Inspiration from the Ancient World

When Emperor He died in 105 CE, he hadn't appointed a successor, which gave his wife, Empress Dowager Deng Sui, final say over who would be the next emperor. She initially appointed his infant son Liu Long, who would later be known as Emperor Shang of Han, but he died when he was 1 year old. She skipped over Emperor He's other son, Liu Sheng, and instead appointed his nephew, Liu Hu, who would be known as Emperor An of Han, who was 12 at the time.

Empress Dowager Deng was regent and de facto ruler until she died in 121. She was largely considered competent, but after her death, two eunuchs accused her of plotting to overthrow him. Emperor An then charged the entire Deng clan with treason, which resulted in them being stripped of title and office, reducing them to commoner status, and then exiled them to remote areas, which drove many of them to commit suicide. Emperor An's wife, Empress Yan Ji worked with the two eunuchs to demote the heir apparent, Liu Bao, on conspiracy charges over the protests of senior officials.

When Emperor An died in 125, Empress Dowager Yan chose Liu Yi, a cousin of Emperor An's who would be remembered as Emperor Shao, who was described as young when he took the throne, but he died later in the year, likely due to a conspiracy to overthrow Empress Dowager Yan and put Liu Bao on the throne. Empress Dowager Yan was put on house arrest while her brothers were killed and the rest of her family sent to Vietnam. The eunuchs who'd worked with the Yan clan were also slaughtered by those who were loyal to Liu Boa.

Liu Bao, who would be known as Emperor Shun, took the throne in 125 at the age of 10. He relied on his wet nurse, but she wasn't an effective advisor though she was kind. She took up the role of empress dowager for him, though without the title. When he was 19, he selected Consort Liang Na, who was 16 at the time, to become his empress because he felt she was the most virtuous of his consorts. They had no sons together, so his son Liu Bing, who was about 1 when he took the throne and died 4 months later and would be remembered as Emperor Chong of Han. He was followed by Emperor Zhi of Han, who was 7 when he ascended to the throne, though he was likely poisoned for criticizing Liang Ji, Empress Dowager Liang's brother and the regent.

Following him was Emperor Huan of Han, who was 14 when he took the throne under the regency of Empress Dowager Liang and her brother. He married Empress Dowager Liang's sister Liang Nüying, giving the Liang clan more power over the emperor, though he relied more on the eunuchs. Empress Liang Nüying wouldn't allow other consorts to have sons, murdering those who became pregnant. Emperor Huan didn't trust her, but didn't want to challenge Liang Ji, so he 'rarely had sexual relations with her', she died 'angry and depressed that she had lost her husband's favor' in 159.

By Gary L. Todd, Ph.D., Professor of History, Sias International University, Xinzheng, China - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4574150

The peace and stability of Emperor Guwangwu's reign, once the empire was reunified, helped improve China's financial situation. The changes that Wang Mang had made to the currencies were revoked and private manufacturers were taxed heavily while the government made large purchases from them for weapons and shields for the army. He also permitted peasants to pay to avoid conscription, relying instead on volunteers to join the army, a system which persisted throughout the Eastern Han. He extended the pay-to-avoid tax to the month of corvée labor, though hiring laborers was becoming more popular at this time. He also worked on restoring marquessates to the relatives of the marquesses who'd been over them before Wang Mang demoted them, further helping to reestablish stability between the Western and Eastern Han dynasties.

When Emperor Ming of Han took the throne in 57, he went further and reestablished price control by resetting up the Office for Price Adjustment and Stabilization and had the government buy grain cheaply to sell to the people when private prices rose, which continued until 68 when 'he became convinced that government hoarding of grain only made wealthy merchants even richer'. He had the ability to address the flooding of the Yellow River because Emperor Guangwu's economic prosperity. By 8 April 70, an edict boasted, the southern branch of the Yellow River, which had been emptying south of the Shandong Peninsula, was 'finally cut off by Han engineering'.

Emperor Zhang of Han, who began to reign in 75, had to deal with an agrarian crisis almost as soon as he took the throne. An epidemic broke out among the cattle in the land and he provided disaster relief to those affected. He would also lighten punishments, such as bastinado, where the feet are whipped, in order to 'restore the seasonal balance of yin and yang and cure the epidemic'. He also updated the calendar which had become inaccurate in the time since Emperor Wu had made changes 200 years before, shifting it back to the one developed under the Zhou dynasty because Emperor Wu's calendar had drifted out of agreement with the seasons. During his reign, the dominant power among the consorts shifted from the empress dowager to the empress when his wife, Empress Dou schemed to have her adopted son proclaimed crown prince through false accusations and other tactics which would lend themselves to corruption and tainting of future reigns.

In 88, Emperor He of Han took the throne, he commissioned Lady Ban Zhao to finish the work of her father and brother, the Book of Han, which 'set an important precident of imperial control over the recording of history and thus was unlike Sima Qian's far more independent work, the Records of the Grand Historian'. He handled various outbreaks of locusts, floods, and earthquakes by cutting taxes, providing government loans, forgiving debts, opening the granaries, and helping people resettle away from the areas affected. He thought that a severe drought that happened in 94 was the result of some type of injustice in the legal system, so he inspected the prisons and found that there were some that were there on false charges and released them. Reportedly, the rain came soon after this. Empress Dowager Dou continued to wield power the court, even hiding who his mother was from him. He enlisted the eunuchs to help him overthrow Empress Dowager Dou, overthrow the Dou clan on charges of treason, and placed the empress dowager under house arrest.

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While he claimed the title of emperor over Luoyang, Liu Xiu, or Emperor Guangwu of Han as he was known posthumously, wasn't in control over the entire empire initially, or even after the Gengshi Emperor's death. He had to reunify China and eliminate pretenders to the throne. He started with the Chimei, the Red Eyebrows who had their pretender to the throne, Liu Penzi. They were more incompetent than the Gengshi Emperor and the people of the Guangzhong, the area they'd managed to take over and modern day central Shaanxi, and they plundered the area when they ran out of supplies. They they withdrew to the east, toward modern day Shandong. Guangwu anticipated this and had his troops hassle the Chimei and set up an ambush at Yiyang in Luoyang. The Chimei were exhausted and they surrendered, which caused Guangwu to spare them, even Liu Penzi.

