 | THE HISTORY OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY The history of the former Han dynasty |  |
INTRODUCTION
The apogee of the Former Han period
The reign of Emperor Hsüan (74-48 B.C.) marks the highest point
of Chinese power and civilization during the Former Han period. In
government, in prosperity, in art (cf. 8: 25a), and in its power over
foreign tribes, this reign constitutes the apogee of the period. Never
before was the government so well-administered or so kindly disposed to
the people; never before had there been such good harvests. Emperor
Wu had sent out victorious military expeditions, but never before had
the Huns acknowledged themselves vassals of the Chinese. After this
reign, decline ensued, until the dynasty ended and there came a general
collapse under Wang Mang.
In giving an account of the important events in this reign omitted
from or inadequately discussed in these "Annals," it will perhaps be
worth while to discuss the change in the succession to the throne, the
revolt of the Ho clan, the character of Emperor Hsüan's rule, the submission
of the Huns, and the ascendancy of Confucianism over its rivals.
Liu Ho4b's brief reign and deposition
Emperor Hsüan was not the Heir-apparent of Emperor Chao, but was
selected to be Emperor by Ho Kuang and the ministers. The actual
successor to Emperor Chao was Liu Ho4b, who was dismissed from the
throne after a reign of twenty-seven days. This episode is passed over
with a bare mention in the "Annals," since Emperor Hsüan did not
figure in it. A full account of this as well as of other matters discussed
in this introduction is to be found in the relevant "Treatises" and "Memoirs,"
which are abstracted in the glossary.
Emperor Wu had six sons, three of whom died before their father.
Liu Chü, his Heir-apparent, was killed in the insurrection caused by the
famous witchcraft and black magic case (91 B.C.). With him died all
his sons. The only descendant saved alive was an infant grandson only
a few months old, Liu Ping-yi (the future Emperor Hsüan), who had been
born of a singer and dancer slave-girl sold into the household of Liu Chü's
son. Since the babe was a grandson, he was not executed, for the Chinese
death only to the first generation of the dead man's descendants. Consequently,
the Chinese law of inculpation similarly required the execution,
in heinous crimes, of only the three sets of closest relatives (cf.
glossary, sub Three sets of relatives). The courage of Ping Chi prevented
this babe's death in the general executions that occurred after that
insurrection. By 74 B.C., when Emperor Chao died, Liu Ping-yi had
already been restored to membership in the imperial clan, from which
he had at first been excluded, and was known as the Imperial Great-grandson.
Another son of Emperor Wu, Liu Hung1a, King of Ch'i, had died in 110
B.C. without descendants. A third son, Liu Po6, King of Ch'ang-yi, had
also died before his father (89 B.C.), leaving a son, Liu Ho4b. A fourth
son of Emperor Wu, Liu Tan4a, King of Yen, had intrigued against
Emperor Chao and Ho Kuang, and had been executed (80 B.C.). A
fifth son, Liu Hsü, King of Kuang-ling, was still living. The sixth and
youngest son, Liu Fu-ling, had become Emperor Chao.
There were thus, at the time of Emperor Chao's death, only three
eligible descendants of Emperor Wu: Liu Ping-yi, Liu Ho4b, and Liu Hsü.
Liu Tan4a's three sons were then commoners, and, because of their
father's crimes, were not eligible. Liu Hsü had not proved himself a
suitable person for the throne. He had been far from decorous and had
delighted in such things as music (dancing), wandering, and feats of
strength, such as lifting weights and fighting bare-handed with bears,
boars, and other wild animals. He was passed over. Twenty years
later he was executed for murder.
The obvious choice for the throne was Liu Ho4b, and he was accordingly
invited to come and perform the funeral rites as the heir of Emperor Chao.
Liu Ho4b was then in his eighteenth or nineteenth year and had already
been King of Ch'ang-yi for twelve years. The manic-depressive insanity
that seems to have afflicted him in later years was probably
already beginning to affect him. He was expecting the message; it was
sent by fire-beacons from Ch'ang-an to Ch'ang-yi, which latter place
was located in the present southwestern Shantung. In a fit of enthusiasm,
Liu Ho4b started for the imperial capital late the same afternoon,
spurring as hard as he could, killing horses recklessly, traveling
135 li in the remainder of that day. Meat, intercourse with women,
and joyful amusements were forbidden during the period of mourning;
in his delight at being on the way to the throne, Liu Ho4b forgot all prudence
and had his slaves secure women and meat. When, forty-two
days after, he reached the capital, instead of weeping as the heir of a
palace Portal, he however performed the required prostrations.
Liu Ho4b was now given the imperial seals and the title of Emperor.
Emperor Chao's Empress (née Shang-kuan), who was a grand-daughter
of Ho Kuang, was made Empress Dowager, thus becoming the
adoptive mother of Liu Ho4b. Emperor Chao died on June 5th; Liu
Ho4b became Emperor on July 18th; Emperor Chao was buried on
July 24th. An essential feature of the coronation was the presentation
of the new Emperor in the ancestral Temple of Emperor Kao, the
founder of the line. Liu Ho4b, in his pursuit of enjoyment, postponed
this event.
