Ancient China: Xin/Later Han

The Xin: The Usurpation of Wang Mang (9-23 CE)

In 6 BCE, at age 18, Emperor Ai came to the throne for a short period of up to until 1 BCE.
He died at the age of 24 without heirs.
His successor was an 8 year old grandson of Emperor Yuan.
He began his reign as Emperor Ping, until the regency of Wang Mang (45 BCE- 23 CE).
Wang Mang was the nephew of Emperor Yuan's consort Wang Zhengjin.

Rise to Power

Wang Mang is characterized in Han histories as incompetent and a fraud.
This was because of his usurpation.
As Ping began his reign, Wang Mang tried to keep Ping's mother & family away from the court.
He feared it would compromise his power.
This included Wang Mang's own son Wang You, who eventually was sent to prison.
He died there through poisoning.
His wife was kept until until she produced a child, then she was executed.
After Ping's death Wang Mang selected a one year old infant to the throne.
Wang Mang would act s a regent.

Wang Mang

Wang Mang was born in 45 BCE.
He was the nephew of Empress Wang.
She was a consort of Yuandi and the mother of Chengdi, who reigned from 33 to 7 BCE.
The Wang family had, at various times, held positions of authority ]under Aidi (7-1 BCE).
But the Wang family lost authority.
Under his successor, another minor Wang gained some influence and became regent.
In 9 CE Wang Mang usurped the throne and declared himself emperor of the Xin.

Reforms

After seizing power Wang Mang carried through some reforms.
He presented these reforms as a means of ending abuses.
1) He first attacked the land-holdings which were increasing.
In an edict dated 9 CE Wang Mang nationalized the land.
This meant he abolished private land ownership & prohibited the sale of land.
He also forbade slavery.
He called for a return to the well-field system of equal land-holding.
2) He reintroduced monopolies in salt and iron.
They had fallen into disuse since the reign of Wudi.
Wang Mang also applied controls to the market in grain, cloth and silk.
3) He devalued coins.
This required the nobility to surrender its holding of gold in exchange for coins.
He also imposed new taxes on merchants and craftsmen.
During his reign Wang Mang suppressed a rebellion in the south-west province of Guizhou.
He also negotiated an agreement with the Xiongnu.

Wang Mang was a patron of the Old Text School of Confucian scholarship.
He encouraged scientific research.
In 23 CE Wang Mang was driven from the throne and killed by rebels.

The Collapse of the Xin

What caused his downfall was a series of disasters that began in 11 CE.
This was the shifting of the Yellow River to its southern course.
The disaster had been preceded by the neglect of its defences.
This flooding brought on a tremendous loss of life.
It forced long-tern migration to the south from the north.

The Rebellion of the Red Eyebrows

Peasants were displaced; starvation was the result.
They began migrating south.
The government was unable to contain them.
They marched from town to town looting, robbing, killing in search of food.
They organized themselves into a rebel army known as the Red Eyebrows.
Their only demand was the restoration of the Former Han.
The government tried to restore order but failed.
The activity caused consternation among the gentry.
One of the routes of this migration passed through Nanjing in souther Henan.
This was the home of the Liu clan, which claimed imperial descent.
In 22 CE the Red Eyebrows approached Nanjing.
This was a stronghold of the imperial Liu family.
This is where Wang Mang had declared himself emperor.
Now the Red Eyebrows were attacking and the Liu family joined them.
They joined them in the hope of that they could restore the Han.
The Liu rebelled against Wang Mang.
The imperial troops were defeated and the Red Eyebrows were driven back.
In 23 CE the Han loyalists beheaded Wang Mang.
Liu Xiu, a descendent of Emperor Jingdi ascended the throne.
This was as the founder of the Later Han Dynasty.
He is remembered by his posthumous name - Guang Wudi.
He was the first legitimate ruler of the Later Han.

The Later or Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 CE)

The return of the Han could be explained by the military and the political skills of Guang Wudi.
He made claim to the title of emperor and it took him ten years to defeat all opposition.
His most dangerous enemy was Gongsun Shu, who also had declared himself emperor.
He came from an imperial Sichuan family.
Guang Wudi with greater resources invaded Sichuan.
In 36 CE he captured Gongsun Shu's capital at Chengdu.
The Later Han Dynasty fixed its capital at Chang'an.
This explains the alternate title of the dynasty - Eastern Han.
Inside the city walls there were
a) royal palaces
b) government offices
c) the residences of nobles and officials.
Outside the city walls were extensive suburbs.
They were populated by half a million people
This made it the most populated city run the world at that time.
Luoyang was important for commerce and it was flourishing as it had done in the earlier Han.
Money was used widely and works and services were transformed into a monetary tax.
A sign that there was plenty of commercial activity was the construction of roads and bridges.

