Shanyu Maodun’s Proposition To Empress Dowager Lü That Almost Caused A War

Empress Lü was the wife of Gaozu, founder of the Han Dynasty (c. 206 BCE) and the first Han emperor of China (r. 202-195 BCE). While Gaozu was alive, Empress Lü proved herself a fearsome political maneuverer who knew how to detect and eliminate threats to the fledgling dynasty, sometimes doing so even without the emperor’s permission. When Emperor Gaozu died in 195 BCE, the throne passed to the empress’ son, Hui. Yet, although her son was officially emperor, it was Empress Lü who was the true power behind the throne. The common people were reportedly content under the empress’ reign, but it was a very tense time for the newfound nobles in the empire. With the lives of her son and herself on the line, Empress Lü escalated her role as the unofficial spymaster of the dynasty, assassinating several half-brothers of Emperor Hui and sending out her kinswomen to marry (and spy on) the regional kings and marquises of the empire. When Emperor Hui died in 188 BCE, Empress Lü maintained her power by acting as regent for two successive child-emperors.

In the lands to the north of the Han Empire, the aging Empress Lü had an admirer. His name was Maodun, a powerful Shanyu (high chief) of the nomadic Xiongnu people. He came to power around 209 BCE and built an empire mighty enough to rival that of his Chinese neighbors. Shanyu Maodun and Emperor Gaozu had clashed in 200 BCE, and in the resulting battle Emperor Gaozu was outwitted by the Xiongnu, surrounded by the Shanyu’s forces, and pressured to agree to a peace that favored the Xiongnu. In the aftermath of the battle, Emperor Gaozu sent an imperial princess to be the consort of the Shanyu, and he also sent tribute to the nomads and opened up trade relations. This defensive policy of marriage, tribute and trade would continue for decades, and would be imitated by several of Emperor Gaozu’s successors.

Although Shanyu Maodun was a busy man, conquering rival nomadic tribes and expanding his empire, he kept himself informed on politics in the Han Dynasty. When the Xiongnu leader learned that Emperor Gaozu had died and that Empress Lü was reigning with an iron fist in China, he was apparently quite impressed or amused by the news. After hearing of Empress Lü’s rise to power, Shanyu Maodun evidently one day felt the urge to write the empress a blunt and audacious letter. When the peculiar note reached the imperial court in China, it caused a shock among the Han courtiers that would resound for decades.

In his letter to Empress Lü, Shanyu Maodun wrote out his observation that he and she were both old, lonely rulers and suggested that they comfort each other through marriage. Whether or not this proposal was pragmatic, heartfelt, or taunting, is a matter of opinion, but Empress Lü, her advisors, and the ancient Chinese scholars who wrote about the event virtually all considered it to be an insult of the highest degree. Empress Lü’s response upon hearing the marriage proposal was reportedly to summon her generals and demand that they plan an invasion of the Xiongnu Empire. Sycophants and warmongers eagerly volunteered to command the punitive expedition against the mighty Xiongnu chief. Yet, in the end, the more cautious advisors won the debate by reminding the empress that even the great Emperor Gaozu had not been able to defeat Shanyu Maodun in battle and that the empire was not yet stable enough for a protracted campaign against the Xiongnu. Ultimately, Empress Lü called off the war and maintained peace with the Xiongnu.

After Empress Lü’s death in 180 BCE, Emperor Wen (r. 180-157 BCE) and Emperor Jing (r. 157-141 BCE) continued the Han Dynasty policy of sending tribute and imperial princesses to the Xiongnu, and otherwise only fighting defensive wars against incursions begun by the Shanyu’s forces. It was Emperor Wu (r. 141-87 BCE) who finally changed the Han policy with the Xiongnu to that of relentless aggression, leading to the conquest of great stretches of Xiongnu territory. Around the year 101 BCE, Emperor Wu released an edict that mentioned both Gaozu’s defeat and the letter sent to Empress Lü in an effort to rile up his people against the Xiongnu. The edict, recorded by Grand Historian Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), read:

“Emperor Gaozu has left us the task of avenging the difficulties which he suffered at Pingcheng. Furthermore, during the reign of Empress Lü the Shanyu sent to the court a most treasonable and insulting letter. In ancient times when Duke Xiang of Qi avenged an insult which one of his ancestors nine generations earlier had suffered, Confucius praised his conduct in the Spring and Autumn Annals” (Shi Ji 110).

