Dynasties of ChinaWestern HanWestern Han lineage
Jianyuan and others · Reign 141–87 BCE
In the fifty-fourth year of his reign, he reduced favors and vassals, respected Confucianism, attacked the Xiongnu in the north, and hollowed out the Western Regions, establishing the territory and orthodox ideas of the Han Dynasty.
Liu Che was the son of Emperor Jing and his wife. He was granted the title of King of Jiaodong in 153 BC. In 150 BC, Prince Li Crown Prince was deposed and made Crown Prince. In 141 BC, he ascended the throne at the age of sixteen. At the beginning of his accession to the throne, he appointed Confucian scholars such as Zhao Wan and Wang Zang to implement the New Deal, which angered his grandmother, Empress Dowager Dou, who was fond of Huang Lao's studies. In 139 BC, Zhao and Wang committed suicide in prison, and the New Deal was frustrated. When Doutaihou died in 135 BC, he truly took control of the government.
In terms of internal affairs, he appointed Doctors of the Five Classics, established the Imperial Academy, and ordered the prefectures and state inspectors to promote filial piety and integrity, making Confucianism official orthodoxy; he issued favor edicts to weaken the kingdom, and established thirteen prefecture governors to supervise the localities; he appointed Sang Hongyang and others to promote the salt and iron official business, and evened the losses, and took back the minting power to mint five baht coins. Externally, he ordered Qing and Huo Qubing to attack the Xiongnu in the north, sent Zhang Qian as envoy to the Western Regions, pacified South Vietnam, managed the southwestern barbarians, and destroyed Wei's North Korea. The territory of the Han Dynasty was unprecedentedly vast.
In his later years, he prayed for immortality and went on conquests year after year. As a result, the treasury was empty and civil unrest broke out. In 91 BC, Crown Prince Liu Ju and Queen Wei Zifu committed suicide during the witchcraft disaster. In 89 BC, he issued the Luntai Edict to express his repentance and turn to recuperate. In 87 BC, he established his youngest son Liu Fuling as Crown Prince, and ordered Huo Guang, Jin Ridi, Shangguan Jie, and Sang Hongyang to jointly assist the government. Then he died of illness in Wuzha Palace and was buried in Maoling. He reigned for fifty-four years.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was one of the most influential emperors in Chinese history. He implemented the system of favors and governors to consolidate central power, took Confucianism as the official orthodoxy, attacked the Xiongnu in the north, opened up the Western Regions, and expanded the southern borders, laying the foundation for the basic pattern of China's territory and culture. However, he was overjoyed in his achievements and was aggressive in military affairs. He also had a superstitious belief in gods and immortals and appointed cruel officials, which led to "waste at home and the household registration was halved." In his later years, he even caused the disaster of witchcraft. The timely turn of the Luntai imperial edict saved the Han Dynasty from falling into the trap of Qin dynasty.
PoliticsIntroduction of reign-era names
"Jianyuan" is used as the year name to record the year. Previously, the emperors were only divided into the first year, the middle year, and the later year. It is generally believed that this is the first era name in China. One theory is that the era name actually began during the Yuanding period, and the previous titles were revised later.
Lasting legacyThe use of era names to record dates has been used by successive dynasties for more than 2,000 years. Influenced by this, Japan still uses era names, such as "Reiwa".
DiplomacyZhang Qian was sent as envoy to the Western Regions
Zhang Qian was recruited as an envoy to Dayuezhi, hoping to jointly attack the Xiongnu (the year of departure is said to be 138 BC). He was detained by the Xiongnu for more than ten years on the way. After escaping, he arrived at Dayuezhi via Dayuan and Kangju. He failed to form an alliance and was detained again on his way back. He returned to Chang'an in 126 BC.
Lasting legacy"Silk Road: Road Network of the Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor" was listed as a World Heritage Site in 2014, and Zhang Qian's Tomb in Chenggu, Shaanxi Province is one of its components.
