Emperor Zhao of Han
Encyclopedia
Emperor Zhao of Han was an emperor
of the Chinese Han Dynasty
from 87 BC to 74 BC.
Emperor Zhao was the youngest son of Emperor Wu of Han
. By the time Zhao was born, Emperor Wu was already 62. Zhao ascended the throne after the death of Emperor Wu in 87 BC. He was only 8 years old. Huo Guang
served as regent
.
Emperor Wu's long reign left the Han Dynasty greatly expanded; however constant warfares had depleted the empire's coffer. Emperor Zhao, under the tutelage of Huo, took the initiative and lowered taxes as well as reduced government spending. As a result, citizens prospered and the Han Dynasty enjoyed an era of peace. Unfortunately, Emperor Zhao died after reigning for 13 years. He was only 20.
, the son of Empress Wei Zifu
. That, in turn, led to conspiracies against Prince Ju and Empress Wei, eventually forcing Prince Ju to pre-emptively rise up in military self-defence in 91 BC. Being misunderstood as a revolt, Prince Ju was defeated and went into exile, and both he and Empress Wei committed suicide soon afterwards.
After Prince Ju's death, Emperor Wu was forced to consider who would make a good heir. Liu Dan, the Prince of Yan, was Emperor Wu's oldest surviving son, but Emperor Wu considered both him and his younger brother Liu Xu, the Prince of Guangling, to be unsuitable, since neither respected laws. Left with no other options, he decided on his youngest son, Prince Fuling, who was only six at that time. He therefore also chose a potential regent in Huo Guang
, whom he considered to be capable and faithful. He also ordered Prince Fuling's mother, Consort Zhao, arrested and executed, in fear that she would become an uncontrollable empress dowager, like Empress Dowager Lü. He entrusted Huo with the regency of Fuling. At Huo's suggestion, he also made ethnic Xiongnu
official Jin Midi
and general Shangguang Jie co-regents. He died in 87 BC, shortly after creating Prince Fuling crown prince. Crown Prince Fuling then succeeded to the throne as Emperor Zhao at the age of 8.
Early in Emperor Zhao's reign, Huo, Jin, and Shangguan served as co-regents, with the key decisions being made by Huo. The palace was run by Princess Eyi, Emperor Wu's daughter and Emperor Zhao's older sister, who had moved back to the palace to serve as Emperor Zhao's caretaker.
Prince Dan of Yan was not happy about the turn in events that led to Emperor Zhao's ascension. In 86 BC, he secretly planned a rebellion, forming a conspiracy with two imperial clan members, Liu Zhang (劉長) and Liu Ze (劉澤). The plan was for them to accuse Emperor Zhao of being not actually Emperor Wu's son, and then for Liu Ze, a grandson of a former prince of Qi, to start a rebellion in Linzi (臨淄, in modern Zibo
, Shandong
), the former capital of the Principality of Qi, while Prince Dan would then start a rebellion from his Principality of Yan (roughly modern Beijing
). The conspiracy was discovered, but Prince Dan was not punished, although the other conspirators were executed.
Later that year, Jin, a moderating influence in the co-regency, after being created a marquess on his sickbed, died. Huo and Shangguan were subsequently created marquesses as well. In the next few years, Shangguan, unhappy with his lesser role in the co-regency, would try to gain more power over Huo, even though the two had previously been great friends, and Huo had given his daughter in marriage to Shangguan's son Shangguan An (上官安). The young couple had a daughter, who was age five in 84 BC, when Shangguan Jie wanted to marry her to the emperor. Huo initially refused, believing her to be too young.
Shangguan Jie turned elsewhere for support of his plan. Shangguan An was a friend of Princess Eyi's lover, Ding Wairen (丁外人). He encouraged Ding to persuade the princess on the soundness of the marriage—reasoning that the Shangguans' power would be firmer with the marriage, and that they could then help Ding legitimize his relationship with Princess Eyi. Princess Eyi agreed, and later in 84 BC, the young Lady Shangguan
was created an imperial consort. In 83 BC, she was created empress.
Later that year, Shangguan An was created a marquess, and he became extremely arrogant and wild in his behavior.
