Liu Zhi

Biography

Family Background and Early Years

Liu Zhi was born in 132 (the first year of Yangjia) in the kingdom of Liwu in Ji Province (present-day Boye County, Hebei). His lineage was: Liu Da, Emperor Zhang of Han → Liu Kai, Prince Xiao of Hejian → Liu Yi, Marquis of Liwu → Liu Zhi. Liu Zhi was a great-great-grandson of Emperor Zhang, a grandson of Liu Kai, and the son of Liu Yi. Liu Yi, a son of Liu Kai, had been enfeoffed as Marquis of Liwu, whose fief was in Ji Province. Liu Zhi's mother was Lady Yan.

As a youth Liu Zhi was distinguished in appearance and seemed unlike ordinary people. In 145 (the first year of Yongxi), his father Liu Yi died and the fourteen-year-old Liu Zhi inherited the title Marquis of Liwu. According to the Book of the Later Han, “Biographies of the Partisans”, while Marquis of Liwu he studied under Zhou Fu of Ganling. Zhou Fu was later promoted to Master of Writing on account of this connection. A contemporary rhyme said: “The measure of all under Heaven is Fang Bowu; through teaching the master, Zhou Zhongjin gained the seal.” The episode contributed to the dispute between the northern and southern factions of Ganling and was later regarded as one beginning of the partisan controversy.

After completing his studies, Liu Zhi entered Luoyang for audience. Empress Dowager Liang saw that he “stood apart from others” and wished to marry him to her younger sister Liang Nüying. In the fourth month of 146 (the first year of Benchu), Empress Dowager Liang summoned Liu Zhi to Xiamen Pavilion in Luoyang to prepare for the marriage.

Enthronement

In 146 (the first year of Benchu), Emperor Zhi of Han was poisoned by Liang Ji and died without an heir. Empress Dowager Liang secretly sent agents to observe Liu Zhi's bearing and intelligence and concluded that he could maintain the ancestral sacrifices. At the same time, Central Regular Attendant Cao Teng personally visited Liang Ji and supported Liu Zhi's candidacy. Cao Teng argued that Liu Suan, Prince of Qinghe, was stern and strict, and that if he became emperor Liang Ji might not remain safe; by establishing Liu Zhi instead, Liang Ji could preserve his wealth and rank. Liang Ji therefore agreed.

Empress Dowager Liang issued an edict: “Emperor Xiaozhi left no continuing heir and suddenly Heaven darkened. The weight of the altars of soil and grain requires examination of the worthiest among the imperial clan; none surpasses Zhi, Marquis of Liwu. He is already fifteen, of fine appearance and outstanding bearing, and has recently been made heir to Emperor Xiaoshun.” On the gengyin day of the intercalary sixth month (August 1), she sent Liang Ji with a tally of authority and a royal green-canopied carriage to bring Liu Zhi into the Southern Palace. He ascended the throne that day at the nominal age of fifteen, while Empress Dowager Liang continued to rule as regent.

Period of Liang Clan Domination

On August 18, 147 (the first year of Jianhe), Liu Zhi formally made Empress Dowager Liang's younger sister Liang Nüying empress. Empress Dowager Liang controlled the government, General-in-Chief Liang Ji dominated the outer court, and Empress Liang Nüying controlled the inner palace and monopolized imperial favor. Consorts below the empress were not allowed to see Liu Zhi. Relying on the power of her elder sister and brother, Liang Nüying became extraordinarily extravagant. Her palace buildings were richly ornamented, her dress exceptionally precious, and the scale of craftsmanship and decoration reportedly twice that of any previous empress.

In the first month of 148 (the second year of Jianhe), Liu Zhi underwent the capping ceremony and proclaimed a general amnesty.

On the yichou day of the first month of 150 (the first year of Heping), Empress Dowager Liang became gravely ill and, before death, issued an edict returning government to Liu Zhi. She died in the second month. In the third month Liu Zhi moved from the Southern Palace to the Northern Palace. To reassure the Liang clan, he increased Liang Ji's fief by ten thousand households, bringing Liang Ji's total to thirty thousand—far beyond ordinary Han enfeoffment limits. Liu Zhi also enfeoffed Liang Ji's wife Sun Shou as Lady of Xiangcheng, granted her a red ribbon of rank, and treated her on a level with a senior imperial princess. Sun Shou was renowned for beauty and affected seductive manners. Liang Ji both favored and feared her. Under her influence, he stripped many members of the Liang clan of office, outwardly appearing modest but actually elevating the Sun family. More than ten of Sun Shou's relatives falsely assumed or obtained posts as Palace Attendant, minister, colonel, commandery administrator, or senior local official.

On the first day of the first month of spring 151 (the first year of Yuanjia), Liang Ji entered the palace wearing a sword. Master of Writing Zhang Ling rebuked him and ordered the guards to seize it. Liang Ji knelt and apologized, and Liu Zhi ordered that a year's salary be taken from him, causing officials to become solemn. Yet Liu Zhi soon granted Liang Ji still greater privileges: he did not have to hasten his steps when entering court, could wear a sword and shoes, and did not have to announce his personal name in audience; once every ten days he could enter the palace to handle and review matters submitted by the Masters of Writing. These honors followed precedents associated with founding statesmen such as Xiao He, Deng Yu, and Huo Guang and reflected Liu Zhi's helplessness under Liang Ji's pressure.

After Empress Dowager Liang died, Liu Zhi no longer favored Empress Liang Nüying exclusively. As her favor declined, she became resentful and jealous. Whenever a prince was born in the harem, the source says she had him killed, and even the prince's mother rarely survived. Liu Zhi feared General-in-Chief Liang Ji and did not dare rebuke Empress Liang. Instead he increasingly neglected her. She, however, “relied on her position and indulged her jealousy,” suspecting eunuchs around Liu Zhi and poisoning them, while “above and below mouths were clamped shut” and no one dared speak. Liu Zhi endured the pressure and resentment for a long time but feared his words would reach Liang Nüying and did not dare plot against the family.

In 158 (the first year of Yanxi), a solar eclipse occurred. Grand Astrologer Chen Shou said that “the cause of the eclipse lies with General-in-Chief Liang Ji.” Liang Ji learned of this and executed him. As the Grand Astrologer was a close imperial official, Liang Ji's arbitrary execution without consulting Liu Zhi infuriated the emperor.

