刘弘

生平

前187年四月廿八（6月5日），被封为襄成侯。前186年七月，恒山王刘不疑死后，刘山于七月廿七接封为恒山王（后世为避汉文帝刘恒讳，改称“常山王”），并改名刘义。

惠帝死后，刘义的兄长刘智继位为西汉前少帝，惠帝母皇太后吕雉临朝称制，仍称皇太后，不称太皇太后。后吕雉废黜前少帝，于前184年6月15日（五月十一）恒山王刘义继任帝位，并改名为刘弘，即后少帝。在中国历史上，皇帝即位一般改称明年为元年，但因皇太后吕雉临朝听政，故未改称元年。两少帝皆为祖母吕雉的傀儡，他们的嫡母惠帝张皇后也始终未得尊为皇太后。

前180年8月18日（七月三十），吕雉逝世，临终将吕禄女吕氏许给后少帝为后。周勃、陈平等汉朝大臣铲除诸吕，昭告天下，称后少帝刘弘及梁王刘泰、淮阳王刘武、恒山王刘朝等，并非汉惠帝亲生儿子，应当废黜。

朝臣选定高祖与妃子薄氏之子代王刘恒作为新皇帝（即汉文帝）迎入长安，东牟侯刘兴居和太仆汝阴侯夏侯婴入宫，直称刘弘非刘氏血缘不当立，由夏侯婴亲自驾车将刘弘送去少府禁锢；当夜，有司派人杀死刘弘、刘泰、刘武、刘朝。

因在位期间为诸吕的傀儡，且后来被汉朝大臣们否认其皇族身份，故两少帝不被汉朝认可为正统君主。

纪年

史家一般按高后纪年。

Emperor Houshao of Han (Chinese: 漢後少帝; c. March 196 BC – 14 November 180 BC), personal name Liu Hong (劉弘), was the fourth emperor of the Han dynasty. He was a son of Emperor Hui and an unknown wife of him, likely by a concubine—although there is some controversy on the subject—and adopted by Emperor Hui's wife, Empress Zhang Yan. At the instigation of his grandmother, Empress Lü, Empress Zhang had Emperor Houshao's mother put to death.

Very little about Emperor Houshao's life and personality is known. There are only a few major important events in his life that are documented (which does not even include the year of his birth). In September 188 BC, his father Emperor Hui died, and his brother Liu Gong succeeded to the throne as Emperor Qianshao; his name came about as Empress Dowager Lü personally exercised the power of government alone and held power for herself. In 187 BC, he was made the Marquess of Xiangcheng. In 186 BC, after his brother Liu Buyi (劉不疑), the Prince of Hengshan, died, he was made the Prince of Hengshan, and his name was changed to Liu Yi, likely because it was considered inappropriate to have one's name (or one's male ancestors' names) share characters with one's titles.

Some time during or before 184 BC, Emperor Qianshao discovered that he was not, in fact, now-Empress Dowager Zhang's son and that his mother, like Prince Hong's mother, had been put to death. Emperor Qianshao made the mistake of publicly making the remark that when he grew up, Empress Dowager Zhang would pay for this. Grand Empress Dowager Lü, once she heard of this, had Emperor Qianshao secretly imprisoned within the palace and publicly announced that he was severely ill and unable to receive anyone.

Consorts

Empress, of the Lü clan (皇后 呂氏; d. 180 BC), second cousin