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85-569: Emperor Xuan is the name of: Emperor Xuan of Han (91 BC–48 BC), Chinese emperor of the Han dynasty. Emperor Xuan of Jin (179–251), posthumous title bestowed upon the Cao Wei statesman, general, and regent Sima Yi . Emperor Xuan of Western Liang (519–562), Chinese emperor of the Liang dynasty. Emperor Xuan of Chen (530–582), Chinese emperor of

170-580: A 1096 invasion by the restored Zhang Dun. Sima Guang is best remembered for his masterwork, Zizhi Tongjian , and the Australian sinologist Rafe de Crespigny describes him as "perhaps the greatest of all Chinese historians" ( de Crespigny 1973 :65). In 1064, Sima presented to Emperor Yingzong of Song the five-volume Liniantu ("Chart of Successive Years"). It chronologically summarized events in Chinese history from 403 BCE to 959 CE and served as

255-492: A commoner take the throne, 27 days after Prince He was removed from the throne, Empress Dowager Shangguan first created him the Marquess of Yangwu. On the same day, he was offered the imperial seal and ribbon and the throne, and he accepted. When Emperor Xuan accepted the throne, his son Prince Shi was barely a few months old. Prince Shi's mother Xu Pingjun was initially created a consort. When it came time to create an empress,

340-418: A framework for the replacement system should be formulated first. Su Shi, Su Che's older brother, formed a third faction and proposed that the funds from the labor recruitment law should be used to buy up public lands to grant to volunteer laborers in addition to their wages. Sima did not accept dissent from either group. The green sprouts law was intended to give low-interest loans to farmers but, like many of

425-479: A general pardon. The prisoners in all other prisons were dead, but the prisoners at Bing's prison survived. However, this incident made Bing feel that it was inappropriate for the young Bingyi to remain at the prison, and so he ordered one of his lieutenants to transfer Bingyi and Hu (Guo might have died by this point) to the city government of Chang'an. The city government refused to accept responsibility, and so Bing had to let them remain in prison. After Hu's sentence

510-467: A good number of these reports were later shown to be likely hoaxes, but Emperor Xuan accepted these reports without critically examining them: although in the case of reported sightings of a green rooster and golden horse in Shu (modern Sichuan ), Xuan did dispatch one of his favored poets and a Shu native, Wang Bao , to investigate and to bring back the golden horse, if found (though Wang became ill and died on

595-450: A major battle with Xiongnu occurred. Xiongnu had been incessantly attacking the Xiyu (central Asia) kingdom of Wusun , whose queen was the Han princess Liu Jieyou ( 劉解憂 ). Emperor Xuan commissioned five generals and coordinated a plan with Wusun to attack Xiongnu at the same time. Xiongnu put the strongest defenses against the Han generals, the battle were largely inconclusively, but with

680-408: A marquess, but Huo opposed, reasoning a eunuch who had suffered castration as a punishment should not be made a marquess. Instead, Xu was given the title of Lord of Changcheng ( 昌成君 ). In 73 BC, Huo offered to be relieved of his responsibilities as a regent. Emperor Xuan declined and ordered that all important matters of the state and the army would still be submitted to Huo first, and by doing this,

765-587: A more detailed eight-volume Tongzhi ( 通志 ; 'Comprehensive Records'), which chronicled Chinese history from 403 BCE to 207 BCE (the end of the Qin dynasty). The emperor issued an edict for the compilation of a groundbreaking universal history of China, granting full access to imperial libraries, and allocating funds for the costs of compilation, including research assistance by experienced historians such as Liu Ban (劉攽, 1022–88), Liu Shu (劉恕, 1032–78), and Fan Zuyu (范祖禹, 1041–98). After Yingzong died in 1067, Sima

850-463: A policy critic, raised the issue between performing rituals for Zhao Yurang , Emperor Yingzong's biological father, and Emperor Renzong. This issue would dominate Yingzong's reign and cause political gridlock. Sima himself believed that priority should be given to Renzong since he was the emperor's ritual father. Yingzong overruled this belief and, partly due to personal affection for his biological father, gave Zhao Yurang high ritual honors in 1066. In

935-630: A prospectus for sponsorship of his ambitious project in historiography . These dates were chosen because 403 BCE was the beginning of the Warring States period, when the ancient State of Jin was subdivided, which eventually led to the establishment of the Qin dynasty —959 CE was the end of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period and the beginning of the Song dynasty. In 1066, he presented