Yanxi Coup and Personal Rule

In the seventh month of 159 (the second year of Yanxi), Empress Liang Nüying died. Noble Lady Deng Mengnü was then in high favor. Liang Ji, jealous of her position, sent assassins at night to her home to kill her mother, Xuan. Xuan's neighbor, Central Regular Attendant Yuan She, discovered the plot and beat a drum to gather people and warn her. Xuan entered the palace and denounced Liang Ji's crimes to Emperor Huan.

Liu Zhi was enraged and secretly planned Liang Ji's destruction. On the pretext of going to the latrine, he had Tang Heng accompany him and quietly asked: “Among the people around us, do you know anyone who is at odds with the outside household [the Liang clan]?” Tang Heng replied: “Shan Chao and Zuo Guan have grievances with Liang Buyi; Xu Huang and Ju Yuan privately resent the Liang clan's arrogance, but they have never dared say so.” Liu Zhi summoned Shan Chao and Zuo Guan to a secret chamber and said: “General-in-Chief Liang Ji controls the government. Both inner palace and outer court are filled with his people, and the court ministers all belong to him. I want to eliminate them. What do you think?” Shan Chao and Zuo Guan answered: “Liang Ji is a traitor to the state and should have been removed long ago. But we are weak and unworthy and do not know Your Majesty's true intention.” Liu Zhi said: “My intention is already very clear. Devise a plan to destroy the Liang clan.” Shan Chao replied: “If Your Majesty truly intends to eliminate the Liang clan, it is not difficult. We fear only that Your Majesty will hesitate midway.” Liu Zhi answered: “Liang Ji is a traitor to the state and must be destroyed. There is nothing to hesitate about!” Ju Yuan and Xu Huang were then summoned. Liu Zhi bit Shan Chao's arm until it bled, and the six men swore a blood oath to destroy the Liang clan.

Liang Ji became suspicious of Shan Chao and the others. On the dingchou day of the eighth month he sent the eunuch Zhang Yun into the palace to guard against a disturbance. Ju Yuan had officials arrest Zhang Yun on the charge that he “entered from outside with treacherous designs.” Liu Zhi then proceeded to the Front Hall, summoned the Masters of Writing, and launched the coup. He ordered Prefect of the Masters of Writing Yin Xun to carry the imperial tally and instructed officials from assistant directors and gentlemen downward to take up arms and guard the palace gates. All tallies were recalled into the palace. Ju Yuan led more than one thousand grooms of the imperial stables, Tiger Guards, Feathered Forest guards, and sword-and-halberd men of the capital watch, together with Colonel Director of Retainers Zhang Biao, to surround Liang Ji's residence. Superintendent of the Imperial Household Yuan Xu carried a tally to recover Liang Ji's seal and ribbon as General-in-Chief and reduce him to Marquis of Bijing District. Liang Ji and his wife Sun Shou both committed suicide that day.

Members of Liang Ji's clan, including Chamberlain for the Palace Guard Liang Shu, Henan Administrator Liang Yin, Colonel of Garrison Cavalry Liang Rang, Colonel of Agile Cavalry Liang Zhong, Colonel of Changshui Liang Ji, and several dozen relatives inside and outside the court were executed. Defender-in-chief Hu Guang was dismissed, Minister over the Masses Han Yan and Minister of Works Sun Lang were arrested and imprisoned. More than three hundred former subordinates and clients were dismissed, leaving the court almost empty. The Liang imperial-in-law faction was swept away in what became known as the “Yanxi coup,” and the population was said to celebrate universally.

After destroying Liang Ji, Liu Zhi confiscated his property, valued at more than three billion cash, to fill the imperial treasury, and used it to reduce taxes and rents throughout the empire by half. Yet Liu Zhi then enfeoffed Shan Chao as Marquis of Xinfeng with twenty thousand households; Xu Huang as Marquis of Wuyuan and Ju Yuan as Marquis of Dongwuyang, each with fifteen thousand; and Zuo Guan as Marquis of Shangcai and Tang Heng as Marquis of Ruyang, each with thirteen thousand. The five were enfeoffed on the same day and became known as the “Five Marquises.” They were said to be even more corrupt than the imperial in-laws, extorting and plundering the people. Complaints spread, Eastern Han politics declined further, and the state's strength weakened.

Later Personal Rule and the Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions

In 165 (the eighth year of Yanxi), Liu Zhi promulgated the “Three Mutual Avoidances Law,” described in the source as the first written system of official recusal in ancient China. It stipulated that families linked by marriage and natives of two provinces could not serve as supervisory officials over one another, intended to prevent local cliques and delay the growth of separatist power.

In the later years of his reign, Liu Zhi became immersed in women, and the harem reportedly numbered five or six thousand. In 166 (the ninth year of Yanxi), a group of students at the National University, seeing the deterioration of government, demanded that the court restrain the eunuchs and reform politics. Eunuchs reacted angrily and entered into large-scale conflict with Li Ying, Colonel Director of Retainers, who enjoyed a high reputation among the scholar-officials. Emperor Huan was furious and ordered the arrest of more than two hundred students who petitioned on Li Ying's behalf. Later, after opposition from Grand Tutor Chen Fan and General Dou Wu, the students were released but permanently barred from office. The episode became known as the Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions. Eastern Han government became still darker and more corrupt.

In January 168 (the twelfth month of the first year of Yongkang), Liu Zhi died at the age of thirty-six and was buried at Xuanling Mausoleum. His temple name was initially Weizong but was removed in 190, during the Chuping era of Emperor Xian. Liu Zhi had no son. Empress Dou and Dou Wu brought Liu Hong, Marquis of Jiedu Pavilion, to the throne as Emperor Ling of Han.

