Copyright © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC

Home , Hai Rui, Jade burial suit, Liu Sheng (Southern Han), Nine Ministers, Red Eyebrows, Wang Mang

H ◀ G

HAI Rui Hǎi Ruì 海瑞 1514–1587 Ming dynasty official

Hai Rui 海瑞 (1514–1587) was a scholar and bu- and shaming prominent figures who sought special treat- reaucrat who served in the late Ming Dynasty ment in his jurisdiction. (1368–1644). He was known for his stern ethi- Hai was soon promoted to a minor post in the Min- cal positions and his unswerving rectitude, re- istry of Revenue at the capital. In 1565, Hai got into trou- ble for writing a scathing admonition to the emperor, maining an icon of political incorruptibility attacking his personal morals, accusing him of misrule, for the rest of Chinese history. and urging him to reform his ways. For Hai’s lese- majeste (crime committed against a sovereign power) he was imprisoned and only narrowly escaped execution. After ai Rui was a civil official of the late Ming dynasty his release Hai Rui continued to be appointed to promi- (1368–1644), famous for his uncompromising nent positions in the bureaucracy, although he was given moral stance and his Spartan lifestyle. In an mostly sinecure positions that limited the reach of his era when civil servants commonly enriched themselves stern moralism. through their official positions, Hai was hailed as a para- In 1569, after begging the emperor to give him a gon of the idealistic Confucian values of incorruptible more substantial position, Hai was assigned to the post service to the people and the state. According to his offi- of governor of the Southern Metropolitan District, the cial biography, he was so frugal that his purchase of some prosperous region around Suzhou and Nanjing. Again pork for his mother’s birthday was treated as sensational he quickly lived up to his reputation, imposing a stern news. A minor figure in Ming history, Hai Rui remained regimen of austerity and moral rectitude on his new a model of public-minded virtue for the rest of Chinese jurisdiction. Official business was conducted with great history. frugality, and the manufacture of luxury goods was for- Hai Rui never passed the highest level of the civil ser- bidden. In his zealous efforts to fight the exploitation vice examinations, and it was rare for a scholar to rise in of commoners, Hai launched campaigns against ex- the bureaucracy without doing so. His promotions were ploitive practices by wealthy landlords, many of whom based largely on his moral reputation. After serving as a had ties to the most prominent political families in the schoolteacher, he was appointed to a magistrate’s position empire. in Shun’an County in Zhejiang Province, an important The memory of Hai Rui resurfaced in the late 1950s crossroads for commercial activity. As such, the region when Wu Han (1909–1969), a prominent historian and was prone to exploitation of the local populace by local deputy mayor of Beijing, wrote the play The Dismissal of officials and byhigh- ranking travelers who expected luxu- Hai Rui, which was performed in 1961 in Beijing. Hai Rui rious treatment. Hai earned a reputation for challenging was portrayed as a moral official willing to speak truth to

Hai Rui Scolds the Emperor

In his 1959 essay “Hai Rui Scolds the Emperor” the his- The dynasty’s officials know that the people torian Wu Han quoted the 1566 petition that Hai Rui have been dissatisfied with you for some time. By wrote to the Jiajing emperor which harshly criticized the engaging in occultism and searching for immortal- emperor’s governance and proposed drastic reform: ity, you have confused yourself. Your shortcomings are numerous: rudeness, short-temperedness, self- ow would you compare yourself with Emperor righteousness, and deafness to honest criticism. But HWen Di of the Han dynasty? You did a fairly good worst of all is your search for immortality ... You job in your early years, but what has happened to you should realize the impossibility of achieving immor- now? For nearly twenty years you have not appeared in tality and repent past mistakes. You should attend the imperial court, and you have appointed many fools the imperial court regularly and discuss national af- to the government. By refusing to see your own sons, fairs with your court officials. This is the only way to you are mean to you own blood; by suspecting court redeem yourself. By doing so you may still be able officials, you are mean to your subordinates; and by liv- to make yourself useful to the country during your ing in the Western Park refusing to come home, you are remaining years. mean to your wife. Now the country is filled with cor- The most urgent problems today are the absurdity rupt officials and weak generals; peasants begin to re- of imperial policies and the lack of clarity of official volt everywhere. Although such things happened when responsibilities. If you do not tackle these problems you were enthroned, they were not as serious as they are now, nothing will be accomplished. today. Now Yan Gao has resigned [as Grand Minister], Source: de Bary, W. T., & Lufrano, R. (2000). Sources of Chi- but there is still no sign of social reform. In my judg- nese tradition, vol. 2. New York: Columbia University Press, ment you are much inferior to Emperor Wen Di ... 472–473. a power hierarchy that was out of touch with the common Further Reading people, a clear and harsh allegorical indictment of the up- Huang, Ray. (1981). 1587, a year of no significance: The per echelons of the Communist Party. Official criticism Ming dynasty in decline. New Haven, CT: Yale Uni- of Wu and his play began in 1965, and his scholarly circle versity Press. was purged and imprisoned the next year in the opening Fang Chaoying. (1976). Hai Jui. In L. Carrington Goo- salvo of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). drich & Fang Chaoying (Eds.). Dictionary of Ming biography, vol. 1 (pp. 474–479). New York: Columbia Peter B. DITMANSON University Press.

