University of Virginia Library

XII. THE HISTORY OF THE FORMER HAN DYNASTY

CHAPTER XII

EMPEROR HSIAO-P'ING

INTRODUCTION

Summary of the period

The reign of Emperor P'ing (1 B.C.-A.D. 6), is the period during which
Wang Mang consolidated his control of the government in such a fashion
that he could not later be removed. Emperor P'ing was only in his ninth
year when he came to the throne and he died before he was capped (the
ceremony marking the attainment of a youth's majority), so that during
this whole period Wang Mang actually wielded the imperial authority.
He eliminated the influence of any imperial relatives, except his own clan.
He raised himself from one honor to another by the ingenious use of
Confucian humility. He married his daughter to the Emperor, against
the opposition of the Grand Empress Dowager. He secured the loyal
cooperation of Confucians, especially the famous Liu Hsin1a. This period
was thus one of conspicuous success on the part of Wang Mang. After
Emperor P'ing had died, Wang Mang was charged with regicide, but
that allegation may have been merely propaganda. These matters will
be discussed seriatim.

The nature of this "Annals"

This chapter, like the other "Imperial Annals," does not pretend to be
what we would call a history of the period. It is actually an expanded
chronological summary, useful for purposes of convenient reference. The
actual history is to be found in the other parts of this large book, especially
in the "Memoirs," and most of all in the "Memoir of Wang Mang,"
a translation of which is appended to this chapter. The part of that
"Memoir" devoted to these six years is more than twice as long as are
these "Imperial Annals." That "Memoir" should accordingly be read in
connection with these "Imperial Annals."

Wang Mang's orderly solution of a dynastic crisis

This reign began with a dynastic crisis, for at the death of Emperor Ai
there was no heir to the throne. Emperor Wen had established the
dynastic practice that the reigning Emperor designates one of his sons
as his successor by making him Heir-apparent (4: 5b-6b). Emperor Ai

however had no sons and appointed no Heir-apparent. There were,
moreover, no living descendants of his predecessor, Emperor Ch'eng.
Fortunately such a crisis had occurred twice before in Han Times: at
the death of the Empress Dowager nee Lü and at the death of Emperor
Chao. Each time the high officials had deliberated over the matter and
had selected the nearest suitable relative of the deceased monarch. Ho
Kuang had legitimized his choices of emperors by enacting them in imperial
edicts issued by the Empress Dowager. Wang Mang followed this
precedent: he selected the grandson and only surviving descendant of
Emperor Yüan, Liu Chi-tzu, a first cousin of Emperor Ai, and enthroned
him. This boy was only in his ninth year, so could not rule in person;
the Grand Empress Dowager nee Wang, his step-grandmother, who, as
the "mother of the dynasty" and regent, had been ruling for the two
months between the death and the enthronement, continued to attend
court and decide matters. She entrusted the government to Wang Mang,
her grand-nephew, who was now in his forty-fifth year.

Wang Mang's revenge upon Emperor Ai's maternal relatives

Before the new Emperor was enthroned, Wang Mang began his revenge
upon Emperor Ai's maternal relatives, who had previously turned Wang
Mang out of power and out of the court. The Empress Dowagers nee Fu
and nee Ting had both died; the only lady remaining of their clans was the
Empress nee Fu of Emperor Ai. She had had no children, so Wang
Mang had the Grand Empress Dowager issue an edict commanding the
Empress to retire to another palace, because of the crimes of her elder
cousin, the deceased Empress Dowager nee Fu. Some months later she
was dismissed from her rank and made a commoner, whereupon she committed
suicide. At the death of Emperor Ai, the Fu and Ting clans
possessed no male relatives who could intercede with the ruler for them,
hence these clans became helpless. Fu Yen, the brother of the Empress
Dowager, was dismissed from his marquisate and exiled to Ho-p'u Commandery,
in the southernmost peninsula of the present Kuangtung. The
members of the Ting clan were sent back to their natal commanderies.
The Grand Empress Dowager nee Fu and the Empress Dowager nee
Ting were posthumously degraded in their titles and merely entitled the
Mother (nee Fu) of King Kung of Ting-t'ao and the [Royal] Concubine
nee Ting. In 5 A.D., Wang Mang argued the Grand Empress Dowager
nee Wang into permitting him to have the tombs of these two ladies
opened, their official seals taken away and destroyed, the body of the
lady nee Fu transported from the capital to Ting-t'ao, and to have them

both reburied in simple wooden coffins, like concubines (which had been
their original rank). Their tumuli were levelled and thorns were planted
at these places. Wang Mang did not forget an injury.

The Empress Dowager nee Chao was degraded and removed from the
imperial palace at the same time as was the Empress nee Fu. This
famous beauty, Chao Fei-yen, was the sister of the Favorite Beauty nee
Chao, who had been responsible for Emperor Ch'eng's infanticides. She
would have been punished for her sister's crimes when they were discovered
at the beginning of Emperor Ai's reign, except for the fact that
Emperor Ai was indebted to her. Wang Mang was not so indebted, and
had her removed to the palace for dismissed empresses. She was later
dismissed from her title, whereupon she too committed suicide.

The dynastic principle that there should be only one imperial line of
descent

Probably Wang Mang's motive in removing these ladies was not merely
revenge, but also to eliminate the evil effect of imperial maternal relatives
in the court. He was not willing to yield up his power to a new clan.
The moral corruption, extravagance, and misuse of the government to
enrich themselves on the part of the Wang and Chao clans in the reign of
Emperor Ch'eng and of the Fu and Ting clans in the reign of Emperor Ai
had convinced many intelligent persons that imperial maternal relatives
were injurious to the state. When, at the death of Emperor Ai, the
Grand Empress Dowager nee Wang asked the ministers to recommend
someone to control the government, the General of the Van, Ho Wu, and
the General of the Left, Kung-sun Lu, had both become convinced that
the government should be in the hands of neither the imperial clan nor
of any imperial maternal clan. They therefore independently recommended
each other for the post of Commander-in-chief. But this policy
was contrary to the Confucian moral principle that people generally
(including the ruler) should favor their relatives, and the circumstance that
these two ministers recommended each the other proved fatal. The other
ministers all recommended Wang Mang, who was accordingly given the
position. Wang Mang had Ho Wu and Kung-sun Lu accused of plotting
to advance each other; they were dismissed and sent to their homes.
Four years later Ho Wu was arrested in connection with the affair of
Wang Yü, whereupon Ho Wu committed suicide.

Because of his unhappy experience with the Fu and Ting clans, Wang
Mang did not even allow the new Emperor's mother, the Concubine nee
Wei, nor her relatives to come to the imperial capital. The Wei clan
had previously been connected with the imperial court: it had furnished

Emperors Hsüan and Yüan each with a Favorite Beauty, who bore each a
child, as well as furnishing a concubine for Emperor Ch'eng's half-brother.
This latter girl was the mother of Liu Chi-tzu, Emperor P'ing.
Wang Mang evidently feared the power of such a clan, which knew well
the customs in the imperial court and had old connections in the capital.

Instead of allowing this Wei clan to repeat the exploits of the Fu clan,
Wang Mang had its members all kept in the kingdom of Chung-shan,
where Liu Chi-tzu had been King. His intention was to establish the
principle that there is only one imperial family, and that when, because
of the failure of a natural heir, some scion from another branch of the
imperial clan was elevated to the throne, this person should become exclusively
a member of the imperial family, so that his own close relatives
must not be considered close imperial relatives or treated as such. Thus
the number of imperial maternal relatives, who might interfere in the
government, was to be restricted (and the Wang clan continued in power
without any rivals). Emperor Ch'eng had attempted to put this principle
in force just before his death (possibly at the instigation of Wang Mang),
but Emperor Ai, through the influence of his grandmother, had rejected
and acted contrary to it.

Wang Mang appointed another scion of the imperial clan as King of
Chung-shan to act as the son of Liu Chi-tzu's father, and sent to his
mother, the Concubine nee Wei, a royal seal and cord, installing her as
the Queen of King Hsiao of Chung-shan, with a whole county as her
private estate, from which she received the income. Her uncle and
younger brother were both made Marquises of the Imperial Domain, and
her three younger sisters were given the title of Baronetess, with an
estate of two thousand households. Her first cousin was made Queen
to the new King of Chung-shan. But honor and wealth would not make
up to her for her absent son. Unlike the Concubine nee Ting, who,
without objecting, allowed her son, Emperor Ai, to be taken from her,
the Queen nee Wei was said to be disconsolate, weeping day and night
for her child, who had no near relative by him to guard or care for him.