His Origins, His Accession, and the Domination of the Liang Family

Liu Zhi was a great-grandson of Emperor Zhang of Han, grandson of Liu Kai, prince Xiao of Hejian, and eldest son of Liu Yi, marquis of Liwu, his mother being lady Yan. By the Records of Han of the Eastern Pavilion he inherited the title at fourteen, and "on first entering he was unlike other men," so that the empress dowager Liang wished to give him her sister in marriage; and in the first year of Benchu, 146, the empress dowager summoned him to the Xiamen pavilion to marry him to her sister, when the young emperor Zhi happened to die without heir, so that the empress dowager with her brother the general-in-chief Liang Ji settled the succession within the palace, and on the day gengyin of the intercalary month sent Liang Ji with the tally to bring him into the southern palace in a prince's blue-canopied carriage, where he took the throne that same day at fifteen, the empress dowager still holding court. By the Hanji of the Later Han the empress dowager's edict ran that the young emperor Zhi had died without leaving an heir and that, the altars being of weight and the imperial house searched for a worthy, none was better than Liu Zhi, marquis of Liwu, then fifteen, of excellent appearance and abundance, and near in descent to the filial and compliant emperor. After his accession the general-in-chief Liang Ji monopolized the government and the empress Liang Nüying the inner palace, enjoying his favour alone, so that no consort below her could have audience of him; and relying on the influence of her sister the empress dowager and her brother Liang Ji she was extremely extravagant, "her palace hangings carved and beautiful, her dress and equipage precious and splendid, her ingenious furnishings twice those of former ages"; and after the empress dowager's death her favour waned. Having no son and secretly nursing jealousy, "whenever a palace woman conceived, few came to full term," and though Liu Zhi, overawed by Liang Ji, dared not reprove her, he saw her the less; and in the second year of Yanxi she died of grief and anger. Liang Ji's wife Sun Shou was of great beauty and skilled in wanton arts to bewitch him, so that he both loved and feared her; and at Sun Shou's prompting Liang Ji stripped many of the Liang of office, seeming to yield while in truth exalting the Sun, so that more than a dozen of Sun Shou's kin held by false names the posts of palace attendant, minister, colonel, commandery governor and senior clerk. By the Comprehensive Mirror, in the first month of the first year of Heping, 150, the empress dowager's edict restored the government to the emperor and her regency ended, and in the second month she died; the court added ten thousand households to Liang Ji's fief, making thirty thousand in all, and enfeoffed his wife Sun Shou as lady of Xiangcheng with the revenue of Yangdi in addition, fifty million a year, and gave her the red cord, ranking her with a grand princess.

The Power of Liang Ji and the Impeachment by Zhang Ling

On the first day of the first month of the first year of Yuanjia, 151, when the ministers came to congratulate him, the general-in-chief Liang Ji entered the secretariat wearing his sword, and the president of the secretariat, Zhang Ling of Shu commandery, shouted at him to withdraw and had the guards of the feathered forest and the tiger take away his sword; and Liang Ji kneeling in apology, Zhang Ling would not acknowledge it but impeached him and asked that he be tried by the commandant of justice, whereupon an edict allowed a year's salary to redeem him, "and the hundred officials were in awe." In the same year, the emperor, wishing to honour Liang Ji for his merit in setting him up, held a great assembly of the ministers to discuss the ceremonies due to him; and the responsible officers memorialized that he should enter court without hurrying and come to the hall shod, that in the announcement of his presence he should not be named, and that his ceremonies should rank with Xiao He's; that the remaining households of Dingtao and Chengyang should be added to make four counties, ranking with Deng Yu; that gifts of money, slaves, silk, carriages, horses, clothing and mansions should rank with Huo Guang's, as of one of signal service; that at every court assembly he should sit apart from the three excellencies, and once in ten days conduct the business of the secretariat; and that this should be proclaimed throughout the realm as law for ten thousand ages. Yet Liang Ji "thought the ceremonies proposed too mean and was displeased"; and thereafter he "monopolized the springs of power and grew daily more violent, so that no matter of state, great or small, was settled without consulting him; the guards and attendants about the palace were all his own creatures; every trifle of the palace's life he knew; and when officers were transferred or summoned they first went to Liang Ji's gate with their commissions to give thanks before daring to present themselves at the secretariat."

