(Redirected from Liu Bang) |
| Emperor Gao of Han | |
|---|---|
| Birth and death: | 256 BC¹/247 BC²– June 1, 195 BC |
| Family name: | Liu (劉) |
| Given name: | Ji ³ (季), later Bang4 (邦) |
| Courtesy name (字): | Ji5 (季) |
| Dates of reign: | Feb. 28, 202 BC6–Jun. 1, 195 BC |
| Temple name: | Taizu7 (太祖), later Gaozu8 (高祖) |
Posthumous name:
(short) | Emperor Gao (高帝) |
Posthumous name:
(full) | Emperor Gao (高皇帝) |
''General note: Dates given are in the proleptic Julian calendar.''
They are not in the proleptic Gregorian calendar''. |
| ——— | |
''1. This is the birth year reported by Huangfu Mi (皇甫謐) (215-282),
the famous author of acupuncture books.'' | |
''2. This is the birth year reported by Chen Zan (臣瓚) around AD 270
in his comments of the Book of Han'' (漢書) .'' | |
''3. Name meaning "the youngest one". Liu Bang was the third son of his
father, his oldest brother was called Bo (伯) , i.e. the "First one", and his
second older brother was called Zhong'' (仲) , i.e. the "Middle one".'' | |
''4. Had his name changed into Bang, meaning "country", either when he
was made Prince of Han, or when he ascended the imperial throne.'' | |
''5. Ji was the courtesy name according to Sima Qian in his
Records of the Grand Historian. It may be that Liu Bang, after he
changed his name into Bang, kept his original name Ji as his courtesy
name. However, some authors do not think that "Ji" was ever used as
the courtesy name of Liu Bang.'' | |
''6. Was already Prince of Han (漢王) since March 206 BC, having been
enfeoffed by the rebelled leader Xiang Yu. Liu Bang was proclaimed
emperor on February 28, 202 BC after defeating Xiang Yu.'' | |
''7. Meaning "supreme ancestor". Was apparently the original temple name
of Emperor Gao. Taizu, in the most ancient Chinese tradition, going back
to the Shang Dynasty, was the temple name of the founder of a dynasty.'' | |
''8. Sima Qian in his Records of the Grand Historian referred to Emperor
Gao as "Gaozu", meaning "high ancestor", perhaps a combination of the
temple name and posthumous name of the emperor (doubts still remain
about why Sima Qian used "Gaozu" instead of "Taizu", and what the exact
nature of this name is). Following Sima Qian, later historians most often
used "Han Gaozu" (漢高祖), and this is the name under which he is still
known inside China. Furthermore, it seems that in the Later Hàn Dynasty
"Gaozu" had replaced "Taizu" as the temple name of Emperor Gāo.'' | |
'Emperor Gao' (
256 BC or
247 BC–
June 1,
195 BC), commonly known inside
China as 'Gaozu' (,
Wade-Giles: Kao Tsu), personal name 'Liu Bang' (
Wade-Giles: 'Liu Pang'), was the first
Emperor of the Chinese
Han Dynasty, ruling over
China from
202 BC until
195 BC, and one of only a few dynasty founders who emerged from the
peasant class (the other major example being
Zhu Yuanzhang founder of the
Míng Dynasty). Before becoming an emperor, he was also called Duke of Pei (沛公) after his birthplace. He was also created as the Prince of Hàn by
Xiang Yu, the Grand Prince of Western Chu following the collapse of
Qín Dynasty, and was called so before becoming emperor.
Early life
Liú Bāng was born into a peasant family in Pei (present Pei County in
Jiangsu Province). He relied on his brother's family for food. There is a story that tells of him bringing many friends home to eat with the family one day, and even though there was more than enough food to feed everyone, his sister-in-law went to the kitchen to scrape the pots, causing all his friends to think that the family is too poor to feed them, leaving him. His sister-in-law's contempt for his roguish ways was what made Liú Bāng think about actually studying and serving his country.
