肝脑涂地 — “Liver and brains smeared on the ground”

After Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of Han, defeated Xiang Yu and pacified the central plains, he discussed with his officials where to establish the capital. Most officials, being from east of Mount Hua, suggested Luoyang, citing that the Zhou dynasty, which lasted for centuries, was founded there, while the Qin dynasty, established in Xianyang, fell after only two generations. Emperor Gaozu was undecided.

In the fifth year of Emperor Gaozu's reign, while Liu Bang was touring Luoyang, a man named Lou Jing requested an audience. Lou Jing asked the Emperor, "Does Your Majesty intend to establish the capital in Luoyang to rival the prosperity of the Zhou dynasty?" The Emperor replied, "Precisely."

Lou Jing then explained, "Your Majesty's acquisition of the empire differs from that of the Zhou dynasty. King Wu of Zhou's ancestors accumulated virtue for decades, and people willingly followed him; he conquered the empire with minimal bloodshed. Your Majesty, however, started from Fengpei with merely three thousand troops, endured countless battles to sweep through Shu and Han, pacify the three Qin regions, and then fiercely contended with Xiang Yu in the Central Plains. Take the struggle for Chenggao as an example: there were seventy major battles and forty minor skirmishes, causing innocent people across the land to have their livers and brains smeared on the ground, filling the fields with corpses, and the cries of sorrow were incessant. With the wounded still unrecovered, you wish to rival the prosperity of the Western Zhou? I privately believe Your Majesty should not do this!"

Emperor Gaozu ultimately adopted Lou Jing's suggestion, abandoning the idea of establishing the capital in Luoyang, and even bestowed upon Lou Jing the imperial surname Liu, hence he is known in history as Liu Jing.