Misplaced Pages

#474525

57-629: Jianning (建宁/建寧) may refer to: Jianning (168–172), an era name used by Emperor Ling of Han Places in China [ edit ] Jianning County , a county in Fujian Jianning Subdistrict , a subdistrict of Lusong District in Zhuzhou, Hunan Jianning Township , a township in Gaoping , Shanxi Historical places [ edit ] Jianning,

114-458: A daughter of his cousin, the Princess Piyang ( 沘陽公主 ), and great-granddaughter of the statesman Dou Rong ( 竇融 ), as consort. He greatly loved her, and in 78, he created Consort Dou empress. In 79, Empress Dowager Ma, who had given him much good counsel, died. Even after her death, Emperor Zhang did not honor his birth mother Consort Jia as his mother, but merely permitted her to take on

171-624: A faction led by Empress Dowager Dou 's father, Dou Wu , and the Confucian scholar-official Chen Fan in October 168. After reaching adulthood, Emperor Ling was not interested in state affairs and preferred to indulge in women and a decadent lifestyle. At the same time, corrupt officials in the Han government levied heavy taxes on the peasants. He exacerbated the situation by introducing a practice of selling political offices for money; this practice severely damaged

228-521: A hall within the western gardens and filled it with treasures and silk taken from the agriculture department. He also visited his birthplace in Hejian Commandery , where he acquired land and used it to build mansions and towers. As Emperor Ling came from a relatively poor background as a lesser marquis, he had a strong desire to accumulate as much personal wealth as possible – especially after he saw that his predecessor, Emperor Huan, did not leave behind

285-431: A large family fortune for him. He drew his wealth not just from the imperial treasuries, but also from the low-ranking eunuchs who attended to him. Emperor Ling often said, "Regular Attendant Zhang (Rang) is my father, Regular Attendant Zhao (Zhong) is my mother." As the eunuchs were highly trusted and favoured by Emperor Ling, they behaved lawlessly and abused their power. They even built lavish mansions for themselves in

342-532: A major Taoist rebel movement had started in Ji Province – the Taiping Sect ( 太平教 ), led by Zhang Jiao , who claimed he had magical powers to heal the sick. By 183, his teachings and followers had spread to eight of the empire's thirteen provinces – Ji, Qing , Xu , You , Jing , Yang , Yan , and Yu . Several key imperial officials became concerned about Zhang Jiao's hold over his followers, and suggested that

399-491: A powerful eunuch whom he trusted, Jian Shuo , wanted to first kill Empress He's brother, General-in-Chief He Jin , and then make Liu Xie emperor, and therefore set up a trap at a meeting he was to have with He Jin. He Jin found out, and peremptorily declared Liu Bian emperor. Consorts and Issue: Emperor Zhang of Han Emperor Zhang of Han ( Chinese : 漢章帝 ; pinyin : Hàn Zhāngdì ; Wade–Giles : Han Chang-ti ; 56 – 9 April 88 ), born Liu Da ( 劉炟 ),

456-578: A son named Liu Qing , and because Empress Dou was sonless, Prince Qing was made crown prince in 79. The Consorts Song were greatly favored by Empress Dowager Ma. Later in 79, however, Empress Dou would (perhaps remembering Empress Dowager Ma's example) adopt the son of another imperial consort, Consort Liang , Liu Zhao , as her own son, and she plotted, along with her mother Princess Piyang and her brothers, to have her adopted son made crown prince. After Empress Dowager Ma's death, she put her plan into action. She had her brothers collect dossiers on faults of

513-473: A son to succeed him, his empress, Empress Dou , became empress dowager , and she examined the genealogy of the imperial clan to choose a candidate to be the next emperor. For reasons unknown, her assistant Liu Shu ( 劉儵 ) recommended Liu Hong, the Marquis of Jiedu Village. After consulting with her father Dou Wu and the Confucian scholar-official Chen Fan , Empress Dowager Dou installed a 12-year-old Liu Hong on