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Rejection scene from the Admonitions Scroll, attributed to Gu Kaizhi (c.345-c.406), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gaohou 
• http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/personslvhou.html 
• https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/exhibit/xiongnu/essay.html  

Emperor Jing Was Deadly Serious About Board Game Rules And Checkmating Kings

For many people in ancient China, life under the early emperors of the Han Dynasty (starting with Emperor Gaozu c. 202 BCE) was a time of tranquility and peace. Yet, for the new Liu imperial family, court intrigue and political maneuverings made their lives much more stressful. Outside the palaces of kings and marquises, the common farmers were innocently planting their crops, but inside the courts and banquets of government, the politicians, lawyers and nobility were battling it out in the shadows. When Emperor Gaozu died in 195 BCE, his consort, Empress Lü, began skillfully and ruthlessly raising to prominence her brothers and cousins from the Lü clan. Yet, when Empress Lü died in 180 BCE, the Liu family brutally reasserted its authority by massacring the new Lü officials and placing Gaozu’s son, Emperor Wen (r. 180-157 BCE), on the throne. Emperor Wen was generally a virtuous ruler who brought peace to both the commoners and the nobility. Taking advantage of the peace, however, the feudal kingdoms of China became extremely powerful. Emperor Wen’s successor, Emperor Jing (r. 157-141 BCE), would obsessively dwell on the growing political and military strength of the feudal kingdoms.

The kingdom of Wu was one such powerful feudal domain in the Han Empire. Wu’s long-reigning king was Liu Pi, the nephew of Emperor Gaozu. King Liu Pi had been placed on the throne of Wu in 195 BCE after distinguishing himself in battle against a rebel army. During the decades that Empress Lü and Emperor Wen ruled the Han Dynasty, the kingdom of Wu thrived under Liu Pi’s leadership. He exploited copper mines and salt deposits in his realm to make the kingdom of Wu one of the wealthiest regions of China. Furthermore, the people of Wu seemed to have generally loved their king, for Liu Pi was generous with his wealth and gave ample gifts to his subjects as rewards and incentives for good deeds. The king was also politically savvy, and achieved a great deal of autonomy from the central government of the Han Dynasty. It was said that King Liu Pi even had enough power to refuse to hand over fugitives to agents of the emperor.

Although he was a mighty figure, Liu Pi had shown unceasing loyalty to the emperors for decades. Sometime during the reign of Emperor Wen, Liu Pi sent his son, the crown prince of Wu, to the Han capital, Chang’an. There, the crown prince was well received by Emperor Wen and the young nobleman was even brought into the entourage of the heir apparent, Jing. The future emperor and the crown prince of Wu became drinking buddies and often tested each other’s skill over the trendiest board games that were popular in the capital.

One day, after the imperial heir and the crown prince both had too much to drink, the pair began to play a board game that resembled chess. Apparently, the inebriated noblemen disagreed on the rules of the game and the argument became quite heated. The crown prince stubbornly gave no ground in the debate and showed no deference to the opinion of the imperial heir. Jing, who, even at a young age, resented the power of the feudal lords, was enraged by the insubordination of the prince. As the argument persisted and the tension boiled higher, Jing lost his composure and lashed out. In his rage, Jing grabbed the game board, sending the pieces flying, and used it to clobber the crown prince over the head. The board wielded by Jing was not one of the flimsy cardboard mats used by cheap tabletop game makers of today—instead, he was bludgeoning the crown prince with what can only be described as a solid plank of hefty wood. Unfortunately for ancient Chinese politics, Jing actually beat the crown prince of Wu to death with the game board.

When news of his son’s needless death reached the ears of powerful King Liu Pi, the otherwise loyal monarch began to question his allegiance. After the incident, Liu Pi held a grudge against the central government, especially Jing, and pointedly never ventured to the capital of Chang’an. When Jing became emperor in 157 BCE, the feud between the central government and the kingdom of Wu only deepened. Emperor Jing increased the tension when he and his legalist advisor, Chao Cuo, began systematically whittling away at the power of kings. In 156 BCE, the central government removed the region of Changshan from the control of King Liu Sui of Zhao and also deprived six districts from King Liu Ang of Jiaoxi. The carving up of kingdoms continued in 155 BCE, with King Liu Wu of Chu losing control of Donghai province and King Liu Pi of Wu, himself, being stripped of his authority in Yuzhang and Kuaiji.

As Liu Pi had loathed Jing since the death of his son, the land deprivation finally pushed him over his limit and he began to plot with other disgruntled kings against the emperor. In 154 BCE, Liu Pi was the leading figure in the so-called Revolt of the Seven Kingdoms. The revolt and its aftermath proved that both sides of the conflict were right in their assessment of their enemy—Emperor Jing was right about the kingdoms having too much power, but the kings were also correct in their fears that the central government wanted to reduce their political and military might.

Emperor Jing executed his advisor, Chao Cuo, in response to the rebellion, but he also quickly crushed the revolt and had King Liu Pi of Wu assassinated. The destruction of the rebellion was a great leap forward in Emperor Jing’s dream to dismantle the power of the feudal lords. On the relentless campaign of Emperor Jing and his successor, Emperor Wu, against the power of the Chinese kingdoms, historian Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE) wrote, “The feudal lords were permitted nothing more than tax revenue from their lands, while the rest of their prerogatives were all taken away. In later years some of them grew so poor that they were obliged to ride about in ox carts” (Shi Ji, 59).

