 | THE HISTORY OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY The history of the former Han dynasty |  |
INTRODUCTION
Summary of the period
The short reign of Emperor Ai (7-1 B.C.) constituted a temporary
eclipse to the power of the Wang clan and Wang Mang. The Emperor
himself, a sickly young man, attempted to imitate the "strong" government
of Emperor Wu, but only succeeded in becoming a tool, first of his
grandmother and then of his favorite's family. As a result of the Emperor's
attempt to rule in person, the period is full of intrigues: concerning
the maternal relatives of the Emperor, concerning a certain revelation,
and concerning Tung Hsien2a. Attention is centered in the court; external
events continued to be uneventful. The influence of Han Confucianism,
which reached its apogee in the reign of Wang Mang, continued
to grow. This introduction will deal with the events and forces
necessary to understand the background of this chapter, matters which
are not explained in the chapter itself (for further details, cf. the Onomasticon
and Glossary). It, like the other imperial annals, is rather a
chronological summary than what occidentals would call a history.
The intrigues of Emperor Ai's various maternal relatives
The reign of Emperor Ch'eng had fixed, as a dynastic practise, the
Confucian principle of favoring imperial relatives (11: 4b). Relatives
on the paternal side, who were potential rivals for the imperial throne,
were given kingdoms or marquisates and were carefully watched. When
Emperor Ai was continually ill, the Queen of King Yang of Tung-p'ing,
Liu Yün2a, an imperial fourth cousin, who was descended from Emperor
Hsüan, was discovered to have made magical imprecations against the
Emperor, with the purpose of bringing her husband to the imperial throne.
She, her husband, and her uncle (who was an imperial physician) were
executed and the informers were ennobled. Imperial paternal relatives,
who might benefit from any harm done to the imperial person, were
ordinarily kept away from the court and drastically repressed. The
imperial power was thus left to the imperial maternal relatives.
Emperor Ai had however four sets of maternal relatives. The Wang
clan's power rested upon the fact that the mother of Emperor Ch'eng,
She was the Emperor's adoptive grandmother and the head of the imperial
clan. Due to her influence, Wang Mang had been put in charge
of the government as Comander-in-chief just five months before
Emperor Ch'eng had died. The Chao clan owed its influence to Emperor
Ch'eng's second wife, the famous Chao Fei-yen. Emperor Ai had
nominally been made the son of Emperor Ch'eng; this lady was consequently
the Emperor's adoptive mother and was now made the Empress
Dowager. Her relatives were given noble titles and positions. Emperor
Ai had in addition his own maternal relatives. His grandmother, the
former imperial Brilliant Companion, now the Queen Dowager nee Fu,
had been Emperor Yüan's favorite, and her son, Liu K'ang1a, had become
the King of Ting-t'ao. His son, Liu Hsin5, now Emperor Ai, had been
born of a Concubine nee Ting, so that there was also a Ting clan. The
Fu and Ting clans, because they were out of the court, worked together,
opposing the Wang clan, which had entrenched itself in the court. Thus
the situation was ripe for abundant jealousies and intrigues.
The Chao clan was quickly eliminated. Within half a year, an industrious
Director of the Retainers dug up the facts about Emperor
Ch'eng's imperial infanticides (cf. HFHD, II, 369-72), which were due
to Chao Fei-yen's younger sister. This sister had previously committed
suicide, but, when the facts became known, they occasioned such a revulsion
that her male relatives were all dismissed from their positions
and titles and were exiled. Because of Emperor Ai's debt to the Empress
Dowager nee Chao, she was not touched and retained her title. Without
any male relatives in the court, she was helpless.
Before his death, Emperor Ch'eng had endeavored to prevent any
conflict between the various clans among the maternal relatives of his
successor by separating Liu Hsin5, the future Emperor Ai, from his own
family and restricting him to intercourse with the imperial family.
Emperor Ch'eng appointed Lin Ching3b, another descendant of Emperor
Hsüan, as the King of Ting-t'ao, to be the successor of Emperor Ai's
father, so that the new Emperor would not have any further obligation
to his natural father's clan. When Liu Hsin5 came to the capital as the
Imperial Heir-apparent, Emperor Ch'eng separated him from his actual
grandmother and mother, establishing them in the Lodge for the Princes
of Ting-t'ao, while Liu Hsin5 went to the Heir-apparent's palace. (We
may perhaps see Wang Mang's hand in these moves.) Emperor Ch'eng
was not even going to allow them to see Liu Hsin5, but the Empress
Dowager nee Wang reminded her son that Liu Hsin5 had been reared by
his grandmother, so that the Queen Dowager should have the privileges
every ten days.