Meanwhile he gave rein to his wishes like a care-free youth. He played
with the imperial seals. He gave his followers a thousand catties of
gold in order that they might secure ten wives for him. He gave elaborate
rewards to his boon companions. While the imperial coffin was
still in the Palace Hall, he had music performed. He indulged in elaborate
feasts, and did not refrain from meat, sending his followers out to
buy chickens and pork when the palace officials refused to provide them
for him. He committed fornication with the Palace Maids and threatened
death to anyone who revealed the fact. In the twenty-seven days
of his reign, he sent out messengers with credentials and edicts on 1127
missions. Officials who admonished him were warned to keep silent
or were imprisoned.
Ho Kuang was in distress at this flaunting of the dynasty's customs
and institutions, and asked his intimates what could be done. He was
reminded of the precedent set by Yi Yin, the venerated minister of
T'ang the Victorious, the founder of the Shang dynasty. Yi Yin had
imprisoned to the third year, in a place near his grandfather's tomb,
T'ai-chia, an unworthy grandson and successor of T'ang, until T'ai-chia
had repented of his wild ways. Thereupon Yi Yin had handed the rule
back to T'ai-chia. This account was part of the Confucian tradition (it is
found in Mencius V, i, vi, 5, also in the SC [Mh I, 189]), and was consequently
part of the state constitution. Ho Kuang summoned the
officials and members of his party to a conclave and explained the
situation to them. They were astounded at the proposal to dethrone
the Emperor, and did not dare to say anything, until T'ien Yen-nien
arose, pulled out his sword, and asked for permission to kill anyone who
dissented. The officials thereupon agreed unanimously.
The Empress Dowager, Ho Kuang's grand-daughter, was three or four
years younger than Liu Ho4b, but was technically his mother, so that
she could command Liu Ho4b. To lure Liu Ho4b out of the imperial quarters,
pay his court to her; when he returned to his apartments, he alone was
allowed to enter the doors; the eunuchs held the doors and kept Liu Ho4b's
followers out. These followers were arrested and imprisoned. Liu Ho4b
was summoned to the Empress Dowager. She received him in full
regalia (probably in the throne room), seated in the military tent, with
several hundred attendants bearing arms. The courtiers ascended into
the audience hall according to their proper order and Liu Ho4b was
commanded to prostrate himself and hear the proceedings. A Master
of Writing thereupon read a memorial signed by Ho Kuang and all
the important officials, which asserted that Liu Ho4b had abandoned the
rules of proper conduct and moral principles, and enumerated his misdeeds
one by one. When the reading reached the point where Liu Ho4b
was charged with fornication, the Empress Dowager said, "Stop. Could
any subject or son of mine act in so disorderly a manner as this?"
Liu Ho4b left his mat and prostrated himself while the Master of
Writing continued reading the memorial. It ended by saying that Liu
Ho4b had not yet presented himself in the Temple of Emperor Kao to
receive the imperial mandate and was not fit to continue the imperial
line nor to uphold the sacrifices in the imperial ancestral temples, so that
he should be dismissed. It begged that the proper officials should be
instructed to give information of that fact in the Temple of Emperor Kao.
The Empress Dowager assented to this memorial and Ho Kuang ordered
Liu Ho4b to arise, bow and accept the edict. Liu Ho4b protested, whereupon
Ho Kuang held Liu Ho4b's hands and took away from him his
imperial seals, the insignia of imperial authority. These he presented
to the Empress Dowager, and led Liu Ho4b down, out of the palace Hall,
out of the palace gate, and to the residence at the imperial capital for the
kings of Ch'ang-yi. Liu Ho4b was then sent back to Ch'ang-yi, where
he was given a stipend; his wealth was distributed among his daughters
and sisters and he was left without any title. Ten years later, when he
had proved to be harmless, he was made a marquis.
The selection of Emperor Hsuan
Ho Kuang and the ministers thereupon discussed the succession
to the throne. Liu Hsü had already been passed over and the sons of Liu
Tan4a could not be considered. Hence the most closely related member of
the imperial clan was Liu Ping-yi, the Imperial Great-grandson. He was
well spoken of and was then in his eighteenth year. Emperor Wu had
ordered him to be taken care of in the imperial palace, and faithful eunuchs
had used their private funds to have him given a good Confucian
the Empress Dowager that this youth would be a fit person to be the
successor of Emperor Chao. The proper officials then went to the
youth's residence, bathed and dressed him, and took him to the yamen
of the Superintendent of the Imperial House, where he purified himself
by fasting. Liu Ho4b was dismissed on Aug. 14; on Sept. 10, Liu Ping-yi
presented himself to the Empress Dowager, who first ennobled him, making
a marquis, after which Ho Kuang, acting upon her direction, invested
him with the imperial seals and presented him to the imperial ancestors
in the Temple of Emperor Kao.
Thus the Confucian constitution of the state showed itself capable
of dismissing an unworthy emperor after he had been (partly) enthroned,
and of selecting another imperial scion to take his place, without creating
any disturbance in the state. The particular device used was the
principle of authority in the family: that a filial son owes obedience to
his parents, hence the mother of the family could even dismiss from the
throne an unworthy imperial son. (The Han emperors, after the first
one, were all called hsiao, "filial," in their posthumous names.) The
success of such a change depended upon the loyalty of the minister who
made the change and his reputation in the court.
The dangerous intrigues and downfall of the Ho clan
The revolt of the Ho clan is probably the most important single
internal disturbance during this reign. When Emperor Hsüan was
enthroned, Ho Kuang modestly resigned; Emperor Hsüan retained this
minister in power, and he was the actual ruler until his death in 68 B.C.
