Copyright © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC

Copyright © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC

H


973

Hai Rui 海瑞 (1514– 1587) was a scholar and bu-reaucrat who served in the late Ming Dynasty (1368– 1644). He was known for his stern ethi-cal positions and his unswerving rectitude, re-maining an icon of political incorruptibility for the rest of Chinese history.

H ai Rui was a civil official of the late Ming dynasty (1368– 1644), famous for his uncompromising moral stance and his Spartan lifestyle. In an

era when civil servants commonly enriched themselves through their official positions, Hai was hailed as a para-gon of the idealistic Confucian values of incorruptible service to the people and the state. According to his offi-cial biography, he was so frugal that his purchase of some pork for his mother’s birthday was treated as sensational news. A minor figure in Ming history, Hai Rui remained a model of public- minded virtue for the rest of Chinese history.

Hai Rui never passed the highest level of the civil ser-vice examinations, and it was rare for a scholar to rise in the bureaucracy without doing so. His promotions were based largely on his moral reputation. After serving as a schoolteacher, he was appointed to a magistrate’s position in Shun’an County in Zhejiang Province, an important crossroads for commercial activity. As such, the region was prone to exploitation of the local populace by local officials and by high- ranking travelers who expected luxu-rious treatment. Hai earned a reputation for challenging

and shaming prominent figures who sought special treat-ment in his jurisdiction.

Hai was soon promoted to a minor post in the Min-istry of Revenue at the capital. In 1565, Hai got into trou-ble for writing a scathing admonition to the emperor, attacking his personal morals, accusing him of misrule, and urging him to reform his ways. For Hai’s lese- majeste (crime committed against a sovereign power) he was imprisoned and only narrowly escaped execution. After his release Hai Rui continued to be appointed to promi-nent positions in the bureaucracy, although he was given mostly sinecure positions that limited the reach of his stern moralism.

In 1569, after begging the emperor to give him a more substantial position, Hai was assigned to the post of governor of the Southern Metropolitan District, the prosperous region around Suzhou and Nanjing. Again he quickly lived up to his reputation, imposing a stern regimen of austerity and moral rectitude on his new jurisdiction. Official business was conducted with great frugality, and the manufacture of luxury goods was for-bidden. In his zealous efforts to fight the exploitation of commoners, Hai launched campaigns against ex-ploitive practices by wealthy landlords, many of whom had ties to the most prominent political families in the empire.

The memory of Hai Rui resurfaced in the late 1950s when Wu Han (1909– 1969), a prominent historian and deputy mayor of Beijing, wrote the play The Dismissal of Hai Rui, which was performed in 1961 in Beijing. Hai Rui was portrayed as a moral official willing to speak truth to

HAI RuiHǎi Ruì 海瑞1514–1587 Ming dynasty official

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Berkshire Encyclopedia of China974中國


a power hierarchy that was out of touch with the common people, a clear and harsh allegorical indictment of the up-per echelons of the Communist Party. Official criticism of Wu and his play began in 1965, and his scholarly circle was purged and imprisoned the next year in the opening salvo of the Cultural Revolution (1966– 1976).

Peter B. DITMANSON

Further ReadingHuang, Ray. (1981). 1587, a year of no significance: The

Ming dynasty in decline. New Haven, CT: Yale Uni-versity Press.

Fang Chaoying. (1976). Hai Jui. In L. Carrington Goo-drich & Fang Chaoying (Eds.). Dictionary of Ming biography, vol. 1 (pp. 474– 479). New York: Columbia University Press.

Haier ▶

Hai Rui Scolds the Emperor

In his 1959 essay “Hai Rui Scolds the Emperor” the his-torian Wu Han quoted the 1566 petition that Hai Rui wrote to the Jiajing emperor which harshly criticized the emperor’s governance and proposed drastic reform:

How would you compare yourself with Emperor Wen Di of the Han dynasty? You did a fairly good

job in your early years, but what has happened to you now? For nearly twenty years you have not appeared in the imperial court, and you have appointed many fools to the government. By refusing to see your own sons, you are mean to you own blood; by suspecting court officials, you are mean to your subordinates; and by liv-ing in the Western Park refusing to come home, you are mean to your wife. Now the country is filled with cor-rupt officials and weak generals; peasants begin to re-volt everywhere. Although such things happened when you were enthroned, they were not as serious as they are today. Now Yan Gao has resigned [as Grand Minister], but there is still no sign of social reform. In my judg-ment you are much inferior to Emperor Wen Di . . .

