Yuan Shu ( pronunciation ) (died July or August 199), courtesy name Gonglu , was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty . He rose to prominence following the collapse of the Han central government in 189. He declared himself Emperor of China in 197 under the short-lived Zhong dynasty, two years before his death in 199.
30-558: Yuan Shu was from Ruyang County ( 汝陽縣 ), Runan Commandery , which is in present-day Shangshui County , Henan . His family had for over four generations been a prominent force in the Han civil service, having produced numerous members in high positions since the first century CE. Descended from Yuan An , who served during the reign of Emperor Zhang , Yuan Shu was a son of the Minister of Works Yuan Feng ( 袁逢 ) and his principal wife. Yuan Shu
60-563: A violent death in an ambush while fighting Liu Biao later on. Sun Jian's son, Sun Ce inherited the seal and gave it to Yuan Shu so that he might lend him troops to take revenge for his uncle, who had been fighting Warlord Lu Kang. Yuan Shu then declared himself emperor under the short-lived Zhong dynasty in 197. This act angered the warlords Cao Cao and Liu Bei , leading to several crushing defeats by each army. The other warlords, even after being issued with an imperial decree, refused to help Cao Cao and Liu Bei in defeating Yuan Shu. When Yuan Shu
90-514: Is sometimes described to be a younger cousin of the warlord Yuan Shao , but was actually Yuan Shao's younger half-brother. As a young man he gained a reputation for gallantry and liked to go hunting with dogs and falcons. Nominated as Filial and Incorrupt , he later became Intendant of Henan ( 河南尹 ) and then General of the Household Rapid as a Tiger ( 虎賁中郎將 ). After the death of General-in-Chief He Jin (22 September 189), Yuan Shu, as
120-640: The Cao Wei dynasty , Jin dynasty , Sixteen Kingdoms period, Southern and Northern dynasties period, Sui dynasty and Tang dynasty , but was lost to history in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960). The fate of the seal during and after the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period is not known. Three theories exist as to when, and how, it was lost: When the Ming armies captured
150-617: The Han empress dowager to hand over the Seal. The empress dowager, in anger, threw the Seal on the ground, chipping one corner. Later, Wang Mang ordered the corner to be restored with gold . This Seal passed on even as dynasties rose and fell. It was seen as a legitimizing device, signalling the Mandate of Heaven. During turbulent periods, such as the Three Kingdoms period, the seal became
180-955: The Huai . Runan was part of the Huaiyang Kingdom in early Western Han dynasty. In 156 BC, Runan was granted to Liu Fei , son of the reigning Emperor Jing as a principality. A year later, Fei's fief was changed to Jiangdu (江都), and Runan became a commandery. In late Western Han dynasty, it administered 37 counties, Pingyu (平輿), Yang'an (陽安), Yangcheng (陽城), Liqiang (郦強), Fubo (富波), Nüyang (女陽), Tongyang (鮦陽), Wufang (吳房), Ancheng (安成), Nandun (南頓), Langling (朗陵), Xiyang (細陽), Yichun (宜春), Nüyin (女陰), Xincai (新蔡), Xinxi (新息), Quyang (灈陽), Qisi (期思), Shenyang (慎陽), Shen (慎), Zhaoling (召陵), Yiyang (弋陽), Xiping (西平), Shangcai (上蔡), Qin (浸), Xihua (西華), Changping (長平), Xilu (宜祿), Xiang (項), Xinqi (新郪), Guide (歸德), Xinyang (新陽), Anchang (安昌), Anyang (安陽), Boyang (博陽), Chengyang (成陽) and Dingling (定陵). In 2 AD,
210-579: The Imperial Seal , which was given to him by the late Sun Jian . This audacious action made him a target of the other warlords. His extravagant lifestyle and arrogance caused many of his followers to desert him. Most devastating of the departures and defections – both to Yuan Shu personally and to the strength of his forces – was that by Sun Ce , who had conquered most of the Jiangdong territories under Yuan Shu's banner. Following crushing defeats by
240-580: The Qin dynasty . Heshibi was a famous piece of jade stone which previously belonged to the Zhao state . Passing into the hands of the new Emperor of China , he ordered it made into his Imperial seal. The words, "Having received the Mandate from Heaven , may (the emperor) lead a long and prosperous life." ( 受命 於 天 , 既 壽 永昌 ) were written by Prime Minister Li Si , and carved onto the seal by Sun Shou. The Seal
270-747: The Qing dynasties possessed it. Reducing the significance of the lost Heirloom Seal partly explains the Qing Emperors' obsession with creating numerous imperial seals — the Forbidden City in Beijing has a collection of 25 seals solely for the emperors' official use. In the early 20th century, as the Qing Empire pursued reforms to modernise its system of government, a series of official seals were created for use on documents and instruments of