Han Technology

There were advances in metallurgy.
It was the most important factor in the development of science & technology.
It was also seen in the areas of agriculture, warfare, and the keeping of time.

Agricultural Technology

The most important innovation was replacing tools of bone, wood, stone or bronze.
They were replaced with iron picks, spades, and plows.
It increased productivity and lessened human burden.
The shape of the ploughs could cut better through the soil.
Han farmers began to use deep furrows to protect the seeds form being eaten by birds.
This also facilitated seed rotation.

Military Technology

In Han times spears, axes, swords and knees of iron and steel replaced the bronze versions of these implements.
Iron also replaced leathering armour.
Another innovation was making use of maps in warfare.

Scientific Instruments

Scientific instruments were created.
Zhang Heng (78-139) invented the world's first seismograph.
This measured earthquakes.
Many of the administrative. practices of the Former Han were continued.
This was during the reigns of
Guang Wudi
Mingdi (r. 57-75)
Zhangdi (75-88)

Administation

At the central government the grand Tutor gave moral advice to the emperor.
There were three officials known as the Three Excellencies
They were placed in charge of
a) finance
b) the military
c) public works
Nine ministers were supervisors of the administration.
The secretariat was responsible for the receipt and drafting of documents.
But a sinister development began to emerge.
It may be traced back to Mingdi.
This was the increasing influence of the eunuchs, castrated males.
They had been placed in charge of the imperial harem.
They also maintained the imperial palace.

The Power of Eunuchs

Of the powerful eunuchs in early China, the most famous was Zhao Gao (d. 207 BCE)
He was also present at the emperor's death.
He used the opportunity to change the succession & steer policy to his advantage.
Many eunuch had easy access to the emperor that allowed them to influence the emperor.

The Eunuchs in the Former Han

Hiring eunuchs as private secretaries began under the reign of Wudi (141-87 BCE).
Their presence in politics didn't become pronounced until Emperor Yuandi (48-33 BCE)
Yuandi was in poor health and depended upon two specific eunuchs.
These were Shi Xian & Hong Kong; they were used to handle his affairs.
A prominent official was Xiao Wangzhi (a Confucian scholar).
He held key positions in the imperial government.
Shi Xian was jealous of his Confucian influence upon the emperor.
So he tried to have him eliminated.
Xiao argued that those with criminal records should not work in a specific area.
This area was determining critical matters of the state.
The eunuch faction responded by slandering some members of the Confucian clique.
Xiao Wangzhi committed suicide as a result.
Most eunuchs had been castrated because they had committed a crime.
Shi Xuan wielded great power and people feared him.
His misdeeds were uncover in the next reign.
After his death the imperial government tried to keep them out of politics.
But there was a resurgent ce in the Later Han.

Eunuchs in the Later Han

Their power was unprecedented in the Later Han.
Their numbers increased in important government positions.
Events during therein of Emperor He (88-1066) caused their rise.
Court politics was dominated by disputes among the powerful families of various consorts.
Emperors often sought alliances among the eunuchs.
Sometimes they were rewarded with a marquisate or a fiefdom.

The End of Eunuch Power

In 168 Dou Wu, regent for Emperor Lingdi (r. 168-189) got support from high ranking officials.
Lingdi was 13 years old at that time.
Dou Wu also got the support of students at the imperial academy.
This was to demand the arrest of two powerful and corrupt eunuch officials.
Out maneuvered by the eunuch Dou Wu committed suicide.
For the rest of his reign the eunuch took control of the civil administration.
They soon began to infiltrate the military.
The eunuchs often protected the interest of the emperor.
The emperor was often under the threat of the consort's family.
Their power came to an end when Emperor Lingdi died in the year 189.
The regional warlords used their newly acquired power and massacred the eunuchs.

Women & Gender: Changes in the Rules Governing Imperial Marriages

All the way back to the Spring & Autumn period the king selected consorts from elite families.
These consorts came from outside his lineage and state.
This helped forge alliances between the king and powerful families of the queen.
With the unification of The Qin (221 BCE) rulers no longer had to marry with one specific need to balance the power between competing states.
The shift from multi-sttate system to a centralized government meant that rulers now could marry their social inferiors - these families would have to accumulate power at court.

Empresses from Humble Beginnings

Contrary to the elite women chosen as wives and consorts of the early period, the first Han emperor Gaozu chose a empress (Lu Zhi) of humble beginnings like himself.
Both rose to power from obscurity.
After his death she was able to dominate the government.
Shows also able to pave the way for her male relatives to acquire enough power to revolt (unsuccessfully) after her death.
To prevent this from happening again Liu loyalists accepted Emperor Wendi on the basis of the obscurity of his wife, Empress Dou and the scarcity of male relatives.