In the same year, at the suggestion of Du Yannian (杜延年), Huo started considering terminating some of the policies of Emperor Wu intended to raise revenues for the war efforts. In 81 BC, after a major debate between proponents (the chief among whom was vice prime minister Sang Hongyang
(桑弘羊)) and opponents of the state monopolies on salt, iron, and wine, the wine and iron monopolies were abolished, once again allowing the merchants to benefit from the profits of these essentials. The people started to recover from the heavy burdens that Emperor Wu's wars had left on them.
In 80 BC, the latent conflict between Huo and Shangguan Jie would come into fore. The Shangguans, in thanks to Ding for his role in setting up the marriage between Empress Shangguan and Emperor Zhao, wanted to have him created a marquess, but were rebuffed by Huo, as were their subsequent efforts to have Ding made an important official. This caused Princess Eyi to resent Huo as well. The Shangguans, Princess Eyi, Prince Dan of Yan, and Sang (who was resentful that his monopoly system, which he felt to be the key to sound finances for the state, was being dismantled), formed an anti-Huo conspiracy. In 80 BC, Prince Dan sent a report to Emperor Zhao, accusing Huo of improperly exercising imperial authority. The conspirators' plan was that as soon as Emperor Zhao authorized an investigation, Shangguan Jie and Sang would arrest and immediately execute Huo. However, after the report was given to Emperor Zhao, the 14-year-old Emperor Zhao took no action on it; the next day, he summoned Huo to the palace and exonerated him, reasoning that the actions that were accused of Huo had happened so recently that Prince Dan, a long distance away, could not have possibly known them, and therefore the report must have been a forgery. At this point, the anti-Huo conspiracy was not discovered, but the entire empire was impressed at the wisdom of the young emperor.
Later that year, the conspirators would try again. Their plan was for Princess Eyi to invite Huo to a feast, and then to, at the feast, ambush Huo and kill him, and then depose Emperor Zhao and make Prince Dan emperor. (However, allegedly, the Shangguans conspired to instead, once Prince Dan stepped into the capital, to have him killed, and for Shangguan Jie to declare himself emperor.) The conspiracy was revealed by a servant of Princess Eyi, and the conspirators were arrested and executed with their entire clans. Princess Eyi and Prince Dan committed suicide. Empress Shangguan was spared, however, because of her young age and her status as Huo's granddaughter.
After the incident, Huo stamped out anyone who could be considered to be a conspirator, gaining a reputation for autocracy and heavy-handedness. The victims included two ministers, Wang Ping (王平) and Xu Ren (徐仁). The relationship between Huo and Emperor Zhao remained a positive one, however.
In 77 BC, a controversial incident involving the Xiyu (modern Xinjiang
and former-Soviet central Asia
) kingdom of Loulan
(on northeastern edge of the Taklamakan Desert) would unfold itself, although whether Emperor Zhao played any role in the decision-making is unclear. A few years earlier, the King of Loulan had died, and with Xiongnu
support, one of his sons, Angui (安歸) succeeded him, and Angui started a policy of befriending Xiongnu and resisting Han, particularly because Luolan's geographical location meant that it was often ordered by Han to escort its imperial messengers, who were also rude to Luolan officials. Huo sent an imperial messenger, Fu Jiezi (傅介子) to assassinate Angui. Fu accomplished this by claiming that he was there to reward Xiyu kings with jewels and other precious items, and then, setting a private meeting up with Angui, he stabbed him in the heart, and then, warning that any further action would bring a large Chinese army, he got the Loulan nobles to submit and make a brother of Angui, Weituqi (尉屠耆), who was friendly to Han, king. Loulan was renamed Shanshan
. (This incident was controversial in Chinese history in that many historians believed that this was one incident in which an assassination of a foreign king was thoroughly unjustified, particularly in the method it was carried out—using jewels as bait. Other historians believed that Angui should be punished for his failure to submit.)
In 74 BC, Emperor Zhao died without a son, and this would lead to a succession problem. After a short duration in which the unsuitable Prince He of Changyi
became emperor, the throne was finally given to Emperor Zhao's grandnephew -- former Crown Prince Ju
's grandson—Liu Bingyi (劉病已), who would ascend the throne as Emperor Xuan
.