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Depiction of men playing Go, c. Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
• http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/personsliupi.html  

Emperor Wen's Path To Power Was Greatly Helped By His Mother’s Unambitious Lifestyle

King Liu Heng of Dai was the son of Lady Bo and the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, Gaozu (king of Han 206-202 BCE, emperor 202-195 BCE). According to the Grand Historian, Sima Qian (c.145-90 BCE), Liu Heng was appointed as king of Dai by Emperor Gaozu in 196 BCE. After Gaozu’s death in 195 BCE, the heir of the empire, Emperor Hui, ascended to the throne and his mother, Empress Dowager Lü, became the power behind the throne. Once in power, the Empress Dowager began terrorizing the other concubines of the late emperor and undermining the sons of these rival women. Many concubines were imprisoned or executed and Empress Dowager Lü directly had Gaozu’s sons, Liu Ruyi and Liu You, killed by poison and starvation, respectively. Furthermore, the empress dowager tried to increase the power of her Lü family at the expense of the imperial Liu clan, especially after Emperor Hui’s death in 188 BCE left her position vulnerable.

Fortunately, the king of Dai and his mother, Lady Bo, were spared from the wrath of Empress Dowager Lü. Lady Bo was apparently able to escape imprisonment and execution because she was not one of Gaozu’s favorite concubines and he saw her rarely during his time as emperor. As for Lady Bo’s son, the king of Dai, he stayed alive largely because he could keep a low profile. He kept his criticism and outrage to himself while his half-brothers were being assassinated and his clan was being stripped of power, and instead focused on cultivating a reputation of kindness and generosity.

When Empress Dowager Lü died in 180 BCE, the Liu clan rallied their allies in the government and the military to launch a purge of the Lü clan.  Two of the most prominent leaders in the overthrow of the Lü were Zhao Bo (a friend of Lady Bo's family), who brought the garrison of Chang’an, the capital city, over to the Liu side, and King Ai of Qi (Gaozu’s grandson), who mustered a multi-kingdom army against the enemies of the Liu. After Liu loyalists were sent out “to arrest the men and women of the Lü family and, without distinction of age or youth, to behead them all,” the kings of Dai and Qi became the most likely successors to the throne (Sima Qian, Shi Ji 9 (Empress Lü)).

Both claimants had a good argument. King Ai of Qi had been a leader of the Liu rebellion against the Lü and was the heir of Emperor Gaozu’s oldest son.  It also didn’t hurt that King Ai had a large army in the field.  The other claimant, the king of Dai, was the oldest living son of the late Emperor Gaozu. Though he had developed a widespread reputation for kindness and generosity, he did not attempt to halt or criticize the massacre of the Lü family. In addition, he had the support of Zhou Bo—a family friend of the king of Dai—who held the empire’s capital city of Chang’an, as well as the forces garrisoned inside. In picking which of these two men they wanted to support, the great ministers of the empire had a difficult decision to make.

The debate over who should be the next emperor was apparently so fierce, argument among the ministers even shifted to the topic of the mothers of the claimants. After surviving the reign of Empress Dowager Lü, the ministers were loath to give support to a man who had an overly ambitious and conniving mother.  Considering this angle, the ministers decided that Lady Bo, the mother of the king of Dai, would be the safer choice for a future Empress Dowager. Of course, Zhou Bo’s presence at the head of the forces in Chang’an, the city in which this debate was taking place, may have swayed a few ministers into siding with Lady Bo and the king of Dai. Whatever the case, the ministers threw their support behind the king of Dai, prompting King Ai of Qi to disband his army and return home. To the relief of the ministers, when the king of Dai became Emperor Wen in 180 BCE, his mother, Empress Dowager Bo, dabbled very little in politics besides encouraging her son to incorporate Daoism into his rule.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Chinese painting The Nymph of the Lo River, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, 12th-century copy of a painting traditionally attributed to the 4th-century artist Gu Kaizhi, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

Cao Shen And The Failed Interventions By Other Officials To Curb His Excessive Drinking

In 209 BCE, a low-level official named Liu Bang joined in a widespread wave of rebellion against the Qin Dynasty in China. Cao Shen (also often called Cao Can) was one of Liu Bang’s earliest supporters. Oddly enough, the life of Cao Shen before the revolt was that of a Qin law enforcement official in Pei, the region where Liu Bang eventually rebelled. Yet, when the revolts erupted, Cao Shen shed off any loyalty to the Qin and instead joined the rebels, devoting the rest of his life to serving Liu Bang and his descendants.

As a member of Liu Bang’s entourage, Cao Shen witnessed the fall of the Qin Dynasty and, in 206 BCE, the division of the empire into kingdoms led by the numerous rebel leaders. Liu Bang, now the king of Han, then embarked on a slew of hard-fought conquests, eventually becoming the first emperor of the Han Dynasty in 202 BCE. After gaining control of China, Liu Bang (posthumously remembered as Emperor Gaozu) rewarded Cao Shen with a noble title, appointing him as the marquis of Pingyang. As a further show of trust, the emperor nominated Cao Shen to serve as prime minister for Liu Fei, the king of Qi and the emperor’s eldest son.