After he grew up, Liú Bāng served as a patrol officer in his county. Once he was responsible for transporting a group of prisoners to
Mount Li in present
Shaanxi province. During the trip many prisoners fled. Fearful that he would be punished for the prisoners' flight, Liú Bāng released the remaining prisoners. The prisoners, running for their lives, met up with a cobra snake and went back the way they came, running into Liú Bāng. Hearing their story, he went and killed the cobra himself. From then on, the prisoners respected him and made him their leader, hence Liú Bāng became the leader of a band of brigands. On one of his raids, he met a county magistrate who became impressed with his leadership skills and gave his daughter
Lü Zhi to him in marriage.
==Insurrection against
Qín==
In
209 BC Chen Sheng led an uprising against
Qin Dynasty and assumed the title "
King of Great Chu." Pei was in old
Chu territory. At the time that Liú Bāng released the prisoners he was to escort to
Mount Li and then became a fugitive himself,
Xiao He was serving as a secretary to the county magistrate of Pei County. When
Chen Sheng started his rebellion, the county magistrate considered joining the rebellion, and at the advice of Xiao and
Cao Can (曹參) (who was then a county police official), he sent Liú Bāng's brother-in-law
Fan Kuai to invite Liú and his company of bandits back to Pei County to support the rebellion. Fan found Liú, but on their way back, the magistrate changed his mind and closed the city gates against them, and also, afraid that Xiao and Cao would open the gates themselves, wanted to execute them. They jumped off the city wall and joined Liú. Liú Bāng, apparently at Xiao's suggestion, then sent letters to city elders urging surrender into the city by shooting them in on arrows. The elders agreed, and they assassinated the county magistrate and opened the gates to let Liú in, offering him the title the Duke of Pei.
Liú Bāng served first as a subordinate of
Xiang Liang and then, after
Xiang Liang was killed in action, became a subordinate of
Mi Xin, Prince Huai of Chu, who was also the nominal leader of the coalition of the rebel states. Prince Xin named Liú Marquess of Wu'an. It was about this time that he met
Zhang Liang, who would become a chief strategist of his.
Prince Xin made a promise that whoever occupied Guanzhong first, which was the plain of Central Shaanxi, the
Qín homeland, and the core of
Qín Dynasty, should be awarded Guanzhong as his kingdom. He then sent Liú Bāng for this mission, partly because he considered Liú a kind and merciful man, and partly because he did not like
Xiang Yu, whom he considered cruel and impetuous. When
Xiang Yu was busy fighting the main force of the Qin Dynasty, Liú invaded Guanzhong with relative ease.
In December
207 BC, the last Qín ruler
Ziying surrendered to Liú Bāng and his rebel army, and in
206 BC Liú entered the Qín capital
Xianyang. However, as now
Xiang Yu was the most powerful rebel at that time both
Ziying and
Xianyang were instead forced to be handed to
Xiang Yu.
Xiang Yu even considered killing Liú in one dinner party that would be later known as the
Feast at Hong Gate, but decided otherwise.
Chu-Han Contention
Now considering the whole former Qín Empire under his domination,
Xiang Yu realigned the territories of not only the remaining parts of Qín but also the rebel states, dividing the territories into 19 principalities.
Xiang Yu did not honor the promise by
Xin, Prince Huai of Chu, who would soon himself be assassinated by Xiang's orders. Instead, he gave Guanzhong to the princes of
three Qins. Liú Bāng was only awarded the
Principality of Hàn (modern
Sichuan,
Chongqing, and southern
Shaanxi).
In Hanzhong, Liú Bāng focused his efforts on developing agriculture methods and training an army, through which he reinforced his resource accumulation and military power. Before long, Liú broke out of his principality, deposed the kings of
three Qins and occupied Guanzhong, where he launched a war now known as the
Chu-Han War, against
Xiang Yu. He quoted in his biography,"Establishment of the great," that "Those who earn their status by war are the most honorable of all."
Although
Xiang Yu was far superior in military ability to Liú Bāng, he was at a political disadvantage.
Xiang Yu kept defeating Liú in the battlefield, but each of his victories drove more people to support Liú. When
Xiang Yu was finally defeated in the
Battle of Gaixia, he could not recover and committed suicide.