The Queen Dowager nee Fu was an indomitable and high-tempered
woman, who would not easily yield up her opportunity for power and
prestige. She was capable in intrigue and had previously almost succeeded
in having her son, Liu K'ang1a, made the Imperial Heir-apparent
in place of Emperor Ch'eng. She had taken her grandson away from his
mother and had raised him herself, teaching and directing him, thus
acquiring an ascendancy over him. She had paid large bribes to the
Wang and Chao clans, in order that her grandson should be preferred
as Heir-apparent over his cousin. Now she was not willing to lose the
opportunity of reaping her reward.
After Emperor Ch'eng's death, the future Emperor Ai found himself
without anyone in the court upon whom he could rely. It was filled
with the adherents of the Wang and Chao clans. Four days before he
took the throne, his maternal uncle, Ting Ming, and his maternal great-uncle,
Fu4 Yen, were enfeoffed as marquises. These ceremonies were performed
by the Queen Dowager nee Fu, who had no real authority to do so
(97 B: 20a). Since however these appointments would have been made
anyway, this illegality was not challenged, although there was some disapproval
of the Fu clan's greediness. Probably the Queen Dowager felt
these appointments were essential, in order that the new Emperor would
not be left without aid in the court; for an Emperor, without any courtiers
to recommend what he wanted done, would be helpless. The visits of his
grandmother were still limited to once every ten days, and his mother
was also allowed to make such visits. The two ladies were established in
Kuei Palace, in another part of the city, two miles distant. This palace
was however connected by a private elevated passageway with Wei-yang
Palace (where the Emperor lived), so that it was possible to go from one
to the other without making a formal royal progress. The Queen Dowager
nee Fu accordingly went morning and evening by this elevated
passageway to the Emperor, instructing and advising him. A steadfast
refusal of his grandmother's wishes would have been unthinkable, for it
would have violated the Confucian principle of filial piety, in which all
noble children were trained. Thereafter the Ting and Fu clans needed
only to discover and report the faults of those who stood in their way, in
order to achieve control over the court.
As soon as Emperor Ai came to the throne, the Empress Dowager nee
Wang tactfully ordered Wang Mang, who had previously controlled the
government, to resign. He did so, but Emperor Ai could not permit his
predecessor's chief minister to resign immediately, for such an act would
of his predecessor. So Wang Mang (who probably expected such a result
and may have instigated the Empress Dowager's action) was continued
in office.
Then strife arose concerning precedence between the Emperor's actual
grandmother, the Queen Dowager nee Fu, and his nominal grandmother,
the Grand Empress Dowager nee Wang. An official memorialized that,
according to classical principles, a mother should receive honor when her
son becomes honorable, so that the Emperor's mother should receive an
imperial title. Shih1 Tan and Wang Mang however opposed the proposal,
and Emperor Ai did not want immediately to go contrary to the advice
of his highest ministers, so let the matter drop. Instead of that, Emperor
Ch'eng's old officials, who had been put in power by the Wang clan, were
dropped one by one, being accused of some crime or other. When Wang
Mang saw that he had incurred the enmity of the Queen Dowager nee Fu,
he again asked to resign. This time he was allowed to do so and was
asked to remain at the court with high honors, but no official post. Two
years later he was sent away from the court to his estates. The Grand
Empress Dowager nee Wang, who was not herself aggressive or interested
in politics, was not interfered with. The titles of the Queen Dowager nee
Fu and the Concubine nee Ting were raised.
