Copyright © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC 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 by high-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 973 H Copyright © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC 974 Berkshire Encyclopedia of China 中 國 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 ▶ Copyright © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC ◀ Han 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.