The war lasted five years (206–202 BC) and ended with Liú Bāng's victory. Having defeated Xiang Yu, Liú proclaimed himself emperor and established the
Hàn Dynasty in 202 BC and made
Cháng'ān (present city of
Xi'an) his capital city. Liú became historically known as Emperor Gāo of Hàn.
Reign as the Emperor
After Liú Bāng came into power, he re-centralised China based on Qín's model. He gradually replaced the original vassals, granting their lands to his relatives. Since the economy had been devastated by the war following the demise of the Qín Dynasty, he reduced taxes and
corvée, developed agriculture and restricted spending. However, in response to what he saw as the decadence of Qín merchants, he restricted commerce by levying heavy taxes and legal restrictions on merchants. He also made peace with the
Xiongnu. Under Gāozǔ's reign,
Confucian thought gradually replaced
Legalist thought; Confucian scholars were welcomed into his government, while the harsh Legalist laws were lessened. Emperor Gāozǔ's efforts laid a solid foundation for the over four-hundred-year reign of the Hàn Dynasty.
Liú Bāng also devoted to subduing the unruly
kings. He soon annexed most of the kingdoms and established principalities, with his sons and relatives as princes. By doing so he consolidated his new-born empire.
Liú Bāng tried military solutions against the
Xiongnu but was beaten hard in the battlefield. He then decided to appease the
Xiongnu by marrying ladies from the royal family to
Chanyu, the leaders of the
Xiongnu. This policy would not change for about 70 years.
In the 6th century source of the ''Xi Jing Za Ji'', Liú Bang was said to have stumbled upon an entire musical
orchestra set of
mechanical puppets from the First Qin Emperor's treasury.
[1] The book stated:
There were also twelve men cast in bronze, each 3 ft. high, sitting upon a mat. Each one held either a lute, a guitar, a sheng or a yu (mouth-organs with free reeds). All were dressed in flowered silks and looked like real men. Under the mat there were two bronze tubes, the upper opening of which was several feet high and protruded behind the mat. One tube was empty and in the other there was a rope as thick as a finger. If someone blew into the empty tube, and a second person (pulled down) the rope (by means of its) knot, then all the group made music just like real musicians.
Succession
Crown Prince Liú Ying, the eldest son of Liú Bāng and
Empress Lü, was the heir apparent of Liú Bāng. However, Liú Bāng disliked him because he considered
Ying to be too weak as a ruler. His favorite son was
Ruyi, Prince Yin of Zhao, by
Lady Qi, one of his favorite concubines. Liú Bāng attempted to make
Ruyi crown prince but failed because most of his ministers remained loyal to Ying and his mother
Empress Lü.
Liú Bāng's affection for
Lady Qi and
Ruyi inflamed Empress Lü, and after she became
empress dowager after her son's accession following Liú Bang's death, she poisoned
Ruyi and tortured Qi to death.
Evaluation
By historians' account, Liú Bang was the contrary to his rival,
Xiang Yu. While Xiang Yu was normally depicted as a romantic and noble man, Liú Bāng was often mentioned as a rogue. Xiang Yu was always kind and gentle to his peer and subordinates. However, he was an inferior politician.
Han Xin (韓信) described Xiang Yu as "having the kindness of women," meaning that, in his opinion, Xiang's "kindness" was petty and did not benefit either his regime or his people.
Xiang Yu also did not know how to utilize his talented subordinates; Han Xin, for example, was a soldier under Xiang, and his later defection to Liú Bāng, for whom he served as the commander in chief, would be extremely damaging to Xiang. Other main problems with Xiang's rule was his deliberate cruelty in military campaigns, his inability to accept criticism and wise counsel, and his inability to delegate.
Liú Bāng, on the contrary, was bold and arrogant. He was able to manipulate his peers and subordinates. By giving glory and territory generously while fighting
Xiang Yu, he won the hearty support of most of his peer princes and subordinates. However, once he became the emperor, Liú Bāng ruthlessly oppressed them and executed several of them, most notably
Han Xin and
Peng Yue.
Ying Bu, driven to rebellion by fear, was also destroyed. Liú Bāng's strong suits were an ability to make decisions based on counsel of others, an uncanny ability to judge the wisdom of counsel given to him; an ability to delegate; and his ability to figure out what would bring a person to follow him.