The Harem: The Imperial Sanctuary

A second change came about as a result of the amount of time an emperor spent in the harem. From Wudi onward, emperors tended to conduct business from within the harem.
This is where the male presence was limited to the emperor and the eunuchs.
The members of the imperial consort served as allies in the court.
They were also buffers against antagonistic elements in the bureaucracy.
A concubine of humble state could improve her social status easily.
After all, only a daughter could
1) marry an emperor
2) give birth to a heir
After her husband's death, she could rule as empress dowager to an under aged son.

Women & the Bureaucracy

The expansion of the bureaucracy generated more lucrative positions forewoman.
In Qin and early Han ,the route to high government positions for those of low status was through the acquisition of military or administrative skills.
Later it would shift to literary & textual skills, in other words, scholarship.
For women of low status the only position available was
a) palace servant,
b) entertainer,
c) concubine.
By the time of Emperor Yuandi imperial concubines were graded into 14 different ranks.
They were correlated with the bureaucratic positions that men had.
A woman who was ranked a "brilliant companion" had the equivalent ranking of a man who filled the office of Chancellor - she received the same income.

Female Education

Women continued to play small role in the civil service and thew military.
Their education did not generate the same response as the male.
From the reign of Xuande there was an increase in anxiety overt
a) the influence of women in political events.
b) the threat they posed to the stability of the dynasty.
This resulted in educating girls about their proper roles in society.
Their goals were different than that of males.

Women in the Later Han

Now officials became increasingly apprehensive about the resurgence of consort power.
They were aware of the threat they posed.
Remer that Emperor Guangwudi and his successors prohibited the relatives of his own family from participating in government and holding areas of marquis.
In this period women tend to arrive from elite families.
They were chosen for their connection to powerful families.
they were not chosen for the Emperor's pleasures.
Consider that 8 out of 11 Later Han empresses produced no children.
Families whose daughters had married into the imperial clan were able to reposition themselves to influence political affairs.

Empress Deng Sui (81-121)

The most impressive consort of the period was Empress Deng Sui.
She emerged after the death of Emperor He in the year 106.
She served as regent.
She visited prisons
She reviewed cases.
She established a school for boys and girls of the imperial family.
She is generally praised for her learning, frugality, and compassion.
Later she was criticized for enthroning a minor.
This was to exert her influence at court for as long as she could.

Goals of a Woman

The earliest text advocating the goals of a woman was Traditions of Exemplary Women.
It was written by Liu Xiang
Their education was not to further their own ambitions.
Their education was to serve the moral, intellectual and professional development of their fathers, brothers, husbands, and son - all males.
Toward the end of theFormer Han the government made efforts to recognize their accomplishments by way of grants and awards.
Intensive literary education was restricted to a small number of upper class women.
It was also restricted to those who served in the imperial palace.
A low status girl might achieve a courtesan's training in music and dance.
But their lives were centred on their roles as wives, mothers, and textile producers.

The Place of Women

Empress Deng is notable for having studied
the Classics
History
Math
Astronomy, under the female historian Ban Zhao.
Ban Zhao was the sister of the great historian known as Ban Gu.
Ban Zhao is known for her work - Lessons for Daughters.
The text advocated literacy and obedience to the husbands and fathers.
This had been inculcated into the culture since the time of Confucius.
It was not difficult to do.
For the next 2,000 years the education of a woman was linked to the subordination of her interests to the well-being of her husband and his family.

Comparisons with the Roman Empire

1. Both empires extended to the limits of the known world.
2. Both recorded remarkable technological achievements.
3. Both developed sophisticated administrative and legal systems.
4. Both enjoyed a similar span of power until their collapse.

Why They Collapsed: The Similarities

a) the rise of privileged families.
b) the imperial line became decadent and the rise of court factions.
c) a failure of ideology brought on by Christianity in theRoman empire and the attraction of popular Daoism in China.
d) Both empires were threatened by barbaric tribes on the frontiers.
e) Both made the error of allowing barbarians to settle within their boundaries.
But both had different outcomes: The Chinese empire rose again & continued with dynasties but the Roman Empire would never recover - it became divided by independent territories that grew into countries.

Why the Chinese Empire Survived

a) perhaps because it was a land empire, united and divided by the Mediterranean Sea.
b) perhaps it was the cultural homogeneity coming from a common written language and the strength of Confucianism.
c) perhaps it was the durability of the notion of ethical rule through the imperial institution.
d) perhaps it was the strength of its institutions which formed the most impressive system of government at the time.

Ancient China

Monday, October 11, 2021

Xin/Later Han

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