Haier ▶

Han Dynasty Hàn cháo 汉朝 206 bce–220 ce

One of the most dynamic periods of Chinese and landowning dynasty class widened, and the wealthy history, the Han dynasty was a time of politi- became more independent and relied less on the central cal consolidation, military and economic ex- government. Overexpansion coupled with domestic in- pansion, invention, and empire building. The trigues and foreign pressures led to a political fragmenta- tion and the rise of the Three Kingdoms after 220 ce. dynasty began with the fall of the short-lived The dynastic history is divided into two periods: the Qin dynasty (221–206 bce) after a widespread Former Han dynasty (Qianhan 前汉) or Western Han insurgency by peasants, soldiers, and nobles dynasty (Xi Han 西汉), conventionally 206 b c e – 24 ce, led by military commander Xiang Yu. seated at Chang’an; and the Later (or Latter) Han dynasty (Hou Han 后汉) or Eastern Han dynasty (Dong Han

he Han dynasty 汉朝 ruled by the prominent Liu 劉 clan was established in 206 bce and created an empire based on militarism and economic power Great Wall that endured to 220 ce. The Han was preceded by the Qin Silk Road 0 600 mi dynasty (221–206 bce) and was succeeded by the Three 0 600 km Kingdoms period (220–265 ce). The Han dynasty arose following a brief civil war in which the Han defeated a Mongolia Manchuria Qin army in the Wei Valley and established a capital at INNER ASIA Chang’an (western Shaanxi Province). It retained much of the Qin administrative structure but also established R. vassal principalities or kingdoms in some regions. Con- g Korea an fucian ideals of governance, in disfavor during the Qin Hw Yellow Tibet Sea regime, were ultimately reinstated, and Confucian schol- Han R

ars attained prominent status in the civil service. Dur- Wei R. . East e R. tz China g ing the more than four hundred years of Han hegemony, Yan Sea China prospered in agriculture, science and technology, India Si R. commerce, military expansion, and empire building. Following a brief disruption in the dynastic succession, N the capital was relocated east to Luoyang (Henan Prov- South HAN DYNASTY ince). By the first centuryce , the Han population grew to China Sea 202 BCE–220 CE about 55 million. The gap between a peasant proletariat 985 T Copyright © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC 986 Berkshire Encyclopedia of China 中國