Fu Hsi, a paternal cousin of the Queen Dowager and the ablest member
of the Fu clan, succeeded Wang Mang as Commander-in-chief. When
he opposed female influence in the government and refused to raise the
titles of the Emperor's mother and grandmother still further, he too was
dismissed from his position and sent away from the court. As one after
another of the court officials were removed, the Emperor's mother and
grandmother were given higher and higher titles, until there were four
Empresses Dowager in the court: nee Wang, nee Chao, nee Fu, and nee
Ting. The latter died in 5 B.C.; two years later the Empress Dowager
nee Fu was at last given the same title as her former rival, the Grand
Empress Dowager nee Wang; both ladies had borne sons to Emperor
Yüan. The Grand Empress Dowager nee Fu had previously succeeded
in legally murdering her other former rival for Emperor Yüan's favor,
the Queen Dowager nee Feng of Chung-shan. This active and ambitious
Empress Dowager thus triumphed over those who held to a strict construction
of proprieties (the Confucians who had tried to prevent her
elevation), but she died a year later. Meanwhile the clans of the Emperor's
mother and grandmother had been highly honored: the Ting clan
counted among its members two marquises, one Commander-in-chief, six
generals, ministers, and officials ranking at two thousand piculs, and more
the Chang clan, that of the Empress Dowager nee Fu's half-brother)
numbered among its members six marquises, two Commander-in-chiefs,
six ministers or officials ranking at two thousand piculs, and more than
ten Palace Attendants or Division Heads. These high officials of course
distributed positions liberally to their henchmen and relatives. Thus a
spoils system was put into full play in ancient China by the maternal
relatives of the emperor.
Emperor Ai's strong rule and his execution of Wang Chia1a
In his government, Emperor Ai imitated Emperor Wu by not retaining
any official in office for long, and by executing several of them. In this
short period of six years, there were five Lieutenant Chancellors, seven
Commanders-in-chief, and eleven Grandee Secretaries. Two Lieutenant
Chancellors and one Grandee Secretary were executed. The most flagrant
case was that of Wang Chia1a (not a member of Wang Mang's clan).
He was an honest, self-respecting, and capable official, who opposed
Emperor Ai's desire to advance and enrich his favorite, Tung Hsien2a.
When the treason of the Emperor's fourth cousin, Liu Yün2a, was reported,
Emperor Ai substituted the name of Tung Hsien2a for that of the
person who had transmitted this information, thus obtaining an excuse
for ennobling his favorite. Later the Emperor sent an order to the
Lieutenant Chancellor and Grandee Secretary to make Tung Hsien2a a
full marquis. These officials however knew the (unwritten) constitutional
practise, that the Emperor can only act on the motion of his high
ministers, and refused to make the necessary recommendations. The
Emperor was thus blocked. But in a few months he issued an edict
making this enfeoffment. Thus Emperor Ai, following the example of
Emperor Wu, broke down this important provision in the Han constitution.
When the Empress Dowager nee Fu died, Emperor Ai sent to
these two highest ministers her testamentary edict, which ordered the
granting of estates to her relatives and to Tung Hsien2a. Wang Chia1a
sealed and returned this edict to the Emperor, probably because he suspected
that the name of Tung Hsien2a was a forgery, thus again blocking
the Emperor. When the Commandant of Justice and others had investigated
Liu Yün2a, they concluded that this King was innocent, and
ordered him tried again. Emperor Ai thought that they were trying to
curry favor with the King, and dismissed them. A few months later
there was a general amnesty, after which Wang Chia1a recommended the
dismissed Commandant of Justice and his associates for official position.
That was too much for Emperor Ai. He charged Wang Chia1a with having
was committed to the important courtiers. Some fifty, including K'ung
Kuang, who then had high hopes of being again made Lieutenant Chancellor,
supported the Emperor's charges; ten recommended mercy.
A century earlier, a high spirited noble would have taken poison rather
than go to jail; but that chivalric age had passed. Wang Chia1a was a
high-minded Confucian; his conscience was clear and he recognized that
he had acted for the best interests of the state. He refused the poison
his subordinates offered him and went to jail. Emperor Ai was angry
that this stubborn minister should have thus again blocked his efforts to
put him out of the way, and sent a committee of high officials to argue
him down. But Wang Chia1a justified his actions and condemned Tung
Hsien2a and his relatives as flatterers. The dismissed minister was starved
in prison and died twenty days later. A prison sentence was then frequently
merely a milder form of capital punishment than public execution.
Martyrs for their moral convictions were not lacking among Han Confucians.
After Emperor Ai's death, Wang Mang ordered Wang Chia1a
listed as a faithful minister, restored his marquisate to his son, and gave
him the posthumous name, Faithful (Marquis Chung).
Supernatural revelations influence governmental policy
This reign witnessed the appearance of revelations or oracle books
(ch'an) that affected government policy. These revelations were a
natural development from the Confucian practise of interpreting visitations
and portents as having a meaning for government policies. The
theory of the five powers as determining history was first elaborated by
Tsou Yen (iv cent. B.C.), and became popular in Confucian circles
through its appearance in the "Great Plan," which became a chapter in
the Book of History. This theory had as one of its consequences the
doctrine that dynasties rise and fall in accordance with the dominating
power. After the Han dynasty had been on the throne for a century
and its virtual collapse during the last years of Emperor Wu's reign,
people accordingly began to speculate what would be the next dynasty.
