Emperor Wen of Song

Emperor Wen of Song
宋文帝
Emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty
Reign17 September 424[1] – 16 March 453
PredecessorLiu Yifu
SuccessorLiu Shao
BornLiu Che'er (劉車兒)
407
Jingkou, Eastern Jin
Died16 March 453(453-03-16) (aged 45–46)
Jiankang, Liu Song
Burial
Changning Mausoleum (長寧陵)
ConsortsEmpress Wenyuan
Empress Dowager Zhao
Empress Dowager Xuan
IssueSee § Family
Names
Family name: Liú (劉)
Given name: Yìlóng (義隆)
childhood name: Che'er (車兒)
Era name and dates
Yuánjiā (元嘉): 424–453
Posthumous name
initially Emperor Jǐng (景皇帝, lit. "decisive"),
later Emperor Wén (文皇帝, lit. "civil")
Temple name
initially Zhongzong (中宗),
later Taizu (太祖)
FatherEmperor Wu
MotherEmpress Dowager Zhang

Emperor Wen of Liu Song ((劉)宋文帝, (Liu) Song Wen-di; 407 – 16 March 453[2]), personal name Liu Yilong (劉義隆), childhood name Che'er (車兒), was an emperor of the Liu Song dynasty of China. He was the third son of the dynastic founder Emperor Wu (Liu Yu). After his father's death in 422, Liu Yilong's eldest brother Liu Yifu took the throne as Emperor Shao. In 424, a group of officials, believing Emperor Shao to be unfit to be emperor, deposed Emperor Shao and placed Liu Yilong on the throne as Emperor Wen.

In his 29 years of rule, Emperor Wen largely continued the grand plan of his father and some of the land policies of the Jin Dynasty. The period, called the "Yuanjia administration" (元嘉之治), is seen as a period of prosperity and strength, because of the emperor's diligence and ability to find capable and honest officials to serve in his administration. However, Emperor Wen was faulted for making repeated failed attempts to attack rival Northern Wei and using the wrong strategies in doing so, weakening his state toward the end of his rule. In 453, angry that his crown prince Liu Shao was using witchcraft to curse him, he planned to depose Liu Shao; when this plan was leaked, Liu Shao staged a coup and assassinated him, replacing him on the throne, although less than a year later Liu Shao's younger brother Liu Jun defeated him and took the throne as Emperor Xiaowu.

  1. ^ dingyou day of the 8th month of the 1st year of the Yuanjia era, per Emperor Wen's biography in Book of Song
  2. ^ jiazi day of the 2nd month of the 30th year of the Yuanjia era, per Emperor Wen's biography in Book of Song. The biography also indicated that he was 47 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died. Thus by calculation, his birth year should be 407.