The Chimei represented the largest group that Emperor Guangwu had to deal with, but there were many regional groups that he had to deal with. There were other pretenders to the throne, such as Liu Yong, and commanders and governors who payed lip service to the emperor but acted independently, such as Wei Xiao who was commander over Xizhou and Dou Rong who was governor of Liang Province. One of the more powerful that challenged Guangwu was Gongsu Shu, who declared he was emperor of Chengjia, controlling the Yi and Yunnan provinces. He watched Guangwu work to unify the empire again without helping, first through diplomacy before through warfare, often trying repeatedly to convince those who were recalcitrant to join him rather than annihilating them. As more areas joined with Guangwu, Wei became more determined to remain independent and convinced Dou to join with him, though Dou did refuse. As Emperor Guangwu began to accept that the Wei and Gongsun would submit, Emperor Guangwu began a campaign against them in the summer of 30 CE. Wei submitted to Gongsun after his regime collapsed and died in 33 CE. His son surrendered in the winter of 34 CE, after Luomen, the capital of Shuoning, fell. Gongsun tried to win by assassinating generals rather than meeting Emperor Guangwu's army directly. This worked for a while, though the Eastern Han army regrouped and surrounded Gongsun in his capital of Chengdu. The Eastern Han army feinted that they were 'collasping from fatigue' in the Winter of 36 CE, which caused Gongsun and his army to leave the city to attack. Gongsun was mortally wounded in this encounter. After this, Emperor Guangwu was in control of the empire again, though 300 cities had been massacred to do so.

Beginning in 37 CE, Emperor Guangwu readjusted the various marches among other organizational changes to maintain the relationships between the empire and the various generals and the nobles. Generals were given large territories but no title beyond 'general', as well as giving them 'great wealth and often listened to their advice, but rarely put them in positions of authority', which help reduced the friction and keeping their relationships in a good place. He did largely avoid conflict that he did not have to go into. Two such unavoidable conflicts were those that involved the Trưng sisters, Vietnamese sisters known as Zheng Ce and Zheng Er in Chinese who rebelled and Zheng Ce claimed to be queen in 40 CE and were defeated in 43 CE, and when the Xiongnu harried the northern borders. Mostly, his reign was quiet as far as wars went.

In his private life, he 'married his childhood sweetheart Yin Lihua' and then 'entered into a political marriage with Guo Shengtong' who was related to a regional warlord. Guo quickly gave birth to a son, Liu Jiang in 25 CE. When it came time to declare his empress, he wanted to honor Yin, but since she'd not yet had a son, she demurred and insisted that he name Guo instead, which he did and then named her son crown prince. By 41, though, Guo no longer had the emperor's favor. She was deposed, though rather than being imprisoned, as was the usual fate of deposed empresses, but rather made her son Prince of Zhongshan and made her Princes Dowager of Zhongshan with her brother becoming an important official and given great wealth, likely as a way to give her an alimony. He made Yin his empress and her son, Liu Yang, the crown prince, changing his name to Zhuang.

In 47 CE, the Xiongnu were dealing with another succession dispute, with Punu and Bi as the two main actors, with Punu being the current leader and Bi being the son of the previous ruler. Bi claimed the title and said he'd submit to Emperor Guangwu in 48 CE. Punu then submitted, which stopped the war against the Han.

The Han Restoration and Beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty

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The reason for the Yellow River changing its course lies mostly with the amount of silt it carries, which is also the source of the yellowish color giving it its name. While dikes had been built to try and control the flooding, they failed during Wang Mang's rule. The flooding in 11 BCE resulted in the Yellow River having two branches, with a northern one that emptied slightly north of the Shandong Peninsula while the southern branch emptied south of it. The southern branch displaced thousands of peasants and helped to lead to the downfall of Wang Mang.

When Liu Xuan took the throne as the Gengshi Emperor, the posthumous title of Emperor Guangwu gave him thought he is also known as the King or Prince of Huaiyang which was another title granted to him by his brother, he initially was widely accepted and his edicts, such as the Xin officials who submitted to him would be allowed to keep their offices, were obeyed, at least nominally, but soon, people began seeing his advisors and those around him as being uneducated and unable to govern, weakening their trust and confidence in the government. Pretenders to the throne also rose, with one being a fortune teller named Wang Lang who claimed he was the son of Emperor Cheng and a singer and Empress Zhao Feiyan tried to kill him but killed a substitute baby instead. Those north of the Yellow River believed him and several commanderies pledge allegiance to him. This pushed Liu Xiu, the future Emperor Guangwu and the Gengshi Emperor's brother, out of Jicheng, modern day Beijing, though he was eventually able to unify those commanderies in the north that were still loyal to the Gengshi Emperor, resulting in the Gengshi Emperor putting him in charge of the northern territories. After a siege, he was able to kill Wang Lang in 24 CE.

The Gengshi Emperor moved his capital to Chang'an from Louyang and had to deal with the resentment of those who'd risen up against Want Mang and were now being treated as traitors. The Gengshi Emperor granted them a general pardon, which helped for a time. He was, however, timid and ineffective, which caused problems, as did his ignorance of official protocol. He also asked questions of generals such as 'How much did you pillage today?', which eroded confidence in his leadership even more. He left most of the governing to Zhao Meng, the father of his imperial consort, and Zhao abused his power while the emperor was quite often intoxicated. To his credit, when Zhao's crimes were revealed, the emperor had him executed, though there were other officials remaining who abused their power, which frustrated and angered the general population.

In the winter of 24 CE, the Chimei, the Red Eyebrows, wanted to return to their homes, but their leaders thought it'd be too difficult to call them up again, should it be needed, so they were given the objective of capturing Chang'an. Liu Xiu decided not to engage, despite having a relatively strong force under him. He remained in Henei, north of the Yellow River, as it was a strategically advantageous location. There, he would, in the summer of 25 CE, break ties with the emperor and fought the emperor's forces over control of Henei and Louyang. He declared himself emperor and founded what would be known as the Eastern Han Dynasty and began advancing on the Shanxi, reducing the number of troops that the Gengshi Emperor could call upon. To protect the Gengshi Emperor, his troops conspired to kidnap him to Nanyang, in modern day Henan, but their plan was discovered and many of them were executed. Zhang Ang, a general who was part of this conspiracy managed to occupy much of Chang'an, which pushed the Gengshi Emperor to flee as the Chimei were reaching Chang'an.