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
of the Chinese Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
from 87 BC to 74 BC.
Emperor Zhao was the youngest son of Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...
. By the time Zhao was born, Emperor Wu was already 62. Zhao ascended the throne after the death of Emperor Wu in 87 BC. He was only 8 years old. Huo Guang
Huo Guang
Huo Guang , courtesy name Zimeng was a Western Han statesman who was a rare example in Chinese history of a powerful official who deposed an emperor for the good of the state rather than to usurp the throne...
served as regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
.
Emperor Wu's long reign left the Han Dynasty greatly expanded; however constant warfares had depleted the empire's coffer. Emperor Zhao, under the tutelage of Huo, took the initiative and lowered taxes as well as reduced government spending. As a result, citizens prospered and the Han Dynasty enjoyed an era of peace. Unfortunately, Emperor Zhao died after reigning for 13 years. He was only 20.
Birth and childhood before ascending the throne
In 94 BC, then-Prince Fuling was born to a favorite concubine of Emperor Wu, Consort Zhao, who carried the title Lady Gouyi (鉤弋夫人). Emperor Wu was ecstatic in having a child at his advanced age (62), and because Consort Zhao purportedly had a pregnancy that lasted 14 months long—the same length as the mythical Emperor Yao -- he named Consort Zhao's palace gate "Gate of Yao's Mother." This led to speculations that he, due to his favor for Consort Zhao and Prince Fuling, wanted to make Prince Fuling crown prince instead of Crown Prince Liu JuLiu Ju
Liu Ju , formally Crown Prince Li was crown prince during the reign of his father, Emperor Wu of Han, during China's Han Dynasty...
, the son of Empress Wei Zifu
Empress Wei
Empress Wei may refer to:* Empress Wei Zifu, empress during Han Dynasty* Empress Wei , empress of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty* Empress Dowager Wei, empress dowager of the Chinese/Di state Later Liang...
. That, in turn, led to conspiracies against Prince Ju and Empress Wei, eventually forcing Prince Ju to pre-emptively rise up in military self-defence in 91 BC. Being misunderstood as a revolt, Prince Ju was defeated and went into exile, and both he and Empress Wei committed suicide soon afterwards.
After Prince Ju's death, Emperor Wu was forced to consider who would make a good heir. Liu Dan, the Prince of Yan, was Emperor Wu's oldest surviving son, but Emperor Wu considered both him and his younger brother Liu Xu, the Prince of Guangling, to be unsuitable, since neither respected laws. Left with no other options, he decided on his youngest son, Prince Fuling, who was only six at that time. He therefore also chose a potential regent in Huo Guang
Huo Guang
Huo Guang , courtesy name Zimeng was a Western Han statesman who was a rare example in Chinese history of a powerful official who deposed an emperor for the good of the state rather than to usurp the throne...
, whom he considered to be capable and faithful. He also ordered Prince Fuling's mother, Consort Zhao, arrested and executed, in fear that she would become an uncontrollable empress dowager, like Empress Dowager Lü. He entrusted Huo with the regency of Fuling. At Huo's suggestion, he also made ethnic Xiongnu
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...
official Jin Midi
Jin Midi
Jin Midi , formally Marquess Jing of Du , was a prominent official of the Chinese dynasty Han Dynasty of Xiongnu ethnicity. He served as coregent early in the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han.- Background :...
and general Shangguang Jie co-regents. He died in 87 BC, shortly after creating Prince Fuling crown prince. Crown Prince Fuling then succeeded to the throne as Emperor Zhao at the age of 8.
Early reign and marriage
Prince Dan of Yan was not happy about the turn in events that led to Emperor Zhao's ascension. In 86 BC, he secretly planned a rebellion, forming a conspiracy with two imperial clan members, Liu Zhang (劉長) and Liu Ze (劉澤). The plan was for them to accuse Emperor Zhao of being not actually Emperor Wu's son, and then for Liu Ze, a grandson of a former prince of Qi, to start a rebellion in Linzi (臨淄, in modern Zibo
Zibo
Zibo is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the west, Laiwu and Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Binzhou the north.Located in the middle part...