570-400: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Emperor Ling of Han Emperor Ling's reign saw another repetition of corrupt eunuchs dominating the eastern Han central government, as was the case during his predecessor's reign. Zhang Rang , the leader of the eunuch faction (十常侍), managed to dominate the political scene after defeating

627-444: The end of the Han dynasty in 220. Then-Prince Da was born to then-Crown Prince Liu Zhuang and one of his consorts, Consort Jia , in 56. As Crown Prince Zhang's favorite, Consort Ma – Consort Jia's aunt (her mother's sister) – had no sons, so on Crown Prince Zhang's instruction, Consort Ma adopted Prince Da as her own son. Prince Da therefore grew up considering Consort Ma as his mother, and while he clearly knew that Consort Jia

SECTION 10

#1733084725475

684-521: The Administrator ( 太守 ) of Julu Commandery ( 鉅鹿郡 ). As he had a reputation for being an honest official, he was required to pay less – three million maces . Upon receiving the order, he lamented, "I should be like a parent to the common people, but I have been forced to exploit them to satisfy (the Emperor's) needs. I can't bear to do this." He attempted to resign, claiming that he was ill, but his request

741-803: The Dong clan began to enter government, but did not have substantial influence. Later that year, the eunuchs persuaded Emperor Ling that the "partisans" (i.e., Confucian officials and those who supported them) were plotting against him, and a large number of partisans were arrested and killed; the others had their civil liberties stripped completely, in an event historically known as the second Disaster of Partisan Prohibitions . Empress Dowager Dou died in 172. Despite suggestions by eunuchs to have her only buried as an imperial consort and not be honoured as Emperor Huan's wife, Emperor Ling had her buried with full honours befitting an empress dowager in Emperor Huan's mausoleum. In

798-662: The Dous further submitted false anonymous accusations against the Consorts Liang's father Liang Song ( 梁竦 ), causing him to die in prison. The Consorts Liang died of sadness and fear. The Dous, having made these power play, would eventually gain their goals of becoming even more powerful than they were. Also in 83, Emperor Zhang, having seen that his Ma cousins were not following the law, stopped favoring his Ma uncles, and eventually sent them back to their marches . Empress Dou's brothers Dou Xian and Dou Du ( 竇篤 ) effectively took over in

855-538: The Han civil service system and led to widespread corruption. Mounting grievances against the Han government led to the outbreak of the peasant-led Yellow Turban Rebellion in early 184. Emperor Ling's reign left the Eastern Han dynasty weak and on the verge of collapse. After his death, the Han Empire disintegrated in chaos for the subsequent decades as various regional warlords fought for power and dominance. (See End of

912-457: The Han dynasty .) The Han dynasty ended in late 220 when Emperor Ling's son, Emperor Xian , abdicated his throne – an event leading to the start of the Three Kingdoms period in China. Liu Hong was a hereditary marquis – the Marquis of Jiedu Village ( 解瀆亭侯 ). In the Han dynasty, a village marquis's marquisate usually comprised only one village or, in rarer cases, two or three villages. He was

969-599: The Han generals in Xiyu, Ban Chao , seeing the importance of maintaining Han presence in Xiyu, refused to withdraw, and Emperor Zhang eventually relented and put Ban in charge of Han's operations in Xiyu. Being close to his Ma uncles, Emperor Zhang wanted to create them marquesses from the early start of his reign. This was initially rebuffed by Empress Dowager Ma, who found this inappropriate. In 79, however, he created them marquesses over her objection and over their requests to only be made acting marquesses. In 77, Emperor Zhang took

1026-540: The Liang Province forces' contributions to the campaign, they began to be feared and began to look down on troops from all other provinces. During and in the aftermaths of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, many people from other provinces, in order to ward off pillaging by Yellow Turbans or governmental forces, also organised themselves into military groups, and a good number resisted government forces, and even after

1083-469: The Prince of Bohai, of treason and forced him to commit suicide. The members of his entire household, including his wife, concubines, children, assistants and principality officials, were all rounded up and executed. As the Han government became more corrupt, the people received heavier tax burdens. As Emperor Ling grew older, he not only took no remedial action, but continued to tolerate the eunuchs' corruption for