CultureRespect Confucianism
In his countermeasures, Dong Zhongshu proposed that anyone who is not in the Six Arts or the art of Confucius should "keep their own way and do not let them advance together", which was adopted by Emperor Wu. Prior to this, doctors of the Five Classics had been established. In the same year, the county and state were ordered to promote filial piety and integrity. In 124 BC, the Imperial Academy was established. Later generations summarized it as "deposing hundreds of schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone."
MilitaryMayi's plot
Adopting Wang Hui's strategy, he sent Nie Yi, a strong man from Mayi, to deceive the city of Mayi and lure the Xiongnu military minister Chanyu into the fortress. Three hundred thousand Han troops were ambushed in a nearby valley. Chanyu noticed that there was a false retreat on the way, and the Han-Hungarian peace broke up. After that, the two sides entered a long-term war.
PoliticsGrant an order of grace
Adopting Zhu Fuyan's suggestion, the princes and kings were allowed to allocate fiefdoms to their children as princes, and the new princely states were placed under the jurisdiction of the nearby Han County. In name, it was to promote the emperor's favor, but in fact it made the kingdom smaller and smaller, and it no longer had the power to compete with the central government.
MilitaryRecover Henan
Wei Qing led his army out of Yunzhong and reached Longxi in the west. He defeated King Loufan and King Aries of the Xiongnu, recovered the area south of Hetao, established Shuofang County and Wuyuan County, built Shuofang City, and recruited 100,000 people to move to Shuofang.
MilitaryOperating Hexi
Huo Qubing attacked Hexi twice in spring and summer and defeated the Xiongnu. In autumn, King Hunxie of the Xiongnu killed King Xiutu and led more than 40,000 people to surrender to the Han. The Han Dynasty opened up the Hexi Corridor, and thereafter the four counties of Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang were successively established. The year of establishment varies in history.
Lasting legacyThe names of the four cities in present-day Gansu, Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan and Dunhuang, all come from the four counties in Hexi in the Han Dynasty and are still in use today.
MilitaryBattle of Mobei
Wei Qing and Huo Qubing each led 50,000 cavalry deep into Mobei. Wei Qing defeated the main force of Yizhixie Chanyu, Huo Qubing pursued for more than two thousand miles, and Feng Lang returned to Xu Mountain. After that, the Xiongnu fled far away, and "there was no royal court in Monan". Veteran Li Guang committed suicide in anger because he lost his way.
EconomySalt and Iron Official Camp and Suanmin
In order to raise military expenditures, Dongguo Xianyang, a large salt merchant, and Kong, an iron merchant from Daye, were appointed to take charge of salt and iron affairs only. Salt boiling and iron smelting were returned to the official business. Those who boiled salt and cast iron privately were punished with the death penalty. In the same year, a calculation order was issued to collect property taxes from merchants and handicraftsmen.
EconomyUnified casting of five baht
Five baht coins were minted in 118 BC. In 113 BC, it was forbidden for counties to mint money. The three officials of Shanglin minted it uniformly, and all old money was destroyed. Private minting was unprofitable, the currency system was stable from then on, and the minting power was completely returned to the central government.
MilitaryPacification of South Vietnam
South Vietnam's Prime Minister Lu Jia killed Nan King Yue and the Queen Mother who were pro-Han. Emperor Wu sent Lu Bode, Yang Pu and others to attack in separate directions and captured Panyu. South Vietnam was destroyed. The Han Dynasty established nine counties in this area: Nanhai, Cangwu, Yulin, Hepu, Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, Rinan, Zhuya and Dan'er.
Lasting legacyThis was the first time that Hainan Island established a county and was included in the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty; place names such as "Hepu" and "Dan'er" (today's Danzhou, Hainan) are still used today.
Economyaverage loss
Sang Hongyang led the large farmers with the Su Duwei, and established uniform transportation officials in various places to transfer the tribute payable by each county to places where there was a shortage for sale; he set up Pingzheng officials in Chang'an to sell when prices were high and purchase when prices were low, thus stabilizing prices, and the national finances were thus abundant.