While this was happening, the Chimei chose a descendant of Liu Zhang, who had been known as the Prince of Chengyang and had been popular enough to be worshiped as a god after he died. They settled on Liu Penzi, who was 15 at the time, to be their puppet emperor as he was not actually given any power. The Gengshi Emperor's troops were eventually able to push Zhang Ang out of Chang'an, but he surrendered to and joined the Chimei, helping them attack Chang'an. The Gengshi Emperor was eventually forced to flee with those few who were still loyal to him. Eventually, one of his generals, Yan Ben, turned on him, capturing him, hoping to use him and those with him as bargaining chips. Liu Xiu heard about this and declared that the Gengshi Emperor was the Prince of Huaiyang and that he wasn't to be harmed but should be delivered to him. When Chang'an fell, Luoyang surrendered to Liu Xiu and allowed him to enter to make it his capital.

After being held captive by Yan Ben for a few months, the Gengshi Emperor negotiated surrender terms in the winter of 25 CE. He was promised that he'd be the Prince of Changsha. The Chimei, however, wanted him to be executed. Though he was allowed to return to Chang'an to give the imperial seal to Liu Penzi under the guard of Xie Lu, Emperor Penzi's general, they didn't kill the Gengshi Emperor, moved by Liu Gong's, the Gengshi Emperor's general, threat of suicide at the site of the execution. The Gengshi Emperor was forced to remain under Liu Gong's protection inside Xie Lu's headquarters.

The Xin Dynasty (9-23 CE)

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After the assassination of Emperor Ping by Wang Mang adding poison to his pepper wine when he was 12 years old in 5 CE, he was followed by his infant cousin with Wang Mang as his regent, though he wouldn't ascend the throne and was officially usurped by Wang Mang. Liu Ying was chosen since Wang Mang wanted someone he could control, passing over 53 adult great-grandsons of Emperor Xuan and instead choosing a great-great-grandson, of which there were 23. During the selection process, with the approval of Grand Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun, Wang Mang took the title 'Acting Emperor' and was to be so until the chosen heir could be selected and raised to majority. During his 'regency', there were several rebellions against Wang Mang. In 9, he officially took the throne, consigning Liu Ying to a dukedom as the Duke of Ding'an.

Wang Mang wanted to return China to a 'fabled golden age', as it would have been during the early Zhou dynasty and which Confucius idealized as well. He started with massive reforms, including abolishing slavery and nationalizing land ownership in 9 CE. Both were reversed in 12 CE after 'widespread protest'. A historian living near in time to Wang Mang's reign viewed these reforms as the reason Wang Mang's downfall, though modern historians point to Wang Mang's policies were 'in line with earlier Han policies'.

In order to try and stabilize a faltering economy, improve the livelihood of peasants, and weaken the power of noble families, Wang Mang also issued new denominations of currency several times, though this managed to debase the value of the currency in the Empire instead, causing greater economic harm. He was forced to rescind government monopolies in 22 CE due to being unable to enforce them. Further complicating Wang Mang's reign were several natural disasters, including the Yellow River changing its course, resulting in massive flooding, plagues of locust, and famines. Because Wang Mang's policies failed to solve the multiple crises, rebellions soon broke out among the peasants who had previously supported him.

In the eastern parts of the empire, desperate peasants became bandits, running in groups that grew to tens of thousands by the 20s CE. They organized into factions with the most powerful being the Red Eyebrows. Together with the nobles and Han imperial clan, they fought in a civil war against Wang Mang's army that started in 19 CE. Smaller bands along the Yangtze joined in the uprisings. The Xiongnu took advantage of this civil war to make inroads against the Protectorate of the Western Regions.

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Deciding on Emperor Wu's heir was complicated by multiple factors. His first wife, Empress Chen Jiao, was accused of using witchcraft to have a son and was deposed in 130 BCE. In 91 BCE, Crown Prince Liu Ju was accused of witchcraft and because he thought Emperor Wu would believe the allegations, he started a 5 day rebellion in Chang'an while Emperor Wu was at Ganquan, which is near modern day Shaanxi. When the rebellion was put down, he and his mother, Empress Wei Zifu, committed suicide. Emperor Wu formed a triumvirate regency for his son, Liu Fuling, who would be known as Emperor Zhao of Han and take the throne in 87 BCE at the age of 8. One of the regents died a year later. Another was accused of supporting the King of Yan as emperor and killed, leaving Huo Guang as the remaining regent. According to the Confucian establishment, Huo did not abuse the power he had and even was popular for reducing taxes that Emperor Wu had set.

Emperor Zhao died at the age of 20 in 74 BCE without an heir in place. While his nephew was at first chosen to follow him, he was removed 'after displaying a lack of character or capacity to rule'. Emperor Zhao's wife, Empress Dowager Shangguan was the one to receive the memorial signed by the ministers to approve. Eventually, a grandchild of Emperor Wu through Crown Prince Liu Ju, Liu Bingyi, later to be named Liu Xun and remembered and Emperor Xuan of Han, was chosen to be the next emperor and took the throne at the age of 17. Huo Guang continued on as regent until he died in 68 BCE, though his clan was accused of treason in 66 BCE and were eliminated, though the reason had to do more with Huo Guang's wife poisoning Empress Xu Pingjun, Emperor Xuan's wife, in 71 BCE and then pushing Empress Huo Chengjun on him in her place. Empress Xu's son, Liu Shi, would follow his father, reigning as Emperor Yuan of Han beginning in 49 BCE. He was followed by his son, Liu Ao who would be known as Emperor Cheng of Han, in 33 BCE

There were two major political factions during this time, the Modernist Party, which were dominant under Emperor Wu and during Huo's regency, and the Reformist Party, who became more dominant afterwards. The Reformist Party favored the abolition of state monopolies as well as limiting government influence in the economy, limitation of colonization, moderate foreign policies, and a frugal budget. They also preferred focusing on granting rewards for service rather than punishing faults to show how magnanimous the dynasty was. The salt and iron monopolies were abolished in 44 BCE, though they were reinstated in 41 BCE, lasting through the 1st Century CE. They also canceled 'many of the lavish spectacles, games and entertainments installed by Emperor Wu to impress foreign dignitaries' by 66 BCE for being 'excessive and ostentatious'.

