Many people have heard of the allusion of Ah Dou, who cannot be supported, and it is used as a metaphor for people who cannot be supported at all. Ah Dou, in fact, was originally named Liu Chan, that is, Liu Bei's son. In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Liu Chan belongs to the faint and incompetent category of people who do not think of making progress all day. Even if there is a famous courtier like Zhuge Liang around to assist, it is still useless. Liu Bei had 4 sons in his lifetime, and since he knew Liu Chan's disposition, why did he choose to pass the throne to Liu Chan? In the demise of the Shu Han, Liu Chan indeed had an unshirkable responsibility. Judging from the results, Liu Bei's passing on the throne to Liu Chan was indeed a wrong decision.
Liu Bei's four sons were Liu Feng, Liu Chan, Liu Li, and Liu Yong. In terms of age, Liu Feng was older than Liu Chan, but Feng was adopted by Liu Bei. Simply looking at age, then Liu Feng is Liu Bei's eldest son. In ancient history, there was a tradition of primogeniture, and the eldest son refers to the eldest son born to a wife. Although it is said that Liu Bei and Liu Feng have a special relationship, there is no blood relationship, so Liu Bei will directly exclude Liu Feng, also because of the difference between relatives and estrangement.
The remaining two sons, Liu Yong and Liu Li, were just in time for Liu Feng to commit suicide, in fact, at that time, Liu Chan's position as crown prince was already very stable. The two sons, Liu Yong and Liu Li, were much younger than Liu Chan in age. When Liu Bei died in 223, even Liu Chan was not yet 18 years old. The age of the other two sons is only fluctuating around the age of 10.
As we all know, in the middle and late period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, many young emperors succeeded to the throne, but they were not able to let the people live and work in peace and contentment, but soon let the Eastern Han Dynasty perish. It is precisely because the young emperor cannot grasp the real power, and the real power is also in the hands of foreign relatives and eunuchs, which also makes it very easy for the emperor to take the throne at a young age in the eyes of the people, which will lead to the demise of the dynasty. Liu Chan really gives people the feeling that he belongs to a type of person with mediocre qualifications. But in Liu Bei's eyes, there was still Zhuge Liang assisting Liu Chan, which could also reassure him. Among these four sons, Liu Chan's age is the most suitable for the throne. If two young sons were allowed to take the throne, Liu Bei was also worried that he would repeat the same mistakes.
After all, the demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty is already a very vivid example. The most important thing is that the identity of Liu Li and Liu Yong's biological mother is not recorded in more detail in the historical data, so the identity between them is still a topic worth exploring. Because the ancient feudal society was very much in line with the tradition of the primogeniture system, Liu Chan was the most qualified to take the throne. Zhuge Liang, when Liu Bei was alive, had always assisted Liu Bei wholeheartedly. And Zhao Yun was even more loyal to Liu Bei's side, so Liu Bei let Liu Chan inherit the throne, and with Zhuge Liang to assist the government, Liu Bei was able to let go. When Liu Bei died, Liu Chan had just reached the age of adulthood, which still had a good plasticity. In 221 AD, Liu Bei claimed that the emperor established the Shu Han Dynasty, and he also went to great lengths in order to let Liu Chan better grasp the ability to govern the country. Liu Bei instructed Zhuge Liang to copy many classic books to let Liu Chan learn Baidu.
It's just that Liu Chan is not this piece of material after all, even with the sincere teachings of Zhuge Liang and others, Liu Chan still has not been able to show his talent in governing the country. Later, Liu Chan surrendered to Deng Ai, and after the fall of Shu Han, Liu Chan and the Shu Han ministers moved to Luoyang. In 271 AD, Liu Chan died. It can only be said that Liu Chan's life is still quite humiliating. So why do you think Liu Bei wanted to pass the throne to the faint and incompetent Liu Chan?