University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2012 Dynamics of Disintegration: The Later Han Empire (25-220CE) & Its Northwestern Frontier Wai Kit Wicky Tse University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Asian History Commons, Asian Studies Commons, and the Military History Commons Recommended Citation Tse, Wai Kit Wicky, "Dynamics of Disintegration: The Later Han Empire (25-220CE) & Its Northwestern Frontier" (2012). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 589. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/589 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/589 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Dynamics of Disintegration: The Later Han Empire (25-220CE) & Its Northwestern Frontier Abstract As a frontier region of the Qin-Han (221BCE-220CE) empire, the northwest was a new territory to the Chinese realm. Until the Later Han (25-220CE) times, some portions of the northwestern region had only been part of imperial soil for one hundred years. Its coalescence into the Chinese empire was a product of long-term expansion and conquest, which arguably defined the egionr 's military nature. Furthermore, in the harsh natural environment of the region, only tough people could survive, and unsurprisingly, the region fostered vigorous warriors. Mixed culture and multi-ethnicity featured prominently in this highly militarized frontier society, which contrasted sharply with the imperial center that promoted unified cultural values and stood in the way of a greater degree of transregional integration. As this project shows, it was the northwesterners who went through a process of political peripheralization during the Later Han times played a harbinger role of the disintegration of the empire and eventually led to the breakdown of the early imperial system in Chinese history. In this study, the author adopts a regional perspective by focusing on the role of the northwestern frontier region vis-Ã -vis the imperial center to explain the collapse of the Later Han empire. The author emphasizes the role that regional conflicts played in the decline and fall of the dynasty, and paid particular attention to the incompatibility between the militarized culture of the northwest and the civil values promoted by the imperial center, which was dominated by the eastern-based scholar-officials. Through this analysis, the author provides a case study of the relationship between the imperial center and the regions with different cultures and identities, and the variations of the conception of such a relationship in the period of early imperial China. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group East Asian Languages & Civilizations First Advisor Paul R. Goldin Keywords early Chinese empire, Eastern Han, Later Han, Northwestern frontier, regional cultures Subject Categories Asian History | Asian Studies | Military History This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/589 DYNAMICS OF DISINTEGRATION: THE LATER HAN EMPIRE (25-220CE) & ITS NORTHWESTERN FRONTIER Wai Kit Wicky Tse A DISSERTATION in East Asian Languages and Civilizations Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2012 Supervisor of Dissertation: Paul R. Goldin, Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations Graduate Group Chairperson: Nancy S. Steinhardt, Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations Dissertation Committee Paul R. Goldin, Professor, East Asian Languages and Civilizations Arthur Waldron, Professor, History Lynn Hollen Lees, Professor, History DYNAMICS OF DISINTEGRATION: THE LATER HAN EMPIRE (25-220CE) & ITS NORTHWESTERN FRONTIER COPYRIGHT © 2012 Wai Kit Wicky Tse iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks are due first to my dissertation committee members, Professors Paul R. Goldin, Arthur Waldron, and Lynn Hollen Lees; without their guidance, kindness, and unfailing support, this dissertation would not have been completed. I would also like to thank Professor Nancy S. Steinhardt, the graduate group chair, for her various generous help over the years I studied at the University of Pennsylvania. I am deeply grateful for the endless support and encouragement from my former mentors at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Professor Ming-chiu Lai encouraged me to expand my focus to the Han dynasties and suggested I work on regional cultures of early imperial China; Professor Hung-lam Chu, now at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, endorsed my intellectual pursuits and inspired my interest in political culture of imperial China. Another debt of gratitude is to Professor Alex Kwong-yue Cheung, now at Hang Seng Management College, who has generously given his support to me. I wish to acknowledge an unquantifiable debt I owe two scholars. The late Professor Shui-lung Tsang (1961-2003) first kindled my interest in studying military history while I was an undergraduate student. His works set a new standard in the field of Chinese military history, and I benefited greatly from his classes, works, ideas, and insights. The iv constant encouragement and help that I received from the late Professor Hok-lam Chan (1938-2011) were of untold value. Since my days of studying at the CUHK until his untimely demise, Professor Chan’s guidance and support were never lacking. Late in his life, he was still deeply concerned about my academic progress and spent time on reading my dissertation proposal and other writings. If the completion of dissertation is an accomplishment, it is an achievement that I would like to dedicate to him. Special gratitude is due to Dr. Peter Lorge, continues to be a great friend, who first advised me to apply for the graduate program at UPenn and constantly cares about my life in a foreign country. I would also like to thank him for reading the draft of my dissertation and making invaluable comments and suggestions. In writing this dissertation, I have benefited greatly from the valuable suggestions given by the participants of the dissertation workshop organized by Dr. Siyen Fei. They contributed greatly toward the manuscript’s improvement on many matters. Dr. Lala Zuo and Ms. Anna Sijie Ren are responsible for preparing the maps. This would be a less interesting work were it not for their assistance. I am grateful for their time and input. I owe Dr. Genevieve Leung my most grateful thanks for her meticulous reading and editing of the manuscript; without her effort, it would take me much more time to complete this v dissertation. Of course, I remain singularly responsible for any errors that may appear in this work. For the past four years, I have received financial support from the Benjamin Franklin fellowship awarded by the University of Pennsylvania and the fellowship generously given by Earhart Foundation. In addition, I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to the staff of the EALC general office: Linda Greene, Peggy Guinan, and Diane Moderski, for assisting me in multiple ways during my time at UPenn. Thank you also to all the individuals who have offered me good wishes, friendship, and encouragement in the past few years: Yuk-fai Li, Songqiao Wong, Jenny Tse, Vannese Tang, Jimmy T. C. Ngai, Stephen Mak, Wai-kei Leung, Wing-kit Leung, and King-yeung Chan in Hong Kong; David Jianwei Zhang and Yanjie Zhao in mainland China; Lu Zhao, Miki Morita, Yilise Lin, and Sarah Basham in the United States of America; and Dr. Yanchuan Cai in Great Britain. On a personal level, I cannot thank my mother enough for all her love, sacrifice, support, and understanding over the years. I am no less grateful to my brother Dicky. Last but not the least, I owe a special debt to Gladys. Without her patient, warm affection, and staunch support, I may not have sustained the stamina to achieve anything. vi ABSTRACT DYNAMICS OF DISINTEGRATION: THE LATER HAN EMPIRE (25-220CE) & ITS NORTHWESTERN FRONTIER Wai Kit Wicky Tse Paul R. Goldin As a frontier region of the Qin-Han (221BCE-220CE) empire, the northwest was a new territory to the Chinese realm. Until the Later Han (25-220CE) times, some portions of the northwestern region had only been part of imperial soil for one hundred years. Its coalescence into the Chinese empire was a product of long-term expansion and conquest, which arguably defined the region’s military nature. Furthermore, in the harsh natural environment of the region, only tough people could survive, and unsurprisingly, the region fostered vigorous warriors. Mixed culture and multi-ethnicity featured prominently in this highly militarized frontier society, which contrasted sharply with the imperial center that promoted unified cultural values and stood in the way of a greater degree of transregional integration. As this project shows, it was the northwesterners who went through a process of political peripheralization during the Later Han times played a harbinger role of the disintegration of the empire and eventually led to the breakdown of vii the early imperial system in Chinese history. In this study, the author adopts a regional perspective by focusing on the role of the northwestern frontier region vis-à-vis the imperial center to explain the collapse of the Later Han empire. The author emphasizes the role that regional conflicts played in the decline and fall of the dynasty, and paid particular attention to the