During the reigns of Yuan and Cheng, there were alleged 'signs from Heaven' that the rulers were incompetent, a total of eighteen general amnesties were granted as well as a reduction in severity of punishments for crimes and the length of judicial procedures were reduced. Under the Modernist Party, it was acceptable for those who had the means to have their punishments commuted or dropped altogether, the Reformists stopped this practice since it favored the wealthy and wasn't a deterrent for crime.

To gain a male heir, Emperor Chen made massive changes to the state-sponsored religion. Rather than worshiping the Five Powers of Wudi, as had been done since Emperor Gaozu established it as the state religion in 205 BCE, in 31 BCE, he decreed that all ceremonies should be dedicated to Shangdi, the god that the Zhou dynasty had worshiped. He was encouraged to take more concubines as he continued without an heir. In 8 BCE, he finally made his nephew, Prince Liu Xin, his heir in 8 BCE. When he died either of a stroke or an overdose of aphrodisiacs in 7 BCE, rumors began to make the rounds that he had had a son with one of his concubines, but that they were killed by Consort Zhao Hede, who also supplied Emperor Cheng with aphrodisiacs. The combination of grief and fear of reprisals had her committing suicide.

Prince Xin took the throne as Emperor Ai in 7 BCE when he was 20 years old. He had the first 'crucial historical bibliographical work' the Seven Arts (Qi Lue) compiled. He first seemed diligent about ruling and did massively reduce the national expenditure. These actions gave people hope that he would be a more effective ruler than Emperor Yuan, who seemed indecisive, and Emperor Cheng, who was impulsive, but he soon fell under the sway of Consort Fu, who had been his the consort of his grandfather, and Consort Ding. At first, Grand Empress Dowager Wang limited them to visiting once every ten days, Princess Dowager Fu was soon visiting him daily and demanded both that she be granted the title of empress dowager and that her family be granted titles. Grand Empress Dowager Wang wasn't unsympathetic to Emperor Ai's bind suggested that Princess Dowager Fu be named 'Empress Dowager Gong of Dingtao' and that Consort Ding be named 'Empress Gong of Dingtao'. Grand Empress Dowager Wang wanted her nephew Wang Mang to resign so that his position as military commander be given to the Fu and Ding clans, but Emperor Ai asked that Wang Mang stay in his position. Empress Dowager Fu would continue to scheme for more and more power, leading to infighting in the capital.

Beginning in about 4 BCE, Emperor Ai began to engage in what historians believe was a homosexual relationship with Dong Xian. This was not uncommon for the Han emperors as it was expected that men would have multiple sexual relationships. What was unusual about this relationship was how quickly Dong was granted honors, which alarmed the court and any who raised objections were severely punished. Dong and his family, including his wife and sister, who would become an imperial consort, were moved into a residence in the capital that was 'as luxurious as an imperial palace'. Dong became the commander of the armed forces in 1 BCE, when he was 22, 'effectively the most powerful official in the administration'. His family even displaced the Fus and Dings after Grand Empress Dowager Fu died in 2 BCE. When Emperor Ai died in August of 1 BCE, he named Dong Xian as his heir, but Grand Empress Dowager Wang blocked this, naming Wang Mang as regent. Dong Xian and his wife were forced to commit suicide and Emperor Ai's cousin would take the throne as Emperor Ping at the age of 8.

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While Emperor Gaozu didn't align himself to a particular school of philosophy and ethics and Empress Dou embraced a proto-Taoist Huang-Lao philosophy as did her husband and son, and Emperor Wu, who took the throne in 141 BCE, followed Empress Dou's philosophy while she lived, after Empress Dou's death, Emperor Wu asked for memorial essays, or 'official communications to the emperor of China', on the topic of how to improve the government. He found the one written by Dong Zhongshu, who some call 'the first Confucian "theologian"', to be the one that appealed to him most. Dong's essay blended together Confucius' ethics with the 'cosmological beliefs in yin and yang and Five Elements or Wuxing [those being water, wood, fire, earth, and metal] by fitting them into the same holistic, universal system which governed heave, earth, and the world of man' while also justifying the imperial system 'by providing its place within the greater cosmos'. In 136 BCE, Emperor Wu eliminated any academic chair that wasn't focused on the study of Confucius' Five Classics, and in 124 BCE, he established the Imperial University, foretelling of the civil service examination system that later dynasties would use. This system allowed those who weren't related to officials to study to become officials within the bureaucracy, by focusing on knowledge of the Five Classics the most important prerequisite to gain office. The Imperial University began with 50 students and was expanded to 30,000 students by the 2nd century CE.

Another change caused by Empress Dou's death was that in the attitude toward the Xiongnu. In 135 BCE, the leading ministers opted to maintain peace and renew the heqin agreement, but a year later, the ministers were swayed to support war against the Xiongnu by the idea of a limited campaign along the border near Mayi were the Xongnu leader was to be drawn into an ambush to turn the Xiongnu's attention to the chaos of losing their leader rather than on harassing the Chinese. In 133 BCE, this plan was put into action, but it failed as the leader recognized signs of a trap. This led to a period of full scale war, which continued through to 89 CE. As the need for horses during this conflict were so high, the 'government offered exemption from military and corvée obligations for up to three male members of each household who presented a privately bred horse to the government' to make up the shortfall that the 300,000 horses maintained by the government couldn't meet.

One side effect of the war is that new territory was won by the Han, allowing them to expand. One of the more important places they gained was the Hexi Corridor, also known as the Gansu Corridor, to Lop Nur, which is now a mostly dried up salt lake. This gain cut the Xiongnu off from their allies the Qiang, or the western semi-nomadic peoples, likely from Tibeto-Berman origins. Under Emperor Wu, about 4.4 million square km of land was added to China, with frontier outposts that made connected the eastern end of the Silk Road to central China.

This connection to the Silk Road and it being made safer allowed the Chinese to discover 'entire countries which the Chinese were unaware of, the remnants of the conquests of Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 BCE)' which the diplomat Zhang Qian wrote about beginning in 139 BCE. This connection went as far as Rome, with silk being imported into Rome by the time of Julius Caesar, who lived from 100-44 BCE, and Roman Glassware made its way to China during the same time period.