The dynasty’s officials know that the people have been dissatisfied with you for some time. By engaging in occultism and searching for immortal-ity, you have confused yourself. Your shortcomings are numerous: rudeness, short- temperedness, self- righteousness, and deafness to honest criticism. But worst of all is your search for immortality . . . You should realize the impossibility of achieving immor-tality and repent past mistakes. You should attend the imperial court regularly and discuss national af-fairs with your court officials. This is the only way to redeem yourself. By doing so you may still be able to make yourself useful to the country during your remaining years.

The most urgent problems today are the absurdity of imperial policies and the lack of clarity of official responsibilities. If you do not tackle these problems now, nothing will be accomplished.Source: de Bary, W. T., & Lufrano, R. (2000). Sources of Chi-nese tradition, vol. 2. New York: Columbia University Press, 472– 473.


985

One of the most dynamic periods of Chinese history, the Han dynasty was a time of politi-cal consolidation, military and economic ex-pansion, invention, and empire building. The dynasty began with the fall of the short- lived Qin dynasty (221– 206 bce) after a widespread insurgency by peasants, soldiers, and nobles led by military commander Xiang Yu.

T he Han dynasty 汉朝 ruled by the prominent Liu 劉 clan was established in 206 bce and created an empire based on militarism and economic power

that endured to 220 ce. The Han was preceded by the Qin dynasty (221– 206 bce) and was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220– 265 ce). The Han dynasty arose following a brief civil war in which the Han defeated a Qin army in the Wei Valley and established a capital at Chang’an (western Shaanxi Province). It retained much of the Qin administrative structure but also established vassal principalities or kingdoms in some regions. Con-fucian ideals of governance, in disfavor during the Qin regime, were ultimately reinstated, and Confucian schol-ars attained prominent status in the civil service. Dur-ing the more than four hundred years of Han hegemony, China prospered in agriculture, science and technology, commerce, military expansion, and empire building. Following a brief disruption in the dynastic succession, the capital was relocated east to Luoyang (Henan Prov-ince). By the first century ce, the Han population grew to about 55 million. The gap between a peasant proletariat

and landowning dynasty class widened, and the wealthy became more independent and relied less on the central government. Overexpansion coupled with domestic in-trigues and foreign pressures led to a political fragmenta-tion and the rise of the Three Kingdoms after 220 ce.

The dynastic history is divided into two periods: the Former Han dynasty (Qianhan 前汉) or Western Han dynasty (Xi Han 西汉), conventionally 206 bce– 24 ce, seated at Chang’an; and the Later (or Latter) Han dynasty (Hou Han 后汉) or Eastern Han dynasty (Dong Han

Han DynastyHàn cháo 汉朝206 bce– 220 ce

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HAN DYNASTY202 BCE–220 CE

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东汉), 25– 220 ce, was seated at Luoyang. Scholars em-ploy the Western and Eastern Han designations to avoid confusion with the Later Han dynasty of the period of the Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms (907– 960 ce). The Former or Western Han period had fifteen rulers who succeeded in an orderly manner. The era between the pe-riods, the Xin dynasty of Wang Mang (9– 23 ce), was tu-multuous until succession resumed under the Eastern or Later Han, a period marked by fourteen sovereigns as the dynasty moved toward collapse.

When Han dynasty sovereigns took office, they were identified by their personal names but are posthumously designated by their imperial names, conventionally Han plus the posthumous name. The title of “Emperor” is a convenient Western descriptor. To complicate this du-ality of names for an individual, after 179 bce there are era names assigned to the periods of reign; a single ruler might have numerous eras within his reign (for exam-ple, Wu Di, 140– 87 bce, had eleven era names within his reign). But for conciseness, only the posthumous names are used hereafter.