In his role as a governing official, Cao Shen was a sworn adherent to the Huang-Lao Method, a governing philosophy based on the myths of Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor), as well as the Daoist teachings of Lao Tzu. One of the highest principles of the philosophy was that of inaction—his philosophical school believed in a minimalistic relationship between the ruler and the ruled, where the government strove to exert as little force as possible on the population so that the land would achieve a natural and harmonious stability. Cao Shen’s policies apparently worked well, for during his years working in Qi, Cao Shen gained a reputation as an able administrator.

Another promotion was awarded to Cao Shen in 193 BCE. The year, Prime Minister Xiao He of the imperial Han court fell fatally ill. On his deathbed, Xiao He advised that Cao Shen should be nominated as the next prime minister of Han. When Xiao He passed away and left his position vacant, Emperor Hui (Gaozu’s successor) followed the advice of the late minister and hired Cao Shen for the job.

As portrayed by the records of the Grand Historian, Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), Cao Shen turned out to be quite the quirky government official once he entered the Capitol. Cao Shen was already a devotee of the philosophy of inaction. In addition to this, however, Cao Shen also believed that Xiao He had been an ideal lawmaker. Therefore, Cao Shen made no effort to improve or amend Xiao He’s policies and instead strove only to enforce his predecessor’s precedent.  To do this, he was said to have filled the ministry dormitory with loyal and generous employees. With Xiao He’s preexisting laws in place and a group of by-the-book bureaucrats employed to implement the legal code, Cao Shen relaxed as the cogs of government cranked away on their own accord.

Suffice it to say, Cao Shen had a lot of free time. He apparently filled these idle hours with one of his favorite hobbies—drinking. According to Sima Qian, the vice spread throughout the whole ministry. In one story, the prime minister’s valet complained that the clerks in the ministry dormitory were obnoxiously singing and drinking during their time off. When he was told this, Cao Shen reportedly rushed to the dormitory, but not to scold the clerks. Instead, he brought in a mat and some casks of his favorite beverage and invited the clerks to party with him in a garden near the dormitory.

Antics such as these quickly caught the attention of other government officials, and even Emperor Hui became concerned. Cao Shen’s reputation, however, was so great that nobody thought to punish him for his behavior. Instead, the officials wanted to reform his lifestyle and, if possible, bring about an intervention to end the prime minister’s excessive drinking.

Various officials apparently sought out Cao Shen to convince him to restrain his drinking and focus on his duties. These concerned visitors, however, were always ushered by the charismatic Cao Shen into his office, where the prime minister would generously serve his guests ample helpings of strong wine. Before long, they would all be inebriated and no progress was made.

Eventually, Emperor Hui reportedly tasked Cao Shen’s son, Cao Ju, with the nigh impossible task of weaning the prime minister off the drink and refocusing him on his government duties. Unfortunately for Cao Ju, his father did not take kindly to the family intervention. Instead of deflecting the questions or charismatically talking his way out of the situation, Cao Shen did away with all tact and instead punished his son’s unfilial nosiness with a reported 200 whaps from a rod.

Eventually, the emperor apparently gave up on trying to reform Cao Shen. Despite his unorthodox behavior, the prime minister’s approach seemed to not have a negative impact on the Chinese government or people. In fact, when Cao Shen died around 190 BCE, after only three years as prime minister, he was given the posthumous title of Admirable Marquis. An anonymous poem about Cao Shen was recorded by Sima Qian, which read:

“Xiao He made us laws,

As plain as the figure ‘one,’

Cao Shen took his place

And upheld them without fault.

He governed with purity and stillness,

And the people were at peace.”

(The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji 54) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson)

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (A reproduction of an earlier Tang Dynasty (618-907) work of art, the reproduction is attributed to Emperor Huizong of Song (r. 1100–1125 AD), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
• http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Han/personscaoshen.html 
• https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php?define=Cao+Can  

The Members Of The Lü Clan Freely Gave Military Power To Their Eventual Murderers

Emperor Gaozu and Empress Lü, the first royal couple in charge of the Han Dynasty, were a very formidable and competent pair. After Gaozu’s death in 195 BCE, Empress Lü showed her prowess by continuing to administer the empire (through her son, Emperor Hui, and other puppet rulers) until her own death on August 18, 180 BCE. Although Empress Lü had been a powerful asset to Emperor Gaozu while he lived, Empress Lü quickly became a hindrance to the emperor’s imperial Liu clan when she was left to rule on her own. Of the emperor’s eight sons, Empress Lü was only the mother of one (Emperor Hui), and she showed little-to-no maternal care for her seven pseudo-step-sons—in fact, she had one or two of them killed. When Emperor Hui died young in 188 BCE, Empress Lü virtually broke off all her ties to the imperial Liu family and devoted the rest of her life to raising her own Lü family to a state of power that was equal to or greater than that of the imperial Liu clan.

