Liu Fuling

Biography

Family Background and Early Years Liu Fuling was the youngest son of Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che. His mother was Consort Gouyi of the Zhao clan, a woman from Hejian. According to a legend, when Emperor Wu passed through Hejian on an imperial tour, a diviner observing the qi reported that an extraordinary woman lived in the area. Emperor Wu sent men to find her and encountered Lady Zhao. Her two hands were tightly clenched and could not be opened; when Emperor Wu himself tried to unfold them, they opened and revealed a jade hook in her palm. She consequently won his favor and became known as the “Fist Lady.” She was later promoted to the rank of jieyu, lived in Gouyi Palace, and became known as Consort Gouyi. In 94 BCE, the third year of Taishi, Consort Gouyi gave birth to Liu Fuling after a fourteen-month pregnancy. An ancient legend held that Yao had likewise been carried for fourteen months. Emperor Wu, delighted to have a son in his old age and impressed by the story, named the gate of Gouyi Palace the “Gate of Yao's Mother.” Liu Fuling was strong and intelligent from childhood and was deeply favored by Emperor Wu, who often said that the boy resembled him. In 91 BCE, the second year of Zhenghe, the Witchcraft Crisis of 91 BCE erupted late in Emperor Wu's reign. The harsh official Jiang Chong, who had a feud with Crown Prince Liu Ju, used accusations of witchcraft to frame the crown prince. Unable to clear himself, Liu Ju raised troops and killed Jiang Chong, then fought forces led by Grand Councilor Liu Quli in Chang'an. He was defeated, fled, and soon committed suicide. Empress Wei Zifu was also implicated and killed herself. Tens of thousands were caught up in the case, making it a defining episode of political turmoil in Emperor Wu's later years. After Liu Ju's death, Emperor Wu did not immediately appoint another heir. He had six sons: his eldest, Liu Ju, was dead; his second son, Liu Hong, Prince Huai of Qi, had died earlier; four remained—Liu Dan, Prince of Yan; Liu Xu, Prince of Guangling; Liu Bo, Prince of Changyi; and the youngest, Liu Fuling. After Liu Ju's death, Prince Dan of Yan petitioned to enter the capital for palace guard duty, hoping to be named crown prince. Emperor Wu was angered and stripped him of three counties. Prince Xu of Guangling was extravagant, fond of entertainment and roaming, and was regarded as lacking virtue. Liu Bo, Prince of Changyi, was the son of Lady Li. His maternal uncle Li Guangli and Grand Councilor Liu Quli had secretly plotted to make him crown prince; after the plot was exposed, Li Guangli defected to the Xiongnu and Liu Quli was executed by waist-cutting. Although Liu Bo was not implicated, he died of illness in the first lunar month of 88 BCE, the first year of Houyuan. Among Emperor Wu's surviving sons, only the young Liu Fuling was described as “strong and very knowledgeable,” reminding the emperor of himself in youth. Yet Fuling's age made Emperor Wu hesitate. In 88 BCE, the first year of Houyuan, Emperor Wu feared that after his death there might arise the danger of “a young ruler with a strong mother,” so he found a pretext to imprison Consort Gouyi and order her death. Afterward he asked his attendants what they thought. They replied, “People say you intend to establish her son; why then remove his mother?” Emperor Wu answered that they did not understand, saying that ancient states had fallen into disorder because the ruler was young and the mother powerful, and invoking Empress Lü as an example. ### Accession and Regency In spring 87 BCE, the second year of Houyuan, Emperor Wu became gravely ill. On the yichou day of the second lunar month, he named Liu Fuling crown prince and appointed Huo Guang Grand Marshal and General-in-Chief, Jin Midi General of Chariots and Cavalry, Shangguan Jie General of the Left, and Sang Hongyang Censor-in-chief; the four were to assist the government together. Four days later Emperor Wu died at Wuzha Palace. Liu Fuling succeeded that same day at the age of eight. The era was changed to Shiyuan the following year. Because Emperor Zhao was so young, “the emperor was eight years old, and all government affairs were decided by Guang.” Huo Guang became the actual highest decision-maker. He was the half-brother of Huo Qubing and had served at Emperor Wu's side for more than twenty years. Careful and cautious, he had committed no recorded serious fault and enjoyed Emperor Wu's deep trust. After Emperor Zhao's accession, Huo Guang controlled the government and continued the recuperative policies toward which Emperor Wu had already begun to shift late in his reign. At the beginning of the reign, Princess Eyi, a daughter of Emperor Wu and elder sister of Emperor Zhao, entered