The Plot against Liang Ji and the Coup of Yanxi

By the biography of the eunuchs in the Later Han, Liang Ji's two sisters were empresses to the emperors Shun and Huan, and Liang Ji, succeeding his father Liang Shang as general-in-chief, held power for two generations and shook the realm; and having put to death the grand commandant Li Gu and Du Qiao and others he grew the more arrogant, while the empress, taking advantage of it, was jealous and cruel and poisoned many, so that "high and low were gagged and none spoke," and the emperor, long overawed, was ever resentful but, fearing his words would leak, dared not plot. In the second year of Yanxi, 159, the empress dying, the emperor "took occasion of going to the privy" to call Tang Heng alone and ask who among those about him were on bad terms with the outer family; and Tang Heng answered that Shan Chao and Zuo Guan, having formerly waited on the governor of Henan, Bu Yi, with somewhat scanty respect, Bu Yi had arrested their brothers and sent them to the prison of Luoyang, and they had been released only after going to his gate to apologize; and that Xu Huang and Ju Yuan privately resented the overbearing conduct of the outer family but dared not speak of it. The emperor then called Shan Chao and Zuo Guan into his chamber and told them that the Liang brothers held the court and oppressed all within and without, and that the ministers and those below followed their will, and asked what the palace attendants thought of destroying them; and Shan Chao and the rest answered that they were truly traitors to the state and had long deserved death, but that they themselves were weak and did not know the emperor's mind; and the emperor said that if it was truly so the attendants should secretly devise it. Shan Chao answered that to devise it was not hard but that they feared the emperor would again hesitate; and the emperor said that a treacherous minister who coerced the state should suffer his crime and there was no room for doubt. The other three being called, the five settled their plan and the emperor bit Shan Chao's arm till it bled for the oath. The matter had a prior cause: by the biography of Liang Tong, a woman of the palace, Deng Xiang's wife Xuan, bore a daughter Deng Meng; and Deng Xiang dying, Xuan married Liang Ji, who was the uncle of Liang Ji's wife Sun Shou. Sun Shou brought Deng Meng into the palace, where she was favoured and made a consort; and Liang Ji, wishing to acknowledge her as his own daughter to strengthen himself, changed her surname to Liang; and her sister's husband Bing Zun being a gentleman of the court, Liang Ji, fearing he would thwart Xuan's purpose, hired an assassin at Yancheng to kill him and wished also to kill Xuan. Xuan's house being in Yanxi lane next to that of the palace attendant Yuan She, Liang Ji had the assassin climb Yuan She's roof to enter Xuan's house; and Yuan She, perceiving it, beat the drum and gathered the crowd to warn Xuan, who rode in to tell the emperor, at which he was furious and plotted with the palace attendants Shan Chao, Ju Yuan, Tang Heng, Zuo Guan and Xu Huang to destroy Liang Ji. By the Comprehensive Mirror, after the five had settled their plan Shan Chao and the rest said that the emperor's mind being now made up he should say no more of it lest men suspect; and Liang Ji, suspecting Shan Chao and the others, on the day dingchou of the eighth month sent the yellow-gate attendant Zhang Yun into the palace to lodge and guard against any change, whereupon Ju Yuan had the officers arrest Zhang Yun for coming in from without with designs against the state. The emperor therefore took his seat in the front hall, summoned the presidents of the boards and disclosed the matter, had the president of the secretariat Yin Xun with the tally order all below the assistants and gentlemen to bear arms and guard the palace gates and collect the tallies into the palace, had Ju Yuan with the grooms of the left and right stables, the tiger guards, the feathered forest and the halberd-bearers of the commandant, more than a thousand in all, join the colonel of the capital province Zhang Biao to surround Liang Ji's mansion, and had the master of ceremonies Yuan Xu with the tally take back Liang Ji's seal as general-in-chief and change his fief to that of marquis of Bijing village; and Liang Ji and his wife Sun Shou killed themselves the same day. By the annals of Emperor Huan, the commandant of the guards Liang Shu, the governor of Henan Liang Yin, the garrison colonel Liang Rang, the colonel of the mounted scouts Liang Zhong and the colonel of the long water Liang Ji and several dozen of the Liang and Sun kindred within and without were all put to death, the grand commandant Hu Guang was dismissed and the minister of education Han Yan with the minister of works Sun Lang thrown into prison. By the biography of Liang Tong, all the Liang and Sun kindred, high and low, were sent to the imperial prison and executed in the market, and of the ministers, colonels, inspectors and two-thousand-bushel officers implicated several dozen died, while more than three hundred of the former officials and retainers were dismissed, "so that the court was empty, only Yin Xun, Yuan Xu and the commandant of justice Handa Yi remaining"; and "the affair having broken out suddenly from within, envoys galloped to and fro, the ministers lost their composure, the government offices and the markets were in a boiling, and it was several days before order returned, and none of the people but rejoiced." Afterwards the consort Liang was made empress and the Yiling was degraded to a consort's tomb; and the emperor, hating the Liang, changed the empress's surname to Bo, and long after, learning that she was in fact Deng Xiang's daughter, restored the surname Deng. Decrees rewarded the merit of destroying Liang Ji, and Shan Chao, Xu Huang, Ju Yuan, Zuo Guan and Tang Heng were all made marquises of a county, Shan Chao with twenty thousand households and the rest with more than ten thousand each, "whom the age called the five marquises," Zuo Guan and Tang Heng remaining palace attendants; and the president of the secretariat Yin Xun and six others were made marquises of a pavilion. By the biography of Du Luan Liu Li Liu Xie in the Later Han, after Liang Ji's destruction the five palace attendants were all made marquises for that merit and monopolized the selection of officials, and the palace woman Deng was made empress, four of her family being enfeoffed within months with gifts beyond counting, while the earth split in earthquakes and calamities came thick; and Li Yun, magistrate of Baima, being of a firm nature and anxious for the state, sent up an open memorial, a copy of which went to the three offices, saying that the empress was the mother of the realm and her virtue should match the spirit of the earth, so that if the right woman were found the five families would be complete and if not the earth would shake the palace; and that the offices were now in confusion, petty men promoted by flattery, goods and bribes open, government and instruction daily decayed and appointments made without imperial scrutiny — was the emperor then to be no true emperor? The emperor, in a rage at the memorial, had Li Yun arrested and sent to the northern temple prison, with the palace attendant Guan Ba and the censor and the commandant of justice to try him jointly; and Du Zhong, an officer of Hongnong, grieved that Li Yun had been charged for loyal remonstrance, memorialized asking to die the same day with him, at which the emperor was the more angry and threw him into prison too. The grand master of ceremonies Chen Fan memorialized to save Li Yun, saying that though his words knew no taboos and offended the imperial will his meaning was loyalty to the state, and citing that the founder of Han had borne with Zhou Chang's plain remonstrance and Emperor Cheng had pardoned Zhu Yun from death, and that to kill Li Yun now would bring on the age the reproach of cutting out a loyal heart; and the master of ceremonies Yang Bing, the market chief Mu Mao and the gentleman of the interior Shangguan Zi all memorialized for him. The emperor was much enraged and the officers pronounced it gross impiety, whereupon an edict reproved Chen Fan and Yang Bing severely and sent them home to the fields, and degraded Mu Mao and Shangguan Zi two degrees; and when the emperor was at the Zhuolong pool and Guan Ba reported the case, Guan Ba spoke deceitfully that Li Yun was a foolish scholar of the wilds and Du Zhong a petty clerk of a commandery whose folly deserved no punishment, but the emperor asked him what sort of words "the emperor no true emperor" were, and whether the attendant wished to pardon them, and had a little yellow gate approve the sentence, so that Li Yun and Du Zhong both died in prison.

The Fall of the Eunuchs, the "Law of the Three Mutuals," and the Proscription of the Faction

