu Su (劉素) and his mother née Yan. He had two sons, Liu Jin (劉瑾) and Liu Guan (劉琯), as well as a nephew, Liu Hui (劉璯), and a grandson, Liu Xian (劉僩). While chancellor he lodged the Imperial University student Cai Zeng (蔡曾) in his household to instruct students; he was once impeached by Wu Zhongfu (吳中復). His writings were given a preface by Zheng Xie (鄭獬) and a colophon by Zhou Bida (周必大), and Zheng Xie also wrote a sacrificial address for him.

Works

His works included a two-juan catalogue (《書目》) and a one-juan genealogy of the Liu family (《劉氏家譜》); four of his poems survive. Zeng Gong composed the stele inscription "Liu Chengxiang Hang Sixian zhi bei" (《劉丞相沆思賢之碑》), included in the second series, juan 8, of the Mingchen beizhuan wanyan ji, and biographies of Liu Hang appear in juan 285 of the Songshi and in juan 5 of the Longping ji and juan 66 of the Dongdu shilue.