东汉), 25–220 ce, was seated at Luoyang. Scholars em- retained great political power; Hui Di reigned from 194– ploy the Western and Eastern Han designations to avoid 188 bce and was replaced by infant rulers under her con- confusion with the Later Han dynasty of the period of trol (Shao Di Gong, 188–184 bce, and Shao Di Hong, the Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms (907–960 ce). 184–180 bce). When she died in 180 bce, administrators The Former or Western Han period had fifteen rulers who restored the Liu clan and named Wen Di as monarch. He succeeded in an orderly manner. The era between the pe- brought an era of economic prosperity in government riods, the Xin dynasty of Wang Mang (9–23 ce), was tu- and social reform, but was opposed by princes of the multuous until succession resumed under the Eastern or imperial family. Barbarians from the north (Xiongnu) Later Han, a period marked by fourteen sovereigns as the conducted cavalry raids into Han territory but were re- dynasty moved toward collapse. pulsed by Han armies, and a peaceful, albeit transitory, When Han dynasty sovereigns took office, they were alliance was eventually negotiated. Wen was succeeded identified by their personal names but are posthumously by his son, known as Jing Di (156–141 bce), who faced a designated by their imperial names, conventionally Han serious uprising known as the Revolt of the Seven King- plus the posthumous name. The title of “Emperor” is a doms in the year 154 bce, which was led by princes of convenient Western descriptor. To complicate this du- the imperial family who had gained wealth and power in ality of names for an individual, after 179 bce there are southern Han territory. Because of the threat of the accu- era names assigned to the periods of reign; a single ruler mulation of power by these feudal princes, Emperor Wen might have numerous eras within his reign (for exam- and his successor deprived them of the right to appoint ple, Wu Di, 140–87 bce, had eleven era names within his their own ministers and forced the princes to divide their reign). But for conciseness, only the posthumous names lands among their sons, thereby diluting their resources are used hereafter. for potential future uprisings. Emperor Jing Di’s son, Wu Di, took office in 140 bce and remained in power until 87 bce. Central powers Former or Western were reinforced, skilled officials recruited, and the Qin calendar and emblems abandoned. He also enhanced and Han: 206 b c e –23 c e greatly expanded road and riverine communications sys- Widespread insurgency by peasants, soldiers, and tems for political and economic control. This was an era nobles led by a military commander named Xiang Yu of great military expansion into Korea and Central Asia, against the Qin dynasty (221–206 bce) resulted in that attacks on the Xiongnu, initial economic prosperity, tax monarch’s death and the formation of the Han dynasty reduction, and China’s lip-service adoption of Confucian- in 206 bce. Xiang Yu divided the country into nineteen ism, displacing Daoism. A Grand School (taixue, a kind feudal kingdoms. But he lacked political acumen and of university) was created, and essays called Five Classics Liu Bang (who posthumously became Emperor Gao (separate books on changes, documents, odes, rites, and Zu) gained control and became sovereign from 202– annals) became the official moral and political ideology of 195 bce. Some scholars date the Han dynasty to the fall the state. The colonization of the northwest frontier south of the Qin in 206 or to the ascendancy of Gao Zu in 202. of the Gobi Desert during his reign involved the transfer He consolidated Han power and reorganized the coun- of an estimated two million colonists from the east. But try into ten feudal states. Three administrative branches this fifty-year period of foreign adventures, war and ter- of ex-Qin governance were retained: chief counselor ritorial expansion, and domestic expenditures—notably (chengxiang), grand marshal (taiwei), and inspector- for extravagant diplomacy and a magnificentcourt— left in-chief (yushi dafu). The chief counselor ruled nine the empire in a state of unrest and the treasury greatly chief ministers and oversaw thirteen governmental diminished. departments. At the age of eight, Wu Di’s son became sovereign (87– Emperor Gao Zu was succeeded by his son Hui Di, 74 bce); during his reign as Zhao Di, the government was although Gao Zu’s widow (a member of the rival Lu clan) administered ably by Minister Ho Kuang. A grandson of

Horses and cart from the Han dynasty tombs, Mancheng County, He- bei Province. The burial goods give a glimpse into life in Hebei Province during the Western Han dynasty. Photo by Paul and Bernice Noll.

