Emperor Zhi of Han mother Lady Chen
Family background and accession to the throne
Liu Zuan, the future Emperor Zhi was born to Liu Hong (劉鴻), the Prince of Le'an, and his wife Consort Chen, in 138.  (Eventually, after his son became emperor, Prince Hong would be moved from his very humid and small principality of Le'an to the larger and drier principality of Bohai.)  Prince Hong was a great-grandson of Emperor Zhang.  Other than these facts, virtually nothing else is known about Prince Hong or his wife.
In February 145, when the two-year-old Emperor Chong died, he had no close male relative to inherit his throne.  His stepmother Empress Dowager Liang (the wife of Emperor Shun) therefore summoned two of his third cousins—Liu Suan (劉蒜), the Prince of Qinghe, and Liu Zuan, then seven-years-old, to the capital, to examine them as potential heir to the throne.  (Prince Suan and Zuan were first cousins of each other, through their grandfather Liu Chong (劉寵), Prince Yi of Le'an.)  Liu Suan was apparently an adult (although history did not record his age) and was described as solemn and proper, and the officials largely favored him.  However, Empress Dowager Liang's autocratic and violent brother Liang Ji wanted a younger emperor so that he could remain in absolute control longer, and he persuaded Empress Dowager Liang to make the seven-year-old Zuan as emperor.  To avoid having a person without an official title becoming emperor directly, he was first created the Marquess of Jianping, and then the same day he ascended the throne as Emperor Zhi.
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