Eastern Han Dynasty

The Eastern Han Dynasty was founded after by Emperor Guangwu of Han in 25 CE, following the overthrow of Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty. Guangwu established the Imperial Capital in the modern city of Luoyang, Henan Province. Though it started off on a high note, with the height of the Empire coming in the reign of Emperor Zhang (75-88 CE), the Eastern Han was founded on much weaker foundations than the Western Han. Emperor Guangwu was forced to rely on the big landholding families in order to gain power - and he was largely unable to centralise power back to the extent that it had been under the Western Han Empire.

Emperor Guangwu

Additionally, following the reign of Emperor Zhang, the Royal Family increasingly fell under the influence of the Eunuch Faction. Though eunuchs had been present in the Western Han Dynasty (Sima Qian, the author of Records of the Grand Historian was a eunuch), they began to hold larger and larger influence, in the same way that the families of Emperors' wives were able to acquire power over the course of the Western Han Dynasty. In fact, the eunuchs were often in conflict with the families of these great families, and over time the power struggles came to dominate the internal affairs of the Imperial Court.

In terms of foreign policy, the Eastern Han were able to largely maintain their holdings in northern Korea and Vietnam, along with finally ending the Xiongnu threat in the north through a series of military campaigns. Han power and culture were projected along the Silk Road, reaching as far as Central Asia and maintaining contact with the Parthian Empire of modern day Near Asia, along with civilisations in India. In CE 97, the Han organised an attempt at reaching Da Qin (Rome), but reportedly got as far as the Southern Mediterranean before turning back; in CE 166 a Roman embassy from Emperor Marcus Aurelius (likely merchants) did reach the court of Emperor Huan, though any interactions between the two great Empires on opposite ends of the Eurasian continent did not get more intricate than that.

Despite these foreign policy successes, the corruption in internal matters eventually weakened the central authority of the Imperial Court greatly. The eunuch faction's propensity to auction off court positions caused offense with the bureaucrats, who were further alienated when Emperor Huan (125-144 CE) sided with the eunuchs.

By the time the Yellow Turban and Five Pecks of Rice (I swear I am not making these names up) Rebellions flared up in 184 CE, the power of the central government was weak enough that the courts were forced to rely on regional strongmen to raise forces to combat these rebellions - a decision that saw warlords springing up all over the country, and leading to the Three Kingdoms era.

NEXT WEEK: An overview of the Three Kingdoms era.

Xin Dynasty

Following the rule of Han Wudi, the fortunes of the Western Han Dynasty began to wane. The failure of successive Emperors to reduce the power of land owning families in the West of the Empire in Guanzhong (the old stronghold of the Qin Dynasty) would prove to be a decisive blow, not only against the Western Han, but eventually the Eastern Han as well. Successive families managed to take practical control of the Imperial Court, as Empress Dowagers and Imperial Consorts forced isolated Emperors to promote family members to positions of power. It was in this situation that Wang Mang entered. His story is one that reflects the successive waves of power that the noble families in China enjoyed over the course of decades.

Wang Mang

Initially the Wang clan was powerful in Chang'an, the capital. They dominated affairs in the Imperial Court, and members of the Wang clan held high positions throughout the Empire. However when Emperor Cheng died, the Wang clan was supplanted by another great family, and Wang Mang, who at this stage was already an official in a high position, retired to an out of the way post.

In 1BCE however, Emperor Ai died suddenly without heir, and Grand Dowager Empress Wang summoned Wang Mang back to court, putting him in charge of the government and the military. From this position, Wang then began to shore up his support, demoting relatives of Emperor Ai and inducing the deceased Emperor's allies to suicide or exile.

He then began creating a personality cult by spreading rumours that he was the second coming of famous ancient figures through Chinese history, such as the Duke of Zhou. When his son, fearing for when the new Emperor would be old enough to resent Wang Mang's actions, began to agitate against him, Wang had him and his co-conspirators executed.

Around 5CE, Wang Mang had the Emperor Ping poisoned, and then stood in as Acting Emperor while searching for a successor. In 8CE, Wang Mang overthrew the Han Dynasty, and pronounced the Xin (New) Dynasty.

In many ways this represented both a break from the past and a return to it. Wang Mang modeled his new Empire on the Sage Kings of the past. It was an attempt to return to some 'golden age' in Chinese history, though his reforms were not fully realised to this effect. In an attempt to break the power of the major land holding families, Wang Mang brought all land under the control of the central government. He issued 28 types of coins, a complete disaster that caused easy counterfeiting and general confusion in the coin based economy.

A general failure in foreign policy also caused tensions with the Xiongnu tribes in the north west and with Korean vassal states.

Eventually in an attempt to improve the position of the imperial coffers, Wang Mang issued a state monopoly on liquor, iron, salt, coinage, forestry and fishing. However, due to Imperial corruption, the position of the coffers was not much improved.