Emperor Hsüan paid no attention to the government until after Ho
Kuang's death. In recompense for his services, Emperor Hsüan granted
Ho Kuang a laudatory edict, ranked him the same as Hsiao Ho, Emperor
Kao's Chancellor of State, who had founded the dynastic institutions,
and gave his heirs the right to be exempt from the usual inheritance tax,
by which the estate of a noble was decreased one-fifth each time it was
transmitted from one generation to another. Ho Kuang's son, Ho Yü,
was made General of the Right; Ho Kuang's grand-nephew, Ho Shan,
was made Intendant of Affairs of the Masters of Writing; Ho Kuang's
grand-daughter was the Empress Dowager née Shang-kuan; his daughter
was the Empress nee Ho; his sons-in-law, grand-nephews, and other
relatives were all given high positions.
Thus the Ho clan seemed to be in firm control of the court. But the
train of events that was to bring about this clan's speedy downfall and
destruction had already begun.
Ho Kuang's first wife had no sons; his son, Yü, was born of a slave-girl,
Hsien. After his first wife had died, Ho Kuang had accordingly made
Hsien his wife. Her unscrupulous ambition destroyed his house.
When Emperor Hsüan had been a commoner, with the name Liu
Ping-yi, he was at first not even allowed to be enregistered as a member
of the imperial house; consequently his friends found difficulty in securing
a wife for him. The eunuch Superintendent of the Lateral Courts (the
imperial harem) had been a follower of Heir-apparent Li, Liu Ping-yi's
grandfather. One of the Superintendent's subordinate eunuchs, Hsü
Kuang-han, had a daughter, P'ing-chün, who was in her fourteenth or
fifteenth year. She had been betrothed to a boy who had died and so
it would be difficult to find a husband for her. The Superintendent
persuaded her father to marry her to Liu Ping-yi, which was done in
75 B.C. Hsü Kuang-han had been a Gentleman to Emperor Wu, but
through sheer stupidity had been impeached for robbery when accompanying
the Emperor, a capital crime; his punishment had been commuted
to castration, and he had finally become Inspector of Fields in the Drying
House, the prison in the harem of the imperial palace, where was located
the palace laundry. Several months before Liu Ho4b's deposition, P'ing-chün
gave birth to a boy, who later became Emperor Yüan.
After Liu Ping-yi became Emperor, P'ing-chün was made a Favorite
Beauty (the highest rank of imperial concubines). Ho Kuang had a
young daughter, and the officials began talking of appointing an Empress,
thinking naturally of this daughter. But Emperor Hsüan cared
for P'ing-chün and knew the Confucian principle that a wife married in
poverty must not be cast off in success, so told his officials that they
should seek even for the swords he had used before he had been ennobled.
They took the hint, and suggested P'ing-chün as Empress.
She was appointed in 74 B.C.
Ho Kuang's wife, Ho Hsien, was now at her wits' end, for she was
ambitious to make her daughter the Empress. The next year, the
Empress nee Hsü was with child and fell ill. One of the imperial women
physicians was a favorite with the Ho family and came to ask Ho Hsien
for a favor in behalf of her husband, who was a guard in the palace
harem. Ho Hsien saw her opportunity, and persuaded this woman to
poison the Empress. Medicines given to imperial personages were
always tested befoŕehand; this woman watched her opportunity and
mixed the extract from some poisonous shells with the great pill of the
Grand Physician. Before the Empress died in great agony (71 B.C.),
she asserted she had been poisoned. Ho Hsien did not dare to reward
the woman physician highly; the imperial physicians were all arrested
He said nothing, but managed to have the woman physician released.
Then Ho Hsien prepared her daughter's marriage garments and sent
her to the imperial palace. A year after the Empress née Hsü's death,
Ho Hsien's daughter became Empress. She secured the sole affection
of the Emperor.
Emperor Hsüan would not, however, allow affection for a new wife
to prevent him from doing his duty to the wife of his poverty. A year
after Ho Kuang died, the Emperor made Liu Shih, the son of his first
wife, his Heir-apparent, and made his first wife's father, Hsü Kuang-han,
a marquis. Ho Kuang had previously opposed such an enfeoffment,
saying that it was not proper for a criminal to be made a noble. Ho
Hsien was now extremely angry, and instructed her daughter to poison
the Heir-apparent. The sudden death of the Empress née Hsü had put
people on their guard, and the child's nurse tasted all food given the boy,
even when it was offered by the new Empress, so that the latter could
not find any opportunity to poison the boy, even though she summoned
the boy several times and kept poison by her.
After the death of Ho Kuang in 68 B.C., the Grandee Secretary Wei
Hsiang and others pointed out to Emperor Hsüan the danger of allowing
one clan to monopolize the high positions in the court. The power of
Ho Kuang's grand-nephew, Ho Shan, was accordingly curtailed drastically
by enacting that memorials might be sealed before presentation
and no duplicate need be presented. Thus the Intendant of Affairs of
the Masters of Writing no longer knew beforehand what was being said
to the throne and could not completely control the government business.
