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42-466: According to Chinese tradition, in the early stages of his captivity, Su Wu was so deprived of food that he only survived in the cold north lands by eating his coverings, then enduring long years of servitude herding sheep, before managing to return home. He was able to return home after deceiving his captors with a story about his having sent a message back to the Western Han dynasty by means of tying

84-506: A brief introduction and guided by a related poem in yuefu style. The illustrations from the book were widely distributed and re-used, often as motifs on Chinese porcelain. The original book has a seal that says Nanling, which is why the book is also known as Nanling Wu Shuang Pu. A re-edition of this book from the year 1699 is kept in the National Museum of China . In January 2006, an original hand-painted book of Wu Shuang Pu

126-505: 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

168-624: A good heir. Liu Dan, the Prince of Yan, was Emperor Wu's oldest surviving son, but Emperor Wu considered both he and his younger brother, Liu Xu, the Prince of Guangling, to be unsuitable, since neither respected the laws of the land. Liu Bo, Lady Li 's son, had consort kin in the form of his uncle Li Guangli . In any case, before Emperor Wu's death, Li Guangli would surrender to the Xiongnu, while Liu Bo predeceased his father. Left with no other options, he decided on his youngest son, Prince Fuling, who

210-441: A goodwill gesture, had allowed some Han diplomats who had been detained by the Xiongnu to return to the Western Han, along with gifts from the chanyu. In response, in 100 BC, Emperor Wu of Han commissioned Su, then the deputy commander of the imperial guards, to serve as an ambassador to Xiongnu. His deputy was fellow deputy commander, Zhang Sheng ( 張勝 ), and the third in command was Chang Hui ( 常惠 ). However, once they arrived at

252-549: A letter on the leg of a wild goose. Su's loyalty to the Western Han is emphasised by the story that during his detainment he married a wife, that he had children by her, but that he chose to return to his homeland, even though it meant abandoning his wife and children. Su Wu is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu (無雙譜, Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang. Little is known about Su's life or career other than his mission beyond

294-418: 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 Loulan 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

336-616: 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

378-530: 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

420-430: 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

462-512: 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 (in modern Linzi District , Shandong ), the former capital of the Principality of Qi, while Prince Dan would then start

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504-569: Is retold. In this version, the Xiongnu amputate Su Wu's leg. Wu Shuang Pu Wu Shuang Pu ( Chinese : 無雙譜 ; lit. 'Table of Peerless Heroes') is a book of woodcut prints, first printed in 1694, early on in the Qing dynasty . This book contains the biographies and imagined portraits of 40 notable heroes and heroines from the Han dynasty to the Song dynasty , all accompanied by

546-421: The Xiongnu chanyu's headquarters, Chanyu Qiedihou was far more arrogant than expected, which angered Zhang. In response, Zhang plotted with two Xiongnu officials, the Prince of Gou ( 緱王 ) and Yu Chang ( 虞常 ), to assassinate Chanyu Qiedihou's half-Han advisor Wei Lü ( 衛律 ) and kidnap the chanyu's mother. The Prince of Gou and Yu Chang carried out their plot while the chanyu was away on a hunt, but someone alerted

588-418: The ambassadors, under Chang's suggestion, told then chanyu Huyandi ( 壺衍鞮 ) that Emperor Zhao had killed a migratory goose while hunting, and that a letter from Su seeking help was found on the bird's foot. Surprised, Chanyu Huyandi admitted that Su was in fact still alive, recalled him and allowed him as well as his nine followers to go home. In all, he was in exile for 19 years. Once Su returned to Han, he

630-518: The borders of the Western Han involving the Xiongnu , a mission which turned out to be drastically more trying and lengthy than expected. In 100 BC, there was a short-lived détente between long-term adversaries the Western Han and the Xiongnu. One year earlier, in 101 BC, a new chanyu had come to power in Xiongnu, Chanyu Qiedihou ( 且鞮侯 ), who had expressed an interest in peace with the Han and who, as

672-414: The chanyu sent Li Ling, who had surrendered to Xiongnu after being defeated on the battlefield in 99 BC, to visit Su. The first time, Li informed Su that his two brothers had both been accused of crimes and committed suicide; that his mother had died; and that his wife had remarried. He tried to convince Su to surrender, but Su refused. On the second occasion, Li informed him of Emperor Wu's passing, and Su

714-413: The chanyu's advisor. Su rebuked him for his faithlessness to the Western Han and refused to surrender. Unable to force Su to surrender, Chanyu Qiedihou decided to try to torture him by starvation, and so put him in a cellar without food and drink. However, for several days, Su survived by consuming wool from his coat and the snow that fell into the cellar. The chanyu was further surprised and thought that

756-447: The chanyu, who quickly returned and killed the Prince of Gou in battle and captured Yu. Yu admitted to plotting with Zhang. Zhang, alarmed, informed Su, who had been unaware of Zhang's plot. Aware that the chanyu was planning on forcing him to surrender to Xiongnu, Su tried to preserve his dignity by committing suicide with his sword. Wei, who had wanted Su to surrender and become an advisor to the chanyu as well, quickly summoned doctors and

798-430: The co-regency, tried 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

840-488: The epitome of faithful service in light of great odds and trials. His story was often invoked when acts of great faith or courage were performed by officials. His story, as undetailed as it was in actual history, often became subjects of drama, poetry, and songs throughout Chinese history. Many people take him as a second Zhang Qian , who was also previously caught in the same situation, refused to surrender, and managed to escape back to Han China. Among other musical works on

882-400: The food supplies coming from the Xiongnu headquarters were not arriving steadily. He often had to resort to eating grass roots and wild rodents. Regardless of the difficulties, however, Su always held onto the imperial staff ( 節 ) given to all imperial messengers, and he used it as the shepherd's rod so much that the decorative hairs on the staff eventually all fell off. Twice, during exile,