300-902: The Great Qing Empire" (大清帝國之璽), and "The Seal of the Emperor of the Great Qing Empire" (大清帝國皇帝之寶). Of these, the Great Seal of the Great Qing Empire represented the official, modern "replacement" for the lost heirloom seal. The seal dies are in the collection of the Palace Museum in Beijing, and none show signs of use. After the fall of the Qing Empire in 1912, the Republic of China government likewise adopted
330-703: The Imperial Corps Commander of the Imperial Tiger Guards, led his men to kill the eunuch faction . When Dong Zhuo seized control of the Han central government, he wanted to appoint Yuan Shu as General of the Rear, but, fearing Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shu fled to Nanyang Commandery , which he took control over after Sun Jian killed its grand administrator, Zhang Zi. Yuan Shu participated in the Campaign against Dong Zhuo led by Yuan Shao. He
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#1732783334592360-655: The Realm ( traditional Chinese : 傳國玉璽 ; simplified Chinese : 传国玉玺 ; pinyin : chuán guó yù xǐ ), also known in English as the Imperial Seal of China , was a Chinese jade seal allegedly carved out of the Heshibi , a sacred piece of jade . The Seal was created in 221 BC, shortly after Qin Shi Huang unified China and established the Qin dynasty , China's first imperial dynasty. The Heirloom Seal served as
390-517: The Three Kingdoms says that one of Sun Jian's men betrayed him and told about the Seal to the coalition leader Yuan Shao who asked him for the seal, but Sun Jian refused. He swore that if he had the Seal, he might die a violent death, and set out for his home. Nevertheless, Yuan Shao told Liu Biao to block his way; Liu Biao did so, though he was unable to defeat Sun Jian. This began a rivalry between them, and Sun Jian, according to his oath, died
420-636: The Yuan capital in 1369, it captured just one out of the eleven personal seals of the Yuan emperors. The Heirloom Seal was not found. In 1370, Ming armies invaded the Northern Yuan dynasty and captured some treasures brought there by the retreating Yuan emperor. However, once more the Heirloom Seal was not found. By the beginning of the Ming dynasty , the Seal was known to be lost. Neither the Ming nor
450-500: The armies of Cao Cao, Liu Bei , and Lü Bu , Yuan Shu attempted to flee north to join Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao sent his eldest son, Yuan Tan , to try to aid Yuan Shu; however, an alliance between the Yuan brothers who had long hated each other would not arise, as Yuan Tan arrived too late, and Yuan Shu's forces were blocked and forced to retreat back to Shouchun by Liu Bei. He died shortly thereafter of starvation, being unable to swallow
480-403: The coarse food that his soldiers ate. His final request was for a glass of honey water, which his soldiers had none. Runan Commandery Runan Commandery ( Chinese : 汝南郡 ) was a Chinese commandery from Han dynasty to Tang dynasty , located in modern Henan and Anhui provinces. The name referred to its location to the south of Ru River (汝水), a historical river that flowed into
510-662: The combined armies of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. He fled to Shouchun in Jiujiang (present day Shou County , Anhui ) on the southern bank of the Huai River . From his new headquarters, he built up a powerful warlord state. He deposed Inspector Chen Wen of Yang Province and took the title for himself, also claiming to be Lord of Xu Province . From 194 to early 197, Sun Jian's son Sun Ce and brother-in-law Wu Jing conquered many territories in Jiangdong on Yuan Shu's behalf. He
540-557: The emperor. However, his soldiers found the Imperial Seal , which Sun Jian passed to his superior Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu's rule in Nanyang was despotic. After the dissension of the alliance against Dong Zhuo in 191, he vied with Yuan Shao over control of northern China, each establishing opposing alliances. Yuan Shu allied with Yuan Shao's northern rival Gongsun Zan , and Yuan Shao in turn allied with Yuan Shu's southern rival Liu Biao . Yuan Shu sent Sun Jian to attack Liu Biao, but his general
570-461: The idea of the Mandate of Heaven and why the Seal was carved in jade, China's most valued material for thousands of years. At the death of the second Emperor of Qin , his successor Ziying proffered the Seal to the new emperor of the Han dynasty , whereafter it was known as the "Han Heirloom Seal of the Realm". At the end of the Western Han dynasty in 9 CE, Wang Mang , the usurper, forced