When Empress Lü died on August 18, 180 BCE, she left the Lü clan in a remarkably strong position. She had appointed many Lü men to kingships and even created a new hereditary Kingdom of Lü. As for the kingdoms that were already ruled by Liu family monarchs, Empress Lü had a knack for winning over the ministers working under her rival kings. She also arranged for women of the Lü family to marry powerful men from the Liu clan. These Lü brides and their attendants reportedly acted as spies and informants, constantly writing to Empress Lü about the actions of their husbands. Last of all, she gave the Lü clan a firm foothold in the Chinese capital city, Chang’an—Empress Lü’s kinsman, Lü Lu, was appointed Supreme Commander of the Army, and the garrisons in the capital city were sworn to generals loyal to the Lü clan. This was the state in which Empress Lü left her clan at the time of her death in August, 180 BCE. It was a strong hand that the empress developed for her clan, but now her kinsmen would have to play their cards and win the game.

Unfortunately for the late Empress Lü, her clan proved to be totally incompetent and they folded in only a single month. The Liu kings and pro-Liu ministers who had long been oppressed and outsmarted by Empress Lü did not wait long to strike at the late empress’ legacy. By early September, King Ai of Qi (Gaozu’s grandson) was mobilizing a revolt. King Ai’s pro-Lü prime minister, a man named Shao Ping, discovered the king’s plot around September 12 and preemptively besieged the palace of Qi. Nevertheless, in a scene that would keep repeating for Lü officials, Prime Minister Shao Ping proved to be a poor judge of allegiance. After he had surrounded King Ai in the palace, Prime Minister Shao Ping incredibly was convinced to hand over control of the troops to another officer named Wei Bo. Unfortunately for Shao Ping, Wei Bo was firmly on the side of the Liu faction and therefore promptly lifted the siege of the king’s palace. Wei Bo and King Ai arrested and executed Shao Ping, then proceeded with their rebellion.

When the Lü leaders in Chang’an heard of the growing rebellion, they dispatched an army under the command of Guan Ying to crush the rebel forces.  Once again, however, the Lü administration was a poor judge of character. Guan Ying, indeed, led his forces out of the capital. Yet, when his troops were in the field, Guan Ying made a pact with the rebel leaders and refused to fight against the rebellion.

By September 26, 180 BCE, the Lü leadership in Chang’an was in a panic. Lü Chan, commander of the southern garrison had withdrawn into the capital’s palace and Lü Lu, the Supreme Commander of the Army and general of the northern garrison, was unsure how to respond to the rebellion. Sensing his indecisiveness, various pro-Liu ministers and advisors in Chang’an preyed upon Lü Lu. In particular, the Supreme Commander was influenced by a man named Li Ji, who apparently convinced Lü Lu that his life would be spared if he resigned from his military posts. Unbelievably, Lü Lu agreed to the suggestion and handed over his general’s seal to the grand commandant, Zhou Bo, giving the man control of the northern garrison and promoting him to the rank of Supreme Commander of the Army. Unfortunately for the Lü clan, Zhou Bo was a ruthless supporter of the Liu faction. Although Lü Lu was hoping for mercy, his decision to relinquish power ensured the bloody downfall of his clan.

Zhou Bo immediately rallied the forces of Chang’an to the Liu side when he received command on September 26, 180 BCE. There was, however, a slight obstacle—the southern garrison was still technically controlled by Lü Chan, who had earlier fled to the palace. Zhou Bo solved the problem by sending assassins to the palace, who murdered Lü Chan, as well as the colonel of the palace guards. After seizing control of the southern garrison, Zhou Bo then spent the next several days hunting down and executing all of the powerful members of the Lü clan. After the slaughter, Emperor Wen (Gaozu’s oldest living son) assumed the imperial throne. The historian, Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE) described the massacre that took place to clear the way for the new emperor:

“Then he [Zhou Bo] divided his men into groups and sent them out to arrest the men and women of the Lü family and, without distinction of age or youth, to behead them all. On the following day, xinyu (27 Sept.), he arrested and beheaded Lü Lu and had the empress dowager’s sister, Lü Xu, beaten to death. He also dispatched men to execute Lü Dong, the king of Yan, and remove Zhang Yan, the king of Lu, from his position.”

—The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji 9, Annals of Empress Lü) by Sima Qian, (trans. by Burton Watson, 1993).

Written by C. Keith Hansley

Picture Attribution: (a lacquer painting over a four-panel wooden folding screen measuring 81.5 cm in height; from the tomb of Sima Jinlong in Datong, Shanxi province, dated to the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534 AD). [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji 9, Annals of Empress Lü) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

The Odd Story Of Emperor Gaozu’s Nephew, Marquis Soup Rattle

Liu Bang was a low-level official who rebelled against the Qin Dynasty to become king of Han (r.206-202 BCE) and ultimately the first emperor of the Han Dynasty (r. 202-195 BCE), thereafter gaining the name of Emperor Gaozu. As he had seen firsthand just how unstable an emperor’s position could be, Gaozu decided to entrust most of his empire’s noble feudal positions to members of his Liu family. As such, by the time of the emperor’s death in 195 BCE, only a single kingdom of China was ruled by a king who was unrelated to the imperial family.