1140-478: The Song clan while bribing the servants and eunuchs of Consorts Song to gather their own faults. In 82, an opportunity came for Empress Dou. The elder Consort Song had become ill, and in her illness, she craved raw cuscuta , and she requested that her family bring them. Empress Dou seized the cuscuta and falsely accused Consort Song of using it for witchcraft. Emperor Zhang was enraged and expelled Crown Prince Qing from

1197-469: The Taiping Sect be disbanded. Emperor Ling did not listen to them. Zhang Jiao had in fact planned a rebellion. He commissioned 36 military commanders, set up a shadow government, and wrote a declaration: "The Azure sky has perished; behold, the Yellow sky will soon rise. When the year is jiazi , there will be prosperity under Heaven!" (Under the traditional Chinese sexagenary cycle calendar method, 184 would be

SECTION 20

#1733084725475

1254-472: The Yellow Turbans were defeated, the central government's control of the provinces was no longer what it used to be. Even after the Yellow Turban Rebellion was suppressed, Emperor Ling did not change his wasteful and corrupt ways. He continued to levy heavy taxes and continued to sell offices. As a result, other agrarian and military rebellions multiplied. In 185, when a fire broke out in the southern part of

1311-434: The aftermaths of her death, a vandal wrote on the palace gate: "All that is under the heaven is in upheaval. Cao and Wang murdered the empress dowager. The key officials only know how to be officials and had nothing faithful to say." The angry eunuchs ordered an investigation which led to over 1,000 arrests, but nothing conclusive was found. In that year, the eunuchs also falsely accused Emperor Huan's brother, Liu Kui ( 劉悝 ),

1368-425: The central government, sought to purge the eunuch faction. Later in 168, they even proposed to exterminate all the powerful eunuchs, a proposal that Empress Dowager Dou rejected. However, word of the plot was leaked, and the eunuchs, after kidnapping the empress dowager and taking the young emperor into custody (after persuading him that it was for his own protection) arrested and executed Chen Fan. Dou Wu resisted but

1425-422: The coming century and a half would yearn for the good days of Emperors Ming and Zhang. (However, part of the strife came from the power obtained by consort kin – and the precedent was set by Emperor Zhang's bestowing of power on both his adoptive mother Empress Dowager Ma 's clan and his wife Empress Dou 's clan.) The strife between the eunuchs and royal factions would start a chain reaction of events that led to

1482-480: The emperor.) She received the position of empress because she bore Emperor Ling a son, Liu Bian ; the emperor had other sons but they died prematurely before Liu Bian's birth. During these years, Emperor Ling became interested in building imperial gardens so he ordered the commandery and principality officials throughout the Han Empire to pay their tributes to him directly, so he could use the money to finance his construction projects. This, in turn, created pressures on

1539-562: The empress, the eunuchs falsely accused Empress Song of using witchcraft to curse Emperor Ling. The emperor believed them and deposed the empress, who was imprisoned and died in despair. Her father, Song Feng ( 宋酆 ), and the rest of her family were exterminated. In 178, Emperor Ling introduced the practice of selling political offices for money – a practice which severely damaged the Han civil service system (chajuzhi, Chinese: 察举) and led to widespread corruption. The people who paid for these positions perpetuated corruption upon taking office. That

1596-721: The eunuchs Song Dian ( 宋典 ) and Bi Lan ( 畢嵐 ) with overseeing new construction projects, including a new palace hall, four large bronze statues, four giant bronze bells and water-spouting animal sculptures, among others. He also ordered coins to be minted and widely circulated. Many people perceived this to be a display of the emperor's extravagance, and pointed to signs showing that the coins will eventually scatter everywhere. This turned out to be true when chaos broke out in Luoyang after Emperor Ling's death. Emperor Ling appointed Zhao Zhong as "General of Chariots of Cavalry" ( 車騎將軍 ) but removed him from office after some 100 days. In 188, under

