No other woman in the Early Han held the same amount of influence as Empress Lü throughout her various titles as Empress, Empress Dowager, and then Grand Empress Dowager. Stories recounting her manipulative nature paint a picture of a scheming empress using her imperial power to bestow favors and political positions to her own clan. This essay argues that Empress Lü used the lack of precedence for her position as Empress Dowager to manipulate court officials into granting power to her clan, which caused political unrest late in her life and resulted in the destruction of the Lü clan. To support this claim, this essay will discuss the exceptional nature of Empress Lü's power and the extent of her ability to manipulate the court, and then this paper will provide evidence of a Lü clan extermination after the death of the empress that held power for fifteen years after her husband died – in a nation with no precedence for this kind of rule. Lü Zhi (241–180 BC), commonly known as Empress Lü and Empress Dowager Lü, was the empress consort of Emperor Gaozu (256–195 BC), the founder and first ruler of the Han Empire. The consort earned her title by bearing Liu Ying (210–188 BC), who would later become Emperor Hui of Han. As such, Lü Zhi was the first woman to assume the title Empress of China, a title for which there had been no prior precedence. The later death of her husband in 195 BC resulted in the empress holding her power as a dowager, or a widow with a title from her late husband. Since Lü Zhi did not hold formal power through an office, and instead wielded a ceremonial position in the ruling household, her ability to manipulate the court without legal ramifications was amplified, and due to both her age and her sway over the ... ... middle of paper ... ...iographical Dictionary of Chinese women: Antiquity through Sui, 1600 B.C.E-618 C.E. 2007. Needham, Joseph. Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 2. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd. 1986. Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Volume 8. Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Volume 9, Biography of Empress Dowager Lü. Qian, Sima. Records of the Grand Historian, Volume 55, House of the Marquis of Liu. Tsai, Wen-hui. Women in traditional Chinese politics: the lives and careers of Empresses Lü, Wu, and Tzu-hsi. Han xue yan jiu 9.2 1991: 183-212. van Ess, Hans. Praise and Slander: The Evocation of Empress Lü in the Shiji and the Hanshu. NAN NÜ, Volume 8, Issue 2. 2006. pp 221 – 254. Ye, Fan. Book of the Later Han, Biography of Liu Xuanzi. Yuan, Sze. Bankruptcy of Empress Lü's dream. Selections from People's Republic of China Magazines .909 1977: 15-26.
There are little to no direct accounts of how individuals’ lives were a couple thousand years ago in Ancient China. With a wealth of information on the rise, decline, and fall of empires, Michael Loewe, a sinologist who specializes in oriental studies and theology, writes an imaginary story about a hero named Bing set around 70 BCE. Bing: From Farmer’s Son to Magistrate in Han China is Loewe’s fictional portrait of life during the Han Empire. It is by no means a comprehensive historical account of Han times, in fact, it was written with those readers who are not familiar with Chinese in mind, however through the life of Bing we can gage how the lives of laborers, those involved in military service, merchants, and government officials might
(1800)Topic 2: A Literary Analysis of the Historical Differentiation of Patriarchal Culture and Female Gender Identity in the Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong and the Tale of Genji
“The Death of Woman Wang”, written by Chinese historian Jonathan Spence, is a book recounting the harsh realities facing citizens of Tancheng country, Shandong Province, Qing controlled China in the late 17th century. Using various primary sources, Spence describes some of the hardships and sorrow that the people of Tancheng faced. From natural disasters, poor leadership, banditry, and invasions, the citizens of Tancheng struggled to survive in a devastated and changing world around them. On its own, “Woman Wang” is an insightful snapshot of one of the worst-off counties in imperial Qing China, however when taking a step back and weaving in an understanding of long held Chinese traditions, there is a greater understanding what happened in
Some of the more fascinating documents of the Han period in ancient China were arguably those written by women. The writings were at once contradictory due to the fact that they appeared to destroy the common perceptions of women as uneducated and subservient creatures while simultaneously delivering messages through the texts that demonstrated a strict adherence to traditional values. Those are the paradoxical characteristics of prominent female scholar Ban Zhou’s work called Lesson for a Woman. Because modern opinions on the roles of women in society likely cloud the clear analysis of Zhou’s work, it is necessary to closely examine the Han’s societal norms and popular beliefs that contributed to establishing the author’s perspective and intent.