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924-399: The gods were protecting him. The chanyu then exiled him to Lake Baikal and ordered him to tend a flock of male sheep , telling him that he would be allowed to go home when the sheep produced young. It is conjectured, with some evidence based on correspondence later between Su and Li Ling that the chanyu gave Su a Xiongnu wife, and they had children. During exile, Su often lacked food, as

966-409: The initiative and lowered taxes as well as reducing government spending. As a result, citizens prospered and the Han dynasty enjoyed an era of peace. Emperor Zhao died after reigning for 13 years, at the age of 20. He was succeeded by Liu He, Prince of Changyi . In 94 BC, then Prince Fuling was born to a favourite concubine of Emperor Wu, Zhao Jieyu (趙婕妤), who carried the title Lady Gouyi . Emperor Wu

1008-608: 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 ongoing conflict between Huo and Shangguan Jie came to a head. The Shangguans, wanting to reward Ding for his role in setting up the marriage between Empress Shangguan and Emperor Zhao, sought 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

1050-399: 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 Huo was accused of had happened so recently that Prince Dan, a long distance away, could not have possibly known about them, and therefore the report must have been a forgery. At this point, the anti-Huo conspiracy

1092-416: 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 ) and opponents of the state monopolies on salt, iron, and wine, the wine and iron monopolies were abolished, once again allowing

1134-405: 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

1176-522: The theme of Su Wu, a traditional Chinese melody, "Su Wu Mu Yang" ( 蘇武牧羊 ), is based on the story of Su Wu herding sheep. It is generally played on a Chinese flute. In graphical representations, such as the folk art of Chinese paper cutting , Su Wu is typically depicted herding sheep, with his staff. In the Japanese Tale of the Heike the story of Su Wu and the letter tied to the migratory goose

1218-513: 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

1260-470: 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 appointed as an imperial consort. In 83 BC, she

1302-488: Was able to just save Su's life. Chanyu Qiedihou , impressed with Su's heroism, also sent messengers to care for Su's recovery, while putting Zhang and Chang under arrest. After Su recovered, Chanyu Qiedihou decided to publicly execute Yu as an example and to force the entire Han mission to surrender. Zhang became apprehensive and surrendered. Su, however, was not shaken even when Wei put his sword onto Su's neck while Zhang tried to explain that he would be greatly honoured to be

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1344-426: Was crowned empress. 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 behaviour. In

1386-457: Was ecstatic in having a child at his advanced age (62), and because Consort Zhao purportedly had a pregnancy that lasted 14 months, the same length as the mythical Emperor Yao , he named Consort Zhao's palace gate "Gate of Yao's Mother." This led to speculation that the Emperor, in favouring Consort Zhao and Prince Fuling, wanted to make Prince Fuling crown prince instead of Crown Prince Liu Ju ,

1428-411: Was given the position of Director of Colonization ( 典屬國 ), a high-ranking official post. He remained in that post at least until the early years of Emperor Xuan 's reign—late 70s BC. In 51 BC, when Emperor Xuan, in gratitude to 11 key officials who served him well, had their portraits painted onto the main gallery of the main imperial palace, Su was one of the 11 so portrayed. Su was often regarded as

1470-479: Was inspired by Chen Hongshou and was following the examples of Cui Zizhong , who initiated the first major revival of figure painting since the Song dynasty. Jin Guliang compiled the book together with woodcarver Zhu Gui . Emperor Zhao of Han Emperor Zhao of Han ( Chinese : 漢昭帝 ; 94 – 5 June 74 BC), born Liu Fuling (劉弗陵), was the eighth emperor of the Han dynasty from 87 to 74 BC. Emperor Zhao

1512-461: Was not discovered, but many were impressed at the wisdom of the young emperor. Later that year, the conspirators tried again. Their plan was for Princess Eyi to invite Huo to a feast, and then to ambush Huo and kill him, and then depose Emperor Zhao and make Prince Dan emperor. (However, the Shangguans allegedly conspired to instead to have Prince Dan killed once he arrived in the capital, and for Shangguan Jie to declare himself emperor.) The conspiracy

1554-704: 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, Lady Gouyi , arrested and executed, fearing that she would become an all-powerful and 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 Shangguan Jie co-regents. He died on 29 March 87 BC, shortly after creating Prince Fuling crown prince two days earlier. Fuling then succeeded to

1596-429: 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 authorised an investigation, Shangguan Jie and Sang would arrest and immediately execute Huo. However, after

1638-541: 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

1680-410: Was so despondent that in mourning that he vomited blood. When the Emperor of Han died, Su Wu faced south towards his old homeland of China and wept in utter sadness. In 81 BC, Han was again in a détente with Xiongnu, when Han ambassadors inquired of Su's fate. The Xiongnu government claimed that Su had long died. However, Su's old assistant Chang Hui secretly informed the ambassadors of Su's exile, and

1722-642: Was sold at the Chongyuan auction house in Shanghai for 2.86 million CNY ( US$ 440,000/ £ 320,000). The scholar and philologist Mao Qiling praised the book in the preface, he felt that the prose in this book formed a trinity with the poems and prints . The painter of Wu Shuang Pu is Jin Shi (金史, c.1625–1695), who was known as Jin Guliang (金古良), born in Shanyin (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang , China). Jin Guliang

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1764-423: Was the youngest son of Emperor Wu . By the time he was born, Emperor Wu was already 62. Prince Fuling ascended the throne after the death of Emperor Wu in 87 BC. He was only eight years old (by East Asian reckoning). Huo Guang served as regent . Emperor Wu's long reign left the Han dynasty greatly expanded; however constant warfare had depleted the empire's coffers. Emperor Zhao, under the tutelage of Huo, took

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