In 78 B.C., Kuei Hung, who had studied Tung Chung-shu's interpretation
of the Kung-yang Commentary and who was then a minor court official,
interpreted a portent as indicating the end of the Han dynasty and the
appearance of a new dynasty with the surname Kung-yang. He was
executed for treason, but speculation continued. One belief was that
3 × 70 = 210 years was the period a dynasty endured, which era,
counting from 206 B.C., would end in A.D. 4 (cf. 99 A: n. 34.5). In
the reign of Emperor Ch'eng, a certain Kan Chung-k'o from the Ch'i
from a spirit named the Essence of the Red Lord (Ch'ih-ching-tzu),
by whose power Emperor Kao had killed the serpent blocking his path
(HS 1 A: 7a) and had seated his dynasty on the throne. In this book,
Kan Chung-k'o evidently reasoned, on a calendrical basis, that the Han
dynasty, if it was to continue, must again receive a mandate from Heaven,
and asserted that the Essence of the Red Lord had come down to teach
the dynasty how to secure this mandate. Kan Chung-k'o was thus supporting
the Han dynasty against interpretations like that of Kuei Hung.
Kan Chung-k'o's book seems to have been the first of the "revelations."
(Kuei Hung was later said to have written a book of revelations, which
did not appear until the first century A.D., when a pretender surnamed
Kung-sun appeared, so that this book was probably a forgery.) Liu
Hsiang4a had been asked by Emperor Ch'eng to report on the correctness
of this revelation. He had memorialized that this doctrine was not
classical, and was an attempt to deceive the Emperor and to mislead the
crowd. Kan Chung-k'o was imprisoned, tortured, and died; his disciples
were dismissed from office.
When it was discovered that Emperor Ch'eng had killed his own infant
sons, thus leaving himself without a natural heir, and when sundry
portents occurred, people came increasingly to feel that the Han dynasty
had actually decayed. This opinion was confirmed by the fact that Emperor
Ai was continually ill, with some disease like arthritis, and also
that he had no natural heir. He was told about Kan Chung-k'o's revelation.
The matter was submitted to Liu Hsiang4a's son, Liu Hsin1a, who
again condemned the doctrine as unclassical. Other courtiers, however,
supported this new teaching, and Emperor Ai summoned Kan Chung-k'o's
chief disciples to several audiences. They told the Emperor that he
should change the year-period and take a new title, whereby he would
secure lengthened life and an heir, as well as freedom from his illness, etc.
On July 13, 5 B.C., he followed their advice, taking new, long, and
flowery names.
A month later, the bearers of the revelation, emboldened by their
success, proposed further changes. They now said that the highest
ministers should be dismissed, and those courtiers who had supported the
revelation should be given the vacant positions. That was too much for
the ministers. Emperor Ai's illness had not improved, so that the supporters
of the revelation could not point to any verification of their
promises. The Emperor was persuaded that the revelation was groundless;
he rescinded his edict and committed Kan Chung-k'o's disciples to
the officials; these disciples were sentenced for having deceived the Emperor,
first important influence upon government policies by revelations, which
were to play such a large part in the reign of Wang Mang and later times.
The popular cult of the Mother Queen of the West
The popular excitement in the spring and summer of 3 B.C., connected
with the worship of the Mother Queen of the West (Hsi-wang-mu), deserves
careful notice. Unfortunately we know little about it; all the
relevant passages are to be found in the text and notes under this date.
The Mother Queen of the West figures in ancient Chinese legends and
grave-sculptures before and after this date. She was then supposed to be
an immortal, dwelling in the far western K'un-lun Mountains, in a grotto
inside a metal house in a stone city, and to have three green birds who
brought her food to this desert place. She had a human body, a leopard's
tail, tiger's teeth, which latter were good for whistling, and brilliant
white tangled hair, in which she wore a peculiar high jade hair-ornament.
She was probably now represented as offering to her devotees a means of
escaping death from starvation and becoming as immortal as she was.
This incident seems to have been a soteriological religion promising
immortality, in many respects similar to the Bacchic religion of ancient
Greece. The drought brought it popularity. The present Shantung,
where it started, is still susceptible to this sort of ecstatic, revivalistic
religious agitation. It did not affect the bureaucracy or court, hence is
merely mentioned in the History as a curious incident, a portent requiring
explanation.