Wei Hsiang had long private talks with the Emperor. About this time
Emperor Hsüan heard the truth regarding the assassination of his first
Empress. He did not attempt to punish the Ho clan immediately, for
that clan and its relatives controlled the army. The Empress's assassination
was accordingly not investigated any further. Instead of that,
the members of the Ho faction were gradually displaced and their power
taken away. The generals in that faction were one by one given civil
posts or sent out into the provinces to be Grand Administrators of distant
commanderies. Their positions were given to members of the Shih or
Hsü clans, to whom belonged the maternal grandfather and the fatherin-law
of the Emperor. Wei Hsiang was made Lieutenant Chancellor
in place of the incompetent Confucian scholar who had been appointed
through Ho Kuang's influence. Ho Yü was promoted to be Commanderin-chief,
but was denied the right to wear the regular hat of a commanderin-chief
or to carry the commander-in-chief's seal (whereby orders were
authenticated), and thus his troops were taken out of his control.
When the Ho clan thus saw their power shorn away, they wept and
blamed themselves. At last Ho Hsien told them about the poisoning of
the Empress née Hsü. They then saw that there was no hope for their
safety except by some desperate action. So they plotted to have the
Empress Dowager hold a feast to which Wei Hsiang and Hsü Kuang-han
were to be invited, at which the Empress Dowager was to issue an edict
to behead these two enemies of the Ho faction, dethrone Emperor Hsüan,
and make Ho Yü the Emperor. A messenger bearing news of this plot
was intercepted by the imperial officials, and the palace of the unsuspecting
Empress Dowager was carefully guarded, to prevent word of
the plot being carried to her. At the same time, an imperial edict commanded
that there should be no more arrests, thereby confounding the
Ho faction. Their plot could not be carried out, because persons essential
to the plot were moved to positions away from the capital. Ho
Shan and his second cousin, Ho Yün, were dismissed from their positions
for disrespectful lack of attention to their duties. Then Ho Shan was
arrested and sentenced for having written secret letters. Ho Hsien
offered to pay a thousand head of horses and to turn over to the government
her residence west of Ch'ang-an, in order to ransom Ho Shan, but to
no avail. He and Ho Yün then committed suicide. Thereupon Ho Hsien,
Ho Yü, and the other conspirators were arrested and the whole Ho faction
was exterminated. Altogether several thousand families were executed
and destroyed as accomplices; the only ones saved alive were the two
Empresses. The Empress Dowager seems to have known nothing about
the plot. The Empress nee Ho was dismissed and sent to a palace in
Shang-lin Park, outside the capital; eleven years later she was moved
to a still meaner place, whereupon she committed suicide. Thus the Ho
clan, from having held the dominating power in the government, fell into
utter ruin and annihilation within two years after the death of Ho Kuang.
A more complete upset would hardly be imagined. The skill with which
power was gradually taken away from this faction, its suspicions allayed
by making no attempt to unearth evidence against them, while they were
yet pursued relentlessly, is worthy of note. Rarely has such great
power been so successfully withdrawn.
The kindly and generous rule of Emperor Hsüan
Emperor Hsüan did not himself take over the rule until after the
death of Ho Kuang. As a youth he had been a commoner and had come
to know, by personal experience, how the government affected the common
people. He consequently had an infinitely better conception of the
nature of a desirable government than could have been secured by a
youth who had grown up in an imperial or a kingly palace, shielded from
government, with the result that tyranny had come to be looked upon
as a sign of an official's ability. Ho Kuang had continued Emperor
Wu's practises. Emperor Hsüan had himself seen the sufferings of the
people, and set about to make the administration kindly disposed to the
people. He rewarded those officials who were known to be kindly,
and degraded those who were harsh. Huang Pa, the Assistant Grand
Administrator of Ho-nan Commandery, had become known for generosity
and fairness in deciding law-cases; Emperor Hsüan had heard of
this fact before he came to the throne, and consequently gave Huang
Pa a high position in the office of the Commandant of Justice. Thus a
beginning was made in doing away with harshness in government.
The inevitable result was that officials took advantage of the Emperor.
Wang Ch'eng, who was Chancellor in the kingdom of Chiao-tung,
sent in a false report in which he magnified the benefits he had
conferred upon the people; Emperor Hsüan honored him with a noble
title and increased his salary. Before Wang Ch'eng could be summoned
to the capital to receive his rewards, he died. Then Emperor Hsüan
discovered his deceit. The Emperor, however, continued the practise
of rewarding kindly officials, permitting some vulgar officials to secure
an empty fame for the sake of encouraging kindliness among the other
officials.
During the first part of Emperor Hsüan's reign, Ho Kuang himself
controlled the government and successively appointed as Lieutenant
Chancellor (the titular head of the government) two aged and incompetent
Confucian scholars who were famous for their learning and who
had been Emperor Chao's teachers. Both died in office. When Emperor
Hsüan ruled in person, his Lieutenant Chancellors were all Confucians,
who had each made a special study of some Confucian classic, but
they were not primarily scholars. All (except the last one) died in office;
Emperor Hsüan did not execute his officials as Emperor Wu had done.
The first Lieutenant Chancellor, Wei Hsiang, was stern and severe;
he had previously been made Grandee Secretary by Ho Kuang, which
position was regularly the stepping-stone to the position of Lieutenant
Chancellor. Wei Hsiang advised Emperor Hsüan against the Ho clan.
When Ho Hsien's crimes became known, the government needed a stern
and severe hand, and so Emperor Hsüan dismissed the scholar who was
Lieutenant Chancellor, giving this office to Wei Hsiang. For the next
Grandee Secretary, Emperor Hsüan selected a very different sort of person,
Ping Chi, a protégé of Ho Kuang who was good-natured and liberal,
and who sought no rewards for any of his own good deeds. If an official
the official that he had better resign than be punished. When he succeeded
to the position of Lieutenant Chancellor, he inaugurated the
custom of not turning that office into a court for trying minor officials.