Although Gaozu gave out kingdoms and other royal titles to his brothers, his sons, and his cousins, as well as to the descendants of all those listed above, the emperor oddly refused to hand out any title whatsoever to a certain unlucky nephew. His name was Liu Xin and he was the son of Gaozu’s deceased older brother, Liu Bo. Most family members of Liu Xin’s hereditary proximity to the emperor were given noble titles, yet Gaozu never considered the nephew for any feudal positions. Gaozu’s father, respectfully called the Venerable Sire or the Grand Supreme Emperor, apparently thought that Gaozu had simply forgotten about Liu Xin. When questioned, however, Emperor Gaozu reportedly stated that Liu Xin’s treatment was not a mistake, but a deliberate punishment.  As explanation, the emperor told an odd story about his past.

In the time when Emperor Gaozu was still the commoner known as Liu Bang, he apparently had a bad habit of bringing groups of friends to the house of Liu Bo, his older brother. Even worse, Liu Bang and his companions always arrived at his brother’s house at meal times. Although Liu Bang had the ability to be a people-person when it suited him and he usually acted respectfully toward family, he also often had an insufferable attitude, accentuated by bouts of extreme rudeness. As such, on those days when Liu Bang arrived on his brother’s doorstep with a party of friends in tow, he was the type of person who fully expected to be fed and entertained at his brother’s expense. Despite Liu Bang’s wants, he was not yet a king or emperor, so Liu Bo’s wife naturally felt no obligation to feed her scavenging brother-in-law.

Liu Bo’s wife apparently had one go-to tactic that she used whenever Liu Bang arrived in search of sustenance. As the story goes, she would go over to her kettle where food was being prepared and then loudly rattle the ladle. Feigning sympathy with their hunger, she would lie that her family had already eaten and that there was nothing left in the kettle. Upon hearing the news, Liu Bang’s disappointed friends would shuffle out of the home and search for another place to eat. Yet, on one of these occasions, Liu Bang peeked into the kettle after his friends had left and, low and behold, there was still plenty of food left in the pot.

After recounting that story to his father, Emperor Gaozu explained that he had long held a grudge against Liu Bo’s wife because of her kettle rattling. Fortunately, the Venerable Sire, as a good father should, eventually convinced Gaozu that his nephew, Liu Xin, should not be punished because of the actions of his mother. As a result, the neglected nephew finally received a noble title—a very unique position, at that. The promotion, however, was likely not what the nephew or the Venerable Sire had expected. According to Grand Historian Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), Liu Xin was given the special title of Marquis Soup Rattle.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Image of the The Dahuting Tomb mural, c. 2nd-3rd century CE, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

The Tragic Tale of King Liu Hui

Liu Hui was a son of Emperor Gaozu (king r.206-202 BCE, Emperor r. 202-195 BCE), the founder of the Han Dynasty in China. Although the Liu family would continue to rule China for centuries, Liu Hui and his brothers fell on very hard times after the death of their father. Of the eight sons fathered by Emperor Gaozu, only one was born from Empress Lü. Therefore, when Gaozu died and Empress Lü’s son, Liu Ying, became the new emperor, she quickly came to regard her late husband’s other surviving sons as threats to her own child’s power.

The first of Liu Hui’s brothers to be targeted by Empress Lü was Liu Ruyi. Empress Lü apparently detested Ruyi because his mother, Lady Qi, had been Gaozu’s favorite concubine. Furthermore, it was said that Emperor Gaozu had seriously considered making Liu Ruyi his heir instead of Empress Lü’s son. Nevertheless, the Empress and other advisors convinced Emperor Gaozu to keep Liu Ying as his heir and to send Ruyi away from the capital to become the king of Zhao. Even though Empress Lü had her way, she did not forget how close Lady Qi and Ruyi had come to shattering her life. Therefore, in 194 BCE, one year after the death of Gaozu, she had Liu Ruyi poisoned and then executed Lady Qi.

Liu Ying, who was supposedly driven to unhealthy habits to cope with his mother’s brutality, died in 188 BCE, when he was only twenty-three years old. Upon her son’s death, Empress Lü took full control of government, ruling as regent for two successive child-emperors of questionable birth. During her time as regent, she diligently introduced members of her Lü clan into government and noble positions, which angered and frightened her husband’s Liu clan. Unfortunately, by the end of the decade, Empress Lü apparently began to harbor murderous feelings toward the other sons of her late husband.