Emperor Wu Di, Liu He (Prince of Changyi) was to suc- Xin Dynasty: 9–23 c e ceed to the throne, but he did not follow appropriate pro- tocols in mourning his predecessor and was stripped of The dynastic succession was interrupted by Wang Mang, the office by Ho Kuang. Therefore, he was replaced by Wu who established the Xin dynasty (9–23 ce). His radical Di’s great-grandson, who became Xuan Di (73–48 bce). reforms during this interregnum were ineffective. The His reign was one of great prosperity in agriculture and nephew of the widow of the sovereign Yuan Di, he was foreign relations; notably, the Xiongnu accepted Han sov- eventually overthrown by a peasant secret society called ereignty. By the first century bce, the capital, Chang’an, “Red Eyebrows” (so-called because they painted their reached its greatest extent. Rectangular in shape and laid eyebrows red) and killed in 22 ce by an army of nobles out on a north-south axis, it housed palaces, administra- under the leadership of Geng Shi Di (23–25 ce). tive buildings, arsenals, two large markets, and elite resi- dences, and was protected by a 25-kilometer wall around the perimeter. Next to Rome, it was the largest city in the Eastern or Later world at its time. Han: 25–220 c e Emperor Yuan Di (48–33 bce), son of the previous sovereign, diminished government expenses, expanded Guang Wu Di of the Later or Eastern Han, an educated welfare for the peasants, and promoted Confucians and Confucian scholar who served as emperor from 25 ce to eunuchs to high offices. But he erred in granting great 57 ce, won the support of other aristocratic clans who dom- power to his Wang-clan maternal relatives and enhanced inated Han society and established great estates worked the authority of the eunuch secretaries, thereby diluting by tenant farmers and slaves. Based on the accumulation central authority and setting a precedent that would re- of wealth and supported by a bureaucracy drawn for these sult in the demise of the dynasty. Yuan Di’s son, known as supporters, he moved the capital eastward to Luoyang (in Cheng Di (32–7 bce) was a weak ruler who further gave present-day Henan Province) in the year 25 ce. The city additional control to the Wang clan. Three other short- was organized along a north-south axis, encompassed term sovereigns (Ai Di, 7–1 bce; Ping Di, 1 b c e – 5 ce; and about four square miles, and would become one of the larg- Emperor Ruzi Ying, 6–8 ce) were ineffective rulers. est cities of the ancient world, with a population exceeding

one-half million. It functioned as an administrative and “Yellow Turbans,” began in 184 ce and served to unite the commercial center and international marketplace. Two divided peasant factions. But the defeat of these revolu- palace complexes each covered 125 acres. There were sepa- tionaries further weakened the dynasty and did not result rate wards or districts for foreigners (usually merchants or in Han China returning to a united state. Dong Zhou, a envoys from other lands). Central Asian envoys came in military dictator, arranged for the succession of eight-year 94 ce, west Asian jugglers in the year 122 ce, and Japanese old Xian Di (189–220 ce). A series of warlords succeeded diplomats in 57 ce and 107 ce; economic links with Rome Dong Zhou following his assassination in 192 ce. Ts’ao are documented in 166 ce. The central government be- Ts’ao gained control and was opposed by other militarists came weaker and relied more on private armies for the pro- who controlled the western and southern regions of the tection of the state. Guang Wu Di’s son, known as Ming Di disintegrating empire. Upon his death in 220 ce, the three ( 5 8 – 7 5 ce) initiated the conquest of Turkestan, but upon regions emerged as independent polities called the Three his death, Zhang Di (76–88 ce) succeeded to the throne Kingdoms, and the Han dynasty came to an ignomini- and favored an isolationist policy for the homeland. By this ous end. time, the dynasty was in disarray and a succession of minor rulers became sovereigns (He Di, 89–105 ce; Shang Di, in the year 106 ce; An Di, 106–125 ce; Shao Di, the Marquess Han Sociopolitical of Beixiang, in 125 ce; and Shun Di, 125–144 ce). By the Organization year 100 ce, Buddhism, which likely had reached China in 60 ce and is documented in the form of rock carvings The Han bureaucracy was both centralized and local, with at the site of Kungwangshan in Jiangsu Province, began the former including cabinet officials (called Three Lords to make inroads into Han Chinese culture. An Qing (also and Nine Ministers), led by a chancellor who was also known as Anshigao), a Buddhist missionary from Parthia, one of the lords. During the Western Han period, there was active in the Luoyang area in 148 ce. As political cor- were local administrative levels, approximately 1,180 sub- ruption led to internal struggles for power and divided the prefectures, and counties; governors of the latter had great peasantry, the succeeding sovereigns (Chong Di, 144–145 autonomy and were delegated legal, economic, and mili- ce; Zhi Di, 145–146 ce; Huan Di, 146–168 ce; and Ling tary authority by the central government, including pow- Di, 168–189 ce) were weak emperors. A revolt, led by the ers of taxation and conscripting corvée labor. Slaves were