Wang Yü, Wang Mang's eldest son, disapproved of his father's policy.
He was afraid that there would come to be a feud between the Wei and
Wang clans, which would be disastrous to the Wang clan when the new
Emperor came of age. Wang Yü secretly communicated with the Wei
clan, urging them to ask permission to come to the imperial court. Wang
Yü's clique furthermore attempted to terrify Wang Mang into acceding
to their request by playing upon his superstition with false portents (99 A:
16a, b). When the matter was discovered (A.D. 3), Wang Mang had

his son executed, together with the Wei clan and hundreds of others.
Only Liu Chi-tzu's mother was left alive, retaining her title and estate.
When Wang Mang usurped the throne, she was dismissed from her title
and made a commoner; a year or so later she died. Thus Wang Mang
was left unchallenged in control of the imperial court.

The nature of Wang Mang's position and power

During the reign of Emperor P'ing, Wang Mang was not the legal ruler
of the state, but merely its most important minister. He was the Commander-in-chief
and Intendant of Affairs of the Masters of Writing, who
could be dismissed at will by the actual regent, the Grand Empress
Dowager nee Wang. By this time, the Commander-in-chief concerned
himself little with the army; this official had become the dominating
minister in the civil government. He made appointments in the bureaucracy,
cited officials for promotion or demotion, proposed governmental
policies, and acted as chief consultant to the ruler. The other ministers
had become for the most part virtual executive officers to the Commander-in-chief.
The latter's authority over the other ministers was exercised by
memorializing the throne that they be ordered to execute certain policies,
and then advising the throne to consent to the proposal. Since the
rejection of an important official's advice in an important matter meant
that this official must resign or be dismissed, a great official was consequently
often reluctant to offer advice, and, when asked to do so, often
allowed less important members of the court to propose the policy he
favored. At the same time, this custom made the throne very reluctant
to refuse an important minister's advice, since the throne might find it
difficult to discover another person who would be as suitable as the dismissed
minister. Thus a minister could sometimes compel the throne to
accept an unwelcome policy. On the other hand, under an aggressive
ruler, ministers could frequently be dismissed and sometimes punished for
offering suggestions that were unpleasant to the throne. Thus Wang
Mang could wield the imperial power, even though he was not actually
the regent.

The Grand Empress Dowager nee Wang had no taste for ruling; she
was a quiet old lady, who upheld the best traditions of Chinese wifely
virtue, being loyal to her husband and her relatives, complaisant to her
husband's relatives, going her own quiet way without interfering with
others. She had originally supported Wang Mang in 8 B.C. because her
brother, Wang Ken, had recommended him as Commander-in-chief.
But she was not altogether blind to his faults, and did not trust him completely.

Since she was a woman, she was immured in her palace, and
Wang Mang saw to it that only those favorable to him had access to her.
Thus she was brought around to accede to his plans.

How Wang Mang established himself securely and obtained a following

Wang Mang's gradual rise in power and popularity is so well recounted
in his "Memoir" that it is unnecessary to repeat it here. It will be
sufficient to point out the steps he took and the general principles upon
which he operated, stressing nuances that may not be so clear to a casual
reader and mentioning facts not found in these two chapters.

When Wang Mang was first put into power, he took care to surround
himself with people whom he could influence. The pliant K'ung Kuang, a
descendant of Confucius, had been Grand Minister Over the Masses
and had recommended Wang Mang to the Grand Empress Dowager.
Wang Mang treated him respectfully, retained him in office, and promoted
his son-in-law, Chen Han, who later became one of Wang Mang's intimate
followers. Wang Mang also attached Wang Shun4b to himself,
because the latter was loved and trusted by the Grand Empress Dowager.
This man was a son of the Grand Empress Dowager's first cousin who
had been the Commander-in-chief, Wang Yin. Then Wang Mang proceeded
to get rid of his possible opponents.

The person whose influence with the Grand Empress Dowager Wang
Mang most feared was Wang Li5a, who was own half-brother to her and
her closest living relative. There was also her nephew, Wang Jen, a son
of Wang T'an2b, another half-brother of the Grand Empress Dowager.
Wang Jen bore the same relationship to her that Wang Mang did. Both
Wang Li5a and Wang Jen were courageous and plain-speaking; as close
relatives they had access to her, so that Wang Mang needed to remove
them in order to establish his own power securely. Wang Li5a was perhaps
the worst reprobate in the Wang clan, so much so that he had been
passed over when, in the reign of Emperor Ch'eng, the post of Commander-in-chief
had been passed about among the brothers of the Grand
Empress Dowager. Wang Mang prepared a petition to the Grand
Empress Dowager, enumerating the crimes of Wang Li5a and Wang Jen,
and had Chen Han take it to K'ung Kuang, with the request that he
memorialize those matters in his own name. K'ung Kuang was timid
and did not like to refuse, so did as he was told. Wang Mang liked to
act by indirection; he would hint to his followers what he wanted done
and allow them to propose these matters for action. Then he could

approve or disapprove as the circumstances dictated and yet not seem
to have been taking the initiative.

When the petition regarding Wang Li5a and Wang Jen reached the
Grand Empress Dowager, Wang Mang advised her to assent to it. When
she did not want to part with her last independent sources of information,
Wang Mang insisted, putting her in the position of either having to
reject K'ung Kuang and himself or send away her brother and nephew.
She yielded, and thus gave herself into the control of Wang Mang. Three
years later, Wang Mang involved Wang Li5a and Wang Jen in the affair
of Wang Yü, and compelled them both to commit suicide.

Thus Wang Mang, partly by persuasion and partly by a relentless use
of the governmental power, eliminated any possible rivals. He filled the
court with his own followers, eliminating all who would oppose him.
Most of the bureaucracy willingly followed Wang Mang. He was the
legal deputy of the imperial power; the custom of delegating the imperial
power to the outstanding imperial maternal relative had regularly been
practised for half a century, consequently it may be said to have become
part of the (unwritten) constitution. The people had been trained to
follow the imperial authority, so that any reforms, short of a rebellion,
had to be authenticated by the emperor. Power and wealth lay in the
giving of Wang Mang, hence few officials were willing to refuse his
leadership. Only a very few of the more squeamish officials, in particular
the Grand Minister of Works, P'eng Hsün, and his successor, Wang
Ch'ung2b, were willing to sacrifice their careers because of their dislike
for the way Wang Mang was doing things. These two in succession asked
to resign. They had not actually opposed Wang Mang and were respected
by intelligent people, so he had to allow them to go. But he
disliked their leaving and refused to bestow upon them the parting gifts
customarily given at the resignation of an honored official. They could
merely retire from the court to their homes and keep quiet about their
opinions. Wang Mang distributed noble titles and positions liberally to
his loyal followers and was praised on all sides.

How Wang Mang secured unprecedented honors and popularity

No sooner had Wang Mang established his followers in the bureaucracy
than he proceeded to seek for fame and popular support. The method he
employed was an ingenious use of a Confucian principle: the virtue of
yielding to others. He induced his followers to demand certain honors
for him from the throne and then systematically refused those honors.
The custom of first refusing great honors had long been used. Emperor

Kao refused the throne thrice when it was offered to him (Mh II, 380).
Emperor Wen refused it five times (HS 4: 4a). Emperor Ai thought it
best to refuse at first (11: 1b). Wang Mang excelled them all in humility
by refusing, not at merely five times, but firmly and stubbornly.

Confucian tradition contained the statement that when the Duke of
Chou, so honored by Confucius and his followers, was regent for the
infant King Ch'eng, someone from the Yüeh-shang brought a white
pheasant as tribute. Wang Mang, who in his youth had made a thorough
study of Confucianism and its traditions, had the officials in the southernmost
Chinese commandery reminded of this fact, and, at the first New
Year's court of the new reign, some persons who called themselves Yüeh-shang
accordingly appeared with an albino pheasant. No Chinese or
member of the Office for Interpreting (Yi-guan) at the court could understand
their language, so that it had to be translated by a succession of
interpreters before it could be rendered into Chinese. To such distant
regions had Wang Mang's virtue penetrated!