the palace to care for him. Emperor Zhao also studied the Book of Odes under Cai Yi and Wei Xian. In 83 BCE, the fourth year of Shiyuan, the twelve-year-old emperor married Lady Shangguan, daughter of Shangguan An and granddaughter of Shangguan Jie, as empress. Empress Shangguan was also Huo Guang's maternal granddaughter, making the marriage clearly political in character. ### Suppression of the Conspiracy Although the succession had been settled, political struggle continued. Divisions gradually widened within the regency. Huo Guang and Shangguan Jie were connected by marriage—Huo Guang's eldest daughter had married Shangguan Jie's son Shangguan An—but conflict arose when Shangguan Jie and his son sought the empress's position for Shangguan An's daughter. Shangguan Jie and Shangguan An then joined with Censor-in-chief Sang Hongyang, Prince Dan of Yan, Princess Eyi, and others to form a political alliance against Huo Guang. In 80 BCE, the first year of Yuanfeng, the conspirators planned a coup. Princess Eyi was to invite Huo Guang to a banquet where hidden soldiers would kill him, after which Emperor Zhao would be deposed and Prince Dan of Yan enthroned. They also forged a memorial in Prince Dan's name accusing Huo Guang of disloyalty. The fourteen-year-old emperor detected flaws in the memorial and publicly declared his trust in Huo Guang. Shangguan Jie and his allies later used the princess to make further accusations against Huo Guang, but Emperor Zhao refused to accept them. After the plot was exposed, Huo Guang acted first. Shangguan Jie, Shangguan An, Sang Hongyang, and others were arrested and their families exterminated. Prince Dan of Yan and Princess Eyi committed suicide. The coup was rapidly suppressed. Emperor Zhao's discernment and decisiveness in this affair won him a political reputation, and afterward his trust in Huo Guang became still firmer; no lasting suspicion arose between ruler and minister. ### The Salt and Iron Debate and the Zhao–Xuan Restoration In 81 BCE, the sixth year of Shiyuan, under Huo Guang's direction the court summoned more than sixty Worthies and Literati from across the empire to Chang'an to debate Censor-in-chief Sang Hongyang and others over the state monopoly on salt and iron, the equalization and transportation systems, and other economic measures inherited from Emperor Wu's reign. This became known as the Salt and Iron Debate. The Worthies and Literati argued for abolishing the salt and iron monopolies, the liquor monopoly, and the transportation offices in order to allow the people to recuperate. Sang Hongyang argued that these policies were vital sources of state revenue and should not be lightly abandoned. Although the debate did not result in wholesale adoption of the critics' program, the court soon abolished the commandery and kingdom liquor monopoly and certain iron offices inside the passes, reducing burdens to some extent. The discussions were later compiled by Huan Kuan as the Discourses on Salt and Iron, an important text for the study of Western Han economic thought. During Emperor Zhao's reign, Huo Guang continued the policy of recuperation established late in Emperor Wu's rule. Corvée and taxation were reduced, heqin marriage-alliance relations with the Xiongnu were restored, and the frontier became comparatively stable. The source states that “the common people became well supplied,” and social order gradually stabilized, providing foundations for the prosperity of the Zhao–Xuan Restoration under Emperor Xuan. In the Book of Han, Ban Gu wrote that after the depletion caused by Emperor Wu's extravagance and wars, Huo Guang understood the needs of the time, lightened corvée and taxes, and allowed the people to recuperate; by the Shiyuan and Yuanfeng eras, relations with the Xiongnu were peaceful and the people were replenished. ### Death and Legacy On the guiwei day of the fourth lunar month of 74 BCE, the first year of Yuanping, Emperor Zhao, whose health had long been poor, died at Weiyang Palace. He was twenty-one years old and had reigned for thirteen years. On the renshen day of the sixth lunar month he was buried at Pingling, near present-day Xianyang in Shaanxi, and received the posthumous name Emperor Xiaozhao. Emperor Zhao had no son. Huo Guang first enthroned the emperor's nephew Liu He, Prince of Changyi, but deposed him after only twenty-seven days on the throne on grounds of dissolute conduct. Huo Guang then installed Emperor Wu's great-grandson Liu Bingyi, grandson of Crown Prince Liu Ju, who changed his name to Liu Xun and became Emperor Xuan of Han. Emperor Xuan ruled for twenty-five years and brought the Western Han to another high point. The reigns of Emperor Zhao and Emperor Xuan were later jointly known as the Zhao–Xuan Restoration.