The jade burial suit of Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of the Zhongshan State. Liu Sheng was the son of Emperor Jing Di and half brother of Emperor Wu Di. The tomb was found in the Han Dynasty tombs in Mancheng County, Hebei Province. Liu Sheng’s wife, Empress Douwan, was similarly buried in a nearby tomb. Photo by Paul and Bernice Noll.

northern Afghanistan and eastern Persia (Iran). The conquest of Dayuan (the Ferghana Valley and adjacent regions in Central Asia) in 101 bce gave the Han the opportunity to seize long-legged “celestial” horses (tianms); unlike the Han’s short-legged Mongolian ponies, they greatly enhanced the Han cavalry speed and mobility. There was a no- table military campaign in Xinjiang (Chinese Turkestan) in 73 ce to maintain the trading monopoly. The so-called Silk Roads (a series of east-west and north-south commercial routes used for millennia) facilitated caravan trade between China and the West, notably for the export of Chinese silk, gold, bronze artifacts, and porcelain. In return, the Chi- nese received woolen fabrics, glass, pottery, spices, grapes, wine, sesame, pomegranates, alfalfa, and a variety of other Western foods. A tribute system developed in which non- Chinese polities remained autonomous in exchange for a symbolic acceptance of the Han as overlords. Sima Qian (145–87 or 80 bce), a Chinese historian, wrote Records of the Great Historian (also called Historians Records or Shiji), which was facilitated by the invention of paper; this was the initial attempt to document Chinese history in book form. This 116-chapter work set a standard for government-sponsored histories that continued into the twentieth century. The compilation of encyclopedias and other books, such as Book of the Mountains and Seas (a geography and natural history), expanded education and A model well from a Han tomb. Han funerary the rise of literate gentry. The arts, including calligraphy objects often included the essential items of daily (with texts on wooden and bamboo slips or on silk), po- life. Photo by Joan Lebold Cohen. etry, literature, philosophy, music, painting, and mural art flourished, as did medicine and alchemy and imperial cults oriented to magic and sorcery. both private and state-owned. Officials were appointed to office on the basis of skills rather than clan affiliation. A professional civil service developed, and record-keeping Han Economic Organization enhanced the ability of the emperor to tax his subjects and expand the empire. Since 119 bce, the state sought to monopolize the pro- The Han empire expanded to encompass most of duction of iron and salt, and less so copper working and present-day Mongolia and continued westward to Lake Bai- silk weaving, which remained in both private and fed- kal (in present- day southern Siberia) , eastward to northern eral hands. Iron tools, especially the swing plow drawn Korea and Japan, and southeast to Gansu and Vietnam. Han by yoked oxen, allowed agricultural productivity and ex- political and cultural influence extended westward through pansion, which necessitated the construction of irrigation the Tarim Basin (the modern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous systems (dams, dikes, and canals). Crop rotation was prac- Region) and portions of central Asia, notably most of the ticed from 85 bce onwards. Chinese inventions during this former Soviet central Asian states to the Caspian Sea (in- era included paper, porcelain, the compass, water clocks, cluding portions of present-day Kazakhstan, Turkmeni- sundials, astronomical instruments, the seismometer, wa- stan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan), as well as ter wheel, the hydraulic trip-hammer, piston bellows, and