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1020-478: A rebellion. Zhao opposed the annihilation strategy that other generals had proposed. Emperor Xuan had initially approved the plan and establish military settlements to better prepare for any future rebellions. Eventually, Emperor Xuan agreed to advocated for better treatment of the tribes, and the Qiang tribes were pacified without any major bloodshed. Also, after a short foray into magic in 61 BC, Emperor Xuan realized

1105-415: A scholar. For 40 years following the death of Shenzong, the reformist and conservative factions alternated control over the Song government. Both factions engaged in "ethical factionalism" as they engaged in ruthless purges against each other. An attempted coup by the reformist faction (including Cai Que , Zhang Dun , Xing Shu , and Cai Jing ) intended to dethrone Emperor Zhezong failed and aggravated

1190-523: A second visit. With Han assistance, his strength grew, and Chanyu Zhizhi, who had previously been stronger, was forced to move west. In 53 BC, disappointed in Crown Prince Shi's overreliance on Confucian officials and lack of resolve, he considered making Liu Qin, the Prince of Huaiyang, the crown prince instead, but could not bring himself to do so—remembering how Prince Shi's mother Empress Xu

1275-558: A son later, that son could only be a prince and not the future emperor. She instructed her daughter to murder the crown prince. Allegedly, Empress Huo did make multiple attempts to do so but failed each time. Around this time, the emperor also heard rumors that the Huo clan had murdered Empress Xu, which led him to begin stripping the Huos of actual power while giving them impressive titles. In 66 BC, after there had been increasing public rumors that

1360-424: A strong sense of social justice. As a teenager, he had many friends from all walks of life and was able to see the dark sides of society and the suffering of the people at the hands of corrupt officials. He had a strong interest in hiking. Occasionally he was summoned to see Emperor Zhao. Pingjun gave birth to a son, Liu Shi . After Emperor Zhao died in 74 BC at the age of 20, the regent Huo Guang initially offered

1445-477: A way that promotes these theories. Sima and the other Yuanyou faction conservatives (except for Su Shi , who had an unorthodox interpretation of the Tao ) would be positively associated with Neo-confucianism . Liu Anshi , an important Neoconfucian, was Sima's disciple. Emperor Shenzong died in 1085, shortly after Sima had submitted Zizhi Tongjian to the throne. Sima was recalled to court and appointed to lead

1530-592: A wider level, a society with clear inferior-superior roles would be stable. His deeply anti-change perspective made him a political conservative (in contrast with Wang Anshi's reformism). For Sima, to be ethical was to accept one's social status, and personal cultivation meant exercising restraint; indeed Sima interpreted the "investigation of things", a fundamental tenet of the Cheng-Zhu school of Neo-confucianism , as "restraining things". He also agreed with Xunzi's postulation that humans were inherently evil and wrote

1615-481: A work called "Doubting Mencius " that criticized Mencius' encouraging of the overthrow of hierarchy. After the failure of the Qingli Reforms under an unenthusiastic Emperor Renzong , the future reformist Wang Anshi submitted a 10,000-word memorial in 1058 detailing a system of comprehensive reform. Sima Guang did the same thing in 1061, but his proposals were more conservative. In 1064, Sima, then just

1700-405: A work of reference and guidance, indicating that Shenzong accepted Sima as his guide in the study of history and its application to government. The emperor maintained his support for the compilation of this comprehensive history until its completion in 1084. From the late 1060s, Sima came to assume a role as leader of what has been identified as a conservative faction at court, resolutely opposed to

1785-610: Is not completely clear whether they took their own lives or were executed, but the latter seems likely. For reasons not completely clear, baby Bingyi was spared, but was imprisoned in a prison overseen by the Ministry of Vassal Affairs. He was put into the custody of the warden Bing Ji ( 丙吉 ). Bing knew that Prince Ju was actually innocent of witchcraft and took pity on the child, and selected two kind female prisoners, Hu Zu ( 胡組 ) and Guo Zhengqing ( 郭徵卿 ) to serve as his wet nurses and caretakers. Bing Ji visited them each day to see how