By the biography of the eunuchs, the colonel of the capital province Han Yan impeached Zuo Guan for his crimes and for his brother Zuo Cheng, the grand coachman and marquis of Nanxiang, soliciting the prefectures, gathering wealth by wickedness, letting his retainers run loose and oppressing officials and people, whereupon Zuo Guan and Zuo Cheng both killed themselves; and Han Yan further impeached Ju Yuan's brother Ju Gong, chancellor of Pei, for taking bribes, and had him brought to the commandant of justice, whereupon Ju Yuan went to the prison to apologize and gave back his seal as marquis of Dongwu, and an edict degraded him to marquis of Duxiang and he died at home; and the heirs of Shan Chao, Xu Huang and Tang Heng were all reduced to marquises of a township with three hundred thousand a year, and all their sons and brothers enfeoffed had their rank and land taken away, so that the monopoly of the five marquises was ended altogether. In the matter of appointments, the emperor, to steady the government and to prevent local officers from forming factions and building local power against the centre, widened the scope of avoidance in appointment and promulgated the first written system of avoidance in the history of Chinese officialdom, the "law of the three mutuals": a provincial inspector was not to serve in his own province, a commandery governor or chancellor, a commandery assistant and a long secretary not in their own commandery or state, and a county magistrate and his assistants not only not in their own county but, strictly speaking, not in their own commandery either, while the staff officers a local officer appointed himself should in principle be natives of the place, though outsiders might be used — that is, the chief officer must avoid his native place while the subordinate officers should in principle be natives. The law was on the whole well carried out in the middle and later years of the Eastern Han and had a certain positive effect on the politics of that time, in that no case is to be found of a separatist force of the later Eastern Han having begun at its own native place; and its effective working delayed to some degree the appearance of local separatist forces. On the other hand, by the biography of the faction in the Later Han, from the time the emperor, as marquis of Liwu, studied under Zhou Fu of Ganling and on coming to the throne promoted Zhou Fu to be president of the secretariat, the same commandery having a governor of Henan in Fang Zhi of name at court, the people of the place made a rhyme of "the rule of the realm is Fang Bowu, and Zhou Zhongjin got his seal by being a teacher"; and the retainers of the two houses mocking one another, each gathered partisans, so that Ganling had its northern and southern parties and "the talk of the faction men began from this." Later, the governor of Runan, Zong Zi, employing Fan Pang as his merit clerk, and the governor of Nanyang, Cheng Jin, employing Cen Zhi, the two commanderies made another rhyme, and so the talk passed into the grand college, where the students, more than thirty thousand, with Guo Linzong and Jia Weijie at their head, extolled one another together with Li Ying, Chen Fan and Wang Chang, "saying in the college that the model of the realm was Li Yuanli, that Chen Zhongju feared no might, and that Wang Shumao was the excellence of the realm," while Gongzu Jinjie of Bohai and Wei Qiqing of Fufeng spoke out deeply and sharply and spared no magnate, so that "from the ministers down none but feared their censure and came to their doors in haste." By the biography of Chen and the princes, the palace attendants Su Kang and Guan Ba being again employed, they contrived the ruin of the loyal and good and flattered one another, so that the grand minister of agriculture Liu You, the commandant of justice Feng Gun and the governor of Henan Li Ying all suffered for offending the imperial will; and Chen Fan, at a court assembly, argued firmly for Li Ying and the rest and asked that they be pardoned and advanced, speaking repeatedly with earnest and sincere words, but the emperor would not hear and Chen Fan rose in tears. At that time the little yellow gate Zhao Jin and the great rogue of Nanyang Zhang Si and others, serving the palace officials, broke the law by their power, and the two commandery governors Liu Zhi and Cheng Jin tried them, and though a pardon had come they had them beaten to death; and the eunuchs in resentment, the officers taking their will, memorialized that Liu Zhi and Cheng Jin deserved execution in the market; and the governor of Shanyang, Zhai Chao, confiscated the property of the palace attendant Hou Lan. By the biography of the faction, there was a rich merchant of Wan, Zhang Fan, a connexion by marriage of an imperial consort, skilled in carving curiosities, who by bribes to the palace officials gained high place and "by his skill ran riot on his power"; and Cen Zhi and Zhang Mu urged Cheng Jin to arrest him, and though a pardon came Cen Zhi had him executed notwithstanding and arrested his clan and retainers, killing more than two hundred, and reported it afterwards; whereupon the palace attendant Hou Lan had Zhang Fan's wife memorialize of her wrong, and the emperor in great fury summoned Cheng Jin, who died in prison. The emperor, hearing of it, was furious, since in his eyes it was local officers openly defying the centre, and at once decreed that the governors of Nanyang and Runan, Cheng Jin and Liu Zhi, be arrested and executed by law. Afterwards Zhang Cheng of Henei, skilled in divination by the wind, having reckoned that a pardon would come, taught his son to kill a man; and Li Ying as governor of Henan pressed the arrest, and though the pardon released him Li Ying in the more bitter anger had him tried and killed. Zhang Cheng had first gained access to the eunuchs by his arts and the emperor had consulted his divinations, and so Zhang Cheng's disciple Lao Xiu memorialized falsely that Li Ying and others "kept students of the grand college and wandering scholars, made connexions with the students of the commanderies, hurried to and fro together and formed parties, slandering the court and confounding the customs"; whereupon the emperor in fury sent orders through the commanderies to arrest the faction men, published it to the realm so that all should share his anger, and took Li Ying and the rest, the charge implicating Chen Shi and more than two hundred others, and those who fled and were not taken being sought with rewards of gold, "so that envoys went out in every direction within sight of one another on the roads." The next year the president of the secretariat Huo Xu and the gate commandant Dou Wu both memorializing for them, the emperor's mind somewhat eased and they were all pardoned and sent home, but proscribed for life, "and the names of the faction men were still written in the princely archives" — the famous proscription. Chen Fan had also memorialized sharply, calling Li Ying, Du Mi and Fan Pang men of unstained person who had given their hearts to the altars, and saying that to try them harshly for loyal offence, "confining some and debarring them and putting others to death or exile in unfit places," and to "stop up the mouths of the realm and deafen and blind a whole generation" was no different from Qin's burning of the books and burying of the scholars; and the emperor, disliking his sharp words, made the excuse that Chen Fan's appointments had been unfit and dismissed him. By the biography of Yang Bing, in the winter of the fifth year of Yanxi Yang Bing replaced Liu Ju as grand commandant, and the eunuchs being then at their height, "appointing their own men and their sons and brothers to office till they filled the realm and vied in greed and lewdness, so that court and country sighed and complained," Yang Bing with the minister of works Zhou Jing memorialized that within and without the offices were mostly filled by unfit men and that those recently summoned were all specially appointed without test, and citing that by the old code the sons and brothers of palace officials might not hold place or power, while now "their branches and retainers were spread through the offices, and young and commonplace men held governorships, so that high and low were angry and the four quarters bitter," and asking that the old statutes be followed to dismiss the greedy and violent and stop calamity and slander, and that every officer examine his own department and report those who should be dismissed; and the emperor assented, and Yang Bing listed more than fifty, from governors down to the Xiongnu commissioner Yan Yuan, the inspector of Qingzhou Yang Liang and the governor of Liaodong Sun Xuan, who were put to death or dismissed, "and none in the realm but were awed."