Major Activities

Suppression of Shangguan Jie's Rebellion In 80 BCE, the first year of Yuanfeng, Shangguan Jie and his son joined Sang Hongyang, Prince Dan of Yan, Princess Eyi, and others in plotting a coup. They intended first to kill Huo Guang and then depose Emperor Zhao. The conspirators forged a memorial in Prince Dan's name accusing Huo Guang of “monopolizing power and acting at will, with suspicious extraordinary intentions.” The fourteen-year-old Emperor Zhao detected a chronological flaw in the memorial and said that the general remained at the center and controlled the troops, so if he had wished to rebel he would have had no opportunity, and that the emperor himself had witnessed the matter and knew it was not the general's fault. When the conspirators repeatedly tried to frame Huo Guang, Emperor Zhao continued to reject their accusations and declared that the General-in-Chief was a loyal minister entrusted by the former emperor to assist him, and that anyone who dared slander him would be punished. His trust allowed Huo Guang to act first and destroy the conspiracy. Later writers frequently compared this with King Cheng of Zhou's trust in the Duke of Zhou. ### Convening the Salt and Iron Debate In 81 BCE, the sixth year of Shiyuan, Emperor Zhao ordered Grand Councilor Tian Qianqiu and Censor-in-chief Sang Hongyang to assemble more than sixty Worthies and Literati recommended by the commanderies and kingdoms to debate policies introduced under Emperor Wu, including the state monopoly on salt and iron, the liquor monopoly, and equalization and transportation. Speaking from the perspective of the populace, the Worthies and Literati strongly attacked the policies as competition between the state and the people and called for their abolition. Sang Hongyang defended them on grounds of state finance and frontier defense. The debate lasted for months and ranged across politics, economics, military affairs, diplomacy, and culture. Although no comprehensive reform settlement resulted, the liquor monopoly in the commanderies and kingdoms and certain iron offices inside the passes were abolished afterward, and Sang Hongyang's political standing was weakened. The Salt and Iron Debate became a major event in the political and intellectual history of the mid-Western Han and is described in the source as the first large-scale public policy debate in Chinese history. ### Policies of Recuperation When Emperor Zhao came to the throne, the Western Han had endured decades of foreign wars and harsh government under Emperor Wu; the source states that the registered population had fallen by half and livelihoods were badly damaged. Under Huo Guang's regency, the government continued the policy shift associated with the Luntai Edict of Self-Criticism, reducing taxes and corvée, restoring heqin relations with the Xiongnu, and limiting frontier military operations. Emperor Zhao repeatedly issued orders remitting land taxes, relieving the poor, and resettling displaced people. In 85 BCE, the second year of Shiyuan, that year's land tax was remitted. In 78 BCE, the third year of Yuanfeng, the Zhongmou parklands were abolished and distributed to the poor. In 77 BCE, the fourth year of Yuanfeng, an edict ordered that certain poll taxes for the fourth and fifth years not be collected. These measures allowed the population to recover and production gradually to revive. ### Travels and Anecdotes Emperor Zhao made several excursions during his reign. According to the Xijing zaji and related writings, on one visit to the Wei River an attendant caught a white jiao said to be three zhang long; the emperor ordered the kitchen to pickle it and was said to have greatly enjoyed the taste. In 86 BCE, the first year of Shiyuan, he saw a yellow swan at Taiye Pond and composed the “Song of the Yellow Swan.” In the same year the Lin Pond was constructed, and while he toured it he ordered palace women to sing the “Song of Lin Pond.” These accounts contain legendary elements but also preserve traditions about the emperor's palace life.

Personal Relations

• Consort Gouyi of the Zhao clan: mother, a favored consort of Emperor Wu in his later years, ordered to die by Emperor Wu
• Empress Wei Zifu: empress of Emperor Wu, committed suicide during the Witchcraft Crisis of 91 BCE
• Crown Prince Liu Ju: paternal half-brother, committed suicide during the Witchcraft Crisis of 91 BCE
• Prince Dan of Yan: paternal half-brother, committed suicide after a failed rebellion
• Prince Xu of Guangling: paternal half-brother
• Prince Bo of Changyi: paternal half-brother, died young
• Princess Eyi: paternal half-sister, cared for Emperor Zhao, later joined the conspiracy and committed suicide
• Empress Shangguan: wife, maternal granddaughter of Huo Guang and daughter of Shangguan An
• Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun: grandnephew, grandson of Crown Prince Liu Ju, later succeeded to the throne
• Liu He, Prince of Changyi: nephew, briefly enthroned and then deposed ### Teachers and Associates - Huo Guang: chief regent, Grand Marshal and General-in-Chief, actual head of government during Emperor Zhao's reign
• Jin Midi: regent and General of Chariots and Cavalry; Emperor Zhao was close to his sons Jin Shang and Jin Jian
• Shangguan Jie: regent and General of the Left, later executed with his clan for conspiracy
• Sang Hongyang: regent and Censor-in-chief, later executed with his clan for conspiracy
• Cai Yi: Emperor Zhao's teacher of the Book of Odes
• Wei Xian: Emperor Zhao's teacher of the Book of Odes ### Ruler–Minister Relations - Tian Qianqiu: Grand Councilor
• Wang Xin: Grand Councilor
• Yang Chang: Grand Councilor and son-in-law of Sima Qian ### Conflicts - Shangguan Jie and Shangguan An: father and son who conspired against the throne and were exterminated with their clan
• Sang Hongyang: conspired against the throne and was exterminated with his clan
• Prince Dan of Yan: committed suicide after his failed rebellion
• Princess Eyi: committed suicide after her failed rebellion