The bitter cold bit against the starved girl’s skeletal body. She was tired. Her parents discussed ways to get to good lands. They told her the only way to have a better life was to sell her into slavery. The girl, only ten years old was silent. She dreamed of fine clothing and good food. The girl went to the House of Hwang. She was too ugly to be in sight; she was kept in the scullery. All dreams of any kind were lashed out of her young mind. Mistreated, beaten, and underestimated, young O-lan learned to work hard and became resigned to her fate. One day, the Old Mistress summoned her and told her that she was to be married to a poor farmer. The other slaves scoffed, but O-lan was grateful for a chance to be free - they married. O-lan vowed to return to the great house one day in fine clothing with a son. Her resolve was strong; no one could say otherwise. Her years of abuse as a slave had made O-lan wise, stoic, and bitter; whether the events of her life strengthened or weakened her is the question.
Chapter 1: The Wan-Li Emperor, begins by explaining the major premise of the work: The concept of looking at a single year in the history of the leadership of China and evaluating the implications for understanding other aspects of history, including the decline of the Ming Dynasty. In this initial chapter, Huang provides an anecdotal history of some of the events that occurred, and includes within it a discussion of the set up of the leadership, the repercussions that occurred in the event of certain actions, including the prospects of an audience with the emperor. Huang reviews these issues as he considers that actions taken by the Wan-li emperor, who was only twenty-four in 1587 and who had been a veteran of ceremonial proceedings, and considers his history as an element of understanding the progression of leadership.
Edward L. Dreyer. Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405-1433.
Asia’s history had conflicts that led to the rise and fall of different dynasties. The collapse of Han dynasty affected the political and economic system...
"Chinese History - The Qing Dynasty ( AD 1644-1911 )." Chinavoc.com. 2007. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. .
While it may not be shocking that Western audiences had distaste for the practice of Eastern castration practices, it is a bit more surprising that, despite evidence of the use of eunuchs in China for over a period of 3,000 years, their reputation in China was no more positive. Throughout its history, Chinese historians have made eunuchs the objects of shame and disdain, all the while categorizing them as guilty of greed and female traits that made them susceptible to their weaknesses.27 Yet, while Chinese historians of late Qing often linked eunuchs to the decline of dynasties of the past, indulgence, and corruption, they more often than not seemed to regard eunuchs as necessary to the function of the palace and imperial court, no matter what their qualms with them may have been.28
Wu Zetian was born in 624. Her father was one of the meritorious chancellors of the Tang Dynasty. When she was young, she read many books and received a good education from her father, which was not common among women, much less encouraged by their fathers. At the age of 14, Wu Zetian was chosen as one of the concubines of Emperor Taizong. When Emperor Taizong died in 649, his youngest son succeeded him as Emperor Gaozong. According to the custom, Wu was sent to a temple to serve as a Buddhist nun and was expected to spend rest of her life there. However, Gaozong’s admiration to Wu Zetian got her back into the palace. Wu progressively gained more and more influence over the governance of the empire by trickery throughout Emperor Gaozong's reign, and was eventually making the major decisions effectively being the queen. Taking advantage of the poor health condition of Gaozong, Wu Zetian later got into power and even went beyond Gaozong’s throne, and ruled officially under the name of her self-proclaimed "Zhou dynasty". Being the first and only empress in Chinese history, Empress Wu m...
At the center of Japanese and Chinese politics and gender roles lies the teachings of Confucius. The five relationships (五倫） of Confucius permeated the lives of all within the Heian and Tang societies.4 However, the focus here will be on the lives of the courtesans. The Genji Monogatari provides us with an unrivalled look into the inner-workings of Confucianism and court life in the Heian period. Song Geng, in his discourse on power and masculinity in Ch...
Sit, Tony. "The Life of Empress Cixi” (from Issue 10 of the China in Focus Magazine). Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU), 2001. .
Lin Jiayou, Xin Hai Ge Ming Yu Zhong Hua Min Zu De Jue Xing (Guangzhou, Guangdong _____Ren Min Chu Ban She, 2011), pp. 498-515
The purpose of this paper is to tell the history of the Ming Dynasty’s impact on the Chinese Empire, and to explain why the Chinese Empire was in fact an empire.