Tung Hsien2a's meteoric rise and fall
The rise of Tung Hsien2a shows how far a completely worthless person
could go by imperial favor. He was merely a handsome and pliable lad
in the Heir-apparent's suite, who was made a Gentleman when Emperor
Ai came to the throne, and became the Emperor's catamite. He was
promoted from one post to another, all the while continuing in personal
attendance upon the Emperor. In the course of ten months, he had
accumulated a hundred million cash in grants and rewards. When he
did not leave the Palace on the regular days for vacation, the Emperor
arranged that Tung Hsien2a's wife might enter the palace inner apartments,
with the result that his wife and children lived there. The Emperor took
Tung Hsien2a's younger sister as a Brilliant Companion, giving her the
rank next to the Empress. Tung Hsien2a, his wife, or his sister were continually
in attendance upon the Emperor. His father was made a minister
and noble; his father-in-law and brother were given court positions;
portal and a splendid burial place was prepared beside the imperial tomb.
Jewels and weapons were given him from the palace workshops, even
better ones than those the Emperor secured. By an imperial forgery, he
was given a marquisate and an estate. When Wang Chia1a opposed this
proposed enfeoffment. he was removed and finally executed.
The Emperor's maternal uncle, Ting Ming, was Commander-in-chief,
and he too disapproved of Tung Hsien2a. Emperor Ai dismissed this
minister and also retired Fu4 Yen, the imperial great-uncle. Thus the
Emperor's infatuation with a boy led him to break with both his own
maternal clans. He was thus left without any loyal followers in the
court except the Tung clan. The latter clan contained no one of ability.
It seems not to have been interested in politics except to enrich itself.
Tung Hsien2a was finally made Commander-in-chief, the controlling position
in the ministry, although he was only in his twenty-second year.
His younger brother was given Tung Hsien2a's former position and the
whole Tung clan were made Palace Attendants, Division Chiefs, etc.,
receiving greater favors than had even been bestowed upon the Emperor's
maternal clans. The Emperor seems even to have come to believe that
the Han dynasty, because of the succession of the elements, must inevitably
be soon succeeded by a different dynasty (cf. Ku Chieh-Kang,
Ku-shih-pien, V, 465-77). Once, at a feast, the Emperor even calmly
talked about resigning the throne to his favorite. Wang Hung, a cousin
of Wang Mang, happened to be in attendance. He immediately remonstrated,
telling the Emperor that the empire was no plaything, for it had
been received from his ancestors and must be transmitted to his descendants,
thus invoking the Confucian exaltation of filial piety. Emperor Ai
was plainly displeased, at which circumstance the imperial attendants
were frightened and Wang Hung left the room. Thus imperial infatuation
was carried to the extreme.
When Emperor Ai died suddenly without an heir and without having
appointed a successor, his mother and grandmother had previously died
and his maternal relatives had been deprived of their positions, possibly
because the Emperor continued to hope that Tung Hsien2a would inaugurate
a new dynasty. But the latter was wholly incapable of doing so,
even though he possessed the imperial seals of office. The imperial
authority naturally reverted to the Grand Empress Dowager nee Wang,
the senior of the two surviving Empress Dowagers. During his last
years, after Emperor Ai had broken with his maternal clans, he had begun
recalling the Confucians whom he had displaced from their positions when
he took the throne. At this time Wang Mang had been praised by those
the capital and had been there during the last year of Emperor Ai's
reign, without however being given a post.
On the day of the imperial death, the Grand Empress Dowager, who
probably had previously been instructed what to do, immediately went
to the emperor's palace and collected the imperial seals of state. Thereby
she took to herself the imperial authority. She then asked Tung Hsien2a
about the regulations for imperial mourning, which he, as the highest
minister, would be required to conduct. The young man was distraught
and in all likelihood completely ignorant of such matters, so could only
beg her pardon. She remarked that Wang Mang had previously conducted
the mourning for Emperor Ch'eng and sent a messenger galloping
to summon him.