Wang Mang was overthrown in 23CE, killed in the sacking of the capital by armies of the restored Eastern Han Dynasty. He was the first and only ruler of the Xin Dynasty.

The Western Han Dynasty

Having soundly defeated Xiang Yu in the Chu-Han Contention, Han Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty. Considered one of the high points of Chinese civilisation, the Han Dynasty has left its mark on Chinese history and culture. The majority ethnic group in China today is the Han. The language of China is known as 汉语 or the language of the Han. Chinese characters are known as 汉字 or Han characters.

Despite having decried the Qin Dynasty as being overly cruel and harsh to the people, the early Han law codes borrowed heavily from the Qin Legalist system. When Liu Bang overthrew Xiang Yu and set up the Han Dynasty, he instituted a system of 13 commanderies ruled directly by him and his court, and established 10 semi-autonomous kingdoms in the East of his empire, rewarding land to those who had assisted him in his conquests. However, over the course of his reign and the reign of his successors, these independent kingdoms were induced to rebellion, and were slowly brought back into the fold, their kings replaced by members of the Liu family. By the time of Liu Bang's death in 195 BCE, his Empire consisted of 16 commanderies.

The Empire in 87 BCE

The high point of the Western Han Dynasty came during the rule of Liu Che, or Han Wudi, who ascended the throne in 141 BCE. Initially his grandmother ruled the Empire in his stead, but upon her death in 135 BCE, Han Wudi proceeded to make his own mark on the Empire.

Han Wudi

The first thing he did was take Dong Zhongshu into his confidence, and proceeded to overturn the old Legalist system, replacing it with a Confucian variant. Initially Confucianism had been a simple secular ruling philosophy, teaching filial piety and respect for authority. Under Dong Zhongshu, Confucianism was mixed with aspects of Daoism and Legalism, fusing the ethical though of Confucianism with the ideas of Yin and Yang, along with a cosmological framework into which fit Heaven, Earth, the Empire and the Emperor.

Having thus reformed the civil service, Han Wudi also expanded upon institutions made by Liu Bang. He formed the precursors to the later civil administration exams, ensuring that it was possible for promotion by merit, rather than birth.

The biggest legacy left by Han Wudi, however, was his military expansion. From 133 BCE until the end of his life, Han Wudi launched a series of campaigns aimed at expanding Han China's borders to the north and west, fighting the Xiongnu Confederation, a nomadic people of the steppe. Over a series of campaigns stretching from 133 BCE to 108 BCE the Han scored a series of victories that firmly established Han dominance of the North and West.

The campaigns continued until well after Han Wudi's death, ending in 89 CE.

Ultimately, the campaigns launched by Han Wudi ended up stretching the national treasury, and following his death in 87 BCE, the Western Han Dynasty began a long decay that ended in Wang Mang's Xin (or new) Dynasty.

Next week, we examine Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty!

(P.S. The reign of Han Wudi also saw the works of Sima Qian, known as the Grand Historian, published. He is the first historian in Chinese history)

The Chu-Han Contention

The Fall of Qin

With Qin Shi Huang's death in 210 BCE, the strong man who had unified China was gone. His sons were not up to their fathers' task, and the rise of Qin Er Shi in 210 BCE to the throne sparked a variety of rebellions. The first was in 209 BCE, which was put down by the Qin armies. However, this rebellion inspired a variety of others, and by the end of the year, most of the Qin Empire was in open rebellion, often led by those who claimed to be successors to the states that Qin had conquered to form the Empire.

Liu Bang

Liu Bang

Liu Bang was one such rebel leader. Nominally an underling of the state of Chu, Liu Bang was the one to march on the Qin capital in 206 BCE, forcing the surrender of Emperor Ziying (Qin Er Shi had been killed off and removed from the throne after his incompetence became clear). This marked the end of the Qin Empire, but not of the end of the chaos in China.

Said to be born in 256 BCE, Liu Bang was not from a noble family. Raised as a peasant, he had little time for the mannerisms and customs of the nobility. He rose to some prominence in his own little corner of the world, but when some slaves that he was tasked with escorting to construct Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum escaped, he freed the rest of them and became a fugitive to avoid the death sentence.

In 209 BCE with the first rebellions against the Qin, Liu Bang returned to his hometown of Pei County, and following the murder of the local magistrate by the civilians, declared himself Duke of Pei. In 208 BCE, Liu Bang swore himself to the service of Chu, and was granted the title of Marquis of Wu'an. At this point he was given an army and tasked with attacking Qin. To up the stakes, the King of Chu declared that the one who reached the capital first would be given the title of King of Guanzhong. The main contenders were Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, a general of Chu.

Liu Bang arrived first, and Ziying surrendered to him. By rights he should have been raised as King of Guanzhong as promised. However, Xiang Yu arriving second, was not content. He had the larger army, and the better connections, coming from a prestigious military family of the old Kingdom of Chu. At an event called the Feast at Hong Gate, he attempted to have Liu Bang assassinated several times, but each time was foiled.