The Frontiers, Relief Measures, and the Inner Palace

While the emperor mediated between the eunuchs and the scholars, the frontiers were never quiet: the Xianbei raided his northern border and the Qiang rebelled in the west. By the account of the western Qiang, in the second year of Jianhe the Baima Qiang raided Guanghan and killed officers, and the western Qiang and the Hu of Huangzhong rebelling besides, the inspector of Yizhou led the Ban-dun barbarians against them, taking or bringing over two hundred thousand; in the first year of Yongshou the colonel Zhang Gong dying, the former governor of Nanyang, Di Wu Fang, took his place and "had great authority and kindness, so that the western frontier was quiet"; in the second year of Yanxi the palace attendant Duan Jiong took his place as colonel, and when the eight branches of the Shaodang raided Longyou Duan Jiong broke them heavily; and in the fourth year Lingwu with the Xianling and the Chen Di of Shangjun and the Laozi tribes raided Bing and Liang and the three garrisons together, and Duan Jiong being summoned on a charge, Hu Hong took his place, who had no authority or stratagem, so that the Qiang ran riot, overthrew the camps and the frontier grew worse, until the palace attendant Huangfu Gui broke them. As to the Xianbei, by the account of the Wuhuan and Xianbei, in Emperor Huan's time the Xianbei chief Tanshihuai set up his court at the Tanhan mountain on the Chuqiu water with a great army and horses, and the elders of the eastern and western divisions all came to him; and raiding the frontier in the south, holding off the Dingling in the north, driving back the Fuyu in the east and striking the Wusun in the west, he held all the old land of the Xiongnu, fourteen thousand li east and west and seven thousand north and south, "netting the hills, rivers, waters, marshes and salt pools." In the autumn of the second year of Yongshou Tanshihuai raided Yunzhong with three or four thousand horse; in the first year of Yanxi the Xianbei raided the northern frontier and in the winter the commissioner to the Xiongnu Zhang Huan led the southern shanyu out beyond the passes against them, taking two hundred heads; in the second year they entered Yanmen again, killed several hundred and plundered greatly before leaving; in the summer of the sixth year more than a thousand horse raided Liaodong's dependent state; and in the summer of the ninth year they divided into several tens of thousands of horse, entered the nine frontier commanderies and killed and plundered officials and people, so that Zhang Huan was sent again and the Xianbei went out beyond the passes. The court, long afflicted and unable to control them, sent envoys with seals to enfeoff Tanshihuai as king and seek a marriage alliance; but Tanshihuai would not accept it and "plundered the more," dividing his land into three divisions each with an elder, all subject to himself. By the biography of Huangfu Zhang Duan, in the spring of the ninth year of Yanxi Zhang Huan was summoned to be grand minister of agriculture, and the Xianbei, hearing he was gone, that summer drew in the southern Xiongnu and the Wuhuan to enter the passes by several roads, with five or six thousand horse or three or four thousand, raiding the nine frontier commanderies and killing and seizing the people; and in the autumn the Xianbei again entered with eight or nine thousand horse and lured the eastern Qiang into a common oath, so that the Chen Di of Shangjun and the Xianling of Anding raided Wuwei and Zhangye together, "and the frontier suffered grievously." The court in anxiety made Zhang Huan again commissioner to the Xiongnu with the rank of the nine chief ministers, to command You, Bing and Liang and the two camps of Duyuan and Wuhuan and to examine the fitness of the inspectors and two-thousand-bushel officers, with rich gifts; and the Xiongnu and Wuhuan, hearing Zhang Huan had come, came over in a body, two hundred thousand souls, of whom Zhang Huan killed only the chief criminals and comforted and received the rest, and only the Xianbei went out beyond the passes. In the south, by the account of the southern barbarians and the southwestern Yi, in the autumn of the first year of Yuanjia the Wuling barbarians under Zhan Shan, more than four thousand, rebelled, seized the magistrate and gathered in the deep hills, until in the first year of Yongxing the governor Ying Feng drew them in by kindness and good faith and they all surrendered and dispersed; in the eleventh month of the third year of Yongshou the Changsha barbarians rebelled and camped at Yiyang, and by the autumn of the third year of Yanxi they raided the commandery, growing to more than ten thousand and killing its officers, while the Lingling barbarians entered Changsha; and in the winter more than six thousand Wuling barbarians raided Jiangling, and the inspector of Jingzhou Liu Du, the master of guests Ma Mu and the governor of Nanjun Li Su all fled. Li Su's clerk Hu Shuang, seizing his bridle, remonstrated that the barbarians, seeing the commandery without preparation, had dared to come in on the moment, and that the governor, a great minister of the state with a thousand li of linked cities, had only to raise his banner and beat the drum to bring a hundred thousand at his call, and asked how he could throw away the weight of his charge to become a fugitive; but Li Su turned his blade on him and told him to be off, since the governor was in haste and had no time for such counsels, and Hu Shuang embracing the horse remonstrated still, so that Li Su killed him and fled. The emperor, hearing of it, summoned Li Su and had him executed in the market, reduced Liu Du and Ma Mu from the death penalty by one degree, and restored the gate of Hu Shuang's house and made one of his family a gentleman of the palace. The colonel of the right, Du Shang, was then made inspector of Jingzhou against the Changsha rebels and pacified them, and the general of chariots and cavalry Feng Gun was sent against the Wuling barbarians, who surrendered and dispersed; but on the army's return the rebels raided Guiyang again, its governor Liao Xi fleeing, and the Wuling barbarians attacked their commandery again, where the governor Chen Feng led the officials and people to break them, taking more than three thousand heads with two thousand surrendering. In the Western Regions, in the second year of Yuanjia the emperor appointed Wang Jing as senior secretary, and Wang Jing on arriving killed the king of Khotan, Jian, whereupon the Khotanese marquis Shu Bo rose, killed Wang Jing and set up Jian's son Anguo as king; and Ma Da wishing to march against Khotan, the emperor opposed it, recalled Ma Da and made Song Liang governor of Dunhuang, who demanded that Khotan kill Shu Bo; but Shu Bo being then already dead, Khotan cut off the dead man's head and sent it to Dunhuang without telling the truth, and Song Liang, learning it later, could not after all send troops, so that "Khotan, trusting to this, grew arrogant." In the first year of Yongxing the king of the rear division of Jushi, Aluoduo, falling out with the colonel Yan Hao, rebelled in anger, besieged the Han garrison farm at Gugu city and killed its officers; and afterwards, his officers surrendering to Han, he fled to the northern Xiongnu, and the governor of Dunhuang, Song Liang, set up Bijun, son of the former king Junjiu then held as hostage, as king of the rear division; and when Aluoduo returned from the Xiongnu and contended with Bijun for the state, the colonel Yan Xiang, fearing he would bring in the northern enemy and throw the Western Regions into disorder, sent him a letter of assurance promising to restore him as king, and Aluoduo came and submitted, whereupon the seal given to Bijun was taken back, Aluoduo was made king again and Bijun sent back to Dunhuang. In the first year of Yanxi the southern Xiongnu rebelled and raided Liangzhou and the frontier, and the emperor made Chong Hao general of Duyuan against the northwest; and Chong Hao, reaching his camp, first proclaimed kindness and good faith and drew in the barbarians, attacking only those who would not submit, and sent back all the Qiang who had been taken and held as hostages in the commanderies, so that "with sincere kindness he comforted them and was clear in rewards," and the Qiang and Hu with Kucha, Yarkand and Wusun of the Western Regions all came to submit. In internal government and relief, in the second month of the first year of Yongshou there was famine in the capital province and Jizhou, "men eating one another," and the emperor ordered the commanderies to relieve the poor and weak and required that "where princes, marquises, officials or people had stores of grain, three tenths be borrowed to help the issue," the officials and people being paid in cash and the princes and marquises repaid from the new rents; in the sixth month the Luo river overflowed and ruined the Hongde park, and there was a great flood at Nanyang. He also decreed that those of Taishan and Langya who had suffered from bandits should be excused rent and tax and exempted from labour service and poll tax for three years, and that where corpses had been lost in the floods the commanderies should search out and bury them, and that those over seven struck and drowned should be given two thousand cash each, and that those whose houses were ruined and grain lost and who were especially poor should be given two hu of grain each. In the Guanzhong region, to lighten the treasury's burden, he decreed a reduction of the salaries of the ministers and those below and borrowed half the rents of the princes and marquises, and had the titles of marquis within the passes, gentleman of the tiger guards, gentleman of the feathered forest, soldier of the crimson cavalry and grand master of the fifth order sold at varying prices. In religion and palaces, by the Later Han he "adorned the Fanglin and built the Zhuolong palace, setting up a canopy to sacrifice to the Buddha and to Laozi," that is, he set a canopied seat in the Zhuolong palace to sacrifice to Buddha and Laozi with the music of the suburban sacrifices; and Chen Fan memorialized against his excessive rewards and his crowded inner palace, saying that "in recent years the harvest has failed by five or six tenths and ten thousand men are cold and hungry and cannot live, while the palace women are several thousand, eating meat and wearing silk, their oils, grease, powder and paint beyond reckoning," and quoting the proverb that "thieves do not pass the gate of five daughters," since daughters impoverish a house, asked whether the women of the palace did not impoverish the state; and the emperor took his words in good part and sent out more than five hundred palace women. By the annals of the empresses, also, the emperor "had many favourites and gathered palace women to five or six thousand, and the servants and attendants besides were twice as many"; and afterwards, wishing to make his favourite, the palace woman Tian Sheng, empress, the colonel of the capital province Ying Feng memorialized citing the weight of the empress mother as the cause of rise and fall and the lesson that when Han set up Fei Yan the succession was cut off, while the grand commandant Chen Fan contended firmly that the Tian were lowly and the Dou of good family, so that the emperor had no choice but to make the consort Dou empress and to make her father Dou Wu specially advanced, gate commandant and marquis of Huaili; and the empress Dou "was granted audience very seldom," the emperor's favour going only to the palace woman Tian Sheng and others, and in the winter of the first year of Yongkang, falling ill, he made Tian Sheng and eight other women consorts.

