List of emperors of the Han dynasty
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The emperors of the Han dynasty were the supreme heads of government during the second imperial dynasty of China; the Han dynasty (202 BCTemplate:Snd220 AD) followed the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and preceded the Three Kingdoms (220–265 AD). The era is conventionally periodised into the Western Han (202 BCTemplate:Snd9 AD) and Eastern Han (25–220 AD).
The Han dynasty was founded by the peasant rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gao (Template:Reign). The longest reigning emperor of the dynasty was Emperor Wu (Template:Reign), who reigned for 54 years. The dynasty was briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang, but he was killed during a rebellion on 6 October 23 AD.Template:Sfn The Han dynasty was reestablished by Liu Xiu, known posthumously as Emperor Guangwu (Template:Reign) or Guangwu Di, who claimed the throne on 5 August 25 AD.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The last Han emperor, Emperor Xian (Template:Reign), was a puppet monarch of Chancellor Cao Cao (155–220 AD), who dominated the court and was made King of Wei.Template:Sfn On 11 December 220, Cao's son Pi usurped the throne as Emperor Wen of Wei (Template:Reign) and ended the Han dynasty.Template:Sfn
The emperor was the supreme head of government.Template:Sfnm He appointed all of the highest-ranking officials in central, provincial, commandery, and county administrations.Template:Sfn He also functioned as a lawgiver, the highest court judge, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and high priest of the state-sponsored religious cults.Template:Sfnm
Naming conventions
Emperor
The rulers of the previous Shang (c. Template:Trim – c. 1050 BCScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".) and Zhou (c. Template:TrimScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Snd256 BC) dynasties were referred to as 'king' (Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Tlit).Template:Sfn By the time of the Zhou dynasty, they were also referred to as the Son of Heaven.Template:Sfn In 221 BC, King Ying Zheng of Qin completed the conquest of all the Warring States of ancient China. To elevate himself above the Shang and Zhou kings, he accepted the new title of Emperor (Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Tlit) and is known to posterity as Qin Shi Huang, the 'First Emperor' of Qin. The new title of emperor was created by combining the titles for the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors from Chinese mythology. This title was used by each successive ruler of China until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911.Template:Sfn
Posthumous, temple, and era names
From the Shang until the Sui dynasty (581–618) dynasty, Chinese rulers (both kings and emperors) were referred to by their posthumous names in records and historical texts. Temple names, first used during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han (Template:Reign), were used exclusively in later records and historical texts when referring to emperors who reigned during the Tang (618–907), Song (960–1279), and Yuan (1271–1368) dynasties. During the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties, a single era name was used for each emperor's reign and became the preferred way to refer to Ming and Qing emperors in historical texts.Template:Sfn
Use of the era name was formally adopted during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (Template:Reign), yet its origins can be traced back further. The oldest method of recording years—which had existed since the Shang—set the first year of a ruler's reign as year one. When an emperor died, the first year of a new reign period would begin. This system was changed by the 4th century BC when the first year of a new reign period did not begin until the first day of the lunar New Year following a ruler's death. When Duke Huiwen of Qin assumed the title of king in 324 BC, he changed the year count of his reign back to the first year.Template:Sfnm For his newly adopted calendar established in 163 BC, Emperor Wen of Han (Template:Reign) also set the year count of his reign back to the beginning.Template:Sfnm
Since six was considered a lucky number, the emperors Jing and Wu changed the year count of their reigns back to the beginning every six years.Template:Sfnm Since every six-year period was successively marked as yuannian (Script error: No such module "Lang".), eryuan (Script error: No such module "Lang".), sanyuan (Script error: No such module "Lang".), and so forth, this system was considered too cumbersome by the time it reached the fifth cycle wuyuan sannian (Script error: No such module "Lang".) in 114 BC.Template:Sfnm In that year, a government official suggested that the Han court retrospectively rename every "beginning" with new characters; Emperor Wu accepted this reform in 110 BC.Template:Sfnm Since Emperor Wu had just performed the religious feng (Script error: No such module "Lang".) sacrifice at Mount Taishan, he named the new era yuanfeng (Script error: No such module "Lang".). This event is regarded as the formal establishment of era names in Chinese history.Template:Sfnm Emperor Wu changed the era name once more when he established the 'Great Beginning' (Script error: No such module "Lang". Taichu) calendar in 104 BC.Template:Sfn From this point until the end of Western Han, the court established a new era name every four years of an emperor's reign. By the Eastern Han, there was no set interval for establishing new era names, which were often introduced for political reasons and celebrating auspicious events.Template:Sfn