To the south, Emperor Wu conquered the Nanyue, who controlled much of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan Islands, and the northern part of Vietnam. this greatly expanded the land under Han control He also pushed into the area that is now North Korea in 128 BCE, though he abandoned that area two years later and another foray was made about 20 years later, which resulted in four commanderies being set up, two of which survived through 82 BCE.

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Emperor Wen ascended the throne in 180 BCE and reigned during a time of economic stability as the central government's power grew. Punishments that involved maiming or disfiguring were eliminated in 167 BCE. Taxes were forgiven across the country eight times between 180-141 BCE and the overall tax rate was halved for agricultural produce in 168 BCE, from 1/15 to 1/30 and was abolished the next year, not to be reinstated at the 1/30 level until 156 BCE, the year after Emperor Jing took the throne.

The dominant philosophy behind the government was that of the proto-Taoist Huang-Lao school of thought that focused on 'looking for solutions to strengthen the feudal order' and was espoused by Wen's wife, Empress Dou, who survived through 135 BCE, into the reign of her grandson Emperor Wu, who took the throne in 141 BCE. The name Huang-Lao comes from the Yellow Emperor and the philosopher Laozi, both of whom were thought to be the originators of the philosophy, and held to the central concept of the Daodejing, wuwei, or 'nonaction', meaning that 'rulers should interfere as little as possible if administrative and legal systems were to function smoothly'.

From 179-143 BCE, the number of kingdoms more than doubled, from 11 to 25, and the number of commanderies also more than doubled, from 19 to 40, mostly because those that tried to rebelled or didn't produce an heir were 'significantly reduced in size or even abolished and carved into new commanderies or smaller kingdoms'. One such rebellion was known as the Rebellion of the Seven States that was caused by the heir apparent of the kingdom of Wu visiting Liu Qi, who would be Emperor Jing but was still the crown prince at this time, and the two were playing a game known as liubo. The two got into a heated argument and Liu Qi threw the game, killing his cousin, which outraged the King of Wu, though he still had to 'claim allegiance to Liu Qi once he took the throne'. After Jing took the throne, the King of Wu, fearing that his kingdom would be reduced in size, rose up in rebellion along with Chu, Zhao, Jiaoxi, Jiaodong, Zichuan, and Jinan, all of whom shared the same fear. The revolt was put down, with several of the kingdoms eliminated, though they were recreated later while the remaining kingdoms were reduced in size. In 145 BCE, Emperor Jing made independent administrative staffs among the kingdoms and eliminated all senior staff except for chancellors, who were appointed by the central government and had less power than they'd held before, which would be further reduced by Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu also required that kingdoms be divided between all male heirs rather than following primogeniture inheritance.

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The Han 漢 Hàn dynasty is divided into two parts, the Western Han, which lasted from 202 BCE-9 CE and the Eastern Han, which lasted from 25-220 CE, based on the relative location of the capital. Liu Bang took the throne as Emperor Gaozu of Han and initially set the capital at the Zhou capital of Louyang, but his advisors were against this due to supply and defense concerns, so he moved his capital to Chang'an, near modern Xi'an, Shaanxi. To aid in governing, Emperor Gaozu set up a three part cabinet known as the Three Excellencies with nine ministries led by the Nine Ministers. And while there was a general condemnation of the Qin's extremely harsh Legalist philosophy, the initial law code compiled in 200 BCE with the assistance of Chancellor Xiao He was very similar to the Qin code. The land was divided up into commanderies, initially 13 and then increased to 16, with 10 semi-autonomous kingdoms in the western part of the country. At first, these were given to prominent followers, but because there were rumors of rebellion and alliances with the northern nomadic Xiongnu, they were replaced by members of the imperial family. These kingdoms were set up like the central government and were required to send census information and taxes into the central government. They had to maintain a standing army, but had to have permission to deploy those troops.

Because of the vast swath of land they controlled, trade with the Xiongnu was banned, in part to keep them from getting iron weapons. To help offset the loss of income for the merchants in Dai and Yan, they were made government officials with salaries to match their position. In 200 BCE, with the assistance King Xin of Hán (not Han Xin), who had been rewarded for his service during the Chu-Han Contention with the kingship but defected to the Xiongnu's side. Gaozu led an army to fight, but they were 'heavily surrounded for seven days; running out of supplies, he was forced to flee'. Lou Jing, who had warned of the Xiongnu's strength and been imprisoned for it, convinced the emperor to enact a policy known as heqin, where princesses, generally belonging to minor branches of the family, were married to neighboring state heads to secure treaties, as well providing luxury goods as tribute. The Xiongnu were barely appeased and would continue to hassle China's northern borders, prompting the building of the Great Wall, following a border established in 162 BCE.

In 195 BCE, Ying Bu, who had aided Gaozu during the Chu-Han Contention, rebelled and Gaozu led troops against him. He was wounded by an arrow and would die the following year. His son, Liu Ying took the throne as Emperor Hui and would reign until 188 BCE when he would die without a son by his empress, so his mother, empress dowager Lü Zhi picked one of his sons by a consort, Emperor Qianshao, and acted as regent for him, but using him as her puppet. In 184 BCE, she removed him and selected Emperor Haushao to rule as her puppet. She would prove to be inept against the Xiongnu when they invaded Longxi Commandery and provoked the king of Nanyue by banning exports to his kingdom in the south. She also violated Gaozu's explicit ban on other clans holding kingship by appointing her own family members, members of the Lü clan, as kings, as well as other key civilian and military offices.

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As 205 BCE moved toward winter Liu Bang persuaded Ying Bu of Jiujiang to join with him, which caused Xiang Yu to send his general Long Ju against Ying Bu. The leader of Western Wei defected from following Liu Bang and tried to block Han Xin's path to the north. Han Xin knew of Wei's plans and feinted to Linjin while actually going to Anyi, resulting in Wei's loss and capture. Han Xin then captured Dai, then continued on to Zhao where Li Zuoche, a Zhao general, thought he could cut Han Xin's supply lines and his return route to capture him. Han Xin feigned defeat, luring Li Zuoche to follow him. When the Zhao returned to their camp, unable to capture Han Xin, they found their camp occupied by soldiers that Han Xin had left behind for that purpose. Chaos resulted and Han Xin won against the Zhao army.