While Liú Bāng might have been deliberately derogatory of Xiang, he was not particularly off the mark when he commented on the reason why he was successful and Xiang was not:
:''The most important reason is that I know how to use people and Xiang Yu did not. As to being able to set out a strategy in a tent but determining success or failure in the events a thousand miles away, I am not as good as
Zhang Liang. As to guarding the home base, comforting the people, and supplying the army so that it lacked neither food nor supplies, I am not as good as
Xiao He. As to leading untrained large forces but always being successful whether battling or sieging, I am not as good as
Han Xin. These three people are heroes among men, but I know how to use them, so I was able to conquer the lands under heaven. Xiang Yu only had one great advisor,
Fan Zeng, but was unable to use him properly, and so was defeated by me.''
An incident involving Ying Bu demonstrates his personality well. Ying Bu was initially a subordinate of Xiang's, and in reward for Ying's military capabilities, Xiang created him the Prince of
Jiujiang. However, Xiang also clearly began to distrust Ying, and once when Ying, then ill, was unable to lead a force on Xiang's behalf, Xiang sent a delegation to rebuke him and to monitor his illness, not believing the illness to be genuine. In fear and goaded by the diplomat
Sui He (隨何), whom Liú Bāng sent to Jiujiang to try to make an alliance with Ying, Ying rebelled against Xiang, but his army was defeated by Xiang and he fled to Liú Bāng's headquarters. When Liú Bāng received Ying, he was half-naked and washing his feet, and he greeted Ying in crude language. Ying, a great general in his own right and a prince, was so humiliated that he considered suicide. However, once Liú Bāng had Ying escorted to the headquarters that he had built in anticipation of Ying's arrival, Ying became impressed — Ying's headquarters had the same size, same furnishings, same level of personnel staffing, and same security as Liú Bāng's own headquarters. Ying got the impression that Liú Bāng's earlier slights were in fact endearments, treating him as an equal and a brother in arms, and he became a key figure in Liú Bāng's campaign against Xiang.
Xiang Yu was generally remembered as a fallen hero, while many considered Liú Bāng a rogue. However, Liú Bāng treated the commons much better than the former nobles. He was a truly popular monarch, thus establishing one of the golden ages of China.
Personal information
★ Father: Liu Zhijia (劉執嘉) (3rd son of)
★ Mother: Wang Hanshi (王含始)
★ Wife:
Empress Lü, mother of Emperor Hui and Princess Luyuan
★ Major
concubines:
★
★
Consort Cao, mother of Prince Fei -- initially Emperor Gao's mistress
★
★
Consort Zhao, mother of Prince Chang
★
★
Consort Zhang
★
★
Consort Wei
★
★
Consort Qi, mother of Prince Ruyi
★
★
Consort Bo, mother of Emperor Wen
★
Children:
★
★ Ying (劉盈), the Crown Prince, later
Emperor Hui
★
★
Ruyi, Prince Yin of Zhao (劉如意) (created
198 BC, killed by Empress Dowager Lü
195 BC)
★
★ Heng (劉恆), the Prince of Dai (created
196 BC), later
Emperor Wen
★
★
Fei, Prince Daohui of Qi (created
202 BC, d.
195 BC)
★
★
Hui, Prince Gong of Zhao, initially Prince of Liang (created
196 BC) (created Prince of Zhao
180 BC, committed suicide
179 BC)
★
★
You, Prince You of Zhao, initially Prince of Huaiyang (created
196 BC) (created Prince of Zhao
194 BC, starved to death by Empress Dowager Lü
180 BC)
★
★
Chang, Prince Li of Huainan (b.
198 BC(?), created
196 BC, deposed and died in exile
174 BC, possibly by suicide)
★
★
Jian, Prince Ling of Yan (created
211 BC, d.
181 BC)
★
★
Princess Luyuan
See also
★
Chu-Han contention
★
Chinese history
Notes
1. Needham, Volume 4, 158.
References
★ Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 2''. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
External links
★
Gaozu at Chinaculture.org
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