Wang Mang, like most of the other courtiers, could not endure Tung
Hsien2a. The latter was now impeached for negligence in caring for the
Emperor and imprisoned in the palace. He had no influential friends
outside of his own clan. Wang Mang then told the Grand Empress
Dowager that public opinion disapproved of the favorite. The day after
the emperor died, Wang Mang had her order Tung Hsien2a dismissed
from his position and sent to his residence. The latter and his relatives
were so frightened that, on the same day, both he and his wife committed
suicide in order to save the rest of their clan. The two were buried that
same night. The whole Tung clan were dismissed from their positions
and exiled, and their wealth sold. It amounted to 4,300,000,000 cash.
Tung Hsien2a's body was exhumed, stripped, and reburied meanly. Thus
the imperial favorite received his reward.
The influence of Confucianism
During this period, the influence of Confucianism continued unabated.
The high officials continued to be Confucians. Learned men were recommended
for the highest posts. There came indeed to be two parties in
the imperial court: the Fu and Ting clans, who defended their positions
and sought wealth and influence, and the Confucians (to whom Wang
Mang belonged), who comprised the bulk of the bureaucracy and stood
for a strict construction of court proprieties and for moral ideals. In
spite of this division, Confucian influence continued to be strong, for the
imperial maternal relatives owed their influence to the Confucian teaching
of favoring one's relatives, hence, even when they dismissed the Confucians
from high office, they continued to cultivate Confucianism and favor
those Confucians who would accord with them. There was no thought,
on the part of any important personage, of changing from Confucianism
to any other philosophy.
K'ung Kuang, a lineal descendant of Confucius and one of the great
Emperor Ch'eng died; he was dismissed in two years, because he opposed
the raising of the Empress Dowager nee Fu's title. Three years later, he
was recalled to court when she died, and was soon reappointed to his old
post. He had meanwhile learned to be more pliable to the Emperor's
wishes, lending his consent to the condemnation of Wang Chia1a and
treating Tung Hsien2a deferentially. A very learned Confucian who was
at the same time a lineal descendant of Confucius could not be neglected,
for such a person would be an ornament to any Chinese court. The post
of Commander-in-chief, which actually dominated the government, was,
however, except for brief intervals, kept in the hands of imperial relatives
or of the imperial favorite, Tung Hsien2a. Through his concurrent
position as Intendant of the Affairs of the Masters of Writing, the Commander-in-chief
controlled the most important source of imperial information.
Under Emperor Ai, this control was not as important as previously,
for the Empress Dowager nee Fu and Tung Hsien2a both had direct access
of the imperial person. Thus Confucian influence, while important, was
partly checked by the imperial maternal relatives and favorite.
Confucian influence also showed itself in certain reforms. The practise
of mourning for a parent to the third year was revived (cf. App. I). An
attempt was made to restrict the amount of land and slaves one person
could own (11: 2b, 3a). This edict was however tabled because the imperial
maternal relatives and favorite found it inconvenient. At the
same time certain imperial ateliers were abolished and a few other
humanitarian laws were enacted (11: 3a, b). A new ruler was expected
to show his devotion to Confucian principles in his government, and reforms
such as these were enacted because Confucians urged them. The
Wang clan, not to be outdone, distributed its private fields to the poor
people (11: 4a); but this does not mean that they gave up the estates from
which their income as marquises was derived—their estates were government,
not private fields. Their generosity was probably limited to their
lands near the capital, rents from which (at least part of which were paid
in grain) would be more convenient for a court official than income from
distant estates in the provinces. Wang Mang may have foreseen that
he would eventually be exiled from the court; this generous gift aided
greatly in inducing people to urge the recall of Wang Mang, four years
later.
A temporary rectification of high official titles, following
classical models
The most interesting effect of Confucianism was the change of official
titles—a phenomenon that became pronounced under Wang Mang. A
cardinal Confucian principle was the imitation of ancient practises.
that in ancient times, when life was simple, government business was
divided among the three highest ministers (San-kung), whereas now,
when there were not available officials who had as great ability as those
of ancient times, the duties of the three ancient highest ministers were
concentrated in the hands of the Lieutenant Chancellor. He suggested
the appointment of the three highest ministers as in ancient times (83:
13b). Emperor Ch'eng asked Chang Yü3a, a retired Lieutenant Chancellor
and Confucian, about the matter; the latter agreed, whereupon the
title of Grandee Secretary was changed to Grand Minister of Works, and
he was given the same salary and rank as the Lieutenant Chancellor and
Commander-in-chief. There probably was at the same time also a division
of responsibility, so that some of the Lieutenant Chancellor's duties
were given to the Grand Minister of Works.