Copyright © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC 990 Berkshire Encyclopedia of China 中國 the forging of steel. Terracotta figures; textiles; gold, silver Hulsewé, A. F. P. (1961). Notes on the historiography of and bronze working (including gilt bronzes); lapidary in the Han period. In W. G. Beasley & E. G. Pulleyblank semiprecious stone; jade carving; wood working; and lac- (Eds.), Historians of China and Japan (pp. 31–43). Ox- quer wares are among the crafts that flourished. Ceramic ford, U.K.: Oxford University Press. spirit models (minqqi) in the form of soldiers, attendants, Kan Lao (Ed.). (1983). The history of the Han dynasty: Selec- entertainers, and other human depictions expanded to tions with a preface (Vols. 1–2). Princeton, NJ: Princ- eton University, Chinese Linguistics Project. include house models, towers, granaries, wells, stoves, Lowe, M. (2000). A biographical dictionary of the Qin, For- farm scenes, and other implements and accoutrements. mer Han and Xin periods (221 bc – ad 24). Leiden, The Scholars interpret these as marking a change from mysti- Netherlands: Brill. cal beliefs regarding the afterlife to a presumption that the Lowe, M. (2004). The men who governed Han China: Com- activities of everyday life would continue after death. Pure panion to a biographical dictionary of the Qin, Former rag paper is known from the second century bce and was Han and Xin periods. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. mass produced by the early first century ce; hemp paper Needham, J. (Ed.). (1954–2005). Science and civilisation was developed in 109 ce. in China (Vols. 1–7). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge By 100 bce, monumental stone sculptures were University Press. erected in public areas and placed on tombs, and by the Pan Ku. (1938–1955). The history of the Former Han dy- first centuryce , clusters of stone monuments and figures nasty: A critical translation with annotations by Homer lined avenues or “spirit roads” leading to imperial tombs H. Dubs with the collaboration of Jen T’ai and P’an Lo- (replacing the terracotta armies of earlier dynasties). chi (Vols. 1–3). Baltimore: Waverly Press. Pirazzoli-t’Serstevens, M. (1982). The Han dynasty(J. Se- Tombs for the imperial family and official and nobility ligman, Trans.).. New York: Rizzoli. contained elaborate burial goods that document the lives T’ung-tsu Ch’u. (J. L. Dull, Ed.). (1972.). Han social struc- of rich landowners and traders in contrast to peasant pov- ture. Seattle: University of Washington Press. erty and slavery. Twitchett, D., & Loewe, M. (Eds.). (1986).The Cambridge The Han created the first centralized state and con- history of China. Vol. 1: The Ch’in and Han Empires, 221 ducted major military expansion into Mongolia, Man- B.C. – A.D. 220. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univer- churia, Korea and Central Asia, as well as advances into sity Press. Southeast Asia. The period was characterized by technical Yee, C. (1994). Cartography in China. In J. B. Harley & progress and economic expansion that enhanced merchants D. Woodward (Eds.), The history of cartography, 2(2): and gentry. Culturally this was the zenith of classical stud- cartography in the traditional East and Southeast Asian ies and an intellectual renaissance with courtly literature, societies (pp. 71–95, Maps of Han Political Culture, pp. scholastic philosophy, and the performing and graphic arts 74–80). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. including music, theater, painting, and textiles. Yu Ying-shih. (1967). Trade and expansion in Han China. Berkeley: University of California Press. Charles C. KOLB Wang Zhongshu. (1982). Han civilization (K. C. Chang, Trans.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Wilbur, C. M. (1943). Slavery in China during the Former Further Reading Han dynasty: 206 B.C.– A.D. 25. Fieldiana Anthropol- Cho-yun Hsu. (1980). Han agriculture: The formation of ogy 34. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. early Chinese agrarian economy (206 b.c. – a.d. 220). Wilkinson, E. (2000). Chinese history: A manual (Rev. (J. L. Dull, Ed.). Seattle: University of Washington ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Cen- Press. ter for the Harvard-Yenching Institute. de Crespigny, R. (2006). A biographical dictionary of Later Xu Pingfang. (2005). The formation of the empire by the Han to the Three Kingdoms (23– 220 ad). Leiden, The Qin and Han dynasties and the unification of China. Netherlands: Brill. In K. C. Chang & Xu Pingfang (S. Allen, Ed.), The Fairbank, J. K. & Goldman, M. (2006). China: A new his- formation of Chinese civilization: An archaeological tory (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of perspective (pp. 249–285). New Haven, CT: Yale Uni- Harvard University Press. versity Press.

Han Rhapsodists ▶