DiplomacyThe king of Dian surrendered
After the Han army defeated Lao Jin, Mi Mo and other tribes, they came to Dian. The king of Dian surrendered and asked for officials to be appointed. The Han Dynasty established Yizhou County in the area and gave the King of Dian a royal seal, allowing him to continue to rule the local people.
Lasting legacyIn 1956, the gold seal "Seal of the King of Dian" was unearthed from Shizhai Mountain in Jinning, Yunnan, which confirmed the records in "Historical Records" and is now in the National Museum of China.
MilitaryDestroy the Wei clan in Korea
Wei's Korea blocked the exchanges between the surrounding small countries and the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu sent Yang Pu to lead the navy to cross the Bohai Sea, and Xun She led the army to leave Liaodong to attack Wang Xiancheng. During the civil strife in Korea, King Wei Youqu was killed, and the Han Dynasty established four counties: Lelang, Lintun, Xuantu, and Zhenfan.
PoliticsEstablish the governor of the Thirteen Prefectures
The country was divided into thirteen supervisory areas, called the Thirteen Prefectures, and each prefecture sent a governor to patrol the prefectures and counties every year to investigate the illegal behavior of local powerful officials and county guards according to the "Six Articles". The governor's salary is only six hundred dan, but he can supervise the governor of two thousand dan.
Lasting legacyThe names of the Thirteen Prefectures mostly follow the old names of Jiuzhou in "Yugong" and later evolved into administrative regions; Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Qingzhou, etc. are still the names of cities today.
Science & technologyIssue the Taichu Calendar
He ordered Deng Ping, Luo Xiaohong and others to change the calendar, with the first month as the beginning of the year, replacing the Zhuanxu calendar that had used October as the beginning of the year since the Qin Dynasty. They also incorporated the twenty-four solar terms into the calendar for the first time, and in the same year it was changed to the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty.
Lasting legacyThe first day of the first lunar month is the Spring Festival. The twenty-four solar terms were included in the Representative List of Human Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016.
MilitaryFa Dawan
In order to obtain Dawan's bloody horse, Li Guangli was sent on two expeditions. The first expedition suffered heavy losses. The second expedition sent 60,000 troops and besieged the capital of Dawan for more than 40 days. The Dawan nobles killed the king and asked for peace. The Han army returned with dozens of good horses and more than 3,000 medium horses.
PeopleSima Qian was castrated
Li Ling led 5,000 infantrymen deep into the Huns and surrendered after a fierce battle with Chanyu's tens of thousands of cavalry. Taishi ordered Sima Qian to defend Li Ling, which angered Emperor Wu and sent him to prison to be executed (the year of execution is said to be 98 BC). He endured the humiliation and continued to write "Historical Records".
PoliticsThe scourge of witchcraft
Emperor Wu was ill in his later years, and his favored minister Jiang Chong framed Crown Prince Liu Ju by tracing witchcraft, and unearthed a paulownia tree figure in Crown Prince's palace. The Crown Prince was forced to raise an army to kill Jiang Chong, and fought fiercely with the army led by Prime Minister Liu Quyou in Chang'an for five days. After being defeated and fleeing, he committed suicide. Queen Wei Zifu also committed suicide, implicating tens of thousands of people dead.
Culture"Historical Records" completed
Sima Qian completed the "Tai Shi Gong Shu" around this period, later known as "Historical Records", with 130 chapters and more than 520,000 words, describing the history of about three thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, creating a biographical style of historical books.
Lasting legacy"Historical Records" now ranks first among the "Twenty-Four Histories", and its biographical style has been used by official histories of all dynasties. Idioms such as "The cauldron sank the boat" and "Hongmen Banquet" all come from this book.
PoliticsLuntai edict
Sang Hongyang and others petitioned for farming in Luntai of the Western Regions, but Emperor Wu issued an edict to refuse. He regretted that he had wasted people and money in the past, and declared that "the current task is to prohibit harsh violence, stop good taxation, and focus on local agriculture." He made Prime Minister Tian Qianqiu a Marquis of the Rich People, and appointed Zhao Guo as the Captain of Search Su to promote the method of farming.