Former or Western Han: 206 bce– 23 ce

Widespread insurgency by peasants, soldiers, and nobles led by a military commander named Xiang Yu against the Qin dynasty (221– 206 bce) resulted in that monarch’s death and the formation of the Han dynasty in 206 bce. Xiang Yu divided the country into nineteen feudal kingdoms. But he lacked political acumen and Liu Bang (who posthumously became Emperor Gao Zu) gained control and became sovereign from 202– 195 bce. Some scholars date the Han dynasty to the fall of the Qin in 206 or to the ascendancy of Gao Zu in 202. He consolidated Han power and reorganized the coun-try into ten feudal states. Three administrative branches of ex- Qin governance were retained: chief counselor (chengxiang), grand marshal (taiwei), and inspector- in-chief (yushi dafu). The chief counselor ruled nine chief ministers and oversaw thirteen governmental departments.

Emperor Gao Zu was succeeded by his son Hui Di, although Gao Zu’s widow (a member of the rival Lu clan)

retained great political power; Hui Di reigned from 194– 188 bce and was replaced by infant rulers under her con-trol (Shao Di Gong, 188– 184 bce, and Shao Di Hong, 184– 180 bce). When she died in 180 bce, administrators restored the Liu clan and named Wen Di as monarch. He brought an era of economic prosperity in government and social reform, but was opposed by princes of the imperial family. Barbarians from the north (Xiongnu) conducted cavalry raids into Han territory but were re-pulsed by Han armies, and a peaceful, albeit transitory, alliance was eventually negotiated. Wen was succeeded by his son, known as Jing Di (156– 141 bce), who faced a serious uprising known as the Revolt of the Seven King-doms in the year 154 bce, which was led by princes of the imperial family who had gained wealth and power in southern Han territory. Because of the threat of the accu-mulation of power by these feudal princes, Emperor Wen and his successor deprived them of the right to appoint their own ministers and forced the princes to divide their lands among their sons, thereby diluting their resources for potential future uprisings.

Emperor Jing Di’s son, Wu Di, took office in 140 bce and remained in power until 87 bce. Central powers were reinforced, skilled officials recruited, and the Qin calendar and emblems abandoned. He also enhanced and greatly expanded road and riverine communications sys-tems for political and economic control. This was an era of great military expansion into Korea and Central Asia, attacks on the Xiongnu, initial economic prosperity, tax reduction, and China’s lip- service adoption of Confucian-ism, displacing Daoism. A Grand School (taixue, a kind of university) was created, and essays called Five Classics (separate books on changes, documents, odes, rites, and annals) became the official moral and political ideology of the state. The colonization of the northwest frontier south of the Gobi Desert during his reign involved the transfer of an estimated two million colonists from the east. But this fifty- year period of foreign adventures, war and ter-ritorial expansion, and domestic expenditures— notably for extravagant diplomacy and a magnificent court— left the empire in a state of unrest and the treasury greatly diminished.

At the age of eight, Wu Di’s son became sovereign (87– 74 bce); during his reign as Zhao Di, the government was administered ably by Minister Ho Kuang. A grandson of

Han Dynasty n Hàn cháo n 汉朝 987


Emperor Wu Di, Liu He (Prince of Changyi) was to suc-ceed to the throne, but he did not follow appropriate pro-tocols in mourning his predecessor and was stripped of the office by Ho Kuang. Therefore, he was replaced by Wu Di’s great- grandson, who became Xuan Di (73– 48 bce). His reign was one of great prosperity in agriculture and foreign relations; notably, the Xiongnu accepted Han sov-ereignty. By the first century bce, the capital, Chang’an, reached its greatest extent. Rectangular in shape and laid out on a north- south axis, it housed palaces, administra-tive buildings, arsenals, two large markets, and elite resi-dences, and was protected by a 25- kilometer wall around the perimeter. Next to Rome, it was the largest city in the world at its time.