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1870-641: The New Policies of Chancellor Wang Anshi . Sima presented increasingly critical memorials to the throne until 1070, when he refused further appointment and withdrew from court. In 1071, he took up residence in Luoyang , where he remained with an official sinecure, providing sufficient time and resources to continue the compilation of Zizhi Tongjian . Though the historian and the emperor continued to disagree on policies, Sima's enforced retirement proved essential for him to complete his chronological history over

1955-543: The Secretariat and the Chancellery , arguing that the latter was redundant: "[The Chancellery] serves no purpose except to double the number of clerks and multiply paperwork." The two departments would be combined in 1129. Cai Que and Zhang Dun would lead the reformist opposition against the conservative restoration. The compulsory Baojia village defense system trained and enrolled nearly 7 million men across

2040-467: The 3rd century Cao Wei official Sima Fu . A famous anecdote relates the young Sima Guang saving a playmate who had fallen into an enormous vat full of water. As other children scattered in panic, Sima calmly picked up a rock and smashed a hole in the base of the pot. Water leaked out, and his friend was saved. At the age of 6, Sima heard a lecture concerning the Zuo Zhuan , a work of history dating to

2125-463: The 4th century BC. Fascinated, he was able to retell the stories to his family when he returned home. He became an avid reader, "to the point of not recognizing hunger, thirst, coldness or heat". Sima obtained early success as a scholar and officer. When he was barely twenty, he passed the Imperial examination with the highest rank of jìnshì ( 進士 ; 'metropolitan graduate'), and spent

2210-459: The Chen dynasty. Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou (559–580), second last emperor of Northern Zhou. See also [ edit ] King Xuan (disambiguation) Emperor Xuanzong (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Emperor Xuan . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

2295-574: The Emperor's affairs will be done, so Huo continued to "talking for the Emperor". He also gave high positions to Huo's son Huo Yu ( 霍禹 ) and grandnephews Huo Yun ( 霍雲 ) and Huo Shan ( 霍山 ), as well as Huo's sons-in-law Fan Mingyou ( 范明友 ) and Deng Guanghan ( 鄧廣漢 ). In many ways, Emperor Xuan, although now emperor, remained intimidated by the powers of Huo and was always humble in front of him. In that same year, Emperor Xuan restored posthumous titles to his grandparents and parents (although, perhaps out of

2380-517: The Huo clan had murdered Empress Xu, Lady Xian finally revealed to her son and grandnephews that she had, indeed, murdered Empress Xu. In fear of what the emperor might do if he had actual proof, Lady Xian, her son, her grandnephews, and her sons-in-law formed a conspiracy to depose the emperor. The conspiracy was discovered, and Emperor Xuan executed the entire Huo clan—an act that later drew heavy criticism from historians for its his ungratefulness to Huo Guang. (e.g., Sima Guang in his Zizhi Tongjian.) (For

2465-538: The Song dynasty's defeat at Yongle City during the war with the Western Xia on poor, glory-oriented leadership, while presenting himself as the "savior of the dynasty". As the conservative leader, he headed his coalition to demote reformist leaders to lowly prefectural -level posts (while promoting conservatives into high positions and, one by one, abolished many of the New Policies. He also wanted to combine

2550-462: The Song dynasty's problems, factions developed around how to solve these issues. Conservatives like Sima Guang advocated for a smaller government budget and gradual reform. As such, Sima opposed the New Policies of Wang Anshi , which increased government authority and spending. Sima argued that more state revenue would mean less money for farmers and that the government was immoral for competing with merchants. Somewhat counterintuitively, he emphasized

2635-456: The Xiongnu princes with hopes of having them submit to him. His efforts paid off. By 56 BC, Xiongnu had been fractured into three separate regimes, ruled by Chanyus Runzhen ( 閏振 ), Huhanye ( 呼韓邪 ), and Zhizhi . All three sought peace with Han, and Han was able to reduce its military defense forces by a fifth, decreasing the burdens on the people correspondingly. In 54 BC, Chanyu Runzhen

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2720-429: The administrator of Chenzhou . Zhang Dun continued to resist and pointed out Sima's hypocrisy regarding the law: in early 1086, Sima said that rich households were harmed by the law, while just 14 days later he said that rich households benefitted from their preferential treatment under the law. Zhang also criticized Sima's demand to abolish the law country-wide in a mere 5 days. Indeed, Sima was impressed when Cai Jing ,