Liu Bang, begging the use of the latrine, fled with his men west.

Xiang Yu

The opposite number of Liu Bang during the Chu-Han contention, Xiang Yu was a general and nobleman. Following the flight of Liu Bang, Xiang Yu, the strongest of the various warlords who had cropped up, broke the former Qin Empire into 18 parts, declaring himself ruler of 'Western Chu'. Liu Bang was instead relocated to Hanzhong in modern day Shaanxi, and given the title King of Han.

Modern day Hanzhong Prefecture

Xiang Yu was an able general, though cruel and rather ruthless (the accuracy of the stories of his cruelty are difficult to take at face value, however, due to his defeat by Liu Bang). Unlike Liu Bang who relied on more able advisers and generals, Xiang Yu instead tended to rely on his own ability. Where Liu Bang was charismatic, Xiang Yu was competent.

Xiang Yu

The Chu-Han Contention

When Liu Bei arrived in Han Zhong, he had the galley roads (wooden planks cut into the sides of the cliffs) destroyed, both to prevent future assaults into his territory and to convince Xiang Yu that he was content in his position.

When the new state of Qi rose in rebellion against Xiang Yu's hegemony in 206 BCE, Liu Bang seized the opportunity. At the behest of his general Han Xin he attacked Guanzhong, defeating the three former Qin generals who ruled there. 

In response to this, Xiang Yu sent an army against Liu Bang, and declared Zheng Chang as King of Hán. In the following year, Liu Bang moved against the states occupying the modern province of Henan, and the kings of Sai, Di and Henan all surrendered to him. However, Zheng Chang did not, and was defeated by Liu Bang's general Han Xin, and replaced by him as King of Hán.

The defeat of the Qi rebellion in the same year allowed Xiang Yu to concentrate on his Western border. However, by failing to appease the people and allowing his army to loot and plunder the state of Qi, he encouraged more rebellions, leaving a dangerous situation on his northern flank.

Seizing advantage of this, Liu Bang advanced on the Chu capital of Pengcheng with a large force and captured it. Official records state that he had an army of 550,000 with him on his march, raised from his own reserves and those of the surrendered kings. 

Hearing of the fall of Pancheng, Xiang Yu rushed back with a force of 30,000, surprising Liu Bang with a sudden attack and inflicting large casualties on Liu Bang's forces, and inducing Liu Bang to withdraw with only a small bodyguard. In the confusion, he also captured Liu Bang's family.

Following this battle, many of the surrendered kings defected to Chu. Things were looking pretty bleak for Liu Bang.

In the latter half of 205 BCE, Liu Bang's general Han Xin managed to open a northern front against Xiang Yu in a series of battles that saw Han Xin crowned as acting King of Qi in 204 BCE. Liu Bang, then besieged in Xiangyang (near modern day Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province) managed to sleuth his way out of the siege, spreading rumours that made Xiang Yu dismiss some of his able advisers, before attacking Chenggao (also near modern day Zhengzhou). Combined with the successes of Han Xin in the north, this forced Xiang Yu to the negotiating table, where Liu Bang and Xiang Yu agreed to split China between them along an East-West axis. This is known as the treaty of Hong Canal which was signed in late 204 BCE.

In 203 BCE, whilst Xiang Yu was retreating eastwards, Liu Bang broke the treaty and attacked, requesting aid from his allies Han Xin and Peng Yue to form a three pronged attack on Xiang Yu. However, his allies did not mobilise their troops, and Liu Bang was defeated in the battle of Guiling (near modern day Zhoukou in Henan Province). 

Forced to retreat, Liu Bang sent messengers to Han Xin and Peng Yue, promising them titles if they assisted him. And so, in 202 BCE, armies advancing along three routes led by Han Xin, Peng Yue and Liu Bang attacked Xiang Yu again, trapping him in Gaixia (near Suzhou, Anhui province). Han Xin instructed his men to sing Chu folk songs to create the impression that Chu had already fallen to Han forces.

Many of Xiang Yu's deserted him as supplies ran low and morale plummeted. Even Xiang Yu's favourite concubine committed suicide, blaming herself for his defeat (She had been captured and used as bait to draw Xiang Yu into the trap). Finally, with 26 loyal retainers Xiang Yu broke out of the encirclement, and reached the north bank of the Wu river, where he made a last stand as his retainers were sent across the river, killing several Han soldiers before committing suicide.

With his death, Western Chu surrendered to Liu Bang, allowing him to unify China again and declaring the beginning of the Han Dynasty in 202 BCE, with his capital in Chang'an (modern day Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province). 

Next Week: IT'S FINALLY TIME! THE BIG (well one of them anyway) ONE! THE ONE WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! THE HAN DYNASTY!