In 204 BCE, Yan surrendered to Liu Bang and he made his ally Zhang Er king of Zhao. Xiang Yu sent multiple waves against Zhao, but Han Xin and Zhang Er were able to hold their own against him. Xiang Yu turned to trying to capture Liu Bang, causing him to retreat north of the Yellow River to where Han Xin was. He took command of Han Xin's troops and then sent Han Xin on prepare to attack Qi while he tried diplomacy by sending Li Yiji, though without telling Han Xin about the diplomatic mission. Qi opted to surrender, which Han Xin didn't know, so he attacked the retreating Qi forces and captured the Qi capital. This resulted in the Qi king boiling Li Yiji alive and the king turning to Xiang Yu instead. Han Xin continued to pursue the Qi king. Xiang Yu sent a general named Long Ju against Han Xin and whom Han Xin defeated initially. Long Ju was told to get to Qi's king and bulk up his army but he Long Ju decided to attack Han Xin. Han Xin dammed the Wei River with sandbags the night before the battle. In the morning, there was a skirmish between the two, which, as was his go-to move, Han Xin feigned defeat and moved across the river. When about a quarter of Long Ju's forces crossed, Han Xin had his men remove the dam they'd built, cutting off Long Ju with only a small part of his army. Long Ju was killed in battle and Han Xin took control of Qi. He sent a message to Liu Bang, asking to become the king of Qi.

While Han Xin was taking control of Qi, Liu Bang was fighting Xiang Yu, waiting for Han Xin to reinforce him. At first, Liu Bang was very angry at Han Xin's request, but Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, an advisor, persuaded him to grant Han Xin's request. Xiang Yu also sent a representative to convince Han Xin to rebel against Liu Bang. Han Xin didn't rebel and later moved against Xiang Yu's army.

Liu Bang was trying to build up a supply line, but Xiang Yu attacked his routes. Liu Bang negotiated with Xiang Yu for some land east of Xingyang, but Xiang Yu's advisor told him to reject the offer and Xiang Yu pressed the attack on Liu Bang. Liu Bang bribed Xiang Yu's men to say that his advisor had betrayed him, which Xiang Yu believed, so he dismissed that advisor. He then had to go and deal with Han Xin's assaults. Liu Bang took advantage of Xiang Yu being gone to defeat the Chu army and advanced to the east of Xingyang. The Chu's army's moral fell sharply as their supplies ran out and Han Xin defeated them so soundly.

Xiang Yu was forced to seek a treaty with Liu Bang, releasing Liu Bang's family, and agreeing to divide China between Chu and Han along an east west line. While Xiang Yu was retreating to his side of the line, Liu Bang's advisors, including Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, suggested attacking the retreating Xiang Yu. Liu Bang reached out to Han Xin and Peng Yue, another general allied to him, to try and start a three pronged attack, but the other two didn't mobilize, Liu Bang lost, though he reached out to his two allies again, promising them both more land and titles for joining him.

In December of 203 BCE, the three leaders of the Han army executed the three pronged attack on Xiang Yu, who was running out of supplies. Han Xin had his troops sing Chu folk songs to make it seem the Chu people had sided with the Han, which caused many Chu soldiers to desert. Xiang Yu was only left with a guard of 28 cavalrymen when he managed to reach the Yangtze River. He decided to make a last stand rather than cross the river. They managed to kill hundreds of Han solders before they were overwhelmed and he cut his own throat rather than be caught alive.

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After the fall of the Qin dynasty in 207 BCE was a brief period of war known as the Chu-Han contention where Xiang Yu, a warlord who led rebels against the Qin dynasty, promoted the nominal leader of Chu to 'Emperor Yi of Chu' and divided Qin into the Eighteen Kingdoms. He considered himself to be the 'Hegemon-King of Western Chu', ruling over nine commanderies, or administrative division that could contain several counties, contained within the areas that had been in the Liang and Chu states. During that time, Liu Bang, who became a rebel against the Qin when he lost some prisoners he was escorting rather than face the death penalty. Emperor Yi was supposed to give him control over Guanzhong but instead gave that area to the 'Three Qins', giving them control over Yan, Dai, and Sai, while Liu Bang was sent to Hàn, which was remote, and gave him the title of 'King of Han'.

Not everyone agreed with Xiang Yu's appointments of leaders of the Eighteen Kingdoms. Tian Rong, a member of the royal house of Qi who'd been passed over because of a grudge, seized control of the states of Qi, Jiaodong, and Jibei, which had been all Qi before the Qin dynasty, declaring himself king. He gathered those who had been slighted by Xiang Yu, including Zhao and Yan's leaders. Xiang Yu tried to squash the uprisings in those territories while the rebels continued to expand their holdings, as when the King of Yan, Zang Tu, killed the king of Liaodong and seized the lands

Liu Bang took advantage of Xiang Yu's distraction with the northern rebellions to attack the Three Qins and take Guanzhong from them. Han Xin, a gifted military commander, became Liu Bang's grand marshal and proposed a feint of repairing the Gallery Roads, which are roads along cliff sides that have wooden planks secured in them by ropes while his army actually went west to invade Guanzhong and then took over Yong. Continuing on with the momentum from those two victories, Liu Bang conquered Longxi, Beidi, and Shang, taking time to also rescue his family from under the Western Chu.

Xiang Yu moved to block Liu Bang with Zheng Chang, the King of Hán (or Hann to make it clear that it is not the same as the territory Liu Bang was given), covering his flank. Liu Bang continued to conquer lands on the way to meet Xiang Yu. In April or May of 205 BCE, Liu Bang learned that Xiang Yu had ordered the execution of Emperor Yi, Liu Bang accused Xiang Yu of regicide and using that to justify all out war against Xiang Yu.

Xiang Yu defeated Tian Rong in May or June of 205 BCE and Xiang Yu allowed his troops to loot and plunder Qi territories. Tian Rong's brother and son continued to fight Xigan Yu. By September-October, Liu Bang had captured the Chu capital of Pengcheng, modern day Xuzhou. Xiang Yu led a much smaller army to retake Pengcheng, which caught Liu Bang off guard and allowed his family to be caught by Xiang Yu and cost him territory and allies.