It made quite a stir at the court. The Confucians were pleased to
recognize this obscure tradition, and the courtiers likened Wang Mang
to Ho Kuang, who had so nobly conducted the dynasty through the
minority of Emperors Chao and Hsüan, and to the Duke of Chou himself.
Thus was confirmed Mencius' statement (IV, B, i, 3) that at
intervals of a thousand years, like sages appear. When the Grand Empress
Dowager hinted her suspicions, the courtiers had the opportunity
of lauding Wang Mang to the skies, and proposed that Wang Mang
should be given the title of Duke Giving Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty.
At that time, the two highest existing noble titles were King and Marquis.
The title of king was given only to sons of emperors and their heirs who
succeeded them. Outside the Liu clan there were no kings. The Han
dynasty had not previously enfeoffed any dukes, so that this title elevated
Wang Mang above all the other nobles except the dozen-odd kings.
When Wang Mang insistently refused this honor, keeping to his bed in
order to avoid it, and the petitioners insisted that it should be granted
to him, the Grand Empress Dowager was advised and forced to do as
Wang Mang had planned: to grant high honors to Wang Mang's associates,
K'ung Kuang, Wang Shun4b, Chen Feng, and Chen Han, and then
to grant still higher honors to Wang Mang, before he could be induced to
rise and accept his title. He still however refused some of her grants,
and advised her instead to bestow titles and grants upon members of the
imperial clan and common people. Thus Wang Mang, by the simple
device of obdurantly refusing honors, was enabled, without seeming to

take the initiative, to secure important grants for his followers and also
to avoid the jealousy of the imperial clan and people by having additional
grants bestowed upon them. A more effective means to popularity could
hardly have been found.

When this scheme had been so successful, Wang Mang sought for
plenary power in the government. He again hinted his desires to his
associates. At their suggestions, the Grand Empress Dowager, who did
not want to be disturbed by the details of government, easily granted to
Wang Mang full authority to decide all except the most important matters,
such as enfeoffments to noble titles. She probably thought that
this grant would make no practical difference in the government. Thus
Wang Mang controlled the whole administration by right as well as in
practise. He responded by having the Grand Empress Dowager make a
great grant to the poor people and then lauding her extravagantly for it.

In order to make himself a close relative of the reigning emperor, thus
securing his position in case the Grand Empress Dowager should die,
Wang Mang next planned to marry his daughter to the boy Emperor.
Again he proceeded by indirection. He first proposed that the Emperor
be married, in order that the imperial line be continued. The Grand
Empress Dowager agreed, and ordered the presentation of suitable girls.
It was the custom that the mother of the Emperor should choose his wife.
The Grand Empress Dowager, who was the young Emperor's legal
mother, did not approve of her nephew too whole-heartedly; Wang Mang
was afraid that she would pass over his own daughter, so called attention
to this girl by publicly refusing to offer her under a plea of humility.
The Grand Empress Dowager really opposed the match in her heart and
seems to have thought it would be a good thing to check his growing
power by putting another clan in power, for she issued an edict withdrawing
all girls of the Wang clan from the competition.

But Wang Mang had become too popular. His daughter was of the
right age; he outranked all other nobles in the empire, except those of
the Liu clan, whose daughters could not be espoused because they bore
the same surname as the Emperor; and he had acquired a great fame
through his distribution of favors and grants to the people. It was then
the custom that any one could come to the imperial palace and present
petitions advising the ruler. Many families of those who hoped to enter
the bureaucracy had moved to the capital commanderies, in order to study
at the Imperial University or with the many Confucian masters who had
congregated there, so that there was probably a larger proportion of
literate persons in that region than elsewhere in the empire. These

people hoped to attract the attention of the ministers and so attain office.
Since Wang Mang controlled the giving of offices, and the proposal suited
them, these people crowded to the portals of the Grand Empress Dowager
at the rate of more than a thousand a day, offering petitions which protested
that the daughter of Wang Mang was the most suitable person to
be made the Empress. The ministers and grandees prostrated themselves
in her courts, making similar requests. Wang Mang politely sent
his personal attendants to turn them away, but the petitioners naturally
paid no attention. Thus popular opinion, mobilized by Wang Mang's
refusal, forced the Grand Empress Dowager to discontinue the competition
among the girls and select Wang Mang's daughter. The other
families were placated by selecting eleven of their girls as imperial concubines.
It was an outstanding victory of intrigue, directed by a master
mind, in which Wang Mang completely outmaneuvered his great-aunt.

There was a Confucian tradition that in Chou times, when the Son of
Heaven took a wife from a noble whose state was small, the Son of
Heaven augmented that noble's fief to be at least a hundred li square, i.e.,
nine million mou or over four hundred thousand acres. A sycophant
marquis of the Liu clan accordingly memorialized that Wang Mang's fief
should be augmented to that size, and the courtiers added that he should
be given two hundred million cash as a betrothal present. He declined
both presents, accepting only forty million cash, and distributing most
of that among the new imperial concubines. Then the courtiers said that
he had not received enough, so he was given a further sum, whereupon
he distributed part of it among his own poor relatives. After the marriage
had been celebrated, the ministers likened Wang Mang to Yi Yin
and the Duke of Chou, the two greatest ministers in ancient history, and
proposed that Wang Mang be given the same title as they had had, that
his sons be ennobled, and he be given honors similar to those the Duke
of Chou had received. Wang Mang again refused, the matter was again
debated by the ministers, and petitions again poured in from the people.
His two remaining sons were made marquises, his mother was made a
Baronetess, he was given an official title higher than any other previous
minister, and a special seal with the title, "Ruling Governor, Grand
Tutor, and Commander-in-chief." The other ministers were ordered to
address him in special humble terms. Ten chariots and a host of elite
troops and attendants formed his train. Altogether some 487,572 persons
signed petitions, urging that he be honored. (This number was likely
taken from a memorial to the Grand Empress Dowager, summarizing
these documents.) Thus Wang Mang, by a showy Confucian humility

and generosity, captured the imaginations of the people. No one before
his time and few since then have excited so much enthusiasm.

How Wang Mang secured the loyalty of Liu Hsin1a

Among those whose loyalty he secured was the famous scholar, Liu
Hsin1a. Even after Wang Mang usurped the throne and took away
imperial and royal honors from the Liu clan, Liu Hsin still remained loyal,
until just before Wang Mang's death, when the mounting resentment
against Wang Mang, together with an astrological portent and a prophecy,
led Liu Hsin finally to head an abortive rebellion (cf. 99 C: 22b-24a).
The fact that an outstanding member of the imperial clan and a famous
Confucian scholar should have become one of Wang Mang's most loyal
supporters and highest officials is so remarkable that it is worth while
studying the means by which Wang Mang secured this man's loyalty.

During the reign of Emperor Ch'eng (in 28-25 B.C.), Liu Hsin1a had
been ordered to assist his father, Liu Hsiang4a, in cataloging the imperial
private library. Emissaries were sent about the country to collect
ancient manuscripts, and people were encouraged to present their books
to the imperial library. Thus there was gathered the magnificent imperial
collection, whose catalog, extracted from that published by Liu
Hsin, is to be found in HS ch. 30, the "Treatise on Arts and Literature."

In the course of this study, Liu Hsin came upon some books that had
previously been neglected, particularly the Tso-chuan and some writings
in ancient characters said to have been discovered about 150 B.C., when
tearing down the wall of Confucius' house. These writings were said to
have been presented to Emperor Wu about 100 B.C. by K'ung An-kuo.
The ancient writings secured then or at other times included some 39
chapters of the lost Book of Rites (i.e., part of the present Chou-li), and
16 chapters of the Book of History. As a good Confucian, who esteemed
everything that came from the ancient Chou period, Liu Hsin was deeply
impressed, especially by the Tso-chuan. It was in the form of a commentary
upon the Spring and Autumn, which latter was thought to have
been compiled by Confucius. (The Tso-chuan, according to Maspero
and Karlgren, actually dates from the end of the iv century B.C. It
has been dated in Han times, but I see no adequate evidence for that
dating. There are however doubtless minor interpolations datable in
Han times, such as the data for the ancestry of Emperor Kao; cf. HFHD I,
148, n.1.) Tso Ch'iu-ming, its reputed author, is mentioned in the
Analects; Liu Hsin1a argued, with a young man's enthusiasm, that Tso
Ch'iu-ming had talked personally with Confucius, so that his commentary

on the Spring and Autumn should be elevated to a place above those by
Kung-yang and Ku-liang, which had previously been the only authorized
commentaries, for the latter authors had not known Confucius in person,
hence were not so likely to have transmitted his conceptions. Liu Hsin
sought out those persons who knew the traditional explanation of the
Tso-chuan, studied with them, and made new discoveries by comparing
its text with that of the Spring and Autumn. His father, Liu Hsiang,
was however an adherent of the orthodox Ku-liang Commentary, and remained
unimpressed by Liu Hsin's arguments.

