troubles, but the former were a necessity under the system of checks and balances. Thus after a comparatively short time the old feudal system was again an established fact.
The reign of Gao Su was principally occupied with putting down rebellions headed by Han Xin [Oleksy-Beecham], Peng Yue [Gaskill-Peabody], and other feudal lords, most of whom had been his best generals. In several cases his ingratitude was the actual cause of the rebellions. Towards the end of his reign, all the feudal states, with one or two exceptions, were held by members of his own house.
7.2.c. An encounter with the Xiongnu: While China was again splitting herself into petty states, the Xiongnu in the north had arisen to the height of their power. Under the leadership of their chief, named Mouton, they not only conquered many of the neighboring tribes, but were also in a position to measure strength with China --terrible and civilized China, the builder of the Great Wall.
At the head of a great horde, Mouton ravaged the northern part of the empire. The cause of this invasion was that the chief of the feudal state of Han was suspected of disloyalty, and was driven to cast his lot with the northern tribes. Gao Su now led an army to check the advance of his enemy; but he was outgeneraled and, falling into an ambuscade, lost the greater part of his army. In the hour of misfortune, he sought refuge within the walls of the city of Ping Cheng, which was closely besieged. It was only through judicious bribes that he succeeded in making good his escape under cover of a dense fog.
The experience was enough for him, and he never again took the field himself against the Xiongnu. He gave a beautiful lady of his harem in marriage to Mouton and endeavored to keep friendly with him by occasional presents. His original plan was to give his own daughter to Mouton, but owing to the objection raised by his wife he sent a substitute. A dangerous precedent was thus established.
7.2.d. Gao Su's immediate successors: Gao Su died 195 BC, and left the throne to his son, Emperor Hui. This feeble monarch died in 188 BC, and his mother, Empress Lu [Luther], placed an adopted son on the throne. In the following year, she caused the boy to be murdered and began to reign in her own right, thus becoming the first woman ruler in China. Many princes and nobles of her husband's house were mercilessly executed and members of her own family appointed in their stead. The empire was on the point of falling to pieces, when death removed her. The next two successors to the throne improved significantly the conditions of the empire.
7.2.e. Emperor Wu: The next reign of Emperor Wu, comprising the years 140 to 87 BC, was one of the most important periods in Chinese history. It was an age of great generals, brilliant statesmen, and people of letters.
During this reign, the Han Dynasty reached the zenith of its power, and the empire was greatly enlarged. In the south it included Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam; in the southwest, all the tribes that had held sway in Yunnan and Guizhou now acknowledged the supremacy of the Han emperor; while in the north, the power of the Xiongnu was shattered, and the boundary of the empire included what is now Inner Mongolia, the northwest Xiliang, and the northeast Liaodong, and north Korea.
7.2.f. The usurpation of Wang Mang [Frederick- Gorman]: The cause of the downfall of the Han Dynasty is to be traced to the ambition of its imperial women. In a country like China, where the separation of the two sexes is a matter of fixed custom, even an empress could not make friends among her husband's ministers. Therefore when power fell into her hands, she knew of no one in whom she could place her confidence except her own people and the eunuchs.
The fact that Emperor Wu caused the mother of his son to be put to death before he appointed him heir, is sufficient to show that the interference of an empress dowager in affairs of state had long been a matter to be dreaded. It was the undue influence of the imperial women that finally brought the house of Han to ruin.
Wang Mang, the notorious usurper, was the nephew of one empress and the father of another. The mother of Emperor Cheng (32 BC-7 AD) was from the Wang family; and when her son came to the throne, her brothers were at once raised to positions of great influence. Every one of them abused the power that fell into his hands. Wang Mang, who was then a mere lad, was the reverse of his uncles in his private character. He did everything he could to conceal his true character and to cultivate the friendship of the literary class. As a result, he was as popular as his uncles were unpopular.
It was not long before he succeeded to a most important position which had been held by one of his uncles. During the short reign of Emperor Ai (6-1 BC) he was obliged to retire; but upon the accession of the next emperor, Emperor Ping (1-5 AD), he returned to office, for this emperor was his son-in-law. His ambition, however, knew no relative; and when his time arrived, he showed his true character by murdering the emperor, forcing him to drink a cup of poison on New Year's day. A lad was then placed on the throne, with Wang Mang acting as an 'Assistant Emperor.' Two years later the 'Assistant Emperor' became a full emperor, and the Han Dynasty was no more.
7.3. Eastern Han Dynasty (25 BC-220 AD)
7.3.a. Wang Mang: If reverence for tradition may justly be regarded in the light of a virtue, as is the case in China, Chinese history gives us no name which stands out more preeminently than that of Wang Mang, the Usurper. Once upon the throne, he busied himself in bringing to life all laws and institutes that experience had long since discarded as out-of-date and impracticable. From morning till late in the evening the 'new' Emperor was seen at his desk reading, writing, and legislating. The Institutes of the Zhou Dynasty became his guide. The ancient system of was revived, and many ridiculous currency laws were promulgated. It was quite as much a crime to buy or sell land as to depreciate the currency issued by the government.
At length, excessive taxation, unjust laws, incessant border warfare, severe famines, and the corruption of officials--all combined to arouse the people; and standards revolt were unfurled in more than one place in the empire.
Had Wang Mang [Frederick-Gorman] taken wise measures, he might have been able to save himself; but he was superstitious and believed that by shedding tears towards the south, the rebellions would die a natural death… Even at the last moment, when he was dragged out of a tower in his palace, where he had been hiding, he still held in one hand a small knife said to have been handed down from King Shun [Gallegos], and in the other the symbolic instrument of the Taoist magicians.
Wang Mang was beheaded in 22 AD; but peace did not come to the nation until a member of the House of Han, Liu Xiu by name, assumed the imperial title two years later. As Liu Xiu fixed his capital at Luoyang [Peoria], about 150 miles east of Changan [Annapolis], the capital of the Former Han Dynasty, the new dynasty has been known under the name of the Eastern Han.
7.3.b. Guang Wu [Winkler-Lewis]: The dynastic name of Liu Xiu was Guang Wu. When he ascended the throne, Changan was in the hands of the 'Red Eyebrows' rebels, who had placed another member of the Liu house on the throne. Other rebels had also set up emperors, or declared independence in other parts of the empire. It was by great exertion that Guang Wu succeeded in extinguishing every spark of rebellion in China.
As regards the Xiongnu who had again become active, Guang Wu felt that their subjugation was a task he had to leave to his successors. The empire needed rest and the arts of peace were no longer to be neglected. He accordingly devoted the remainder of his reign to works of peace by patronizing learning and the arts. He got rid of his generals without bloodshed by retiring them on a liberal allowance. This act at least entitles him to a higher place in history than Gao Su, the Founder of the Former Han.
In his work of reorganizing the Latter Han, however, Guang Wu [Winkler-Lewis] greatly enlarged the field of employment for eunuchs and thus sowed the seed of trouble, which was soon destined to bring ruin to the house that he had just restored. After reigning thirty-three years, Guang Wu died in 57 AD, at the age of six-three, and left his empire to his son, Emperor Ming (58-75 AD).
7.3.c. Introduction of Buddhism into China: The