By Ian Remsen - CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=158113722

After Qin Shi Huang, which means 'first emperor of Qin', ascended the throne as emperor, he had all weapons not belonging to the Qin melted down, using the metal to create 12 statues for his capital at Xianyang. Beginning in 214 BCE, he began to push to expand the borders of his territory, with most of his troops going south where the Baiyue had taken over much of Sichuan while the Zhou were in charge. Because the troops didn't know the jungles of Sichuan, they were defeated by the Baiyue, though they were able to build a canal that allowed them to act as a supply line for their troops, which allowed them to gain lands around Guangzhou, including Fuzhou and Guilin. He eventually moved prisoners and exiles to these lands.

In the north, the 'Five Barbarians' were 'sporadically subject to imperial rule, they remained free from it for the majority of the Qin's existence'. The Xiongnu, who lived in the Ordos Desert, often harried the northwest border since they were prohibited from trading with the people there. In retaliation for these raids, the area was conquered in 215 BCE and used for agriculture, though the locals would later revolt.

Quin Shi Huang, paranoid because of three assassination attempts, one in 227 BCE and two in 218 BCE, was obsessed with finding an elixir of immortality or elixir of life. One of these expeditions were sent to find Mount Penglal to find a thousand year old magician that lived on it and who had supposedly invited Qin Shi Huang to visit while he was traveling. According to legend, they colonized Japan rather than return unsuccessful to the Emperor.

In 211 BCE, a meteor fell in Dongjun into which someone inscribed 'The First Emperor will die and his land will be divided'. No one admitted to writing the prophecy, so the Emperor had all those living near killed and the stone pulverized. In 210 BCE, Qin Shi Huang was touring Pingyuanjin, in modern day Shandong, when he died at the age of 49. One theory of his cause of death was from mercury poisoning from an elixir that was supposed to prolong his life. His death was kept secret for two months while the entourage could return to Xianyang, concealing the smell of his decomposition by carrying rotten fish while his son, chancellor, and select eunuchs kept up a charade that he remained alive. Once they reached the capital, his death was announced.

Because Qin Shi Huang sought to live forever, he didn't leave a will or name a successor. His chancelor and the leader of the eunuchs conspired to kill his oldest son, also forging a letter from the Qin Shi Huang that his eldest son should commit suicide as well as the general that supported him, which they did. Qin Shi Huang's younger son took the throne and the regnal name Qin Er Shi, meaning 'Second Generation of Qin'.

Qin Er Shi was inept, killing a large number of ministers and princes while undertaking massive building projects, including 'lacquering of the city's walls'. He also raised taxes, increased the size of the army, and arrested those messengers who had to deliver bad news. The chief eunuch and the chancellor came into conflict with each other, with the eunuch convincing Qi Er Shi to kill the chancellor. Qi Er Shi blamed the eunuch for rebellions that taxed the military. The eunuch then took part of a conspiracy to make Qi Er Shi believe that invaders were in the palace. When Qin Er Shi's quarters were invaded, he committed suicide.

Ziying, Qin Shi Huang's grandson through his eldest son, ascended the throne and had the eunuch executed. Unrest, largely caused by the regional differences across the empire, continued as the Qin rulers tried to enforce their ways of doing things. Ziying tried to placate those he ruled by only taking the title king, declaring that he was 'merely one king among all the others', but he was inept. Revolt broke out in 209 BCE. Ziying surrendered to Chu's lieutenant Liu Bang in 207 BCE. Though he was initially spared, Ziying was eventually executed, ending the Qin dynasty in 207 BCE.

During this time, the 'predominant form of religious belief in China…focused on shen (roughly meaning "spirits"), yin (陰; 阴; "shadows"), and the realm they were understood to inhabit. Spirits were classified as one of three types: "human dead" (人鬼; rénguǐ), "heavenly spirits" (天神; tiānshén) such as Shangdi, and "earthly spirits" (地示; dìshì) corresponding to natural features like mountains and rivers'. Animal sacrifices were used to make contact with the spiritual world, which was thought to parallel the physical world, with rituals used 'to recieve blessings from the spirit realm, and to ensure the dead journeyed to and stayed there'.

Qin Shi Huang worked to standardize the writing system that had split into regional variations during the Warring States Period. The goal of the standardization was to make the script faster to write with brush and ink. This allowed 'unifying in the empire different languages through the written language' and making it closer to modern Chinese writing than the seal script of the Zhou dynasty.

Warring States Period II

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As Qin became more powerful, the other states joined together in what was known as the Vertical Alliances led by Zhang Yi. The Qin forced those around them to join Horizontal Alliances led by Su Qin. The Vertical alliance began when the state of Qi reached out to Chu as they became concerned that Qin was becoming too powerful in 321 BCE. In 319 BCE, King Hui of Wei died and when his successor demanded that Qin leave his territory, Qi, Chu, Han, Zhao, and Yan attacked Qin on their behalf, though they fought amongst themselves about who would lead, which allowed Qin to take over more land. Qt this time, King Xuan of Qi also wanted to take over Yan, so he placed Mencius as a high official to give him approval even though 'none of the requirements in order for Yan's ruler to be changed per the Mandate of Heaven were met'. Qi attacked Yan, which the people of Yan welcomed, making the takeover a 'staggering success'.

Warring States Period I

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The Warring States period covered from about 475-221 BCE was the final part of the Zhou dynasty, and was characterized by military and bureaucratic reform amidst warfare as states were consolidated, and absorbed by other states. The partitioning of Jin into four and then three ruling families, with the extermination of the Zhi family often seen as the beginning of the Warring States period. During this time, the Zhou dynasty was largely seen as 'no more than symbolic figures who maintained the calendar and performed periodic ritual sacrifices, upon which the relationship of Heaven, Earth, and Man stood'.

The three remaining families, Zhao, Han, and Wei, were officially recognized as marquises in 403 BCE by King Weilie of Zhou and the final Jin duke was deposed in 376 BCE, ending the Jin state. Between those two dates, Qin, Qi, and Chu moved to take advantage of the fall of Jin as well. The Qi were eventually taken over by the Tian family and the split in half in 391 BCE, with half being ruled over by a puppet ruler and the other half under their control and they eventually gained full control after the puppet ruler died without an heir, which gained them recognition by the Zhou in 386 BCE.