His Death and His Tomb

In the twelfth month of the first year of Yongkang, 168, the emperor died with no son surviving, and the empress Dou as empress dowager held court and settled the succession, setting up Liu Hong, marquis of Jiedu pavilion, as Emperor Ling. The empress dowager Dou being by nature jealous and cruel and long enraged with Tian Sheng and the rest, while the emperor's coffin still lay in the front hall she killed Tian Sheng and wished to destroy all the other consorts, and desisted only at the earnest remonstrance of the palace attendants Guan Ba and Su Kang. In the first year of Chuping, on the memorial of the responsible officers, the four emperors He, An, Shun and Huan being held to have no merit and virtue and so unfit to be called ancestors, and the three empresses Gonghuai, Jingyin and Gongmin being held not to have been principal wives and so unfit to be called empresses, their honorific titles were all abolished by decree, and the temple name of Liu Zhi was thus done away with. His tomb is the Xuanling, at the northeast of Baicaopo village, the tomb of an Eastern Han emperor nearest to the capital of the time in the Luonan tomb district. From April 2006 to May 2007, in connexion with the building of the Zhengzhou-Xi'an high-speed railway, the municipal institute of archaeology surveyed and explored the Baicaopo tomb park and excavated the buildings within the line of the works; and in 2017 the archaeological work at the site was resumed, and in 2020 a round stone object with an inscription was found, bearing on its outer wall the words "made in the third year of Guanghe," Guanghe being the era name of Emperor Ling, Liu Zhi's successor, whose Wenling is already established in the Mangshan tomb district; so that the stone object must have been made by Emperor Ling in building or sacrificing at Liu Zhi's tomb park, and with the recorded position of Liu Zhi's tomb district the Baicaopo Eastern Han tomb park is taken to be the Xuanling of Emperor Huan.

Major Activities

Yanxi Coup and Destruction of Liang Ji

In 159 (the second year of Yanxi), Liu Zhi joined the five eunuchs Shan Chao, Xu Huang, Ju Yuan, Zuo Guan, and Tang Heng in a coup that destroyed the Liang imperial-in-law faction in a single blow. Liang Ji and his wife Sun Shou committed suicide, several dozen Liang relatives were executed, more than three hundred former subordinates and clients were dismissed, and the court was nearly emptied of officials. Liu Zhi confiscated Liang Ji's property, valued at more than three billion cash, and reduced taxes across the empire by half. The event ended more than twenty years of Liang family domination, but political power immediately shifted into eunuch hands.

Promulgation of the Three Mutual Avoidances Law

In 165 (the eighth year of Yanxi), Liu Zhi promulgated the “Three Mutual Avoidances Law,” stipulating that families connected by marriage and natives of two provinces could not serve as supervisory officials over one another. The source describes it as ancient China's first written recusal system for appointments, intended to prevent local cliques and slow the formation of separatist regional power. It later influenced official-selection systems.

Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions

In 166 (the ninth year of Yanxi), eunuchs clashed with Li Ying, Colonel Director of Retainers. Liu Zhi ordered the arrest of more than two hundred students of the National University who petitioned for Li Ying. After Grand Tutor Chen Fan and General Dou Wu opposed the action, the students were released but permanently prohibited from holding office. The episode became known as the Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions and marked the full outbreak of conflict between Eastern Han scholar-officials and eunuchs.

Military and Frontier Affairs

During Liu Zhi's reign, he employed Duan Jiong, Zhang Huan, and others to suppress Qiang rebellions, repel the Xianbei, stabilize the frontiers, and restore submission from states such as Kucha in the Western Regions. These campaigns to some extent maintained Eastern Han frontier security.

Attempts to Restrain Eunuchs

After eliminating Liang Ji, Liu Zhi twice attempted to restrain domineering eunuchs. Following the enfeoffment of the Five Marquises in 159, their arrogance and abuses increased and “poison spread through the realm.” Li Yun, Magistrate of Baima, was executed for direct remonstrance, while the respected Minister of the Lesser Treasury Li Ying and others were slandered by palace eunuchs. In his later reign Liu Zhi imposed some checks on eunuch power, but failed to resolve the structural problem of eunuch domination.