1653-413: The first year of the cycle, known as jiazi .) Zhang Jiao had his supporters write jiazi in large characters with white talc everywhere they could – including on the doors of government offices in the imperial capital and other cities. One of Zhang Jiao's followers, Ma Yuanyi ( 馬元義 ), plotted with two eunuchs to start an uprising inside the palace. Early in 184, this plot was discovered, and Ma Yuanyi

1710-507: The former name of Zhuzhou Jianning, the former name of Jian'ou Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Jianning . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jianning&oldid=814539302 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

1767-510: The imperial palace, the Ten Attendants suggested to Emperor Ling to levy a tax of ten maces from every mu of farmland to raise funds for rebuilding the palace. Emperor Ling then ordered the officials in Taiyuan ( 太原 ), Hedong ( 河東 ) and Didao ( 狄道 ) commanderies to transport wood and patterned rocks to Luoyang (the imperial capital) as construction materials. When the shipments reached

Jianning - Misplaced Pages Continue

1824-502: The letter that Kong submitted in his own defense and made him an official in his administration. In 86, the first of the Qiang ( 羌 ) rebellions began, and while the Qiang were pacified fairly quickly, this would be bad omen for the decades to come, as the Qiang, mistreated frequently by Han officials, would constantly rebel throughout the rest of the Eastern Han dynasty and become a major factor in

1881-479: The most part. A major defeat of the Han army by the Xianbei tribes in 177 further drained the imperial treasury. In 178, Emperor Ling's wife Empress Song , whom he made empress in 171 but did not favour, fell victim to the eunuchs' treachery. Her aunt, Lady Song, was Liu Kui's wife, so the eunuchs were worried that she would seek vengeance on them. Thus, by collaborating with other imperial consorts who wanted to replace

1938-406: The officials to resort to corrupt practices so they could extract a larger tribute from their jurisdictions for the emperor. In spite of all his flaws, Emperor Ling occasionally heeded good advice from his subjects but was not consistent in doing so. His subjects often found it frustrating to try to convince him on policy issues because he only listened to them when he wanted to. Sometime before 183,

1995-522: The palace by foster parents. Therefore, when Liu Bian was born, he was entrusted to Shi Zimiao ( 史子眇 ), a Taoist, and referred to "Marquis Shi." Later, when Liu Xie was born, he was raised by Emperor Ling's mother, Empress Dowager Dong, and was known as "Marquis Dong." Liu Bian was born of the empress and was older, but Emperor Ling viewed his behaviour as being insufficiently solemn and therefore considered making Liu Xie crown prince , but hesitated and could not decide. When Emperor Ling died later that year,

2052-470: The palace, the eunuchs who received them scolded the labourers for delivering materials of poor quality, and insisted on paying them far below market prices – to as low as a tenth of the market price. They then resold the materials to other eunuchs, who refused to buy. Over time, the accumulated piles of wood started decaying. The construction works were thus delayed for years. In order to please Emperor Ling, some regional officials levied heavier taxes and forced

2109-525: The palace. He had the Consorts Song arrested and interrogated by the eunuch Cai Lun . The Consorts Song saw that they were in deep straits, and they committed suicide by poison. Crown Prince Qing was deposed and created the Prince of Qinghe instead; he was replaced by Prince Zhao as crown prince. Prince Zhao, however, was friendly to his brother, and they often spent time together. The Song sisters would not be Empress Dou's only victims. After Prince Zhao

2166-457: The people to produce greater quantities of construction materials – this led to greater resentment from the common people. Emperor Ling appointed cavalry officers to serve as his messengers whenever he issued orders for things to be delivered to Luoyang. These officers, known as zhongshi (中使; "central emissaries"), abused their power by forcing the regional officials, who were afraid of them, to give them bribes. The appointment of officials below

