Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang (57–88) 71

Chapter 2 Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang (57–88)

Chronology Imperial Succession The Government of Emperor Ming The Government of Emperor Zhang and the Boy from the Harem

Chronology

57 death of Xiu, Emperor Guangwu; accession of Liu Zhuang, Emperor Ming 57–59 First War with the Shaodang Qiang 59 inauguration of the Three Enclosures and the Suburban Altars at 60 appointment of the Empress Ma and of the Heir Liu Da 61 disgrace of Dou Mu and members of his family 65 first appointment of a General Who Crosses the Liao, north of the Ordos Emperor Ming praises his brother Liu Ying, King of Chu, for his knowl- edge of Huang-Lao and his practice of Buddhism 66 establishment of the Palace School for Noble Families 67 forced suicide of Liu Jing, brother of Emperor Ming 69 submission of the Ailao people in the southwest 70 Liu Ying deposed for Impiety; a great purge of his alleged associates 71 Emperor Ming promulgates his Detailed Commentary Wu[xing]jia yaoshuo zhangju 73 expedition against the Northern Xiongnu 74 Dou Gu takes Jushi in the Turfan region; establishment of a Protectorate- General for the Western Regions; Ban Chao on the Southern Route of the Silk Road 75 destruction of the Protectorate-General by the Northern Xiongnu; Ban Chao maintains himself at Shule death of Emperor Ming and accession of Liu Da, Emperor Zhang 77–101 Second Shaodang Wars, first against Miyu and then against Mitang 78 appointment of the Empress Dou 79–80 conference at the White Tiger Hall

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004325203_006 72 Chapter 2

82 disgrace and deaths of the Honoured Ladies Song and dismissal of the Heir Liu Qing; Liu Zhao, son of the Honoured Lady Liang, is appointed Heir 83 disgrace of the Liang family; the Heir Liu Zhao is adopted by the Empress Dou defeat of an imperial army by the Qiang chieftain Miyu 87 defeat and death of the Northern Shanyu at the hands of the Xianbi murder of the Qiang leader Miyu; his son Mitang launches attacks in revenge 88 death of Emperor Zhang and accession of Liu Zhao, Emperor He

Imperial Succession

The Annals of Hou Han shu record that Liu Xiu, founder of the restored dynasty of Han, performed the great Feng and Shan sacrifices at Mount Tai in the spring of 56, and that after his return to Luoyang he issued an amnesty for the empire and declared a new reign-title. When he had claimed the imperial throne in 25 AD he took the reign-title Jianwu “Establishing [Virtuous] War;” it now changed to Jianwu zhongyuan “Middle Beginning,” inaugurating a new era of prosperity under the restored dynasty.1 Twelve months later, however, on the wuxu day of the second month of the second year of the new reign period, equivalent to 29 March 57, Emperor Guangwu died. Officially, the emperor breathed his last in the Front Hall of the Southern Palace, but we may assume he had some privacy in his last moments, and his body was brought to public display only after life was extinct. Then the funer- ary ritual commenced.2 As women wept and the court held solemn wake in mourning white, the corpse was washed, placed in a great bath of ice to aid

1 HHS 1B:82 and Chapter 1 at 33. The Feng and Shan sacrifices of Guangwu are described by HHS 97/7:3161–70; discussed by Bielenstein, RHD IV, 173–180. 建武中元: the full reign title is given by the Treatise of Sacrifices at HHS 97/7:3170; Bielenstein, RHD IV, 235 note 115. Common refer- ence is made, however, simply to Zhongyuan. 2 The procedure for accession is set out by the Treatise of Ceremonial at HHS 96/6:3141–49. The Treatises were compiled by Sima Biao of the third century as part of his Xu Han shu; the sixth- century scholar and commentator Liu Zhao combined them with the Annals and liezhuan of the Hou Han shu of Fan Ye to form the present standard history: Bielenstein, RHD I, 12 and 16–17, and Mansvelt Beck, Treatises, 1–3 and 32–35. On the reliability of the accounts of cere­ monies in the Treatise, see Mansvelt Beck’s comments below at 75. On the likelihood that a ruler was brought to public view only at the time or immediately after his death see Bielenstein, Lo-yang, 25.