He was followed by Huang Pa, who did not show the ability as Lieutenant
Chancellor that he had shown as a commandery administrator. Emperor
Hsüan's last Lieutenant Chancellor was Yü Ting-kuo, a man who
was kindly to widows and, in doubtful cases, gave the accused the benefit
of the doubt. Emperor Hsüan was thus more successful in securing
capable and good Lieutenant Chancellors than any other emperor had
been since Emperor Kao.
Emperor Hsüan took a personal interest in legal cases. All cases of
capital punishment had to be memorialized to the Emperor and his
consent secured for the execution. Most of the information in the HS
concerning various persons and even concerning certain conversations
undoubtedly comes from the statements and testimony found in such
memorials, which, because they had been approved by the emperor, became
imperial edicts and were preserved in the imperial archives. Few
emperors had devoted much time to reviewing law-cases; after Emperor
Hsüan noticed the hardships inflicted upon the people by legal means,
he spent a great deal of time in the yamen to which important legal decisions
were sent for imperial approval. He reformed legal procedure
in various ways. He established special judges to whom difficult cases
could be referred (8: 9b) and who would be competent to judge such cases,
so that it would not be necessary to execute a judge for having made a
wrong decision, as had been done in the case of Hsü Jen and Wang P'ing
(cf. Glossary sub Tu Yen-ninea). Emperor Hsüan inaugurated the
practise that a son, grandson, or wife was not to be punished for concealing
his or her parents', grandparents', or husband's crimes. Parents,
grandparents, and husbands who shielded their sons, grandsons, or wives,
were not however to be thus exempted, but were to be given special
imperial consideration (8: 9b). He had special investigations made concerning
persons who died in prison (8: 11a). He exempted the aged from
punishment except for the most serious crimes (8: 15a). He continued
the practise of sending out messengers to search for and report unjust
trials (8: 20b).
In his treatment of his people, Emperor Hsüan was kindly and generous.
He rewarded capable officials and made large grants of money
to the sons of those capable officials who died poor (8: 15b, 17a). Persons
in mourning for their parents were exempted from required service (8: 9b)
and festivities were allowed at marriages (8: 19a). The salaries of the
to oppress the people (8: 17b) and the practise was abolished that imperial
messengers might exact their necessities from the people instead
of securing them from the government (8: 24a). Various economies were
effected: in time of drought the imperial table was reduced and officials
were made to take a temporary reduction in salaries (8: 6b). Military
garrisons were reduced. Useless palaces and lodges were not repaired.
An unnecessary commandery was abolished (8: 9a, b). Taxes were
remitted in time of drought or calamity (8: 6a, 7a, 13a) and the poll-money
and poll-tax were reduced (8: 20a, 21b). Government land
was loaned to the poor (8: 8b, 9a); government reservoirs and preserves
were opened to cultivation (8: 9a). The price of salt (a government
monopoly) was lowered (8: 11a). These reductions in government
levies were not only made possible by economies; there was also such a
succession of good harvests that in 62 B.C. the price of grain dropped to
five cash per picul (probably one-eighth of its normal price).
It is not surprising that, as a consequence of these benefits, the people
should have seen many portents from Heaven. Phoenixes, supernatural
birds, sweet dew, dragons, and other marvels appeared. Upon
each such report, Emperor Hsüan distributed favors—amnesties, noble
ranks, oxen and wine, silk. It is consequently natural that reports of
of portents should have been frequent. The people, who credited even
the good weather to the beneficent government, doubtless considered
Emperor Hsüan worthy of all these portents and more. He was the best
ruler in the whole Former Han period.
The submission of the Huns
In his relations with non-Chinese peoples, Emperor Hsüan was especially
fortunate, for a dispute over the succession to the Hun throne
induced one of its claimants to come to the Chinese court and acknowledge
Chinese overlordship; Chinese assistance then enabled this claimant
to establish himself firmly on the Hun throne and to drive his rival far
away. A Chinese expedition finally ended this rival's career.
The Huns (Hsiung-nu) were a race of nomads, occupying the present
inner and outer Mongolia, who were in the habit of making annual raids
upon the settled Chinese to the south when winter gave them respite
from the care of their flocks and herds. Pelliot (La haute Asie, p. 6)
remarks that the Hsiung-nu were identical with the Huns of the great
European invasions. In their raids, these Huns not only took Chinese
animals and food, but also captives to be sold as slaves. Capture for
the slave-trade was probably the most profitable feature of these raids.
local militia for its defense. This system proved effective against small
bands of raiders. Following the example of the Ch'in First Emperor,
a Hun of the Lüan-ti clan, with the given name Mao-tun or Moduk,
however united the Hun tribes and established himself as their emperor
or Shan-yü (the last word of a phrase meaning, "Great Son of Heaven.")
Thereafter it was possible for large bands of Huns to gather and break
through the Great Wall. Emperor Kao was almost captured in a
campaign to drive Lüan-ti Mao-tun out of Chinese territory. Defeated
Chinese rebels regularly fled to the Huns and were welcomed by them,
bringing with them Chinese mechanical and military skill. The Empress
of Emperor Kao made peace and friendship with the Huns, sending them
a girl of the imperial clan to be a wife of the Shan-yü.
This arrangement did not, however, permanently stop the Hun raids.