In his youth, Wang Mang had known Liu Hsin, as he had known every
other person of any consequence in the capital. The two had been associated
when they were Gentlemen at the Yellow Gate, and Wang Mang
had been impressed by the scholar. When Emperor Ai came to the
throne, Wang Mang recommended Liu Hsin to the new Emperor. He
was given some honorary positions and asked to complete his father's
work in the imperial private library. Liu Hsin now proposed to set up
the books he esteemed as authoritative Confucian books for study in the
Imperial University, i.e., as authoritative Classics: the Tso-chuan, the
Mao text of the Book of Odes (the one now extant), the Chou-li, and
the ancient text chapters from the Book of History. When this matter
was presented to the Erudits, who were the professors in the Imperial
University, they opposed the innovation, and did not even deign to
discuss the matter. Liu Hsin felt the cut deeply, and sent a letter to the
court, reproaching the Erudits bitterly. They resented his words, one
eminent scholar even asking to resign. One of the three highest ministers,
a Confucian scholar, was so enraged that Emperor Ai had to intervene
in order to protect Liu Hsin. The latter left the court in order to save
his life and spent the remainder of Emperor Ai's reign in disgrace as an
administrator of distant commanderies.

When Wang Mang came to power after the death of Emperor Ai, he
recalled Liu Hsin and gave him an honorary position at the capital.
Wang Mang then granted what Liu Hsin had been fighting for—the
establishment of the Tso-chuan, the Mao text of the Odes, the Chou-li,
and the ancient text of the Book of History as authoritative subjects for
study at the Imperial University and for the civil service examinations
(88: 25b, 26a). Thus Liu Hsin became attached to Wang Mang through
his Confucian loyalties. Wang Mang made him his Hsi-and-Ho, which
was Wang Mang's title for the state treasurer, and had him build a
Ming-t'ang and a Pi-yung, two Confucian ceremonial buildings. Thereupon
he was made a marquis and was put in charge of divination, fixed

the calendar, and wrote out his famous San-t'ung astronomical theory.
He became an influential advisor of Wang Mang, recommending the
Confucian precedents that guided Wang Mang's conduct. He fixed the
new regulations for officials' marriages, burials, betrothments, etc. Thus
Wang Mang really gave Liu Hsin the opportunity to do his life's work
and rewarded him with high office and great honors. In addition, the
Confucian doctrine of the five elements, which had become accepted in
part through the efforts of Liu Hsin's father, plainly pointed to Wang
Mang as the next emperor. It is hence not surprising that when Wang
Mang usurped the throne, Liu Hsin should have continued to be loyal.

Most of the influential Confucians were likewise loyal to Wang Mang,
because the latter had shown himself loyal to Confucian principles. He
not only erected Confucian ceremonial buildings, he also enlarged the
Imperial University, increasing the number of authorized classics and
establishing five Erudits for each classic. Ten thousand houses were
erected for its students, a thousand students and teachers were appointed,
a market-place and government granary were established for this new
town. Each year, a hundred of its best graduates were taken into the
government service by competitive examination. In A.D. 4, Wang Mang
also summoned to the capital all the teachers of the empire who had as
many as eleven pupils, all those who could teach and explain ancient
books on the classics, astronomy, divination, revelations, music, the
calendar, military arts, and philology. Thus he gathered thousands of
the most learned men in the empire, collected and supported them at the
imperial palace, and made use of their learning. In the previous summer,
he had ordered the establishment of public schools in commanderies,
prefectures, districts, and even in villages; now he probably sent most of
these teachers to the government schools. Thus he gathered thousands
of the empire's scholars, collected and supported them at the imperial
palace, and then gave them government positions. In this way he attached
to himself practically the entire body of learned people in the
empire. Wang Mang thus invented the method, used so effectively by
the Ch'ing and other dynasties, of reconciling learned people to a new
ruler or dynasty by giving them scholarly employment in government
enterprises.

After Wang Mang took the throne, he continued to honor Liu Hsin,
finally making him the State Master, one of the four greatest ministers,
and ennobling him as a Duke. Liu Hsin recommended to Wang Mang,
as models for government, various practises mentioned in the Chou-li and
elsewhere in Confucian tradition, and Wang Mang adopted these Confucian

precedents. Many of his famous economic reforms came about
in this manner. Wang Mang married his son and heir to Liu Hsin's
daughter. In these ways, Wang Mang bound Liu Hsin to him by the
greatest honors and the closest possible ties. Only when these ties were
broken by Wang Mang himself, did Liu Hsin think of rebelling. Liu
Hsin was Wang Mang's guide and advisor in Confucian matters. Liu
Hsin thus owed his fame, his opportunity, and his fortune to Wang Mang.
Under the circumstances, he could hardly have been otherwise than loyal
to such a benefactor.

Did Wang Mang murder Emperor P'ing?

When Emperor P'ing died on Feb. 3, A.D. 6, he was still a minor. He
was born in 9 B.C., so that he may have been fully fourteen years old.
When, in Oct., A.D. 7, Chai Yi raised the standard of revolt against
Wang Mang, the rebels sent messengers about the country alleging that
Wang Mang had poisoned Emperor P'ing. This charge was almost universally
believed in Later Han times, but we may well discount the prevalence
of that belief, for a sequent Han dynasty would be likely to
encourage it.

It is of course impossible to determine the truth of such a charge, for
we have absolutely no direct evidence on this matter. Events inside the
palace could hardly be known except through the testimony of its inmates,
most of whom could not leave the place; Wang Mang controlled the
palace and its inhabitants for a subsequent period long enough to have
silenced any possible witnesses. The absence of any testimony does not
thus afford any presumption in either direction.

There were reasons enough to have predisposed Wang Mang to such a
murder. He was not above committing such a deed. To hush up his
son's adultery, he had the commissioner who investigated the matter
murdered and buried in the jail (99 C: 11a). He was not slow in demanding
the lives of any who opposed him, even of the highest families;
he even executed three of Liu Hsin1a's children (99 C: n. 23.2), and did
not hesitate to execute his own son together with hundreds of persons in
connection with the plot of Wang Yü (99 A: 16b). Wang Mang showed
an utter callousness concerning human affections; he kept Emperor P'ing's
mother away from her son, even though she is said to have wept day
and night.

Wang Mang furthermore had adequate motives for murdering Emperor
P'ing. Wang Mang had prevented any of Emperor P'ing's maternal
relatives from coming to the imperial capital, and, when the plot of

Wang Yü was discovered, he had executed all these relatives, except
Emperor P'ing's mother. The young Emperor P'ing hence had a serious
grievance against Wang Mang, and may well have expressed his feelings
in his adolescent years. Wang Mang might have suspected he would be
unable to control the Emperor, once the latter came of age, and that he
might even be made to suffer on some trumped-up charge. The capping
of the Emperor, which ceremony marked his coming of age, was moreover
delayed until after his death. (That circumstance does not however
indicate any delinquency on Wang Mang's part. The regular age for
capping, according to Confucian principles, was the fifteenth year; in Han
times, however, the age of capping varied: Emperor Chao was not capped
until his eighteenth year, while Emperor Ho was capped in his thirteenth
year.) Wang Mang loved power and may well have planned to continue
his power by initiating another regency. There is a circumstantial
account of the poisoning (12: n. 10.2), but it was not used by Pan Ku
and is intrinsically questionable. (A dose of poison does not act only
fourteen days after it was administered.) Thus there is some evidence
tending to show that Wang Mang may have committed regicide.

There are however certain circumstances that lead us to doubt whether
Wang Mang really did murder his lord. He probably realized the grave
difficulties that would arise concerning the succession to the throne.
Emperor P'ing was the last of Emperor Yüan's living descendants; a
successor would have to be picked from among the descendants of Emperor
Hsüan, who was Emperor Ch'eng's grandfather, so that the successor
would be four or five generations removed from his imperial ancestor
(Liu Ying was actually the fifth generation). There was also the
danger that further pretended sons of Emperor Ch'eng would appear to
claim the throne. Wang Mang's uncle, Wang Li5a, had sponsored one
such pretender. Wang Mang may well have furthermore anticipated
opposition to an infant successor and a serious rebellion, such as that
actually raised by Chai Yi. While the imperial clan had been rendered
powerless by the separation of its members, giving them only quite small
fiefs, and watching them carefully (long the imperial policy), other officials
might nevertheless rebel. The empire had so long been faithful to the
Liu clan that its loyalties could not be changed easily. These reasons of
state would likely have deterred Wang Mang from attempting an assassination.