2805-497: The aforementioned policies, became a method of revenue extraction. Conservative opposition to this policy was unified and Fan Chunren, the son of Fan Zhongyan , was the only dissenter. His argument that the law could boost the dynasty's base revenue annoyed Sima Guang and he was only saved by Wang Yansou's intervention. This incident revealed the deepening divisions within Sima's coalition that would exacerbate after his death. Following

2890-431: The child was doing. Near the end of Emperor Wu's reign, there was an incident whereby magicians claimed that an aura of an emperor was appearing from Chang'an's prisons. Emperor Wu fearing that whoever the aura came from would later steal the throne from the imperial clan ordered that all prisoners, regardless of whether they had been convicted or not and regardless of the severity of the charges, were to be executed. When

2975-439: The city of Xi'an . Xuan's court was somewhat of a literary center, something which extended to his royal hunts, which he turned into somewhat of a poetry competition for accompanying poets. Among the literary figures at his court were Wang Bao and Liu Xiang . Consorts and Issue: Sima Guang Sima Guang (17 November 1019 – 11 October 1086), courtesy name Junshi , was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer. He

3060-539: The conservative faction. Sima was an old and tired man in Luoyang and was reluctant to return to the capital, but Cheng Hao convinced him to do so. When Sima arrived in Kaifeng , a large crowd swarmed to touch his horse, and palace guardsmen saluted him as "Prime Minister Sima". He encouraged people to openly express their grievances about the New Policies. Sima was soon made chief councilor by Empress Dowager Gao ,

3145-484: The conservative restoration of 1085. However, Sima was not restored to power following the unpopular Wang's retirement in 1076 since Shenzong took personal control over the New Policies. Cai Que , a semi-reformist leader, blocked Sima's re-appointment to power despite the failure of the war against the Western Xia . Cai nonetheless ingratiated him to the influential Sima by appointing Sima's disciple, Xing Shu , as

3230-399: The dynasty. Sima criticized the system's detracting from agricultural productivity and its potential for creating bandits. Wang Yansou criticized the unnecessary brutality of the system. In mid-1085, an imperial edict abolished the system in the capital and its surrounding areas, with more restrictions imposed on this system in the following months. Reformist opposition to the system's abolition

3315-611: The entire Huo clan later drew heavy criticism from historians (e.g. Sima Guang in his Zizhi Tongjian ) for being "ungrateful" to the late Huo Guang. Liu Bingyi was born in 91 BC to Liu Jin, the son of then-Crown Prince Liu Ju , and his wife Consort Wang. As the grandson of the Crown Prince, Bingyi likely was born in Prince Ju's palace. That same year, however, disaster would strike. With conspirators accusing him of using witchcraft against his father Emperor Wu , Prince Ju

3400-429: The established agencies cornered the market in staple goods and became focused on generating revenue. Throughout 1085, executive orders forgave debt owed to the agencies and abolished loan bureaus before abolishing the law altogether. This signaled the turning point for the reformist-conservative conflict. The labor recruitment law replaced corvée labor with professional laborers funded by service exemption fees paid by

3485-482: The eunuch delivering the edict arrived at the Vassal Affairs prison that Bing oversaw, Bing refused to accept the edict, stating that no one who had not been convicted of a capital crime should be executed, and particularly not the emperor's own great-grandson. The eunuch filed charges against Bing for refusing to abide by the edict—a capital offense—but by that time Emperor Wu had realized his error, and declared

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3570-443: The extent of his contribution to the emperor's survival in his young age) also became a key official. Huo's son, grandnephews, and sons-in-law remained in key posts, however. In 67 BC, Emperor Xuan made Prince Shi—the late Empress Xu's son—crown prince and made Empress Xu's father Xu Guanghan the Marquess of Ping'en—an action that Huo Guang had opposed. Huo's wife Lady Xian was shocked and displeased because if her daughter were to have

3655-468: The following one and a half decades. Contemporary accounts relate that, in order to work more and sleep less when he was writing his great opus, the Zizhi Tongjian, he had a wooden pillow made from a log that was designed to slip from under his head whenever he rolled over. He called this Jingzhen 警枕 (Alert Pillow), and used it throughout the period of Zizhi Tongjian 's compilation. Sima rejected