Politicsentrusting the heir and death from illness
In February, eight-year-old Liu Fuling was appointed Crown Prince, and the next day Huo Guang was appointed Grand Sima General. Together with Jin Ridi, Shangguan Jie, and Sang Hongyang, he received the imperial edict to assist the government. He then died of illness in Wuzha Palace and was buried in Maoling.
Lasting legacyMaoling is located in Xingping, Shaanxi today. In front of the tomb of Huo Qubing, there are large Western Han stone carvings such as "Horses Trampling Huns", which are now part of the Maoling Museum.
She was originally a singer in the Ping Yanggongzhu family, and was brought into the palace by Emperor Wu. In 128 BC, the emperor's eldest son Liu Ju was born and she became the queen. His younger brother Wei Qing, nephew or Qubing all became famous generals. Thirty-eight years later, he committed suicide due to witchcraft.
A native of Guangchuan, he specialized in Gongyang Studies in the "Spring and Autumn period". Emperor Jing was a doctor at that time. It is said that he "did not visit the garden for three years". The countermeasures put forward the theory of the connection between heaven and man and the theory of "great unity", and suggested that Confucianism should be respected only, which was adopted by Emperor Wu. Later he served as the Prime Minister of Jiangdu and Jiaoxi, and wrote "Spring and Autumn period Fanlu".
A native of Linzi in the State of Qi, he had been studying abroad for many years but failed to achieve his goals. He wrote to the emperor, called in the morning and evening, and was promoted four times a year. Strategies such as offering favor orders, moving the powerful to Maoling, and building Shuofang City were all adopted. He later served as Prime Minister of Qi, forcing King Qi to commit suicide and was executed by the Emperor Wu clan.
Ping Yanggongzhu's family was born as a slave. He attacked the Xiongnu seven times and regained Henan. In 124 BC, he became a general and defeated the main force of Chanyu in the Battle of Mobei. He was a modest man and did not keep guests. He later married Ping Yanggongzhu.
Wei Qing's nephew, at the age of eighteen, went on an expedition with the army. He led 800 cavalry deep into the enemy's rear, captured a large number of soldiers, and was awarded the title of Marquis. The two left Hexi to open up the corridor, and the Battle of Mobei sealed the wolf's place in Xu. Emperor Wu built a mansion for him, and he replied, "The Huns have not been destroyed, so there is no place for them to live." Died of illness at the age of twenty-four.
Chengji, a native of Longxi, was good at riding and shooting. The Huns called him "Flying General" and did not dare to invade Youbeiping for several years. He fought against the Xiongnu for more than seventy years in his life, but was never able to become a marquis. He lost his way during the Battle of Mobei and committed suicide because he was unwilling to face the interrogation of the swordsman.
A native of Hanzhong City, he went on two missions to the Western Regions. The first mission was to bring back the situation of Dayuan, Dayuezhi, Daxia and other countries. The second mission was to Wusun. He sent deputy envoys to visit all the countries in Central Asia and officially communicated between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions. When he accompanied the army to attack the Huns, he was granted the title of Marquis Bowang because of his knowledge of water and grass and his meritorious service.
The son of a Luoyang merchant, he entered the palace as a servant because he was good at mental arithmetic. He presided over the official management of salt and iron, managed all losses, and unified the minting of coins, so that the court said "the people are not benefiting from the wealth, but the world is using the money." Emperor Wu was appointed as Yushi Dafu upon his deathbed. In 80 BC, he was involved in the Shangguan Jie rebellion and was killed.
A native of Xia Yang, he began to roam around various places to inspect historical sites at the age of 20. He succeeded his father as the Taishi Ling and participated in the formulation of the Taichu Calendar. He was castrated for the Li Ling incident. After he was released from prison, he was appointed Zhongshu Ling and worked hard to complete the "Historical Records". The year of his birth is said to be 135 BC.
A native of Langzhong, Ba County, he was recruited to Chang'an to participate in the reform of the calendar. Together with more than 20 people including Deng and others, he formulated the Taichu calendar, was responsible for calculating the calendar, and making the armillary sphere to observe astronomical phenomena. He was a famous astronomer in ancient China.