🔎【Free In-Person Attendance × Online Livestream Preview】Lectures at the Su Shu Lou in Qian Mu’s Former Residence – History and Life Series: “The Waves of Peace in the Early Han Dynasty: Biography of Wu Wangbi, Part 2,” Professor Jiang Yitai, October 18, 2015
🚪Registration website (welcome to register/on-site and online simultaneously):
https://www.beclass.com/rid=305011e68c0df3c44632
When Emperor Jing of Han's imperial edict to sever territory arrived in Guangling, King Liu Bi of Wu was inspecting his salt fields. Thirty years earlier, the Wu prince, accidentally killed during a game by the crown prince—now the emperor—seemed long forgotten. But my father remembered.
The "Records of the Grand Historian" foreshadows Liu Bi early on: "Emperor Gaodi summoned Liu Bi to serve as prime minister and said, 'You seem to have the potential to rebel.'" This nephew, predicted by Liu Bang to have a rebellious streak, ultimately proved his uncle's intuition true with the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms. But perhaps the truly intriguing question in the biography is: Was Liu Bi's rebellious streak inherent, or was it the vengeance he'd felt since killing his son, or was it the institutional flaws of the empire itself that made the rebellion of the princes a historical necessity?
The Wu Kingdom possessed copper mountains and salt seas, and its subjects were exempt from taxation. Liu Bi treated soldiers and virtuous men with courtesy, sheltered fugitives, and generously rewarded the people. These actions, considered treasonous by the central government, were, for the people of Wu, a sign of abundant "benevolent rule." While Chao Cuo cried out in the Weiyang Palace, "If we reduce their power, they will rebel; if we don't, they will rebel too!", the ironworks outside Guangling City raged day and night—in the spring of the third year of Emperor Jing's reign, the Liu clan finally met at war.
Sima Qian's writing style remains unwavering. He depicts Liu Bi's brilliant statecraft, depicting his ability to "cook ore for money and boil the sea for salt," as well as his tyrannical tactics, including offering a reward of five thousand catties of gold to anyone who killed a general. He also doesn't shy away from the central government's deliberate suppression of the feudal lords. When the brilliant Zhou Yafu quelled the rebellion in three months, and the sixty-two-year-old Liu Bi fled to the frontier and was assassinated, he might have recalled himself, kneeling in fear before Liu Bang, proclaiming he dared not rebel. From being crowned king in his youth to leading the rebellion, his fate was deeply entangled with the structural contradictions of early Han politics: the tug-of-war between the feudal states and the central government, the suspicion between the emperor and the feudal lords, the divergence between institutional ideals and reality. These contradictions did not disappear with the collapse of the Seven Kingdoms' armies; they will continue to ebb and flow through history.
In this new lecture series at Qian Mu's former residence, we'll follow Professor Jiang Yitai through the pages of "Records of the Grand Historian" and reexamine this complex figure, a hero whose fate was abrupt and untimely. Looking back today at the King of Wu, who launched a rebellion that shook the world, it's easy to see that his life doesn't simply categorize him as good or evil. Instead, it profoundly reveals a man's talent, character, emotions, and vengeance, as well as the limitations and choices of individuals in the face of the tide of time.
📆Event time: October 18, 2025 (Saturday), 2:10 PM – 4:00 PM
🏡Event location:
Room C508, 5F, Qinpu Building, Boai Campus, Taipei City University (No. 1, Aiguo West Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City)
Qian Mu's Former Residence. Open Course Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@chienmu.house.classroom
👨🏫Activity Speaker: Teacher Jiang Yitai
🔔Activity fee: free
🚀Online course information:
After the course starts, the live broadcast URL will be announced on the "Qian Mu Former Residence YouTube Channel" and the "Qian Mu Former Residence FB Fan Page". Everyone is welcome to leave comments and discuss!
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#Historical Records #Biography of Wu Wangbi
# Liu Bi# The Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms
#Emperor Gaozu of Han #Emperor Wen of Han #Emperor Jing of Han
# policy of reducing vassal states # princes
# Salt and Iron Monopoly # Feudal System
# Sima Qian # Taishigong
# Jiang Yitai # Su Shulou Lecture Hall
# Free Lecture # Chinese History
# Former Residence of Qian Mu # Online Course
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🔎【Free In-Person Attendance × Online Livestream Preview】Lectures at the Su Shu Lou in Qian Mu’s Former Residence – History and Life Series: “The Waves of Peace in the Early Han Dynasty: Biography of Wu Wangbi, Part 2,” Professor Jiang Yitai, October 18, 2015