Sometime during Empress Lü’s reign, she arranged for Liu Hui and other sons of Gaozu to marry women from the Lü clan. These uneasy marriages caused drama between the Liu princes and their overbearing stepmother. This tension peaked in 181 BCE, when Empress Lü had Liu You—the new king of Zhao and another of Gaozu’s sons—starved to death after he allegedly offended his Lü family bride.

Liu Hui succeeded his half-brother, You, as the next king of Zhao, a title which must have seemed like a death sentence after the unnatural deaths of the kingdom’s two previous kings. Liu Hui found himself in an eerily similar situation to his recently deceased brother—both of them had been set up with wives from the Lü family, yet neither brother had any chemistry with his assigned bride. Even worse, Liu Hui’s wife brought with her a troop of Lü clan advisors, whose mission was to turn the new king of Zhao into a puppet ruler.

Despite these unfavorable conditions, King Hui took comfort in having with him a beloved concubine who could ease his sorrows. Yet, Liu Hui’s love for his unnamed concubine caused great jealousy for his queen. Sadly, as Hui’s brothers had discovered before him, it was deadly to be the target of a Lü woman’s scorn.

Whereas Liu You’s bride had complained to the empress about her husband, King Hui’s wife instead chose a more hands-on approach to dealing with her problem. According to Sima Qian, the angry queen exacted her revenge not on King Hui, but on the concubine that he loved. As even the royal attendants in Zhao were apparently loyal to the Lü clan, it was not difficult for the queen to have her way. Tragically, King Hui’s last bastion of comfort was murdered with poison.

The death of the woman he loved plunged Liu Hui into heartbroken depression. After her death, the king was inspired by the muse of sadness to write a poem in honor of his murdered partner and he even composed music to accompany the mournful verses. In the end, King Hui lost the will to live and ultimately committed suicide before the end of 181 BCE.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribute: (image from the Pictorial History Of China And India, by Robert Sears (1810-1892), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons and Flickr.).

Sources:

• The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

The Bizarre Relationship Between Emperor Gaozu And Confucian Scholars

During the short reign of the Qin Dynasty (c. 221-206 BCE), the philosophy of Confucius was pushed to the wayside in preference of legalism. Yet, when Emperor Gaozu became Supreme Emperor of China in 202 BCE, founding the Han Dynasty out of the ashes of the fallen Qin Empire, Confucianism was brought back to prominence. Nevertheless, although Emperor Gaozu ultimately reinstituted Confucianism as a central philosophy to his government, his relationship with the Confucian scholars in his court was surprisingly less than cordial.

Sima Qian, a court historian for the Han Dynasty who lived around 145-90 BCE, wrote that Emperor Gaozu, especially in his early years, despised Confucian scholars—the emperor did not like their uniforms, he loathed their lecturing tone, and he always took every oportunity to criticize the scholars in public. Worst of all, Emperor Gaozu supposedly had the horrible habit of snatching the hats off the heads of Confucian scholars and then urinating into the garments. According to Sima Qian, this was not a one-time thing for the emperor; for a long period of his life, the emperor allegedly urinated in the hat of any Confucian that came within his arms’ reach.

Nevertheless, during his bid to seize power and his reign as emperor, Gaozu gradually had a change of heart toward Confucianism, or at least toward specific followers of the philosophy. After achieving his title of emperor, Gaozu appointed a man named Shusun Tong, a Confucian scholar, to the court erudites and bequeathed him a noble rank as lord of Jisi. By 198 BCE, Shusun Tong had gained so much favor with the emperor that he was named Master of Ritual and Grand Tutor to the heir, the future Emperor Hui. Shusun Tong had a major impact during his role as Master of Ritual for Emperors Gaozu and Hui, as he organized the ceremonial rules, procedures and funerary rites for the Han Dynasty and did so based on his Confucian philosophy.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Ancient painting from inside the tomb of Princess Yongtai, Xian, China, [Public Domain] via publicdomainpictures.net).

Sources:

• The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.

The Cold-Blooded Revenge Of Empress Dowager Lü Against Her Rival, Lady Qi

Emperor Gaozu, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, did not come from a noble family. Instead, he had grown up as a peasant during the time of the Qin Dynasty and worked as a minor local official and village head who sometimes ran afoul of the law. One day, he had a momentous encounter with a certain Master Lü, who directed Gaozu to relocate to the district of Pei. Around that time, Gaozu married Master Lü’s daughter, Lü Zhi, and earned the respect of the local populace of Pei. When mass rebellions erupted against the Qin Dynasty in 209 BCE, Lü Zhi was actively by her husband’s side as he took power first as Governor of Pei, then as King of Han, and, finally, as Supreme Emperor of China.

When Gaozu became an emperor, Lü Zhi ascended to the rank of empress. The two were quite the formidable couple and their strengths complemented each other well. Emperor Gaozu was a masterful talent scout, able to recruit, manage and utilize great generals and ministers to help him run his empire. Gaozu was known to make bad decisions from time to time, but his wise counselors had the courage to offer advice, and the emperor had the good sense to listen to their suggestions. Empress Lü, on the other hand, reportedly had a keen instinct for knowing which disaffected nobles could cause potential problems for her family. She was also reportedly ruthless enough to have several of these threats eliminated, sometimes even without consulting Emperor Gaozu. Her talents were all the more deadly, as she was a natural at political maneuvering and court subterfuge.