2223-455: The position of Inspector ( 刺史 ) was decided by the amount of money they could pay to fund the army and palace construction. Before assuming office, these officials had to undergo an assessment to determine their "value". Some who could not afford the required amount committed suicide, while others who refused to take up their appointments were forced into accepting. Around the time, there was one Sima Zhi ( 司馬直 ), who had been newly appointed as

2280-581: The power structure – the first time in Han history that the empress' clan, rather than the empress dowager's clan, was the most powerful consort clan . This trend held sway for the rest of Eastern Han dynasty and would prove to be a source of corruption. However, Emperor Zhang himself remained fairly diligent and open-minded. For example, in 84, when two university students, Kong Xi ( 孔僖 ) and Cui Yin ( 崔駰 ) were accused of improperly criticizing his ancestor Emperor Wu and, by criticizing Emperor Wu, making veiled criticism of Emperor Zhang, Emperor Zhang accepted

2337-436: The same design as the imperial palace. When Emperor Ling once visited Yong'anhou Platform ( 永安侯臺 ), a high viewing platform, the eunuchs were worried that he would see their mansions and become suspicious. Thus, they told him, "Your Majesty shouldn't put yourself on higher ground. If you do so, the people will scatter." The emperor believed them and stopped visiting high towers and viewing platforms. In 186, Emperor Ling tasked

Jianning - Misplaced Pages Continue

2394-428: The style of an imperial prince. After his mother's death, Emperor Zhang continued to be a diligent emperor, but within the palace, there was much struggle between Empress Dou and the other imperial consorts, which would create political instability down the line. While Empress Dowager Ma was alive, she selected two daughters of Song Yang ( 宋楊 ) as consorts for Emperor Zhang. In 78, the elder Consort Song gave birth to

2451-522: The suggestions of Liu Yan , Emperor Ling greatly increased the political and military power of the provincial governors and selected key officials to serve as provincial governors. In 189, as Emperor Ling became critically ill, a succession issue came into being. Emperor Ling had two surviving sons – Liu Bian , the son of Empress He, and Liu Xie , the son of Consort Wang. Because Emperor Ling had, earlier in his life, frequently lost sons in childhood, he later believed that his sons needed to be raised outside

2508-425: The third person in his family to hold this title; his father Liu Chang ( 劉萇 ) and grandfather Liu Shu ( 劉淑 ) were also formerly Marquis of Jiedu Village. His great-grandfather, Liu Kai ( 劉開 ), Prince Xiao of Hejian ( 河間孝王 ), was the sixth son of Emperor Zhang , the third emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty. His mother, Lady Dong , was Liu Chang's formal spouse. When Emperor Huan died on 25 January 168 without

2565-417: The throne on 17 February 168, and continued ruling on his behalf as regent. The newly enthroned Emperor Ling bestowed posthumous titles on his grandfather, father and grandmother, honouring them as emperors and an empress respectively. His mother, Lady Dong, did not become empress dowager and instead received the title of an Honoured Lady . Dou Wu and Chen Fan , who became the most important officials in

2622-600: The title of empress dowager . Emperor Zhang continued his father's hardworking tendencies as emperor, but he was more lenient than his strict father. He sought out honest officials and promoted them, and he himself lived thriftily. He was generally humble and honored the senior officials who had served his grandfather and father faithfully in accordance. In 76, at the suggestion of his advisor Yang Zhong ( 楊終 ) and prime minister Diwu Lun ( 第五倫 ), Emperor Zhang ordered that his father's Xiyu (modern Xinjiang and former Soviet central Asia ) campaigns be abandoned. However, one of

2679-528: Was an emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty from 75 to 88. He was the third emperor of the Eastern Han. Emperor Zhang was a hard-working and diligent emperor. He reduced taxes and paid close attention to all affairs of state. Zhang also reduced government spending as well as promoted Confucianism . As a result, Han society prospered and its culture flourished during this period. Along with his father Emperor Ming , Emperor Zhang's reign has been highly praised and