3740-414: The foolishness of seeking immortality and pursuing it would-be a costly venture (unlike, his great-grandfather Emperor Wu and many emperors before him). In 64 BC, Emperor Xuan considered creating a new empress. At that time, his favorite consorts were Consorts Hua, Zhang, and Wei. He was seriously considering making Consort Zhang, the mother of his son Liu Qin (later the Prince of Huaiyang), empress but he

3825-640: The government more effective and argued that his views were in accord with history (in contrast with Wang Anshi 's emphasis on the Classics ) and Heaven-and-Earth . A static and well-maintained country would, according to him, last forever. Accordingly, he disliked commercial growth (which he believed encouraged social change) and preferred a recommendation-based imperial examination system. Rulers were supposed to only determine official assignments, reward achievement, punish failure, care about their servants, have good morals, and be immune to outside influence. On

3910-506: The government under Emperor Zhezong of Song . He used this time in power to repeal many of the New Policies , but he died the following year, in 1086. His death fractured the conservative coalition, which split into the Shuo ( Hebei ) faction, the Luo ( Henan ) faction, and the Shu ( Sichuan ) faction. This ushered in a period of political gridlock from 1086 to 1093. As well as his achievements as

3995-462: The government. He was said by Liu Xiang to have been fond of reading the works of Shen Buhai , using Xing-Ming to control his subordinates and devoting much time to legal cases. Emperor Xuan was open to suggestions, was a good judge of character, and consolidated his power by eliminating corrupt officials, including the Huo family who had exerted considerable power since the death of Emperor Wu, after Huo Guang's death. However, his execution of

4080-451: The justice system. In 68 BC, Huo Guang died. Emperor Xuan and Grand Empress Dowager Shangguan made the nearly-unprecedented act of personally attending Huo's wake and built an impressive mausoleum for Huo. After Huo's death, Zhang Anshi and Wei Xiang ( 魏相 ) became Emperor Xuan's most powerful advisors, but Emperor Xuan assumed far more personal powers than he had during Huo's lifetime. Later, Bing Ji (who had not yet revealed by this point

4165-517: The late Empress Xu. Emperor Xuan's early reign was generally known for his willingness to innovate, to commission officials who were lenient on the people, and to listen to advice. For example, in 67 BC, based on a submission from a Justice Ministry official Lu Wenshu ( 路溫舒 ), who was concerned about the harshness of the criminal justice system, Emperor Xuan added four appellate judges who were in charge of hearing final appeals. While this fell well short of what Lu suggested, it did help to somewhat reform

4250-442: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emperor_Xuan&oldid=1225571903 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Title and name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Emperor Xuan of Han Emperor Xuan's life story

4335-603: The mayor of Kaifeng , was the only one who abolished the law in under 5 days. 21 days after Cai Que resigned, Zhang Dun was demoted to a prefectural-level post after offending Empress Gao during a debate. In spring 1086, Wang Anshi died. The conservative restoration was complete. Nonetheless, the debate over how to remove the labor recruitment law revealed cracks in the conservative coalition. For example, Su Che (and many other conservatives who were typically closely aligned with Sima) argued that "an entire system could not be abolished overnight without serious repercussions" and that

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4420-401: The next several years in official positions. Sima believed that civilization was created when the sage kings transformed humans from their original animal state using hierarchical order, property rights, moral instruction, and penal law. He believed that the problem with government was not in its structure, but rather in the people that ran it. He wrote multiple memorials detailing how to make

4505-582: The office but continued to accept Sima's counsel. By 1070, Sima was part of the Hanlin Academy , the Bureau of Military Affairs , and the Council of State . Frustrated with Wang Anshi's dominance over court and despite Shenzong's urging for him to stay, Sima retired to Luoyang in 1071, which would become the center of the conservative opposition. This made Wang largely unopposed in government. Sima

4590-409: The officials largely wanted Emperor Xuan to marry Huo Guang's daughter Huo Chengjun ( 霍成君 ) and make her empress. Emperor Xuan did not explicitly reject this proposal but issued an order to seek out the sword that he owned as a commoner. Getting the hint, the officials recommended Consort Xu as empress, and she was created as such late in 74 BC. He initially wanted to make his father-in-law Xu Guanghan