Emperor Gaozu and Empress Lü had two children. These were Princess Yuan and the future Emperor Hui. Although Lü Zhi was Gaozu’s wife and empress, she was not the only woman in his life. To the empress’ chagrin, there was a harem of other women that the emperor spent time with. These consorts, and their children, had the potential to challenge Empress Lü’s authority as empress and also endangered her son, Hui’s, position as heir apparent. There were at least seven other sons fathered by Emperor Gaozu with different women, and each of these sons had been granted control of a kingdom by their father.

The greatest rival to Empress Lü was a certain woman named Lady Qi. Emperor Gaozu and Lady Qi had a son named Liu Ruyi, and the emperor showed both mother and child great affection. In fact, in 195 BCE, the very year of Gaozu’s death, the emperor was seriously considering the idea of making Prince Ruyi the heir apparent instead of Hui. Fortunately for Empress Lü, most of the nobles were against the idea. Several influential members of the court, including the imperial secretary, Zhou Cang, the master of ritual, Shusun Tong, and Marquis Zhang Liang of Liu, successfully convinced the emperor to keep his current heir apparent. Convinced by his vassals, Emperor Gaozu reaffirmed Hui’s position as heir and sent away Liu Ruyi to take up the throne of Zhao.

When Emperor Gaozu died on June 1, 195 BCE, Hui became the new emperor and Lü Zhi’s title shifted to that of Empress Dowager. Although her son was the emperor, real power in the empire fell into the hands of Lü Zhi. Unfortunately for Lady Qi and her son, Liu Ruyi, the empress dowager had not forgotten or forgiven their disruption in the imperial succession.  With Gaozu no longer around to shield them, Empress Dowager Lü quickly began plotting her revenge.

Not long after Gaozu’s death, Liu Ruyi began receiving messages from the empress dowager, asking him to leave his domain of Zhao to make an appearance in the Han capital of Chang’an. Luckily for the king of Zhao, the late emperor Gaozu had sent his trusted royal secretary, Zhou Chang, to act as Liu Ruyi’s prime minister, with instructions to keep the young king safe. Zhou Chang intercepted three of the empress dowager’s summons and sent the messengers back with replies that the king of Zhao would not be traveling to the capital city. Thwarted, Empress Dowager Lü changed her tactics. She sent a message summoning only Zhou Chang to Chang’an, making no mention of Liu Ruyi. Zhou Chang accepted the summons and set off on the road to the capital. Little did he know, however, that Empress Dowager Lü had sent a separate letter to Liu Ruyi, which arrived after the prime minister had already departed from Zhao. This time, Zhou Chang was not present to intercept the letter. Without his prime minister’s cautious counsel, Liu Ruyi decided to travel to Chang’an.

Despite Empress Dowager Lü’s hatred for Lady Qi and Liu Ruyi, Emperor Hui still had a surprisingly warm relationship with his half-brother. To the empress dowager’s annoyance, when the vulnerable Liu Ruyi arrived in Chang’an, Emperor Hui immediately brought him under his protective wing. For months, the emperor kept his half-brother nearby, letting Liu Ruyi eat meals with him and even allowing him to sleep near the emperor’s own chambers. Yet, Hui could not keep his eye on his brother forever, and the empress dowager was a patient woman. Near the end of 194 BCE, Emperor Hui left Chang’an on a hunting trip, leaving his half-brother behind. When the emperor returned to the city, Liu Ruyi had died of suspicious causes—the Grand Historian, Sima Qian (c. 145-90 BCE), claimed that Empress Dowager Lü had him poisoned.

While horrible, Liu Ruyi’s early death was a kind fate compared to what allegedly happened to his mother. At the time of Emperor Gaozu’s death, Lady Qi had already been in Chang’an, so the empress dowager quickly arrested her and locked her in the palace. With Lady Qi in her grasp, the empress dowager apparently delved into her own darkest and most deranged thoughts to come up with a punishment for her hated rival. Sima Qian graphically wrote, “Empress Lü later cut off Lady Qi’s hands and feet, plucked out her eyes, burned her ears, gave her a potion to drink which made her dumb, and had her thrown into the privy, calling her the ‘human pig’” (Shi Ji 9, trans. Burton Watson). Sima Qian further alleged that Empress Dowager Lü’s brutality greatly distressed the young emperor, resulting in Hui turning to heavy drinking and other bad habits. He died in 188 BCE, at only twenty-three years of age.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Picture Attribution: (Social media crop of Palace Ladies, painted by Gu Kaizhi  (345–406), [Public Domain] via Creative Commons).

Sources:

• The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993.
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gaohou 
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gaozu-emperor-of-Han-dynasty