Emperor Yuan Di (48– 33 bce), son of the previous sovereign, diminished government expenses, expanded welfare for the peasants, and promoted Confucians and eunuchs to high offices. But he erred in granting great power to his Wang- clan maternal relatives and enhanced the authority of the eunuch secretaries, thereby diluting central authority and setting a precedent that would re-sult in the demise of the dynasty. Yuan Di’s son, known as Cheng Di (32– 7 bce) was a weak ruler who further gave additional control to the Wang clan. Three other short- term sovereigns (Ai Di, 7– 1 bce; Ping Di, 1 bce– 5 ce; and Emperor Ruzi Ying, 6– 8 ce) were ineffective rulers.

Xin Dynasty: 9– 23 ce

The dynastic succession was interrupted by Wang Mang, who established the Xin dynasty (9– 23 ce). His radical reforms during this interregnum were ineffective. The nephew of the widow of the sovereign Yuan Di, he was eventually overthrown by a peasant secret society called “Red Eyebrows” (so- called because they painted their eyebrows red) and killed in 22 ce by an army of nobles under the leadership of Geng Shi Di (23– 25 ce).

Eastern or Later Han: 25– 220 ce

Guang Wu Di of the Later or Eastern Han, an educated Confucian scholar who served as emperor from 25 ce to 57 ce, won the support of other aristocratic clans who dom-inated Han society and established great estates worked by tenant farmers and slaves. Based on the accumulation of wealth and supported by a bureaucracy drawn for these supporters, he moved the capital eastward to Luoyang (in present- day Henan Province) in the year 25 ce. The city was organized along a north- south axis, encompassed about four square miles, and would become one of the larg-est cities of the ancient world, with a population exceeding

Horses and cart from the Han dynasty tombs, Mancheng County, He-bei Province. The burial goods give a glimpse into life in Hebei Province during the Western Han dynasty. Photo by Paul and Bernice Noll.



one- half million. It functioned as an administrative and commercial center and international marketplace. Two palace complexes each covered 125 acres. There were sepa-rate wards or districts for foreigners (usually merchants or envoys from other lands). Central Asian envoys came in 94 ce, west Asian jugglers in the year 122 ce, and Japanese diplomats in 57 ce and 107 ce; economic links with Rome are documented in 166 ce. The central government be-came weaker and relied more on private armies for the pro-tection of the state. Guang Wu Di’s son, known as Ming Di (58– 75 ce) initiated the conquest of Turkestan, but upon his death, Zhang Di (76– 88 ce) succeeded to the throne and favored an isolationist policy for the homeland. By this time, the dynasty was in disarray and a succession of minor rulers became sovereigns (He Di, 89– 105 ce; Shang Di, in the year 106 ce; An Di, 106– 125 ce; Shao Di, the Marquess of Beixiang, in 125 ce; and Shun Di, 125– 144 ce). By the year 100 ce, Buddhism, which likely had reached China in 60 ce and is documented in the form of rock carvings at the site of Kungwangshan in Jiangsu Province, began to make inroads into Han Chinese culture. An Qing (also known as Anshigao), a Buddhist missionary from Parthia, was active in the Luoyang area in 148 ce. As political cor-ruption led to internal struggles for power and divided the peasantry, the succeeding sovereigns (Chong Di, 144– 145 ce; Zhi Di, 145– 146 ce; Huan Di, 146– 168 ce; and Ling Di, 168– 189 ce) were weak emperors. A revolt, led by the

“Yellow Turbans,” began in 184 ce and served to unite the divided peasant factions. But the defeat of these revolu-tionaries further weakened the dynasty and did not result in Han China returning to a united state. Dong Zhou, a military dictator, arranged for the succession of eight- year old Xian Di (189– 220 ce). A series of warlords succeeded Dong Zhou following his assassination in 192 ce. Ts’ao Ts’ao gained control and was opposed by other militarists who controlled the western and southern regions of the disintegrating empire. Upon his death in 220 ce, the three regions emerged as independent polities called the Three Kingdoms, and the Han dynasty came to an ignomini-ous end.