Confucian tradition, to which Wang Mang was bound, condemned
regicide and exalted faithfulness on the part of ministers. Confucius' own
model, who had come to be esteemed by all Confucians as an ideal and sage,

was the Duke of Chou, who had loyally laid down his regency when his
lord came of age. Wang Mang had frequently been compared to the Duke
of Chou and doubtless aspired for the same high reputation as this ideal
figure, who was exalted above kings and emperors. Ho Kuang, who had
ruled during the reigns of Emperors Chao and Hsüan, was highly esteemed
in recent times. Indeed, if Emperor P'ing had not died, Wang Mang
would doubtless have come down in history as the greatest minister of
Han times, a model for succeeding ages, a regent like the Duke of Chou,
whose fame outshone that of emperors themselves. Thus the death of
Emperor P'ing may well have seemed a terrible calamity to Wang Mang
and he very likely considered that it deprived him of his opportunity for a
great Confucian fame.

Wang Mang had attempted to bind Emperor P'ing to himself by
secure ties. He married his daughter to the Emperor and in 5 A.D. cut
the Tzu-wu Road for the purpose of magically bringing it about that
Emperor P'ing should have a son by her. If she had had a son, Wang
Mang, as the grandfather of the Heir-apparent and father-in-law of the
Emperor, the minister who ruled during the Emperor's minority, would
have been secure in his position and untouchable, even by an emperor.
Public opinion would have defended against almost any charge a minister
with such a high reputation and close relationship.

It is somewhat unlikely that Wang Mang actually planned to usurp
the throne until some time after the death of Emperor P'ing. The knife-cash
were not issued until June/July, A.D. 7; when Wang Mang actually
came to the throne and changed the dynasty, he found these knife-cash
an embarrassment, for the word "Liu," the surname of the Han dynasty,
contains the words "metal" and "knife," so that Wang Mang had to do
away with these knife-coins in order to prevent their magical influence
from injuring him (24 B: 21b). While such a magical influence of knife-cash
upon the dynastic name might possibly have been neglected in
A.D. 7, yet a person so concerned with magical influences as Wang Mang
would have been likely to have known their magical meaning, and would
hardly have issued them if he had any definite plans for changing the
dynasty. Pan Ku states that Wang Mang planned to take the throne
only after Chai Yi's rebellion had quickly been crushed.

There is also the fact that Emperor P'ing had been a sickly child, who
had been "continually ill" (98: 11b11), so that he was not at all strong,
and could easily have been carried off by illness, just as was Emperor Ai.
Wang Mang seems to have done everything that a loyal minister should
have done to prevent this death. When, in the winter of A.D. 5/6,

Emperor P'ing was ill, Wang Mang made a vow to the Supreme One, in
which he offered his own life for that of the Emperor. The vow was
stored in a metal-bound coffer, just as the Duke of Chou had done in a
similar case when King Ch'eng was ill. The coffer was not opened until
A.D. 23 (99 A: 24b; C: 22b). Wang Mang was superstitious and relied
much upon magic, so that he probably took this vow seriously. He
furthermore did not kill the succeeding Emperor, the Young Prince, Liu
Ying1a. This child grew up, and, after Wang Mang's death, actually
ascended the throne for a time. Furthermore when Chai Yi rebelled in
A.D. 7 and when the rebels finally entered Kuan-chung in A.D. 23, Wang
Mang made a dramatic appeal to Heaven for aid, in the latter case,
setting out, at the place for sacrifice to Heaven, his mandates by means
of portents, and asking Heaven to strike him dead by a thunderbolt if
he had done wrong (99 C: 25a). When a superstitious man acts thus,
it is good evidence that his conscience is clear of any such heinous sins
as regicide.

There is thus much evidence to show that Wang Mang was innocent
of the charge that he had poisoned his lord, and that this charge was
propaganda on the part of those who rose in rebellion against him. It
is of course impossible to be certain, and the evidence is far from conclusive.
In the end, one's judgment will depend upon one's estimate of
Wang Mang's character. That character was evil enough: he was callous
to suffering, impatient of any opposition and ready to execute any subordinates
and even his own children and grandchildren who presumed to
oppose him or even make awkward suggestions (cf. the execution of
Wang Chien4, 98: 14b). But he was a whole-hearted Confucian. Confucianism
exalted loyalty and comdemned regicide as a heinous sin. My
own opinion is that Wang Mang was too good a Confucian to have
murdered Emperor P'ing.

THE BOOK OF THE [FORMER] HAN [DYNASTY]

Chapter XII
THE TWELFTH [IMPERIAL ANNALS]

The Annals of [Emperor Hsiao]-p'ing

Emperor Hsiao-p'ing was the grandson, by a concubine,
of Emperor Yüan and the son of King Hsiao
of Chung-shan, [Liu Hsing]. His mother was called
the Concubine [nee] Wei. When [Emperor P'ing]
was in his third[1] year, he succeeded [his father] and
was established as King [of Chung-shan].

In [the period] Yüan-shou, the second year, the

sixth month, Emperor Ai died. The Grand Empress
Dowager [nee Wang issued] an imperial edict saying,
"Since the Commander-in-chief, [Tung] Hsien2a is
young and it does not accord with popular opinion
[to have him control the government], let him deliver
up his seal and cord and be dismissed [from his
office]." The same day[6] [Tung] Hsien2a committed
suicide. The Marquis of Hsin-tuc, Wang Mang, was
made Commander-in-chief and Intendant of the
Affairs of the Masters of Writing.

In the autumn, the seventh month, [the Grand

Empress Dowager nee Wang] sent the General of
Chariots and Cavalry, Wang Shun4b, and the Grand
Herald, Tso Hsien, as messengers bearing credentials,
to go and invite the King of Chung-shan, [Liu
Chi-tzu], to come [to the capital and take the throne].

On [the day] hsin-mao, the Empress Dowager nee
Chao was degraded and made the Empress of [Emperor]
Hsiao-ch'eng. She was made to retire and
live in the Northern Palace. The Empress nee Fu
of Emperor Ai was [also] made to retire and live in
Kuei Palace. The Marquis of K'ung-hsiang, Fu4
Yen, the [former] Privy Treasurer, Tung Kung, and
others were all dismissed from their offices and noble
titles and exiled to the Ho-p'u [Commandery].

In the ninth month, on [the day] hsin-yu, the
King of Chung-shan, [Liu Chi-tzu], ascended the
imperial throne and was presented [to the imperial
ancestors] in the Temple of [Emperor] Kao.[19] A
general amnesty [was granted] to the empire. The
Emperor was in his ninth year, so the Grand Empress
Dowager [nee Wang] attended court. The Commander-in-chief,
[Wang] Mang, controlled the government
and "the officials attended to their several
duties in obedience to"[20] [Wang] Mang.

An imperial edict said, "Verily an ordinance of
amnesty is [an instrument] for the purpose of giving
the empire [an opportunity of making] a new beginning.
It is sincerely hoped that it may cause the
people to correct their conduct, purify themselves,
and preserve their lives. In the past,[21] the high
officials have frequently brought up in their memorials
matters previous to an amnesty, including them
[with their present charges, in order to] increase [the
severity of peoples'] greater or lesser crimes, [with

the result that] they have executed or ruined guiltless
[people, which practise] is almost opposite to the
intention of emphasizing fidelity and being careful
about punishments [and to induce criminals] to
purify their hearts and renew themselves. Moreover,
in their selections and recommendations [for
appointment], if a gentleman has [already] held
various offices, has been experienced in [government]
affairs, and has acquired a reputation, then [the
high officials] consider that [such a person] would be
difficult to guarantee, hence, when [such a person has
been] dismissed, he is not recommended [again, which
practise] is quite contrary to the principle of `pardoning
small transgressions and recommending those
who are capable and able.'[25] [In the case of] whoever
has taken bribes or [has committed] hidden
evils which have not yet become known, if he is
recommended for a position, let all [such matters]
not be investigated judicially, in order that [such]
gentlemen may whet their innermost beings and endeavor
to improve themselves, and that small flaws
may not hamper great talents. From this time and
henceforth, high officials shall not be permitted to
present matters previous to an amnesty and put
them in a memorial to the Emperor. If anyone acts
contrary to this written edict, he is acting against
the [imperial] favor, [hence] it shall be judged as an
inhuman [deed. Let this order] be established and
published as a [permanent] ordinance and be published
and made known to the empire to cause it to
be clearly known."[28]

In [the period] Yüan-shih, the first year, in the
spring, the first month, the head of the Yüeh-shang
tribe, [whose speech had to be] repeatedly interpreted,
presented tribute of one white pheasant and two
black pheasants.[34] An imperial edict had the three
highest ministers use them for sacrifice in the [imperial]
ancestral temples.