In the time of Emperor Wen, the Huns raided almost within sight of
Ch'ang-an. Emperor Ching adopted the policy of encouraging Hun
dissensions by giving high noble rank to noble Hun rebels who surrendered
to the Chinese. Irritated by the constant Hun raids, Emperor Wu had
sent army after army deep into Hun territory, driving them out of inner
Mongolia and defeating them severely in outer Mongolia. At one time
the Shan-yü was actually surrounded by an overwhelming Chinese
force, but he succeeded in slipping away. The Chinese emperors
followed the policy of making large and valuable grants to barbarian
princes who came to pay homage; worn out by Emperor Wu's sledgehammer
blows and attracted by the prospect of Chinese gifts, in the time
of Emperor Chao, the Shan-yü thought of coming to the Chinese court,
in order to be allowed to inhabit inner Mongolia. His envoy, unfortunately,
became ill and died in Ch'ang-an; hence suspicion and pride kept
the Shan-yü from taking any further steps and led him to continue the
Hun raids. In 71, at the appeal of the Wu-sun, an Aryan tribe inhabiting
the present Ili valley, Emperor Hsüan sent five armies deep
into Hun territory, but the Huns had withdrawn and could not be found.
The Wu-sun, however, achieved a signal victory over the Huns, for which
Emperor Hsüan rewarded the Chinese Colonel, Ch'ang Hui, who had
been sent to give them moral support. Thus the Chinese and Huns
continued to oppose each other.
In 60 B.C., Shan-yü Hsü-lu-ch'üan-chü died. The succession to the Hun
throne was not fixed; the Hun kings were summoned to select his successor,
but, before they arrived, a Yen-chih or Hun empress seated the
deceased Shan-yü's younger brother upon the vacant throne. He proved
tyrannical and cruel, dismissing the sons and brothers of his predecessor,
predecessor as Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh, and defeated the other Shan-yü,
who then committed suicide. Other claimants for the throne now appeared,
until in 57 B.C. there were five Shan-yü. Civil war eliminated
all but Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh, whereupon three more claimants appeared,
including Shan-yü Chih-chih, who was an elder brother, probably a
half-brother of Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh. Shan-yü Chih-chih moreover
succeeded in defeating Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh and occupied the region
of the Hun capital near the present Urga. Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh now
appealed to the Chinese for aid and sent his son to the Chinese court to
be an attendant upon the Emperor. Shan-yü Chih-chih countered by
similarly sending one of his sons to the Chinese court. Shan-yü Hu-hanhsieh
had now to find a more effective way of securing Chinese aid, so
in 52 B.C., he requested permission to come in person to the grand court
at the first of the Chinese year, bring tribute, and pay homage to the
Son of Heaven.
Such an event had never happened before, that the emperor of a powerful
neighboring state should come to pay homage to a Chinese emperor.
It was hence necessary to determine how the Shan-yü should be treated
and what rites should be used. The court officials urged that he be
treated as a vassal king and be ranked below the Chinese vassal kings.
But Hsiao Wang-chih, an independent-minded and learned Confucian,
advised that the Shan-yü should be treated as a guest, i.e., an equal of
the Emperor, since it would be better to attach the barbarians by kindness
and generosity than to alienate them by harshness and humbling
them. Since they were not settled inhabitants, they could not be apprehended
and subjugated. Therefore it would be better to influence
them by benevolence and righteousness, so that they would be led to
be trustful and yielding. Emperor Hsüan adopted this wise advice, and
had Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh treated as a guest. He was given an imperial
seal like that of the Chinese emperor (24 A: 21a). It was arranged that
the Shan-yü's retinue should be given a view of the imperial cortege,
and he was entertained at a great banquet during which he was shown
the imperial treasures. He was given rich presents and sent back after
a month or so.
Patriotic and proud Huns had opposed Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh's personal
submission to the Chinese, saying that it made them the laughing-stock
of the world. On Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh's return, the Chinese supplied
him with a large escort of Chinese cavalry, and allowed him to establish
himself in inner Mongolia and to take refuge in the Chinese fortifications
beyond the border. He was given large quantities of grain. The second
received even greater presents. Shan-yü Chih-chih had expected that
when Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh once went to the Chinese court, he would
not be able to return, but now he had not only returned but was greatly
enriched by Chinese presents and grain, so that the Huns flocked to
him. As a consequence, Shan-yü Chih-chih gave up all hope of being
able to conquer his rival and moved to the west to carve himself out a
kingdom there. In 36 B.C., during the reign of Emperor Yüan, a notable
Chinese expedition pursued and beheaded him. Thus Chinese support
proved able to determine the succession to the Hun throne, and the Huns
at last became vassals of the Chinese.
The Chinese subjugation of the Huns by diplomacy and gifts, after
military conquest had failed to subjugate them, is quite typical of the
best Chinese foreign policy. Against settled towns, such as those in
the Tarim basin, military attacks could be permanently successful; but
against a nomadic people, who could move out of reach when an expedition
threatened them and could return to their steppes to attack the
settled Chinese at the opportune moment, massed military attacks could
have little permanent effect. Hence diplomacy and material assistance
offered the best method of dealing with the Huns.
The nature of Chinese external vassalage
Ancient Chinese vassalage did not mean the same as it did in European
medieval practise. The Chinese emperor asserted he was the Son of
Heaven, and consequently the rightful overlord of all earthly rulers. His
territory ideally comprised the whole earth, "all within the four seas."