Han Sociopolitical OrganizationThe Han bureaucracy was both centralized and local, with the former including cabinet officials (called Three Lords and Nine Ministers), led by a chancellor who was also one of the lords. During the Western Han period, there were local administrative levels, approximately 1,180 sub- prefectures, and counties; governors of the latter had great autonomy and were delegated legal, economic, and mili-tary authority by the central government, including pow-ers of taxation and conscripting corvée labor. Slaves were

The jade burial suit of Liu Sheng, Prince Jing of the Zhongshan State. Liu Sheng was the son of Emperor Jing Di and half brother of Emperor Wu Di. The tomb was found in the Han Dynasty tombs in Mancheng County, Hebei Province. Liu Sheng’s wife, Empress Douwan, was similarly buried in a nearby tomb. Photo by Paul and Bernice Noll.

Han Dynasty n Hàn cháo n 汉朝 989


both private and state- owned. Officials were appointed to office on the basis of skills rather than clan affiliation. A professional civil service developed, and record- keeping enhanced the ability of the emperor to tax his subjects and expand the empire.

The Han empire expanded to encompass most of present- day Mongolia and continued westward to Lake Bai-kal (in present- day southern Siberia) , eastward to northern Korea and Japan, and southeast to Gansu and Vietnam. Han political and cultural influence extended westward through the Tarim Basin (the modern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region) and portions of central Asia, notably most of the former Soviet central Asian states to the Caspian Sea (in-cluding portions of present- day Kazakhstan, Turkmeni-stan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan), as well as

northern Afghanistan and eastern Persia (Iran). The con-quest of Dayuan (the Ferghana Valley and adjacent regions in Central Asia) in 101 bce gave the Han the opportunity to seize long- legged “celestial” horses (tianms); unlike the Han’s short- legged Mongolian ponies, they greatly en-hanced the Han cavalry speed and mobility. There was a no-table military campaign in Xinjiang (Chinese Turkestan) in 73 ce to maintain the trading monopoly. The so- called Silk Roads (a series of east- west and north- south commercial routes used for millennia) facilitated caravan trade between China and the West, notably for the export of Chinese silk, gold, bronze artifacts, and porcelain. In return, the Chi-nese received woolen fabrics, glass, pottery, spices, grapes, wine, sesame, pomegranates, alfalfa, and a variety of other Western foods. A tribute system developed in which non- Chinese polities remained autonomous in exchange for a symbolic acceptance of the Han as overlords.

Sima Qian (145– 87 or 80 bce), a Chinese historian, wrote Records of the Great Historian (also called Historians Records or Shiji), which was facilitated by the invention of paper; this was the initial attempt to document Chinese history in book form. This 116- chapter work set a standard for government- sponsored histories that continued into the twentieth century. The compilation of encyclopedias and other books, such as Book of the Mountains and Seas (a geography and natural history), expanded education and the rise of literate gentry. The arts, including calligraphy (with texts on wooden and bamboo slips or on silk), po-etry, literature, philosophy, music, painting, and mural art flourished, as did medicine and alchemy and imperial cults oriented to magic and sorcery.

Han Economic OrganizationSince 119 bce, the state sought to monopolize the pro-duction of iron and salt, and less so copper working and silk weaving, which remained in both private and fed-eral hands. Iron tools, especially the swing plow drawn by yoked oxen, allowed agricultural productivity and ex-pansion, which necessitated the construction of irrigation systems (dams, dikes, and canals). Crop rotation was prac-ticed from 85 bce onwards. Chinese inventions during this era included paper, porcelain, the compass, water clocks, sundials, astronomical instruments, the seismometer, wa-ter wheel, the hydraulic trip- hammer, piston bellows, and

A model well from a Han tomb. Han funerary objects often included the essential items of daily life. Photo by Joan Lebold Cohen.



the forging of steel. Terracotta figures; textiles; gold, silver and bronze working (including gilt bronzes); lapidary in semiprecious stone; jade carving; wood working; and lac-quer wares are among the crafts that flourished. Ceramic spirit models (minqqi) in the form of soldiers, attendants, entertainers, and other human depictions expanded to include house models, towers, granaries, wells, stoves, farm scenes, and other implements and accoutrements. Scholars interpret these as marking a change from mysti-cal beliefs regarding the afterlife to a presumption that the activities of everyday life would continue after death. Pure rag paper is known from the second century bce and was mass produced by the early first century ce; hemp paper was developed in 109 ce.