, Shandong
Shandong
' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
), the former capital of the Principality of Qi, while Prince Dan would then start a rebellion from his Principality of Yan (roughly modern Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
). The conspiracy was discovered, but Prince Dan was not punished, although the other conspirators were executed.
Later that year, Jin, a moderating influence in the co-regency, after being created a marquess on his sickbed, died. Huo and Shangguan were subsequently created marquesses as well. In the next few years, Shangguan, unhappy with his lesser role in the co-regency, would try to gain more power over Huo, even though the two had previously been great friends, and Huo had given his daughter in marriage to Shangguan's son Shangguan An (上官安). The young couple had a daughter, who was age five in 84 BC, when Shangguan Jie wanted to marry her to the emperor. Huo initially refused, believing her to be too young.
Shangguan Jie turned elsewhere for support of his plan. Shangguan An was a friend of Princess Eyi's lover, Ding Wairen (丁外人). He encouraged Ding to persuade the princess on the soundness of the marriage—reasoning that the Shangguans' power would be firmer with the marriage, and that they could then help Ding legitimize his relationship with Princess Eyi. Princess Eyi agreed, and later in 84 BC, the young Lady Shangguan
Empress Shangguan
Grand Empress Dowager Shangguan , also known as Empress Shangguan , Empress Xiaozhao and Empress Dowager Shangguan , was an Empress, Empress Dowager and Grand Empress Dowager during Han Dynasty and wife to Emperor Zhao. Her father was Shangguan An , the son of Shangguan Jie...
was created an imperial consort. In 83 BC, she was created empress.
Middle reign and the struggle between Shangguan and Huo
In 82 BC, a man whose appearance was similar to the former Crown Prince Ju suddenly appeared at the palace, claiming that he was in fact Prince Ju and that he was there to claim the throne. He was arrested and shown to be an imposter named Cheng Fangsui (成方遂), and then executed.Later that year, Shangguan An was created a marquess, and he became extremely arrogant and wild in his behavior.
In the same year, at the suggestion of Du Yannian (杜延年), Huo started considering terminating some of the policies of Emperor Wu intended to raise revenues for the war efforts. In 81 BC, after a major debate between proponents (the chief among whom was vice prime minister Sang Hongyang
Sang Hongyang
Sang Hongyang was a prominent official of the Former Han Dynasty, who served Emperor Wu of Han and his successor Emperor Zhao. He is most famed for his economic policies during the reign of Emperor Wu, the best known of which include the state monopolies over iron and salt - systems which would...
(桑弘羊)) and opponents of the state monopolies on salt, iron, and wine, the wine and iron monopolies were abolished, once again allowing the merchants to benefit from the profits of these essentials. The people started to recover from the heavy burdens that Emperor Wu's wars had left on them.
In 80 BC, the latent conflict between Huo and Shangguan Jie would come into fore. The Shangguans, in thanks to Ding for his role in setting up the marriage between Empress Shangguan and Emperor Zhao, wanted to have him created a marquess, but were rebuffed by Huo, as were their subsequent efforts to have Ding made an important official. This caused Princess Eyi to resent Huo as well. The Shangguans, Princess Eyi, Prince Dan of Yan, and Sang (who was resentful that his monopoly system, which he felt to be the key to sound finances for the state, was being dismantled), formed an anti-Huo conspiracy. In 80 BC, Prince Dan sent a report to Emperor Zhao, accusing Huo of improperly exercising imperial authority. The conspirators' plan was that as soon as Emperor Zhao authorized an investigation, Shangguan Jie and Sang would arrest and immediately execute Huo. However, after the report was given to Emperor Zhao, the 14-year-old Emperor Zhao took no action on it; the next day, he summoned Huo to the palace and exonerated him, reasoning that the actions that were accused of Huo had happened so recently that Prince Dan, a long distance away, could not have possibly known them, and therefore the report must have been a forgery. At this point, the anti-Huo conspiracy was not discovered, but the entire empire was impressed at the wisdom of the young emperor.