Regents and empress dowagers
At times, especially when an infant emperor was placed on the throne, a regent, often the empress dowager or one of her male relatives, would assume the duties of the emperor until he reached his majority. Sometimes the empress dowager's faction—the consort clan—was overthrown in a coup d'état. For example, Empress Lü Zhi (Template:Died-in) was the de facto ruler of the court during the reigns of the child emperors Qianshao (Template:Reign) and Houshao (Template:Reign).Template:Sfnm Her faction was overthrown during the Lü Clan disturbance of 180 BC and Liu Heng was named emperor (posthumously known as Emperor Wen).Template:Sfnm Before Emperor Wu died in 87 BC, he had invested Huo Guang (Template:Died-in), Jin Midi (Template:Died-in), and Shangguan Jie (Script error: No such module "Lang".; Template:Died-in) with the power to govern as regents over his successor Emperor Zhao of Han (Template:Reign). Huo Guang and Shangguan Jie were both grandfathers to Empress Shangguan (Template:Died-in), wife of Emperor Zhao, while the ethnically-Xiongnu Jin Midi was a former slave who had worked in an imperial stable. After Jin died and Shangguan was executed for treason, Huo Guang was the sole ruling regent. Following his death, the Huo family faction was overthrown by Emperor Xuan of Han (Template:Reign), in revenge for Huo Guang poisoning his wife Empress Xu Pingjun (Template:Died-in) so that he could marry Huo's daughter Empress Huo Chengjun (Template:Died-in).Template:Sfnm
List of emperors
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Below is a complete list of emperors of the Han dynasty, including their personal, posthumous, and era names. Excluded from the list are de facto rulers such as regents and empress dowagers.
| Sovereign | Personal name | Reigned from | Reigned until | Posthumous nameTemplate:Efn | Temple name | Era name | Years[lower-alpha 1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gengshi Emperor | Liu Xuan | Template:Vtext-css3 | 11 MarchTemplate:Sfnm 23 AD | NovemberTemplate:Sfnm 25 AD[9] | King Wushun of Huaiyang | Template:Vtext-css3 | Yanzong | Template:Vtext-css3 | Gengshi | Template:Vtext-css3 | 23–25 ADTemplate:Sfn |
Timeline
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DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:-210 till:220 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:-210
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barset:Rulers
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from: -202 till: -195 color:WH text:"Gao (202–195 BCE)" from: -195 till: -188 color:WH text:"Hui (195–188 BCE)" from: -188 till: -184 color:WH text:"Liu Gong (188–184 BCE)" from: -184 till: -180 color:WH text:"Liu Hong (184–180 BCE)" from: -180 till: -157 color:WH text:"Wen (180–157 BCE)" from: -157 till: -141 color:WH text:"Jing (157–141 BCE)" from: -141 till: -87 color:WH text:"Wu (141–87 BCE)" from: -87 till: -74 color:WH text:"Zhao (87–74 BCE)" from: -74 till: -74 color:WH text:"Liu He (74 BCE)" from: -74 till: -49 color:WH text:"Xuan (74–49 BCE)" from: -49 till: -33 color:WH text:"Yuan (49–33 BCE)" from: -33 till: -7 color:WH text:"Cheng (33–7 BCE)" from: -7 till: -1 color:WH text:"Ai (7–1 BCE)" from: -1 till: 6 color:WH text:"Ping (1 BCE–6 CE)" from: 6 till: 9 color:WH text:"Liu Ying (6–9 CE)" from: 23 till: 25 color:IN text:"Gengshi (23–25 CE)" from: 25 till: 27 color:IN text:"Liu Penzi (25–27 CE)" from: 25 till: 57 color:EH text:"Guangwu (25–57 CE)" from: 57 till: 75 color:EH text:"Ming (57–75 CE)" from: 75 till: 88 color:EH text:"Zhang (75–88 CE)" from: 88 till: 106 color:EH text:"He (88–106 CE)" from: 106 till: 106 color:EH text:"Shang (106 CE)" from: 106 till: 125 color:EH text:"An (106–125 CE)" from: 125 till: 125 color:EH text:"Liu Yi (125 CE)" from: 125 till: 144 color:EH text:"Shun (125–144 CE)" from: 144 till: 145 color:EH text:"Chong (144–145 CE)" from: 145 till: 146 color:EH text:"Zhi (145–146 CE)" from: 146 till: 168 color:EH text:"Huan (146–168 CE)" from: 168 till: 189 color:EH text:"Ling (168–189 CE)" from: 189 till: 189 color:EH text:"Liu Bian (189 CE)" from: 189 till: 220 color:EH text:"Xian (189–220 CE)"
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Legend
- Orange denotes Western Han monarchs
- Teal denotes Han monarchs following the collapse of the Xin dynasty but prior to the Eastern Han
- Pink denotes Eastern Han monarchs
See also
Notes
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References
Citations
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Sources
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External links
Template:Han emperors
Template:Han dynasty topics
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