Various courtiers [thereupon] memorialized, saying,
"The merits and virtuous deeds of the Commander-in-chief,
[Wang] Mang, are equal to those of
the Duke of Chou. He should be granted the title,
the Duke Giving Tranquillity to the Han [Dynasty]."
His enfeoffment and those of the Grand

Master K'ung Kuang and others were all increased.
A discussion is in the "Memoir of [Wang] Mang."

There was granted, on this special occasion, to the
common people of the empire one step in noble rank
and to the officials who [then] held positions [ranking
at] two hundred piculs and over, the full salary of
their rank, like the regular [occupant of that position].[38]

[Liu] K'ai-ming, the Heir-apparent of the
former King of Tung-p'ing, [Liu] Yün2a, was estab-
lished as King [of Tung-p'ing. Liu] Ch'eng-tu, the
son of the former Marquis Ch'ing of T'ao-hsiang,
[Liu Hsüan1d], was made King of Chung-shan [to
succeed Emperor P'ing's father]. Thirty-six great-grandsons
of Emperor Hsüan, [including Liu] Hsin4g
and others, were all made full marquises.[41]

The Grand Coachman, Wang Yün, and others,
twenty-five persons [in all], when previously there
had been a discussion about honoring the Queen
Dowager [nee] Fu of Ting-t'ao with a [higher] imperial
title, had held to classical principles, had not
flattered her desires or followed erroneous [principles];
the General of the Right, Sun Chien, was the
great official who was [Wang Mang's] military assistant;[46]
the Grand Herald, [Tso] Hsien, had previously
discussed [that matter] correctly, had not
flattered [the Queen Dowager], later he had been
sent, bearing credentials, to go and invite the King
of Chung-shan, [Liu Chi-tzu], to come [to take the
throne]; also the Superintendant of the Imperial
House, Liu Pu-o, the Bearer of the Gilded Mace, Jen
Ts'enb, the General of the Gentlemen-of-the-Palace,
K'ung Yung, the Prefect of the Masters of Writing,
Yao Hsün, and the Grand Administrator of the P'ei
Commandery, Shih Hsü—because all these [persons]
had previously shared in initiating the plan [whereby
Emperor P'ing came to the throne], had gone to the
east to invite him to ascend the throne, had been
perfectly adept, or had worked diligently and laboriously
in performing their duties, they were granted
the noble rank of Marquis of the Imperial Domain
with the income of estates, to each proportionately.
Noble ranks were granted to the officials in the
prefectures and towns thru which the Emperor passed
on his way to assume the throne, [ranking at] two
thousand piculs and less, down to the Accessory
Officials, to each proportionately.

It was also ordered that vassal kings, dukes, full
marquises, and marquises of the imperial domain
who had no sons but had grandsons, if [any of these
nobles] had raised as sons the sons of their full or

half-brothers, they should all be permitted to make
[these nephews] their heirs; and that for heirs of
dukes and full marquises who had committed crimes
[requiring the punishment] of shaving the whiskers
or above, [the officials] should beg [the Emperor's
permission] before [such persons were punished].
There were restored to registration those [members
of] the imperial house whose registration had not yet
lapsed [because they had become too distantly related
to the Emperor], but whose [registration] had been
cut off because of crimes.[50] Those [members of the
imperial house] who were officials were to be recommended
[for promotion] as incorrupt persons; [those
members of the imperial house] who were Accessory
Officials were to be given vacancies [ranking at] four
hundred piculs. For officials of the empire who [had
the rank of] equivalent to 2000 piculs or above and
were aged and retired, their former salary was to be
divided in three and one [third] was to be given to
them to the end of their life.

A Grandee-remonstrant was sent to inspect the
three capital commanderies and report the [names
and] registrations of the officials and common people
who in the time of haste and confusion during the
second year of [the period] Yüan-shou [had paid]

the extraordinary taxes and collections. They were
to be repaid the value [of what they had paid]. The
tombs of the common people at the Yi Tomb which
did not interfere with the interior of the Hall [at the
Yi Tomb] were not to be opened.[54] The officials
and common people[55] of the empire were not to be
permitted to lay up productive implements or
articles.[59]

In the second month, there were established the
Office of the Hsi-and-Ho, ranking at two thousand
piculs, and the Clerk for the Provinces and the
Master of the Houses, [both] ranking at six hundred
piculs, to spread the [orthodox] teaching and culture,
to prohibit irregular sacrifices, and to banish the
songs of Cheng.[61]

On [the day] yi-wei, in the funerary chamber at
the Yi Tomb [of Emperor Hsiao-ai], the ghost's
garments were in their casket, and on the [day] ping-
shen at dawn the garments were outside of it on the
bed.[65] The Prefect of the Funerary Chamber reported
it as an urgent grievous vicissitude, and a
suovetaurilia was sacrificed. In the summer, the
fifth month, on [the day] ting-szu, the first day of
the month, there was an eclipse of the sun.[67] A
general amnesty [was granted] to the empire; the
ministers, generals, and [officials ranking at] fully
two thousand piculs were each to recommend one
person who was honest and sincere and able to speak
frankly.

In the sixth month, the Junior Tutor[70] and Gen-
eral of the Left, [Chen] Feng, was sent to grant to
the Emperor's mother, the Concubine [nee Wei] of
King Hsiao of Chung-shan, [Liu Hsing], a document
sealed with the imperial seal, and to install her as the
Queen of King Hsiao of Chung-shan. There were
granted to the Emperor's maternal uncle, Wei Pao
and to [Wei] Pao's younger brother, [Wei] Hsüana,
the noble rank of Marquis of the Imperial Domain.
There was granted, to all of the Emperor's three[73]
sisters, the title of Baronetess, with the income of an
estate of two thousand households for each.

Kung-sun Hsiang-ju, a descendant of the Duke of

Chou, was made the Marquis in Recompense to [the
Duke of] Lu. A descendant of Confucius, K'ung
Chün, was made Marquis in Recompense for Perfection,
to uphold the sacrifices [to Confucius]. Confucius
was posthumously given the posthumous name
and title, Duke Hsüan-ni in Recompense for Perfection.[75]

Ming-kuang Palace together with the imperial
pathways in the three capital [commanderies] were
abolished. The female convicts of the empire who
had already been sentenced [were ordered] to return
home [and pay][76] three hundred cash per month for

`mountain hire.' One chaste wife in a district was
exempted [from taxes].

There were established one Assistant to the Privy
Treasurer [in Charge of] the Seas and one Assistant
[in charge of] Fruits,[80] and [also] thirteen Divisional
Assistants to the Grand Minister of Agriculture,
[each] one having for his district one province, [with
the duty of] encouraging agriculture and sericulture.[81]

The Grand Empress Dowager [nee Wang] dispensed
with ten prefectures of her private estate
from which she received income and confided them
to the Grand Minister of Agriculture, who was regularily
to keep separate accounts of their land-tax
and pay [this sum] out, using it to assist poor people.

In the autumn, the ninth month, an amnesty [was

granted] to the convicts of the empire.

The K'u-hsing prefecture in [the kingdom of]
Chung-shan was made the private estate of the
Queen [nee Wei] of King Hsiao of Chung-shan, [Liu

Hsing].

In the second year, in the spring, the state of

Huang-chih offered a rhinoceros [in tribute].[88]

An imperial edict said, "The two [words in] the

personal name of the Emperor are connected with a
utensil. Now [We] change [Our] personal name in
conformity with the ancient regulations."[91] He sent
the Grand Master, [K'ung] Kuang, to present a
suovetaurilia and give information [of the change]
in a sacrifice at the Temple of [Emperor] Kao.

In the summer, the fourth month, [Liu] Ju-yib, a

son of a great-great-grandson of King Hsiao of Tai,
[Liu Ts'an], was made King of Kuang-tsung; [Liu]
Kung1a, a grandson of King Yi of Chiang-tu, [Liu
Fei1], and [the son of] the Marquis of Hsü-yi, [Liu
Meng-chih], was made King of Kuang-shih;[94] and
[Liu] Lun, a great-grandson of King Hui of Kuang-ch'uan,
[Liu Yüeh5a], was made King of Kuang-tê.
[Ho] Yang, a great-grandson of a paternal cousin of
the former Commander-in-chief and Marquis of
Po-lu, Ho Kuang; [Chang] Ch'ing-chi, a great-great-grandson
of the Marquis of Hsüan-p'ing, Chang Ao;
[Chou] Kung, a great-great-grandson of the Marquis
of Chiang, Chou P'o; and [Fan] Chang, the son of a
great-great-grandson of the Marquis of Wu-yang,
Fan K'uai, were all enfeoffed as full marquises, so
that [these] noble titles were revived. There were
granted to Li Ming-yu, the great-great-grandson of
the former Marquis of Ch'ü-chou, Li Shang, and to
[descendants of] other [former marquises], 113 persons
[in all],[99] the noble rank of Marquis of the
Imperial Domain, with the income of estates, to each
proportionately.