There grew up, however, a distinction between China proper and foreign
lands. The boundary between these two regions was marked, at the
north, by the Chinese fortifications built to keep out barbarian raids,
which had been called, by the Ch'in dynasty, the Great Wall (ch'ang-ch'eng),
and in Han times, the Barrier (sai). Within China proper there
was sometimes also made a distinction between the central states (chung-kuo
[OMITTED]) and the border commanderies—at times the central states were
asked to provide the court with literary men and administrators, while
the border commanderies provided fighting men and generals. Outside
Chinese territory, the demands made upon vassal states depended upon
their distance from China as well as their size and importance. This
distinction was recognized in Chinese theory by the conception of the
various domains (fu). The imperial domain (tien-fu) was theoretically
surrounded successively by the feudal domain (hou-fu), the tranquillizing
domain (sui-fu), the domain of restraint (yao-fu), and the wild domain
(Book of History, III, i, ii, iv; Legge, pp. 142-151), where different
services are required of the vassal states in different domains. In Han
times, little more than a purely literary use was made, however, of these
"domains."
In practise, the Chinese court secured from surrounding countries
whatever homage it could conveniently get. Vassalage always meant
that:
(1) The vassal ruler must accept and use as a badge of office a seal
furnished him by the Chinese emperor.
(2) The vassal must appear at the Chinese court at the great yearly
reception on New Year's day, either in person or through an envoy,
and bring tribute, in return for which he received gifts from the Chinese
emperor (distant states were allowed to appear less often, but must come
at least once each reign). For the entertainment of these missions, there
was built at the imperial capital a Lodge for Barbarian Princes, just as
there were Lodges for the various feudal kingdoms and commanderies.
(3) Vassal rulers each sent a son to be reared at the Chinese court at
the expense of the Chinese emperor. Such a son was held by the Chinese
as a hostage and was indoctrinated with the might and civilization of
the Chinese.
(4) Vassal rulers were required to keep the peace, in return for which,
such a ruler might actually be given a regular subvention from the
Chinese. The latter was the case with Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh; the chief
purpose of the unusual treatment given him was to induce him to prevent
the continual border forays that had been made into Chinese territory by
the Huns. At the court of 51 B.C., besides other things, Shan-yü Hu-hanhsieh
was given 15 horses, 20 catties of actual gold, 200,000 cash, 77 suits
of clothes, 8000 bolts of cloth, and 6000 catties of silk floss. After his
return, he was at various times also sent 34,000 hu of grain. Since he
actually stopped the border forays, the payments made him were less
than the losses previously suffered by the Chinese in the Hun raids.
(5) In the rare cases when a military expedition was necessary, each
vassal ruler was required, upon demand, to contribute auxiliary troops,
together with food and forage for the expedition. A set of credentials
(cf. HFHD I, 245, n. 2) were each divided in two lengthwise, and the ruler
was given the left half. The right half was retained in the imperial
capital and was, when necessary, given to an imperial envoy, who
accordingly had the right to command the vassal ruler. The genuineness
of an envoy was tested by matching the two halves of the credential.
Hence an "envoy with credentials" not only bore messages, but also
such as the Protector General of the Western Frontier Regions, had to
secure the imperial consent before calling out troops. Ch'en T'ang's
expedition was composed mostly of auxiliaries from the states in the
Western Frontier Regions, with a core of Chinese trained troops.
(6) With regard to their internal affairs, the foreign vassal states were
usually left alone. Distances were so great and travel so slow that it was
not usually worth while to interfere in the internal affairs of vassal
states. As long as they did not bother the Chinese, they were allowed
to go their own way. At the installation of a new king, an imperial envoy
usually played an important part, although the succession to the vassal
throne was not often interfered with by the Chinese. Imperial envoys
were constantly sent out to vassal states, to keep the Chinese court
informed of happenings in distant countries, to gage the loyalty of vassal
states, to maintain the semblance of Chinese overlordship, and to carry
on trade. Envoys were also sometimes sent to states outside of the
Chinese orbit, bearing gold, silks, etc., in order to induce those states to
declare themselves Chinese vassals. Since the annual tribute from these
states was repaid by imperial gifts worth more to these people than what
they sent, it was really to their own interests to submit. A Chinese
military officer with his men might sometimes be quartered at the capital of
a troublesome state, for the purpose of assuring the free passage of
caravans and the maintenance of peace and Chinese dominance in the
internal affairs of that state. Occasionally, a troublesome ruler might
be dethroned and executed, whereupon a son more favorable to the
Chinese was enthroned in his place (cf. Glossary, sub Fu Chieh-tzu).
There were thus various degrees of subservience among foreign vassal
states. Tribute missions easily became actual trading expeditions.
Since vassal rulers were benefited by paying tribute, it became a deeper
mark of homage for such a ruler to attend the Chinese court in person—
the various Hun Shan-yü had been sending envoys, tribute, and sons
as hostages before Shan-yü Hu-han-hsieh came to court in person.
The Hun people evidently considered the former actions quite in harmony
with actual independence, so that it was necessary for a Shan-yü
to bow before the Chinese emperor in person before the Huns seemed to
to have recognized that their independence had been given up. Thus
vassalage in China was different in spirit and in letter from that in
Europe.