4675-738: The people to carry out " naming taboo " (the avoidance of using the emperor's name in speech or writing in respect of the emperor), because bing and yi were both common characters that were hard to avoid. In 63 BC, having realized the extent of Bing's contributions to him, Emperor Xuan decided to repay him, and others who were involved in his upbringing, for their kindness. Bing and several others, in addition to Zhang He's adopted son, were created, marquesses. The prison guards who had treated him with kindness were also rewarded. His nurses Hu and Guo had already died by this point, but their descendants were tracked down and rewarded. Late in his reign, Emperor Xuan began to moderately become luxurious in living but

4760-449: The protracted, expensive, and ultimately disappointing war against the Western Xia , the conservatives wanted to appease the Western Xia for peace. The concession of Lanzhou to the Xia was highly controversial and, along with 4 fortresses that were ostensibly ceded to Xia, remained a source of border tension for the following decades. The official truce was signed in 1089 and was broken by

4845-531: The regent for Emperor Zhezong and herself a staunch conservative. He and other recalled conservatives like Su Shi , Su Che , Cheng Yi , Cheng Hao , Wang Yansou , Fan Chunren , Wen Yanbo , and Lü Gongzhu formed the Yuanyou faction, named after the current era . Sima made ad hominem denunciations against Wang Anshi, saying: "[Wang] was self-satisfied and self-righteous, and considered himself to be unparalleled by figures past and present." Sima also blamed

4930-434: The respect to Emperor Zhao's memory, Crown Prince Ju received the rather unflattering posthumous name "Li" (戾, unrepenting )) and reburied them with honor. In 67 BC, he also finally found his maternal grandmother and her family, and he rewarded his grandmother and uncles with riches, and made his uncles marquesses. Huo Guang's wife Xian ( 顯 ) was granted her wish of wanting her daughter become an empress. In 71 BC, Empress Xu

5015-496: The rest of his family. Emperor Xuan was only a months-old infant at the time and only survived due to the protection of the sympathetic prison warden Bing Ji, and lived his youth as a commoner after being released by a nationwide amnesty from Emperor Wu in 87 BC. After Liu He 's short 27-day reign in 74 BC, the 17-year-old Liu Bingyi was selected by Huo Guang (the half-brother of Liu Bingyi's great-cousin Huo Qubing ) for

5100-411: The richest rural households. Similar to the market exchange law, this law primarily became a method for revenue extraction. Sima argued that the law was simply another tax imposed on the commoners. Cai Que's refusal to remove the labor recruitment law led to his character assassination by the conservatives Liu Chi and Su Che; this pushed him to resign as chancellor of the right and he was reappointed as

5185-449: The roles of the dynastic cycle and Five Phases in legitimizing dynastic succession. For Sima, dynastic succession was instead a result of power struggles; dynasties rose and fell according to consistent factors. He believed that history was a "mirror" for the present and could provide the government with historical context for their current situation. Literati could thus use history as an aid to governance. His histories are structured in

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5270-476: The same year, Sima sponsored Su Zhe for a special decree examination . Emperor Shenzong promoted Sima to chief censor in late 1067. He opposed Shenzong's irridentism and favored a defensive stance towards the Uyghurs , Tibetans , Western Xia , and Liao dynasty . Sima hoped that the "barbarians" would commend the Song dynasty's good government. Since the end of the Qingli Reforms in 1045 did not end

5355-485: The throne to Prince He of Changyi . However, after Prince He quickly showed his unsuitability to be an emperor, Huo removed him from the throne. Huo, however, could not find a suitable successor among the princes. At Bing's recommendation (although the exact process behind the scenes was not completely clear), Huo, with Zhang Anshi's concurrence, decided to offer the throne to Bingyi, then 17, an offer ratified by Huo's granddaughter Empress Dowager Shangguan . To avoid having

5440-401: The throne, inheriting the crown that ironically would have been his anyway if his grandfather's rebellion in 91 BC hadn't happened. Emperor Xuan has been considered a hardworking and brilliant ruler by historians. Because he grew up among commoners, he thoroughly understood the suffering of the grassroot population, and lowered taxes, liberalized the government and employed capable ministers to

5525-403: The time being, Empress Huo was deposed but not executed, but 12 years later she was exiled; in response, she committed suicide.) During the middle stage of his reign, Emperor Xuan's administration continued to be known for the promotion of honest officials who generally cared for the people. It was also marked by further fostering of relationships with Xiyu kingdoms, making them strong vassals. He