The Judgements of Later Ages and the Meaning of the "Law of the Three Mutuals"

The judgement in the Later Han says that former histories called Emperor Huan a lover of music and a good player of the lute and the mouth organ, that he "adorned the Fanglin and built the Zhuolong palace and set up a canopy to sacrifice to the Buddha and to Laozi," which must be what is meant by listening to the spirits; and that when he destroyed Liang Ji and put forth his majesty and wrath the realm still hoped for rest, but that the five wicked ones then tyrannized and their influence spread through the four quarters, and that had not the loyal and worthy striven and again and again broken the edge of the wicked, he could not have obtained even such an end. Some later writers censure him severely, holding that in more than twenty years on the throne, from first to last, not one good word or deed is heard of, while his perverse government and evil conduct fill the records, so that men complained then and hate him now, and that the names of Huan and Ling rank with Jie and Zhou; and of the destruction of Liang Ji they argue that what Emperor Huan valued was the palace officials and what delighted him was the favour of women, and those two things only, and ask whether it was done for the sake of the altars. Wang Fuzhi argues from the position of the scholars, that in the reigns of Huan and Ling a scholar who wished to accomplish anything could not, since the sovereign could not be corrected, the law and discipline of the court could not be set right and the greed and cruelty of the commanderies could not be questioned, so that the only way for an able scholar was to lead troops on the frontier, "and therefore states usually perish through weakness, while Han perished through strength." As to the law of the three mutuals he promulgated, one writer holds that it established the principles of avoidance of kin and of native place, preventing officials from forming factions and practising favouritism, and that it has a certain resemblance to the systems of avoidance in use later, so that it has something to teach later ages in the checking of corruption and the conduct of official discipline; and as to its actual effect, no case is to be found of a separatist force of the later Eastern Han beginning in its own native place, which shows that it delayed to a considerable degree the appearance of local separatism.

Personal Relations

• Liu Da, Emperor Zhang of Han: great-great-grandfather
• Liu Kai, Prince Xiao of Hejian: grandfather
• Liu Yi, Marquis of Liwu: father
• Lady Yan: mother
• Liu Bao, Emperor Shun of Han: adoptive father
• Liu Shuo, Prince of Pingyuan: elder brother
• Liu Kui, Prince of Bohai: younger brother
• Imperial Princess of Changshe: sister, married Geng Yuan, Marquis of Yumi
• Senior Imperial Princess of Yiyang: sister, married a man surnamed Kou
• Liang Nüying: empress
• Deng Mengnü: empress
• Dou Miao: empress
• Noble Ladies Guo, Tian Sheng, Lady Feng, and Lady Kou: consorts
• Liu Hua: daughter, enfeoffed as Imperial Princess of Yang'an
• Liu Jian: daughter, enfeoffed as Senior Imperial Princess of Yingyin
• Liu Xiu: daughter, enfeoffed as Senior Imperial Princess of Yangdi
• Liu Hong, Emperor Ling of Han: adopted son and successor
• Zhou Fu: teacher, later promoted to Master of Writing
• Empress Dowager Liang: governed as regent
• Liang Ji: General-in-Chief, later destroyed
• Shan Chao, Xu Huang, Ju Yuan, Zuo Guan, Tang Heng: allies in the coup, later known as the Five Marquises
• Cao Teng: Central Regular Attendant and supporter of Liu Zhi's accession
• Duan Jiong, Zhang Huan: frontier commanders
• Li Ying, Chen Fan: scholar-official leaders during the partisan prohibition crisis
• Liang Ji: imperial in-law who monopolized power and was destroyed
• Liang Nüying: empress who poisoned palace attendants and fell from favor
• Deng Mengnü: empress who was later deposed
• Li Ying, Chen Fan, and other partisans: involved in the Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions

Historical Assessment

Eastern Han / Contemporary

• Fan Ye wrote in the Book of the Later Han: “Earlier histories say that Emperor Huan loved music and was skilled with qin and sheng. He adorned the Fragrant Grove and examined the palace at Zhuolong, set up canopies to sacrifice to the Buddha and Laozi—was this what is called ‘listening to the spirits’? When he destroyed Liang Ji, he displayed awesome anger, and all under Heaven still hoped for relief. But five wicked men succeeded to tyranny, spreading it across the four directions. Had loyal and worthy men not forcefully contended and repeatedly blunted the edge of treachery, even wishing to follow the examples of Zhen and Liu Zhi would not have been possible.”
• Li Yun, Magistrate of Baima, was executed for direct remonstrance, and contemporaries considered the case unjust.
• Students of the National University and the scholar-official community strongly criticized Liu Zhi for the partisan prohibitions.

Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties

• Zhuge Liang wrote in the Memorial on Dispatching the Troops: “To be close to worthy ministers and keep petty men at a distance—this is why the Former Han flourished. To be close to petty men and keep worthy ministers at a distance—this is why the Later Han declined. When the Former Emperor was alive and discussed these matters with me, he never failed to sigh with pain and regret over Huan and Ling.” Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling were thus paired as examples of rulers who favored petty men and distanced worthy officials.

Tang and Song Periods

• Yu Shinan wrote: “Emperor Huan suddenly roused himself in anger and exterminated Liang Ji; in this he had a quality of firm decision. Yet eunuchs usurped authority and the partisan prohibitions arose. Was this not the beginning of disorder, starting with Emperor Huan?” He praised Liu Zhi's decisiveness against Liang Ji while criticizing the subsequent rise of eunuch power and the partisan disaster.
• Zhou Tan wrote in a historical poem: “He could resent arrogance and strike down the Liang lord; how then could he trust Duan and Zhang with rise and fall? Who deluded him from Xiang Kai's loyal words, that he endured treacherous disaster arising within his own walls?”

Modern Period

• Lü Simian in History of Qin and Han argued that Eastern Han politics declined further during Emperor Huan's reign, with imperial in-laws and eunuchs alternating in domination and the scholar-official community being suppressed, laying groundwork for the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the fall of the Eastern Han.
• Qian Mu in Outline of National History regarded the Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions under Emperor Huan as a symbolic failure of Eastern Han scholar-official politics, causing the regime to lose support among the literati and accelerating dynastic collapse.
• Modern scholars generally hold that although Liu Zhi displayed political resolve when destroying Liang Ji, he failed to govern the state effectively, and his reign was a key stage in the Eastern Han's transition from strength to decline.