Historical Assessment

Han and Contemporary Assessments - In his appraisal in the “Annals of Emperor Zhao” of the Book of Han, Ban Gu compared Emperor Zhao with King Cheng of Zhou. He argued that each succeeded at a young age and faced rebellion and slander, but that King Cheng did not distrust the Duke of Zhou and Emperor Zhao entrusted Huo Guang. He further praised the reduction of burdens after Emperor Wu's costly wars, the restoration of peaceful relations with the Xiongnu, the summoning of Worthies and Literati to discuss popular hardships, and the debate over salt and iron, concluding that the posthumous name “Zhao” was fitting.

• Ding Yi, in “Discussion of King Cheng and Emperor Zhao of Han,” argued that Emperor Zhao was superior to King Cheng of Zhou. Both inherited rule as children entrusted to regents and faced slander, but Ding maintained that Emperor Zhao's achievements at the beginning of his rule surpassed those of King Cheng.
• Cao Pi, in his Dianlun, took the opposite view and held King Cheng of Zhou superior to Emperor Zhao, criticizing Zhao's upbringing and the quality of those who protected and assisted him. ### Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties - Cao Zhi, in “Discussion of King Cheng and Emperor Zhao of Han,” argued that Emperor Zhao's trust in Huo Guang should not be treated as more admirable than King Cheng's relationship with the Duke of Zhou.
• Eastern Jin historian Yuan Hong, in the Annals of the Later Han, described Emperor Zhao as “clear-sighted and decisive, possessing the capacity of an emperor.” ### Tang and Song Periods - Emperor Xuanzong of Tang once issued an edict comparing his trust in a minister with Emperor Zhao's protection of Huo Guang and Cao Cao's recognition of Cheng Yu.
• Li Deyu, in a comment preserved in the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, praised Emperor Zhao for the rulerly virtue of penetrating clarity, by which treachery could not deceive him, and stated that Gaozu, Wen, and Jing did not match him in this respect.
• Qian Xu praised Emperor Zhao's intelligence and discernment as surpassing that of King Cheng of Zhou.
• Sima Guang wrote in the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance that Emperor Zhao, at fourteen, could recognize Shangguan Jie's fraud and was therefore already capable of ruling personally.
• Su Zhe, in the Luancheng ji, included Emperor Zhao among the “clear-sighted rulers of recent ages.”
• Hong Mai, in Rongzhai suibi, praised Emperor Zhao for recognizing Huo Guang's loyalty at fourteen, detecting the falsity of the Yan prince's memorial, and punishing Sang Hongyang and Shangguan Jie. ### Ming, Qing, and Modern Assessments - Ming scholar Xie Zhaozhe, in the Wuzazu, grouped Emperor Zhao with rulers such as Emperor Xuan, Emperor Ming, and Emperor Zhang as sovereigns who restored order or preserved an established realm.
• Late-Ming writer Wang Shiyun summarized him in the Sizi jianlüe as young yet naturally perceptive, able to distinguish loyalty from fraud, though regrettably short-lived.
• Qing scholar He Zhuo, in the Yimen dushu ji, compared the decisiveness of Emperor He in eliminating Dou Xian at fourteen to Emperor Zhao's clarity.
• Qing scholar Liu Yuan praised the combination of Emperor Zhao's intelligence and Huo Guang's loyal competence as rare since the Three Dynasties.
• Modern historian Lü Simian, in History of Qin and Han, regarded Emperor Zhao's reign as a key phase in the Western Han's recovery from decline toward stability and argued that Huo Guang's regency and the emperor's trust reinforced one another in preparing the restoration under Emperor Xuan.
• Qian Mu, in Outline of National History, wrote that despite his youth Emperor Zhao could distinguish loyal from disloyal men and employ a worthy minister, helping restore the Han house from danger.