5610-571: The unifying role of the emperor more than the reformists; he wanted the emperor to manage the bureaucracy and control officials with rewards and punishments, while the reformists wanted to implement new policies for new problems. In response to Emperor Shenzong of Song appointing him as head of the new Office of Expenditure Reduction, Sima released a scathing report that criticized the oversized bureaucracy, imperial extravagance, and an inefficient army and which called for imperial discussion rather than offering specific solutions. Shenzong quickly dissolved

5695-479: The way). However, in general, Emperor Xuan's reign, even in this period, was marked by his concern for the people and unwillingness to undertake military action unless necessary. For example, in 59 BC, a major Xiongnu civil war broke out—which would leave the Xiongnu princes fighting each other for years. Many generals wanted to use this opportunity to completely and thoroughly annihilating the Xiongnu. But Emperor Xuan didn't want to do so, rather he encouraged peace among

5780-450: The western frontier now weakened, Wusun forces won a major victory over Xiongnu, severely crippling Xiongnu's western region. For years after, without Han engaging major forces, Xiongnu was constantly under attack by Dingling from the north, Wuhuan from the east, and Wusun from the west, and became unable to harass Han borders. In 70 BC, Emperor Xuan made Huo Chengjun empress. Accustomed to luxury living, her palace expendes far exceeding

5865-476: The witchcraft incident, and so sought them out and had Bingyi delivered to the Shi residence. Lady Zhenjun then raised him herself. Several years later, Bingyi's granduncle Emperor Zhao found out that Bingyi was alive, and ordered that the Ministry of Imperial Clan Affairs take over the duty for caring for Bingyi. The chief eunuch at the palace Zhang He ( 張賀 ), who had previously been an advisor to Prince Ju before he

5950-465: Was Xu's superior, Xu did not dare to renege on the promise, and Bingyi and Pingjun were married, in a ceremony entirely paid by Zhang (because Bingyi could not afford it). Zhang also paid the bride price . After marriage, Bingyi depended on his wife's family and his grandmother's family for support, and he hired a teacher to teach him the Confucian classics . He was a diligent learner, and he also had

6035-547: Was a high-ranking Song dynasty scholar-official who authored the Zizhi Tongjian , a monumental work of history. Sima was a political conservative who opposed the reforms of Wang Anshi . Sima Guang was named after Guang Prefecture , his birthplace, and where his father Sima Chi ( 司馬池 ) served as a county magistrate . The Sima family were originally from Xia County in Shǎn Prefecture , and claimed descent from

6120-465: Was a riches-to- rags-to-riches story. He was born a prince as a great-grandson of Emperor Wu . His grandfather Liu Ju , was a son of Emperor Wu and Empress Wei and the crown prince of the Han Empire, who in 91 BC was framed for witchcraft practice against Emperor Wu and committed suicide after being forced into a failed uprising. His father Liu Jin ( 劉進 ) also died in that turmoil, along with

6205-523: Was also characterized by attention to detail and willingness to have correspondences with his generals in which he kindly but firmly had concrete discussions with them on proper military strategy in dealing with minority tribes and foreign nations. An example could be seen in his correspondences with General Zhao Chongguo ( 趙充國 ) in 62 BC to 60 BC when Zhao was on a mission to pacify the Qiang tribes, some of which were rebelling and some of which were considering

6290-615: Was castrated by Emperor Wu in the aftermath of Prince Ju's death, cared well for young Bingyi, and paid for his expenses and studies out of his own pocket. Circa 76 BC, Zhang wanted to marry his granddaughter to Bingyi, but his brother Zhang Anshi ( 張安世 ), then an important official, opposed, fearing that it would bring trouble. Zhang, instead, invited one of his subordinate eunuchs (who had also been castrated by Emperor Wu), Xu Guanghan ( 許廣漢 ), to dine, and persuaded him to marry his daughter Xu Pingjun to him. When Xu's wife heard this, she became extremely angry and refused, but because Zhang

6375-695: Was defeated and killed by Chanyu Zhizhi, who further sought to try to defeat Chanyu Huhanye to reunify Xiongnu. In response, in 53 BC, at the advice of his official, Chanyu Huhanye headed south and requested to become a Han vassal to seek Han protection. In 51 BC, Chanyu Huhanye made an official visit to Chang'an as a Han vassal, and Emperor Xuan, correctly judging that he should seek to have Huhanye submit to him out of gratitude and not of fear, ordered that Huhanye not be required to bow to him and that he be treated as higher than imperial princes. Emperor Xuan also commissioned an expedition force to assist Chanyu Huhanye in defending his territory. In 49 BC, Chanyu Huhanye made