By 100 bce, monumental stone sculptures were erected in public areas and placed on tombs, and by the first century ce, clusters of stone monuments and figures lined avenues or “spirit roads” leading to imperial tombs (replacing the terracotta armies of earlier dynasties). Tombs for the imperial family and official and nobility contained elaborate burial goods that document the lives of rich landowners and traders in contrast to peasant pov-erty and slavery.

The Han created the first centralized state and con-ducted major military expansion into Mongolia, Man-churia, Korea and Central Asia, as well as advances into Southeast Asia. The period was characterized by technical progress and economic expansion that enhanced merchants and gentry. Culturally this was the zenith of classical stud-ies and an intellectual renaissance with courtly literature, scholastic philosophy, and the performing and graphic arts including music, theater, painting, and textiles.

Charles C. KOLB

Further ReadingCho-yun Hsu. (1980). Han agriculture: The formation of

early Chinese agrarian economy (206 b.c.– a.d. 220). (J. L. Dull, Ed.). Seattle: University of Washington Press.

de Crespigny, R. (2006). A biographical dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23– 220 ad). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.

Fairbank, J. K. & Goldman, M. (2006). China: A new his-tory (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Hulsewé, A. F. P. (1961). Notes on the historiography of the Han period. In W. G. Beasley & E. G. Pulleyblank (Eds.), Historians of China and Japan (pp. 31– 43). Ox-ford, U.K.: Oxford University Press.

Kan Lao (Ed.). (1983). The history of the Han dynasty: Selec-tions with a preface (Vols. 1– 2). Princeton, NJ: Princ-eton University, Chinese Linguistics Project.

Lowe, M. (2000). A biographical dictionary of the Qin, For-mer Han and Xin periods (221 bc– ad 24). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.

Lowe, M. (2004). The men who governed Han China: Com-panion to a biographical dictionary of the Qin, Former Han and Xin periods. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.

Needham, J. (Ed.). (1954– 2005). Science and civilisation in China (Vols. 1– 7). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.

Pan Ku. (1938– 1955). The history of the Former Han dy-nasty: A critical translation with annotations by Homer H. Dubs with the collaboration of Jen T’ai and P’an Lo- chi (Vols. 1– 3). Baltimore: Waverly Press.

Pirazzoli-t’Serstevens, M. (1982). The Han dynasty (J. Se-ligman, Trans.).. New York: Rizzoli.

T’ung-tsu Ch’u. (J. L. Dull, Ed.). (1972.). Han social struc-ture. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Twitchett, D., & Loewe, M. (Eds.). (1986). The Cambridge history of China. Vol. 1: The Ch’in and Han Empires, 221 B.C.– A.D. 220. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univer-sity Press.

Yee, C. (1994). Cartography in China. In J. B. Harley & D. Woodward (Eds.), The history of cartography, 2(2): cartography in the traditional East and Southeast Asian societies (pp. 71– 95, Maps of Han Political Culture, pp. 74– 80). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Yu Ying- shih. (1967). Trade and expansion in Han China. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Wang Zhongshu. (1982). Han civilization (K. C. Chang, Trans.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Wilbur, C. M. (1943). Slavery in China during the Former Han dynasty: 206 B.C.– A.D. 25. Fieldiana Anthropol-ogy 34. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History.

Wilkinson, E. (2000). Chinese history: A manual (Rev. ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Cen-ter for the Harvard- Yenching Institute.

Xu Pingfang. (2005). The formation of the empire by the Qin and Han dynasties and the unification of China. In K. C. Chang & Xu Pingfang (S. Allen, Ed.), The formation of Chinese civilization: An archaeological perspective (pp. 249– 285). New Haven, CT: Yale Uni-versity Press.

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