But many who discussed the matter said that ancient and present times
required different institutions and that the Han official titles, from that
of the Emperor down to that of the Accessory Officials, were different
from those of ancient times, so that a change in merely the titles and
duties of the three highest officials would make no difference in the quality
of the government (83: 14a). After the Confucian Ho Wu had been dismissed
for lack of filial piety, and Chu Po, an adherent of the Fu clan,
became Grand Minister of Works, he memorialized that dynasties do not
need to imitate one another, that when Emperor Kao received the Mandate
of Heaven to found the Han dynasty, he had established a Grandee
Secretary as second in rank to the Lieutenant Chancellor and had given
him the duty of correcting the laws and institutes, with the result that
the empire had now been calm for two centuries. Hence the change of
Grandee Secretary to Grand Minister of Works would not secure the
blessing of Heaven. So he recommended that titles be changed back
again (83: 14b). Emperor Ai accordingly made the change, and in 5 B.C.
installed Chu Po as Grandee Secretary.
The Han dynasty had adopted the practise of the Ch'in dynasty in
dividing the country into counties (hsien) and grouping these into commanderies
(chün), each containing about a dozen prefectures or more,
over which there was set a Commandery Administrator to act as satrap
of the region, usually with the rank of two thousand piculs. In 106 B.C.,
Emperor Wu had grouped these commanderies into thirteen divisions or
provinces (chou), and appointed to each province an Inspector of a
Regional Division (Pu-tz'u-shih), with the rank of six hundred piculs,
whose business it was to make the circuit of his commanderies and report
any irregularities. Feudal kingdoms (which later became smaller than
by the imperial court, so that there had come to be little difference,
outside of titles, between the government of commanderies and of
kingdoms. Both were supervised by the same Inspectors.
In 8 B.C., Ho Wu memorialized that this Han practise was contrary
to Confucian classical principles, according to which the superior should
govern the inferior, not the reverse. So he had Emperor Ch'eng change
the Inspectors to Provincial Shepherds (Chou-mu), a title taken from the
Book of History, and rank them at fully two thousand piculs, so that
their rank should be higher than that of Administrators.
Two years later (6 B.C.), Chu Po however pointed out that when
Inspectors ranked lower than Administrators, the former had been stimulated
to activity by the hope of being promoted to be one of the 103
Administrators or Chancellors, so that an efficient Inspector had had
lively hopes of promotion. But when these officials became Shepherds
and were given a high rank, they had available for promotion only the
dozen ministerial positions at the imperial court. Consequently they lost
their incentive to activity; the better ones merely guarded themselves
for fear of committing a fault and sullying their record, while the wicked
ones were unrestrained, since there was no one to watch them. Local
administrations were consequently left without supervision and government
degenerated. So Chu Po recommended the abolition of Shepherds
and the restoration of the Inspectors. This change was made in
5 B.C. Thus the practical bureaucrat showed more wisdom than the
Confucian. One of the reasons for the inefficiency of Wang Mang's
provincial administration was undoubtedly that he reestablished Provincial
Shepherds in order to accord with classical Confucian ideas.
When an eclipse of the sun happened on a New Year's day (Feb. 5,
2 B.C.), followed within a month by the death of the Empress Dowager
nee Fu, Emperor Ai was deeply impressed, and in that very month summoned
K'ung Kuang back to court, asking him to explain the portent.
The latter said that government matters had not been right and should
be reformed (81: 19a-20a). Since the Emperor's grandmother was no
longer alive and the Emperor had broken with his maternal clans, while
the Tung clan showed no disposition to interfere in government policies,
Emperor Ai turned to the Confucians again, recalling those whom he had
dismissed at the beginning of his reign. When, a year later, a second
solar eclipse occurred, Emperor Ai interpreted it as a warning and,
through Confucian influence, restored the arrangement under which
government control was divided among the three ancient highest ministers.
In the scholastic interest of uniformity, a new title was also given
Ta-szu-t'u (Grand Minister Over the Masses), Ta-szu-ma (Commander-in-chief),
and Ta-szu-k'ung (Grand Minister of Works). This arrangement
did not last long, for Emperor Ai died within a month and in the
next year Wang Mang changed these titles again. The change is however
interesting as showing that the tendency to change titles and to adopt
ancient phraseology and ancient governmental arrangements was inherent
in Han Confucianism, and that Wang Mang merely took it from
that powerful current of influence.
| THE HISTORY OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY The history of the former Han dynasty | |