Later that year, the conspirators would try again. Their plan was for Princess Eyi to invite Huo to a feast, and then to, at the feast, ambush Huo and kill him, and then depose Emperor Zhao and make Prince Dan emperor. (However, allegedly, the Shangguans conspired to instead, once Prince Dan stepped into the capital, to have him killed, and for Shangguan Jie to declare himself emperor.) The conspiracy was revealed by a servant of Princess Eyi, and the conspirators were arrested and executed with their entire clans. Princess Eyi and Prince Dan committed suicide. Empress Shangguan was spared, however, because of her young age and her status as Huo's granddaughter.
Late reign
In 77 BC, a controversial incident involving the Xiyu (modern Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
and former-Soviet central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
) kingdom of Loulan
Loulan
Loulan or Kroran was an ancient kingdom based around an important oasis city already known in the 2nd century BCE on the north-eastern edge of the Lop Desert. Loulan, known to Russian archaeologists as Krorayina, was an ancient kingdom along the Silk Road. In 108 BCE, the Han Dynasty forces...
(on northeastern edge of the Taklamakan Desert) would unfold itself, although whether Emperor Zhao played any role in the decision-making is unclear. A few years earlier, the King of Loulan had died, and with Xiongnu
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...
support, one of his sons, Angui (安歸) succeeded him, and Angui started a policy of befriending Xiongnu and resisting Han, particularly because Luolan's geographical location meant that it was often ordered by Han to escort its imperial messengers, who were also rude to Luolan officials. Huo sent an imperial messenger, Fu Jiezi (傅介子) to assassinate Angui. Fu accomplished this by claiming that he was there to reward Xiyu kings with jewels and other precious items, and then, setting a private meeting up with Angui, he stabbed him in the heart, and then, warning that any further action would bring a large Chinese army, he got the Loulan nobles to submit and make a brother of Angui, Weituqi (尉屠耆), who was friendly to Han, king. Loulan was renamed Shanshan
Shanshan
Shanshan is the Chinese name for a kingdom that existed roughly from 200 BCE-1000 CE at the north-eastern end of the Taklamakan Desert including the great, but now mostly dry, salt lake known as Lop Nur....
. (This incident was controversial in Chinese history in that many historians believed that this was one incident in which an assassination of a foreign king was thoroughly unjustified, particularly in the method it was carried out—using jewels as bait. Other historians believed that Angui should be punished for his failure to submit.)
In 74 BC, Emperor Zhao died without a son, and this would lead to a succession problem. After a short duration in which the unsuitable Prince He of Changyi
Prince He of Changyi
Prince He of Changyi was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty for 27 days in 74 BC. He was installed and deposed by a prominent statesman of his time, Huo Guang. He was omitted from the official list of emperors. His personal name was Liu He and he declared the era name Yuanping...
became emperor, the throne was finally given to Emperor Zhao's grandnephew -- former Crown Prince Ju
Liu Ju
Liu Ju , formally Crown Prince Li was crown prince during the reign of his father, Emperor Wu of Han, during China's Han Dynasty...
's grandson—Liu Bingyi (劉病已), who would ascend the throne as Emperor Xuan
Emperor Xuan of Han
Emperor Xuan of Han was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty from 74 BC to 49 BC. His life story was a riches-to-rags-to-riches story.Emperor Xuan was the great grandson of Emperor Wu...
.
Era names
- Shiyuan (始元 py. shĭ yúan) 86 BC – 80 BC
- Yuanfeng (元鳳 py. yúan fèng) 80 BC – 75 BC
- Yuanping (元平 py. yúan píng) 74 BC
Family information
- Father
- Emperor Wu of HanEmperor Wu of HanEmperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...
- Emperor Wu of Han
- Mother
- Consort Zhao
- Wife
- Empress ShangguanEmpress ShangguanGrand Empress Dowager Shangguan , also known as Empress Shangguan , Empress Xiaozhao and Empress Dowager Shangguan , was an Empress, Empress Dowager and Grand Empress Dowager during Han Dynasty and wife to Emperor Zhao. Her father was Shangguan An , the son of Shangguan Jie...
, daughter of Shangguan An (b. 89 BC, d. 37 BC)
- Empress Shangguan
- Children
- None