Liu Li

Biography & Historical Record

Liu Li, courtesy name Fengxiao, was an imperial prince of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period, serving as the Prince of Liang and later as the Prince of Anping (posthumously honored as Prince Dao). Hailing from Zhuo County in Zhuo Commandery (modern-day Zhuozhou, Hebei Province), Liu Li was the youngest son of the founding Emperor Liu Bei (Emperor Zhaolie) and a younger half-brother to the second emperor Liu Shan and Prince Liu Yong. Documented in Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi – Book of Shu, Biography of the Two Princes) and Luo Guanzhong’s classic historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Li is historically remembered as a dignified, respectful, and dutiful prince whose life embodied both imperial succession harmony and strategic matrimonial alliance, marrying the daughter of the legendary Western Liang general Ma Chao.

Historical scholars have frequently highlighted the profound political philosophy embedded in the naming of Liu Bei’s sons. By bestowing names upon his four sons in succession—Liu Feng (adoptive son), Liu Shan, Liu Yong, and Liu Li—the combined names form the phrase ‘Feng Shan Yong Li’ (封禪永理). In ancient Chinese imperial tradition, ‘Feng Shan’ refers to the supreme sacred rituals performed exclusively by emperors to claim the Mandate of Heaven on sacred mountains, while ‘Yong Li’ signifies ‘governing and maintaining eternal order over the realm.’ Thus, Liu Li’s name represented the final, crucial character in Liu Bei’s lifelong ideological declaration of imperial legitimacy and his grand ambition to unify all under Heaven under the Han dynasty banner.

In April 221 AD, following Cao Pi’s usurpation of the Han throne, Liu Bei officially ascended the imperial throne in Chengdu to continue the Han dynasty lineage. Shortly after his enthronement, Emperor Zhaolie issued imperial edicts bestowing royal titles upon his younger sons, appointing Liu Li as Prince of Liang to oversee the eastern marchlands of Shu. In the summer of 223 AD, as Liu Bei lay dying at Baidicheng following the disastrous Battle of Yiling, he summoned Prime Minister Zhuge Liang to entrust his young heirs and the fate of the state to his care. Because Crown Prince Liu Shan remained in Chengdu to guard the capital, Liu Bei summoned his two younger sons, Liu Yong and Liu Li, to his deathbed. Sternly instructing his young sons, Liu Bei declared: ‘After my passing, you three brothers must treat the Prime Minister as your own father; you must never be disrespectful or negligent toward him!’ Following his father’s solemn command, Liu Li and Liu Yong knelt and bowed deeply before Zhuge Liang, honoring him as their foster father (A-Fu). Moved to tears, Zhuge Liang pledged his absolute devotion to the Shu Han throne.

Following Liu Shan’s accession as Emperor, Liu Li maintained a pious, quiet, and dutiful existence in Chengdu, refraining from political intrigue or court factionalism. In 230 AD, during the reign of Liu Shan, Liu Li’s royal fief was reassigned, and he was created Prince of Anping. To strengthen the political bond between the royal house and the powerful Western Liang military faction, Liu Li married Lady Ma, the daughter of the renowned general Ma Chao, cementing an elite matrimonial alliance. Liu Li passed away peacefully in Chengdu in 244 AD at a relatively young age and was posthumously granted the honorific title Prince Dao (Prince Dao of Anping). His eldest son, Liu Yin, inherited the Prince of Anping title, continuing the family lineage in Shu Han.

Role in Romance of the Three Kingdoms

In Luo Guanzhong’s classic novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Li appears in Chapter 80 and Chapter 85 as a respectful, dutiful imperial prince whose presence highlights the emotional climax of Liu Bei’s deathbed entrustment at Baidicheng. Introduced in Chapter 80 during Liu Bei’s enthronement in Chengdu, Liu Li is officially granted the royal title of Prince of Liang alongside his brother Liu Yong. The narrative reaches its poignant height in Chapter 85, when the dying Liu Bei summons Liu Li and Liu Yong to his bedside at Baidicheng. Facing his end, Liu Bei orders both young princes to kneel before Zhuge Liang and pay him the reverence due to a father. Liu Li obeys without hesitation, bowing to the ground as Zhuge Liang weeps and vows to exhaust his life for the empire. Throughout the novel, Liu Li’s filial obedience and reverence for Zhuge Liang serve as a literary model of court harmony, contrasting sharply with the treacherous civil feuds that plagued the rival courts of Cao Wei and Eastern Wu.

Liu Li (劉理) — Historical & Literary Timeline

Key Relationships

Family

• Liu Bei (刘备, Lưu Bị) — Father; the founding Emperor Zhaolie of Shu Han who named his sons sequentially to form the symbolic phrase ‘Feng Shan Yong Li’ and ordered Liu Li to honor Zhuge Liang as a father at Baidicheng in 223 AD.
• Liu Shan (刘禅, Lưu Thiện) — Elder half-brother; the second emperor of Shu Han who reassigned Liu Li as Prince of Anping in 230 AD.
• Liu Yong (刘永, Lưu Vĩnh) — Elder brother; summoned alongside Liu Li to Liu Bei’s deathbed at Baidicheng in 223 AD to receive their father’s final imperial instructions.
• Liu Feng (刘封, Lưu Phong) — Adoptive elder brother; his name represented the first character in Liu Bei’s imperial naming sequence.
• Lady Ma (马氏, Mã thị) — Wife; daughter of General Ma Chao, whose marriage around 230 AD cemented an elite matrimonial alliance between the imperial house and the Western Liang faction.
• Ma Chao (马超, Mã Siêu) — Father-in-law; prominent Shu Han general and former Liang Province warlord.
• Liu Yin (刘胤, Lưu Dận) — Eldest son; succeeded Liu Li as Prince of Anping following Liu Li’s death in 244 AD.

Friends

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Enemies

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Other

• Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮, Gia Cát Lượng) — Prime Minister and imperial regent of Shu Han; honored as a foster father figure by Liu Li and Liu Yong under Liu Bei’s solemn deathbed mandate at Baidicheng in 223 AD.