6460-555: Was disturbed by the New Policy's control over the dynasty's people and resources. Sima had multiple objections to the New Policies. He believed that: Sima retired in Luoyang from 1071 to 1085. While there, he wrote the Zizhi Tongjian and cultivated friendships with Shao Yong , Cheng Yi , and Cheng Hao . Massive famines and droughts fueled resentment towards Wang Anshi and garnered support for Sima, contributing to

6545-415: Was forced into a rebellion, which Prince Ju was defeated. Prince Ju committed suicide, and Bingyi's two uncles died with him, although it was not clear whether they also committed suicide or were killed by soldiers. Bingyi's great-grandmother Empress Wei also committed suicide, and his grandmother (Prince Ju's concubine ) Consort Shi and his parents died in the incident as well in the capital Chang'an . It

6630-504: Was his first love and had been murdered by poisoning, and also how he depended on his father-in-law in his youth. In 51 BC, after Chanyu Huhanye's visit, Emperor Xuan, in his most shining moment, remembered key officials who had been instrumental in his success. In an unprecedented action, he had the portraits of 11 of them be painted onto the main gallery of the main imperial palace, the Weiyang Palace . The 11 officials were: Huo

6715-468: Was invited to the palace to introduce his work-in-progress to Emperor Shenzong of Song . The new emperor not only confirmed the interest his father had shown, but showed his favor by bestowing an imperial preface in which he changed the title from Tongzhi ("Comprehensive Records") to Zizhi Tongjian ("Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government"). Scholars interpret the "Mirror" of the title to denote

6800-405: Was over, Bing hired her out of his own pocket to continue to serve as a wet nurse for several months, before letting her leave. Later, the budget for taking care of Bingyi was cut off from the imperial clan affairs budget, and Bing took money out of his own salary to care for Bingyi. When he grew somewhat older, Bing heard that Consort Shi's mother Zhenjun ( 貞君 ) and brother Shi Gong ( 史恭 ) survived

6885-499: Was pregnant when Lady Xian came up with a plot. She bribed Empress Xu's female physician Chunyu Yan ( 淳于衍 ), under the guise of giving Empress Xu medicine after birth, to poison her. Chunyu did so, and Empress Xu died shortly after she gave birth. Her doctors were initially arrested to investigate whether they cared for the empress properly. Lady Xian, alarmed, informed Huo Guang what had happened, and Huo, not wanting to turn in his wife, instead signed Chunyu's release. In that same year,

6970-464: Was referred only by titles and not by name—which was considered an even greater honor than given to the other 10. By this time, the Western Han dynasty would reach its peak in terms of territorial size, even greater than during the reign of Emperor Wu. Emperor Xuan died in 49 BC. He was succeeded by Crown Prince Shi, as Emperor Yuan. His tomb Duling ( 杜陵 ) is located some 15 km southeast of

7055-550: Was still a bit traumatized over the fact Empress Huo nearly succeeded in poisoning Crown Prince Shi, and fearing that it would happen again if Consort Zhang where to be made emperess. He resolve this by choosing to create an empress who did not have a sons of her own, was kind and gentle but hard and strict when time comes and have moral values. He created Consort Wang , not one of his favorites consort, empress, and had her raise Crown Prince Shi as her own son. That same year, he also changed his name to Xun ( 詢 ), to make it easier for

7140-530: Was still comparatively thrifty in his expenditures. He also began to relax from his early diligence in governing the state. He also became less diligent in the inspection of false reports by officials. For example, there were large numbers of reported sightings of fenghuang (Chinese phoenixes ) – mythological birds who were considered symbols of divine favor—during this period, and while in ancient China there might have been "legitimate" sightings of phoenixes (that is, rare birds that were then-considered phoenixes),

7225-563: Was weak and primarily logistical rather than ideological. Zhang Dun's call for moderate abolition was reasonable considering the shock that followed the rapid abolishment of the Baojia system. The equal tax law was a system of land evaluation and taxation that was probably the most successful of the New Policies. The law was removed with little opposition in late 1085. The market exchange law established government monopolies that were intended to buy cheap products and sell dear products. However,

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