Liu Bang

Liu Bang (劉邦, onyomi: Ryū Hō) was a warlord in the late Qin Dynasty. Beloved by the people and a peasant himself, Liu Bang won support from the populous and was the first to take the Qin capital of Xianyang. He would eventually enter conflict with Xiang Yu, eventually defeating his rival despite Xiang Yu's superior military and establishing the Western Han Dynasty. In contrast to his time as a warlord, however, Liu Bang's rule as emperor was controversial as he feared and schemed against his own subordinates, and his policies for the people were negated by his humiliating defeat against the Xiongnu.

Role in Games
Liu Bang appears as a hidden officer in Dynasty Warriors Vol. 2 and is found at the Shu side of Xu Province. He uses a ruler model alongside Liu Bei's moveset. As a bodyguard, he has Motivation, which increases allied morale in battle, Iron Man, which allows him to be revived should he be defeated, and Healing+, which allows the player to gradually recover health.

In Rise of the Phoenix. He is an important leader of the Han army. His main mission is to destroy Xiang Yu and allies to unify the land. His early followers will have Fan Kuai, Xiahou Ying, Cao Shen, Zhou Bo, Lu Wan and Xiao He.

He was a special character in Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI-XIII. In addition, he appear as a gold card officer in Sangokushi 12 Taisenban.

He appeared in the event Chu – Han Contention in Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The Legend of Cao Cao.

Voice Actors

 * Etsuko Kozakura - Youkai Sangokushi (Japanese)

Early Life
Liu Bang (256 or 247 BC – 1 June 195 BC) was born in Pei County and was a son of Liu Taigong. Uneducated and rambunctous, Liu's father saw little success in him, but Liu Bang held an uncanny presence to him that won him over with his peers such as his future chancellors, Xiao He and Cao Shen. Concealing his misdemeanors, Liu Bang was able to serve the Qin government as a sheriff. When some laborers attempted to escape the construction of the First Emperor of Qin's Mausoleum, Liu Bang feared punishment as the law for escaped prisoners was death, and quickly freed the others before joining their escape. He, alongside his personal friends and a group of the grateful ex-prisoners would begin a life atop Mt. Mangdang before Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's rebellion against the tyrannical Qin regime.

When the magistrate of his home county refused to join the rebellion, Liu, under Xiao's advice, took control of a neighboring county and asked for their help. Arrows with letters to Pei's commonfolk were sent, and they killed the magistrate before welcoming Liu back home. As many former states from the Warring States era began to rise in rebellion, Chu's King Huai II declared that the first one to break through Qin's heartland would become the King of Guanzhong.

Liu Bang's mercy and popularity won him the favor of the people, but would also make him a polarizing figure to the brutal might of Xiang Yu, who was merciless to Qin's prisoners-of-war at Julu. Ultimately, Liu Bang finished the race first by reaching Xianyang and receiving the surrender of Ziying, Qin's final ruler. It was said that Liu Bang was enamored by the luxurious and magnificent E Pang palace but was advised by Xiao He and Zhang Liang from entering the palace and indulging in the same pleasures that tainted Qin's royalty. Whilst collecting the legal documents, Xiang Yu would arrive late at Xianyang. Fearing retribution, Liu Bang snuck out of Xiang Yu's feast at Hong Gate, and escaped back to his domain as Xiang Yu killed Ziying and sacked Xianyang.

Reneging on King Huai II's promise, Xiang Yu sent Liu Bang to Hanzhong instead. At the advise of his advisors, Liu Bang burned the pontoon bridges leading to the Guanzhong region as a show of submission. Many men were dissatisfied with Liu Bang's poor standing or were unable to cope with the rugged and mountainous terrain of Bashu and deserted him en masse. While Liu Bang initially let them go, he was particularly distraught upon learning that Xiao He was among those that abandoned him. A few days later, much to his relief, Xiao He returned with Han Xin, one of the deserters that Xiao believed held untapped potential. At Xiao's advise, Liu made Han his general, and the pair conversed on how to expand their territory.

Chu-Han Contention
Following Han Xin's advise, Liu Bang began repairing the destroyed bridges in order to invade the Guanzhong region, which was divided into three states ruled by former Qin generals. In contrast to the fear instilled by Xiang Yu, the people of the region had much respect for Liu Bang's benevolence, and Han Xin urged his lord to take action before the three states could solidify their position. Liu Bang's ruse worked as he and Han Xin would score a major victory against the former Qin general, Zhang Han before following-up with his commanders and eventually retaking Xianyang. Liu would eventually defeat Zhang Han, forcing the veteran to commit suicide, while his allies, Dong Yi and Sima Xin, surrendered to Liu Bang.

After this massive success at Guanzhong, Liu Bang moved to take Western Chu's capital of Pengcheng while Xiang Yu was busy warring against the state of Qi. In response, Xiang Yu turned his army around and began to secretly take back several bases along Liu Bang's retreat route. By the time the Han forces saw the danger, it was too late as Xiang Yu's measly 30,000 army squashed the Coalition's army of 500,000. Liu Bang's father and wife would be turned into hostages while several of his allies, such as the aforementioned Dong Yi and Sima Xin, immediately switched sides.

Because of this setback, Liu Bang instead began to focus on Xiang Yu's allies, defeating Sima Xin and Dong Yi at the Si river, the state of Qi at Wei river, and the state of Zhao at Jingxing. After several victories, he and Xiang Yu brokered a temporary peace that divided gave Liu Bang the west of the country whilst Xiang Yu received the east. Almost immediately, however, Liu ordered a campaign against his rival, but was met with stiff resistance after both Han Xin and Ying Bu's refusal to aid. Once he promises to make them kings once the country is unified, the pair lend their efforts with Han Xin preparing an ambush on ten sides that results with Xiang Yu's final defeat at Gaixia.

As Emperor Gaozu
Liu Bang's rule was well regarded in its domestic affairs, largely toning down the tyrannical Qin's standards. One of his opening acts involved him repealing taxes nation-wide and giving freedom to those who had been forced to sell themselves to slavery. In contrast to the Legalism that defined Qin's government, Liu Bang focused on Confucianism through the scholar Lu Jia, and relaxed several of the stricter punishment left behind. He was, however, in permanent paranoia over the loyalties of his subjects.

Not long after his rise to the throne, Yang Tu, king of Yan, rose up in rebellion, which Liu Bang put down and forced Yang to commit suicide. Han Xin, former King of Qi, was hung inside a bell before being speared to death, while Peng Yue was first demoted into a commoner as he cried and begged for his life before being cut into pieces which were later served by Liu Bang's wife, Empress Lu, to the nobles. Ying Bu, king of Huainan would nearly endanger the entire Shandong region had it not been for his own pettiness in decision-making. Furthermore, Liu Bang suffered a decisive defeat at Baideng at the hands of the Xiongnu, and sued for peace by providing annual tribute and establishing a system for princesses to be sent over to the foreigners though it has been purported that some of the "princesses" were actually commoner and noble women rather than actual Han princesses.

One of Liu Bang's greatest fears, however, was the influence of his wife after his death, due to her key roles in consolidating power for her son's position as crown prince, the deaths of Peng Yue and Han Xin, and her brutal nature towards the rest of the emperor's step children and concubines. Liu Bang would eventually pass to illness, refusing treatment as he believed his death was a part of heaven's will. True to his fears, Liu Bang's son, Emperor Hui, was powerless against his mother's influence in court, leading to the murder of several princes and forcing the hand of several of Liu's retainers just to maintain the safety of the rest of his family.