600-466: The imperial Chinese seal throughout the next millennium of Chinese history, and its possession was seen as a physical symbol of the Mandate of Heaven . The Heirloom Seal was lost around the end of the Tang dynasty (618–907) or during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960). In 221 BC, the Seal was created when Qin Shi Huang destroyed the remaining Warring States and united China under
630-551: The imperial government. Although square in shape following the traditional design, the seal dies themselves were made of wood, in imitation of western government precedents and, contrary to earlier Qing imperial seals which were bilingual ( Chinese and Manchu ), had only Chinese text . Four seal dies were carved: " The Seal of the Great Qing " (大清國寶), "The Seal of the Great Qing Emperor" (大清皇帝之寶), "The Great Seal of
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#1732783334592660-488: The object of rivalry and armed conflict. Regimes which possessed the seal declared themselves, and are often historically regarded, as legitimate. At the end of the Han dynasty in the 3rd century AD, General Sun Jian found the Imperial Seal when his forces occupied the evacuated Han imperial capital Luoyang , in the course of the campaign against Dong Zhuo , giving it to his chief, warlord Yuan Shu . The Romance of
690-399: The population was 2,596,148, in 461,587 households. In 140 AD during Eastern Han dynasty, the commandery administered 37 counties and had a population of 2,100,788, in 404,448 households. Two new commanderies, Yiyang and Ruyin (汝陰) was separated from Runan under Emperor Wen of Wei and Emperor Wu of Jin , respectively. In 280 AD, Runan Commandery retained 15 counties with the population
720-455: Was 21,500 households, while the three commanderies together had a population of 46,700 households. During Emperor Hui 's reign, two new commanderies, Xincai and Nandun, were established in the region. Under Northern Wei , the commandery consisted of 8 counties, and the Book of Wei recorded a population of 37,061, or 15,889 households. The commandery was abolished in early Sui dynasty . Runan
750-520: Was carved from jade because, in ancient China, jade was symbolic of the inner beauty within humans. Many tombs and burials from ancient China contained decorative jade, including a jade burial suit unearthed in 1968 that belonged to a Han prince, Liu Sheng . During the Han dynasty , the Chinese associated jade with immortality to a point where some individuals attempted to drink jade in liquid form to gain eternal life. This association further complements
780-566: Was defeated in 199 by Liu Bei, the Seal came into the hands of Cao Cao , whose son Cao Pi proclaimed the Wei dynasty as the legitimate successor state to Han in 220. The Seal remained in the hands of Wei dynasty emperors until the last emperor Cao Huan was forced to abdicate in Sima Yan 's favor, passing the Seal from Cao to Sima and establishing the Jin dynasty in 265. The Seal was passed through
810-478: Was joined by Sun Jian, whom he appointed to Inspector of Yu Province . Sun Jian succeeded in defeating and killing Dong's general Hua Xiong (191), but Yuan Shu grew wary that Sun would become too successful and no longer submit to his command, and temporarily secretly cut off Sun's food supplies, thereby hindering his advance. By the time Sun Jian reached Luoyang, it had been largely destroyed by fires set by Dong Zhuo, whose forces fled westwards to Chang'an, abducting
840-460: Was killed in the Battle of Xiangyang (191) . Sun Jian's nephew Sun Ben succeeded him as Yuan Shu's general and Inspector of Yu Province. After this defeat and his unpopularity due to his extravagant regime in Nanyang, Yuan Shu moved his residence to Chenliu , and extended his influence into Yang Province in 192. In early 193, Yuan Shu suffered repeated defeats, such as the Battle of Fengqiu , by
870-578: Was less successful in expanding his rule in Xu Province, where he fought against Liu Bei and Lü Bu ; the latter briefly allied himself to Yuan Shu in 196, but betrayed him again and drove him back to Shouchun. Yuan Shu declared himself emperor under the short-lived Zhongshi ( 仲氏 ) dynasty in early 197, citing superstition as his justification, including the Chinese characters for his given name Shu and courtesy name Gonglu , and his possession of
900-403: Was part of Yu Prefecture until Northern Zhou dynasty, during which the prefecture was renamed Cai (蔡州). Later during Sui and Tang dynasties, Runan Commandery became an alternative name of Cai Prefecture. In 741 AD, the prefecture consisted of 10 counties, and the total population was 460,205, or 87,061 households. Imperial Seal of China 受命 於天 既壽 永昌 The Heirloom Seal of
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