2736-403: Was denied. When he reached Meng Ford ( 孟津 ) near Luoyang, he wrote a memorial to point out all the problems with the government and cite historical examples to warn the emperor. He then committed suicide by consuming poison. After reading Sima Zhi's memorial, Emperor Ling temporarily stopped collecting funds for rebuilding the palace, but quickly resumed his construction projects later. He built

2793-493: Was eventually defeated and forced to commit suicide. The Dou clan was slaughtered. The powerful eunuchs, led by Cao Jie ( 曹節 ) and Wang Fu ( 王甫 ), became the most powerful individuals in the central government. After the destruction of the Dou clan, in 169, Emperor Ling promoted his mother to the position of empress dowager , though he continued honouring Empress Dowager Dou, now under house arrest, as empress dowager as well. Members of

2850-442: Was exactly what Emperor Ling had in mind: he allowed the officials to pay by instalments after taking office if they could not afford the initial amount. In January 181, Emperor Ling instated Lady He as the new empress and appointed her brother, He Jin , as a key official in his government. (According to legends, she managed to enter Emperor Ling's imperial harem because her family bribed the eunuchs in charge of selecting women for

2907-471: Was his birth mother, he never treated her as his mother. In 57, Prince Da's grandfather Emperor Guangwu died, and his father Crown Prince Zhuang succeeded to the throne as Emperor Ming. In 60, at the behest of his mother Empress Dowager Yin Lihua , Emperor Ming made Consort Ma empress , and Prince Da, as her son, was made him crown prince , even though he had four brothers who were older than he was. Not much

SECTION 50

#1733084725475

2964-410: Was immediately arrested and executed. Emperor Ling ordered that Taiping Sect members be arrested and executed, and Zhang Jiao immediately declared a rebellion. Every member of the rebellion wore a yellow turban or headscarf as their symbol – and therefore the rebellion became known for it. Within a month, Zhang Jiao controlled large areas of territory. Under suggestion by the eunuch Lü Qiang ( 呂強 ), who

3021-463: Was made crown prince, his birth mother's clan, the Liangs, did not dare to openly celebrate, but were secretly happy. When the Dou clan heard of this, they were displeased and fearful, and they felt that they had to destroy the Liangs. Empress Dou began to give false reports about Prince Zhao's birth mother, Consort Liang, and her sister, also an imperial consort, and they lost Emperor Zhang's favor. In 83,

3078-455: Was recorded about Crown Prince Da's career as crown prince, other than he was taught of the Confucian classics at a young age and was encouraged in his studies by his adoptive mother, Empress Ma, with whom he had a close relation. He was also close to his uncles of the Ma clan. In 75, Emperor Ming died, and Crown Prince Da succeeded to the throne as Emperor Zhang at the age of 18. Empress Ma received

3135-593: Was regarded as the golden age of the Eastern Han period, and their reigns are collectively known as the Rule of Ming and Zhang . During his reign, Chinese troops under the leadership of General Ban Chao progressed far west while in pursuit of Xiongnu insurgents harassing the trade routes now collectively known as the Silk Road . The Eastern Han dynasty, after Emperor Zhang, would be plagued with internal strife between royal factions and eunuchs struggling for power. The people for

3192-614: Was sympathetic to the partisans, Emperor Ling pardoned the partisans to ward off the possibility they would join the Yellow Turbans. (Lü Qiang himself became a victim, however, when the other eunuchs, in retaliation, falsely accused him of wanting to depose the emperor, and he committed suicide later that year.) Emperor Ling sent out a number of military commanders against the Yellow Turbans, and in these campaigns several of them distinguished themselves – including Huangfu Song , Cao Cao , Fu Xie ( 傅燮 ), Zhu Jun , Lu Zhi , and Dong Zhuo . A key military development with great implications later

3249-421: Was that the Yellow Turbans fought mainly with troops deployed from the battle-tested Liang Province who had been accustomed to suppressing rebellions by the Qiang tribes. In late 184, Zhang Jiao was killed, and while the rest of the Yellow Turbans were not defeated immediately, they gradually dissipated by the following year (although several of the minor rebellions would not be put down until 205 AD). Because of

#474525