In the commanderies and kingdoms there was a
great drought and [plague of] locusts;[100] in Ch'ing

Province it was especially severe, so that its common
people became vagrants. The Duke Who Gives
Tranquillity to the Han [Dynasty, Wang Mang],
the four Coadjutors [K'ung Kuang, Wang Mang,
Wang Shun4b, and Chen Feng], the three highest
ministers [Ma Kung, Wang Mang, and Chen Feng],
the high ministers, grandees, officials, and common
people, 230 persons [in all], presented their fields
and residences in behalf of suffering and indigent
people,[104] to be distributed among the poor people
in accordance with their number. Messengers were
sent to catch the locusts; the common people who
caught locusts and brought them to the officials
received cash in accordance with the [number of]
piculs [of weight] or tou [of measure of the locusts].
The common people of the empire whose property
was not as much as 20,000 [cash], together with those
in the commanderies which suffered from the visitation,
[whose property] was not as much as 100,000
[cash], were not to pay the land-tax or poll-taxes.
The common people who [suffered from] the epidemic
were lodged in the empty [commandery or
princes'] lodges and residences, and physicians and
medicines were provided for them. Grants were
made for the dead: for six corpses or over in one
family, five thousand cash for burial; for four corpses
or over, three thousand [cash]; and for two corpses
or over, two thousand [cash]. Hu-t'o Park in Anting
[Commandery] was abolished and made An-ming
prefecture. Government offices and buildings,
market-places and hamlets were built [there], and
poor people were solicited to remove [there]. In
the counties where they lodged [as they were moving],
they were given food, and when they reached
the places to which they were removed, they were
granted fields, residences, productive instruments,
and were made loans of oxen for plowing, and of seed
and food. Five hamlets were also built within the
city of Ch'ang-an with two hundred residences, for
the poor people to dwell in.[109]

In the autumn, [each] commandery recommanded
one brave and warlike person possessing self-control,
who was intelligent in military methods. [They
were ordered] to go to [the office of the Major in
Charge of] Official Carriages [to await official appointment].

In the ninth month, on [the day] mou-shen, the
last day of the month, there was an eclipse of the
sun. An amnesty [was granted] to the criminals of
the empire. Internuncios and Division Heads of the
Commander-in-chief, forty-four persons [in all],
bearing credentials, were sent to inspect the border
troops. A Captain under the Bearer of the Gilded
Mace, Ch'en Mou, was sent, [with the right] to use
a bell and drum, who solicited three hundred brave
and daring officials and gentlemen from Ju-nan and
Nan-yang [Commanderies], who [in turn] remonstrated
with and persuaded the robbers on the
[Yangtze] River and lakes, Ch'eng Chung, and
others, more than two hundred persons, all to come
out voluntarily [and present themselves to the
officials]. They were sent to the places where their
homes were, and were held to do service.[114] [Ch'eng]
Chung was removed to Yün-yang and was granted
public fields and a residence.

In the winter, [the officials ranking at] fully two
thousand piculs were [ordered] yearly to recommend
one person who had equitably judged law-cases.

In the third year, in the spring, there was an
imperial edict [from the Grand Empress Dowager
nee Wang] that the high officials should present the
proposal [of marriage][122] on behalf of the Emperor
to the daughter of the Duke Who Gives Tranquillity
to the Han Dynasty, [Wang] Mang. A discussion
is in the "Memoir of [Wang] Mang." There was
also an imperial edict to the Imperial Household
Grandee Liu Hsin1a and others that they should fix
marriage rites for various [ranks], and that the four
Coadjutors, the ministers, grandees, Erudits, Gentlemen,
and officials, and [the members of] their households
must all be married according to the rites:
they must themselves go to fetch [their wives] standing
in an small chariot with [a pair of] horses yoked
abreast.[125]

In the summer, the Duke Who Gives Tranquillity

to the Han Dynasty, [Wang Mang], memorialized
the regulations for chariots and garments and the
[various] classes [into which] officials and people
[are divided with respect to] caring for their living
[parents], accompanying [their dead] to the last
[resting-place,[127] conducting] betrothals and marriages,
and [possessing] male and female slaves,
cultivated fields and residences, vessels and utensils.
Official altars to the gods of the grains were estab-
lished,[132] together with offices for schools: in the
commanderies and kingdoms they were called seminaries
(hsüeh), and in the counties, marches, [princesses']
estates, and marquises' states they were
called academies (hsiao).[133] In academies and seminaries
there was established one Master of the
Classics. In districts they were called lycea (hsiang),
and in the villages they were called palestrae (hsü).
In lycea and palestrae there was established one
Master of the Classic of Filial Piety.[136]

At Yang-ling, Jen Heng with others styled himself
a general, robbed arms from the arsenal, attacked
the offices and buildings, and set free the imprisoned
convicts. A Division Head of the Grand Minister
over the Masses supervised the pursuit [of these
rebels]. They all suffered for their crimes.

[Wang] Yü3, the heir of the Duke Who Gives
Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty, [Wang Mang],
had plotted with the maternal relatives of the Emperor,
the Wei clan. [Wang] Yü3 was sent to prison
and died; the Wei clan were executed.[138]

In the fourth year, in the spring, the first month,

the suburban sacrifice (chiao) was performed to the
Eminent Founder, [Emperor Kao], making him the
coadjutor of Heaven, and the sacrifice to the greatest
exemplar (tsung) was performed to [Emperor] Hsiao-wen,
making him the coadjutor of the Lords on
High.[142]

[The title of] the Duke Honoring and Continuing
[the Ancestral Sacrifices of] the Yin [dynasty, K'ung
Ho-ch'i], was changed to be Duke of Sung and [the
title of] the Duke Who Succeeds to the Greatness of
the Chou [Dynasty, Chi Tang, was changed] to be
Duke of Cheng.

An imperial edict said, "Verily when [the relations
between] husband and wife are correct, then
father and son love [each other] and human relationships
are stable. Previously an imperial edict
ordered the high officials to exempt chaste wives and
[permit] female convicts to return home, [by which
the Emperor] in truth wished to avoid depravity and
to protect chastity and faithfulness. Moreover

upon very aged and very young persons,[146] punishments
are not employed. [This is] what the sage-kings
have instituted.

"Harsh and oppressive officials however frequently
arrest and imprison the family and relatives of those
who violate the law, their wives and daughters, their
aged and weak, causing them to be resentful and
injuring [the imperial] cultural influence. The
people [have suffered] bitterness on this account.
Let it be clearly ordered to all the officials that

women, unless they have themselves violated the law,
and males in their eightieth year or above or in their
seventh year or under, unless someone in their household
has been sentenced for inhumanity or [unless]
they have been ordered in an imperial edict by name
to be arrested, in all other cases all [such persons]
shall not be permitted to be imprisoned,[149] and let
those who must be examined be immediately examined
and questioned.[152] Let this be established
and published as a [permanent] ordinance."

In the second month, on [the day] ting-wei, the

Empress nee Wang was established [as Empress]
and a general amnesty [was granted] to the empire.
The Grand Coachman, Wang Yün, and others,
eight persons [in all], were sent out. [For them]
were established Associates, to whom they lent their
credentials,[154] [which Associates were sent] to travel
about the empire separately, to examine and observe
[the people's] customs.[155] There were granted to
the nine high ministers and those [ranking] lower,
[down] to [those ranking at] six hundred piculs, and
to the [members of] the imperial house who were
enregistered, noble ranks, from [the rank] of Fifth
Rank Grandee and above, to each proportionately.
There were granted to the common people of the
empire one step in noble rank, and to widowers,
widows, orphans, childless, and aged, silk. In the
summer, the Empress [nee Wang] was presented in
the Temple of [Emperor] Kao. There was added to
the Duke Who Gives Tranquillity to the Han Dynasty,
[Wang Mang], the title of Ruling Governor,
and there was granted to the Lady Dowager of the
Duke, [the mother of Wang Mang], the title, the
Baronetess of Apparent Merits. The Duke's sons,
[Wang] An1a and [Wang] Lin1a were both enfeoffed
as full marquises.