In 370 BCE, King Hui of Wei ascended to the throne of Wei and he took advantage of his location and the work of his ancestors to enter into alliances, though the states he entered into alliances with tried to limit what he could accomplish. In 340 BCE, Qi attacked Wei and Wei only survive because Chu stepped up to assist them. In 335 BCE, King Hui met with the Qi ruler to resolve their issues, which was partially resolved by both taking the title 'King'.

When Shang Yang was passed over for the duke of Wey, he decided to take his talents elsewhere. He answered the call when Duke Xiao of Qin called for talent hoping that money and status would come from it. Duke Xiao's court, however, didn't like Shang's radical plans, but the Xiao was impressed and made Shang prime minister, a position he'd hold from 358-338 BCE. During his time, he moved Qin from 'one of the most backward states' by reforming their 'taxation systems, government management of the economy, standardization of measures and weight, promotion of the nuclear family and, as many writers emphasized, a harsh legal code', which included 'severe punishments for relatively minor crimes'. His reforms resulted in 'the first true state-wide bureaucracy in China', as well as undertaking a census 'which would help in delivering punishment to the entire family, another aspect of legalistic Chinese philosophy'. He fell from power, however, and would be considered an outlaw and then killed by the Qin armies in 338 BCE.

Late Spring and Autumn Period III

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The final portion of the Late Spring and Autumn Period is known as the Partition of Jin, when three families, Han Zhao, and Wei, sought control over the state of Jin. This is seen as 'a watershed event marking the division between the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods'. This wasn't a single event, however, and played out over several decades, which causes debates among historians as to when the two periods are divided from each other.

The State of Jin had long had problems with succession in leadership, going back as far as when King Xi of Zhou had to lend 'his royal clout to give legitimacy to Wu of Quwo as the rightful duke of Jin in 678 BCE'. Despite these ongoing problems, Jin expanded into new lands and awarded aristocratic titles to those loyal to them rather than the Zhou royal family. They also granted land to these vassals rather than to the minor branches of the ruling family as other ruling houses did. This led to the Jin remaining a feudal state while the other states, like Chu, were moving to a centralized bureaucracy. It didn't take long for the aristocratic families to have enough power to undermine the duke's authority resulting in Jin being 'composed of an assortment of semi-independent city-states fighting each other and the Jin Duke as much as they fought other states', with one retainer trying to invade the state of Qi with only his own troops.

As these families continued to gain power, they also sought to eliminate their competition through 'legitimate' methods as well. For example, in 607 BCE, after a duke tried to regain some control over the aristocrats, the families had him deposed. In 573 BCE, a duke encouraged the Luan clan to destroy the Xi clan and in 573 BCE, the Luan clan murdered that duke to place a puppet on the throne, and the Luan clan was eliminated by 550 BCE, leaving the Zhi, Zhao, and Han with the Wei clan gaining power not long after, with Fan and Zhonghang rounding out the 'Six Titled Retainers' that 'basically us[ed] the ruling duke as a figurehead until Jin was split into three separate states'.

Late Spring and Autumn Period II

The next two parts of the Late Spring and Autumn Period were Hegemonies, the first being 10 years under King Helü of Wu (506-496) and the next 31 under King Goujian of Yue.

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King Helü of Wu was born Prince Guang, son of King Yumei and nephew to King Liao, befriended an exile from Chu, Wu Zixu, who then introduced him to Zhuan Zhu, who was a butcher, at a time when he was wanting to overthrow his uncle. Zhuan succeeded at this in 515 BCE, elevating Guang to King Helü of Wu. He set about building a 'great city', which 'forms the basis of Suzhou's present old town'. With the assistance of Sun Tzu, who wrote The Art of War, and Wu Zixu, he turned his attention to defeating the state of Chu. They managed to reach the capital Ying, though while sacking the capital, Helü 'attempted to sexually assault the Dowager Queen, but she fought him off with a knife and remonstrated with him, leading to Helü leaving in shame'. Chu received assistance from Qin and Qin was able to defeat Wu's troops. Helü's brother Fugai, was so unhappy with the defeat that he led a rebellion that Helü put down. After this, Helü then was forced to leave Chu while Fugai settled in Chu. In 496, after hearing that Yunchang of Yue was dead, Helü decided to invade Yue, but was mortally wounded while doing so. He asked his son Fuchai to continue on and avenge him, which he did three years later, annexing Yue. In 482, King Fuchai of Wu sought to have an interstate conference to shore up his power base. This failed when Yue captured the Wu capital and Fuchai had to rush back. He was besieged and killed himself in 473 BCE as the capital fell.

During the Hegemony of Wu, in 499 BCE, Confucius was appointed prime minister of Lu. According to tradition, he wrote the Spring and Autumn annals. After two years of being prime minister, he 'was forced to resign and spent many years wandering between different states before returning to Lu', though he never returned to politics. He spent the rest of his life teaching and writing.

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Late Spring and Autumn Period I

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The Late Spring and Autumn Period covered the years from 591-453 BCE and can be further subdivided into four parts. The first part is dominated by Six Ministers. As noted, the Five Hegemons was defined by both internal and external conflicts including among the leading families. From this time, dukes of Lu, Jin, Zhen, Wey, and Qi became the dominant leaders. Within the state of Jin, the 'army was split into six independent divisions, each dominated by a separate noble family: Zhi (智), Zhao (趙), Han (韓), Wei (魏), Fan (范) and Zhonghang (中行)' for which the heads of these families then received the title of viscount and were then made ministers, heading six departments of the Zhou government, becoming 'the true power brokers of Jin'. This then occurred in Lu, though the army there divided into three parts and the leaders of those parts were then elevated.

The state of Wu was considered to be 'barbarian' as they were 'outside the Zhou cultural sphere'. They 'sported short hair and tattoos and spoke an unintelligible language' even though they also 'claimed to be a senior lineage in the Ji ancestral temple' even though they didn't participate in Chinese politics until the Late Spring and Autumn Period, around 584 BCE, during which they attacked the small state of Tan, 'causing some alarm'. Jin ambassadors were dispatched, offering to trade military training and technology for an alliance against Chu, who was also a neighbor of Wu, which they would continue to do for years.