As a special favor, Chinese imperial ladies were in rare cases granted
to rulers of foreign states to be their wives. At first girls of the imperial
clan (sometimes the daughter of a dismissed king) were thus sent; later,
imperial harem who had not seen the emperor, such as the famous Wang
Ch'iang, were sent. Thus foreign princes were attached to the Chinese
by marriage. The granting of an imperial lady for the harem of a
foreign ruler must, however, be considered a matter of diplomacy rather
than one of vassalage, for this practice began before foreign states admitted
any vassalage. Thus Emperor Kao sent a girl of the imperial
clan (at first he had planned to send his own daughter) to the Hun
Shan-yü Mao-tun's harem. The granting of an imperial lady was
considered to be so signal an act of imperial favor, that it was extended
only in rare cases, chiefly to the Huns and the Wu-sun (the latter were
traditional Chinese allies against the Huns). When such alliance by
marriage had been made, there naturally ensued intrigues to have the
sons by such Chinese women elevated to the foreign thrones, in order
to extend Chinese influence. Among the Huns, these attempts were
usually unsuccessful; the Wu-sun kings, however, became in this manner
partly Chinese. Thus there was opened the possibility for some barbarian
invaders of China during the early middle ages to assert that
their ruler was the legitimate heir to the Chinese imperial throne, since
he was descended from a Chinese imperial house whom the Chinese had
dethroned.
The victory of Confucianism
The reign of Emperor Hsüan was the time when the actual victory of
Confucianism over its rivals occurred, although that victory was not
completed until the reign of Emperor Yüan. Emperor Kao had merely
been favorably inclined to Confucianism; Emperor Wen had been
influenced greatly, but was also interested in other schools, especially
the Legalist attempt to rectify penal terminology. He had hence kept
both Confucian and non-Confucian Erudits at his court. Emperor Wu
had done away with non-Confucian Erudits, and had established the
Imperial University, whereby the civil service came to be filled with
Confucians and the children of good families were taught by Confucians.
Emperor Wu had, however, been greatly influenced by Legalism, Taoism,
and other non-Confucian philosophies.
Emperor Hsüan's own sincere, but not quite whole-hearted, Confucianism
was undoubtedly occasioned by the circumstance that as a
child he had been cared for by some of the lower officials in the government
service who thought affectionately of his grandfather, and who
consequently gave him a good Confucian education, including a careful
study of the Analects, the Classic of Filial Piety, and the Book of Odes.
curriculum for a well-educated Confucian. Emperor Chao had also
studied these books, together with the Book of History (7: 4b). Emperor
Hsüan's first edict in the first full year of his reign mentions the Book of
Odes. Thereafter he continued to choose Confucians as his officials and
advisors. He revived the study of the Ku-liang Commentary on the
Spring and Autumn. When calamities occurred, as at the earthquakes
of 70 and 67 B.C., he sent for Confucians to advise him what could be
done.
The study of the Ku-liang Commentary, which had been the favorite
of Emperor Hsüan's grandfather, brought attention to the differences
between it and the then authoritative Kung-yang Commentary
(the Tso-chuan was not yet popular or studied by important scholars),
and then to the differences between the various other classics. Emperor
Hsüan summoned to the capital the outstanding authorities on all the
Confucian classics to discuss these matters in the imperial presence. At
the Shih-ch'ü Pavilion in the imperial palace, these discussions were
carried on for two years (cf. App. II), under the presidency of Hsiao
Wang-chih, with Emperor Hsüan acting as final arbiter to decide matters
on which agreement could not otherwise be reached. The results of
these discussions were then memorialized to the throne and published,
thus fixing the official interpretation of the classics. Other interpretations
were not proscribed; they are also listed among the books in the
imperial library, but the official interpretation was doubtless taught in
the Imperial University and learned by candidates for all official positions,
for use in replies to the imperial examinations. The candidates'
replies were graded by good Confucians, with the result that this official
interpretation monopolized men's minds in the same manner that Chu
Hsi's interpretation of the classics became dominant in recent centuries.
At the same time, the number of the Erudits and their Disciples, who
were the teachers in the Imperial University, was doubled.
In spite of Emperor Hsüan's personal reliance upon Confucianism, he
never accepted it exclusively or blindly in all respects, as did his successors.
He was a practical man who had lived among the common
people before he came to the throne, and knew the danger of idealistic
impracticality inherent in the interpretations made by Confucian
scholars. Hence he took as his standard not only Confucian interpretations
of the classics but also the conduct of practical statesmen in Spring
and Autumn times. In dealing with the Huns, he was quite ready to
adopt "benevolence and righteousness" as the method for treating the
Shan-yü, but he was far from relying upon moral suasion in all cases, as
in penological terminology as developed by the school of names
and circumstances. He said that the Han practices accorded only in
part with the Confucian models; these practises were also taken from
the practises of the Lords Protector in Chou times (considered to be
anti-Confucian), who had adapted themselves to circumstances, rather
than following rigidly Confucian principles (9: 1b). Although all his
Lieutenant Chancellors were highly educated Confucians, they were at
the same time primarily experienced officials, and were chosen by him
with reference to their success as officials. Emperor Hsüan intended at
one time to make the great Confucian authority, Hsiao Wang-chih,
his Lieutenant Chancellor, but the conduct of the latter as Grandee
Secretary showed that he was not capable of holding the highest office,
so he was dismissed. Thus Emperor Hsüan was a sincere and convinced
Confucian, but he was too wise and too practical to accept everything
the Confucian pedants said. While Emperor Wu paved the way for the
victory of Confucianism by putting it in control of the curriculum
through which officials entered the civil service, that victory did not
become complete until the time of Emperor Hsüan's successor, Emperor
Yüan (49-33 B.C.).
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