The Duke Who Gives Tranquillity to the Han
Dynasty, [Wang Mang], memorialized [the plans
for] and set up the Ming-t'ang and the Pi-yung.[160]

The Temple of [Emperor] Hsiao-hsüan was honored
and made that of the Central Exemplar; the Temple
of [Emperor] Hsiao-yüan became that of the Eminent
Exemplar;[162] the Son of Heaven was to make offerings
and sacrifices [at these temples] from generation to
generation.

[163] Hsi-hai Commandery was established, and those
in the empire who had violated the prohibitions were
exiled to inhabit it.

The King of Liang, [Liu] Li5a, who had committed
crimes, killed himself.[164]

The imperial capital was divided and there were
established the two commanderies of the Displayer
of Splendor in the South and the Successor to the
Magnificence in the North. The official titles and
rankings of the ministers, grandees, and eighty-one
First Officers were changed, together with the names,
divisions, boundaries, and the commanderies and
kingdoms which belonged [to each] of the twelve
provinces. The abolitions, establishings, changes,
and alterations in the empire made so much work
that the officials could not record them.[168]

In the winter, a great gale blew off almost all of

the tiles from the buildings at the eastern gates of
the city-wall of Ch'ang-an.

In the fifth year, in the spring, the first month, the

hsia ancestral sacrifice to all the ancestors together
was performed in the Ming-t'ang;[172] twenty-eight
vassal kings,[174] one hundred twenty full marquises
and more than nine hundred scions of the imperial
house were summoned to assist in the sacrifices.
When the rites were ended, all [had a certain number
of] households added [to their estates] or they were
granted noble ranks, and [they were granted] money
and silk or their official ranks were increased or they
were given vacancies as officials, to each proportionately.

An imperial edict [from the Grand Empress Dowager]
said, "Verily, [We] have heard that when the
[ancient] lords and kings governed the common
people by their virtue, their next [principle] was to
favor their relatives, in order that [their influence
might thereby] reach to others.[178] Anciently Yao
harmonized his nine [classes of] kindred[179] and Shun

generously promoted [his kindred].[181] Because of
the Emperor's youth, We have temporarily been
directing the government of the state. [We] have
reflected that the scions of the imperial house are all
descendants of the Grand Founder, Emperor Kao, or
of his brothers, [King] Ch'ing of Wu, [Liu Chung,
and King] Yüan of Ch'u, [Liu Chiao]; that, since
the beginning of the Han [dynasty] to the present,
[they have multiplied and have become] more than
a hundred thousand persons; and that altho they
are related to [such persons as] kings and marquises,
they have been unable mutually to control each
other, and so some have fallen into punishment for
crime. The cause [for this situation is that the imperial]
teaching and instruction has not reached them.
Does not the Memoir say, `When princes are generous
to their relatives, then the common people are stirred
to mutual kindnesses'?[185]

"For the imperial house [which has descended]

from the Grand Emperor, the clan, each [member of
which] has inherited his surname [of Liu], let Masters
to the Imperial Clan be established in the commanderies
and kingdoms in order to control them
and bring [the imperial] teaching and instruction to
them. Let [the officials who rank at] two thousand
piculs select those who are virtuous and well-principled
to be the Masters to the Imperial Clan. They
should examine and investigate those who do not
follow [the imperial] teaching and ordinances and
those who have suffered injustice and lost their positions.
Masters of the Imperial Clan are permitted
to take advantage of the postal stations in writing
letters to ask the Elder of the Imperial House to
make requests [of Us] in order that [We] may hear
of it. Regularily every year in the first month, the
Masters of the Imperial Clan shall each be granted
ten bolts of silk."[188]

The Hsi-and-Ho, Liu Hsin1a, and others, four
persons [in all],[189] who had been sent to prepare the
Ming-t'ang and Pi-yung, had brought it about that
the Han [dynasty] had happy presages similar to
those of King Wen [when he built] his Spiritual

Tower and to those of the Duke of Chou [when he
built the city of] Lo; the Grand Coachman, Wang
Yün, and others, eight persons [in all], who had been
sent to investigate [the people's] customs, had propa-
gated [the imperial] virtue and culture, so that all
the kingdoms had become harmonious;[193] all [these
twelve persons] were enfeoffed as full marquises.

The [following sorts of persons] were summoned
to the place where [the Emperor] was: those in the
empire who comprehended and understood the lost
classics, the ancient records, astrological phenomena,
astronomical calculations, the musical tubes, philology,
Shih [Chou's] Fascicles, the magical and
technical arts, materia medica, together with those
who taught the Five Classics, the Analects, the
Classic of Filial Piety, and the Erh-ya. For these
there were yoked small chariots with singly sealed

[passports][197] to send them to the capital. Those
who arrived [numbered] several thousand persons.

In the intercalary month, [Liu] Yin1b, a great-
great-grandson of a great-grandson of King Hsiao of
Liang, [Liu Wu3], was made King [of Liang].[202]

In the winter, the twelfth month, on [the day]
ping-tzu,[203] the Emperor died in the Wei-yang

Palace. A general amnesty was granted to the empire.
The high officials discussed and said, "[According
to] the rites, `Subjects do not treat their
lord as if he had died before he reached maturity.'[206]
The Emperor was in his fourteenth year. It is proper
that, according to the rites, when he is enshrouded,
the bonnet of virility should be put upon him."
The memorial was approved. He was buried in the
K'ang Tomb.

An imperial edict [from the Grand Empress Dowager
nee Wang] said, "The Emperor was benevolent
and kindly, and there was nothing that he did not
consider or feel distressed about. [But] whenever
he became ill, his breath was blocked from coming
out, which kept him from speaking.[210] Hence he
did not get to prepare a testamentory edict. Let
his concubines be sent away and all be returned to
their homes and be permitted to be married, as in
the former case in the time of [Emperor] Hsiao-wen."[211]

In eulogy we say: In the reign of [Emperor]
Hsiao-p'ing, the government proceeded from [Wang]
Mang, who recompensed laudable [circumstances]
and made meritorious deeds manifest, in order to
make himself honorable and prominent. When we
consider his literary compositions, [it seems that]
of the many barbarians outside the [four] quarters
[of the empire], "none failed to think of and submit
to him,"[213] happy omens, auspicious responses, and
eulogizing songs were simultaneously produced.
[But] as to the grievous vicissitudes and prodigies
that appeared [in heaven] above and the hatreds of
the common people[214] [on the earth] below, [Wang]
Mang was however unable to cover them up.

CHAPTER XII
APPENDIX

ECLIPSES DURING THE REIGN OF EMPEROR P'ING

i. An solar eclipse is recorded in Yüan-shih I, v (the fifth month), on
the day ting-szu, the first day of the month (12: 4a). Hoang equates
this day with June 10, 1 A.D., for which Oppolzer calculates his solar
eclipse no. 2885. According to calculation, at Ch'ang-an the eclipse
reached a magnitude of 0.75 (sun's diameter = 1.00) at 10:44 a.m. local
time, so that it was conspicuous. The sun's longitude was 76° = 75° R.A.
HS 27 Cb: 16a says that the eclipse was "in [the constellation] Tung-ching,"
whose first star, μ Gem, was then in 66° R.A. This constellation
extends for some 33°.

In the year between this and preceding recorded eclipse, no solar
eclipses were visible in China.

ii. A second solar eclipse is recorded in Yüan-shih II, ix, mou-shen, the
last day of the month (12: 6a). HS 27 Cb: 16 adds that it was total.
Hoang equates this day with Nov. 23, 2 A.D., for which Oppolzer calculates
his solar eclipse no. 2888. Calculation shows that at Ch'ang-an the
eclipse reached a magnitude of 0.88, and that the path of totality passed
thru the present Ning-hsia, northern Shensi, K'ai-feng, and Shanghai, so
that reports of totality could easily be brought to the capital.

It is curious that the totality should be reported in the "Treatise,"
and not in the Annals; twice previously (ch. II, eclipse ii; ch. X, eclipse ii)
differences between the accounts in the "Annals" and "Treatise" showed
that the "Treatise" represents observations in the capital. But after
28 B.C., (except for the eclipse of 2 B.C.) the account in the "Treatise"
does not as previously give the precise positions of eclipses in the heavens,
only stating what constellation it was in and not always that; possibly the
detailed account of eclipses, which was made at the capital and was used
by Pan Ku as the source for his Treatise, ended with the eclipse of 28 B.C.

In the seventeen months between this and the preceding recorded
eclipse, no solar eclipses were visible in China.