Ān of Hàn

Emperor He, the son of Emperor Zhang, had ascended the Chinese throne at the age of nine in 88; he would reign for seventeen years.

It is during his reign that the Eastern Han begins its decline.

Strife between consort clans and eunuchs had begun when the Empress Dowager Dou (Emperor He's adoptive mother) made her own family members important government officials.

Her family was corrupt and intolerant of dissension.

Emperor He had been able to remedy the situation in 92 by removing the empress dowager's brothers with the aid of the eunuch Zheng Zhong and his brother Liu Qing,the Prince of Qinghe.

This in turn had created a precedent for eunuchs to be involved in important affairs of state, a trend that would continue to escalate for the next century and contribute to the fall of the Han dynasty.

Further, while Qiang revolts, spurred by Han officials who were corrupt, oppressive, or both, had begun during Emperor Zhang's reign, they have begun to create major problems for the Han during Emperor He's reign and would last until the reign of Emperor Ling.

Emperor He himself appears to be a largely kind and gentle man who, however, lacks his father's and grandfather Emperor Ming's acumen for governance and for judgment of character.

Although Emperor He's reign arguably initiated Han's long decline, notable scientific progresses are made during this period including the invention of paper by the eunuch Cai Lun in 105.

At the emperor’s death in 106, Liu Sheng, the elder of his surviving sons, is still young (his actual age is unrecorded) and believed to be constantly ill; the younger, Liu Long, is only one hundred days old.

Both are welcomed back to the palace, and Empress Deng creates Liu Long crown prince, believing that he would be healthier, and he is that evening proclaimed Emperor Shang, but dies later in 106.

Empress Dowager Deng, apprehensive that Liu Sheng might resent her for not making him emperor first, now refuses to make him emperor, and instead creates Prince Qing's twelve-year-old son Liu Hu as Emperor An.

She will rule remain as regent until her death in 121.

Prince Long had been born in autumn 105 to Emperor He and a concubine whose identity is unknown.

Because Emperor He has, during his reign, frequently lost sons due to illnesses in childhood, according to the superstitions of the time, both Prince Long and his older brother Prince Sheng had been given to foster parents outside the palace to nurture.

When Emperor He dies early 106, his wife, Empress Deng Sui, retrieves the young princes back to the palace.

Prince Sheng is older but regarded as frequently ill and unfit for the throne, for Empress Deng first creates the infant Prince Long crown prince.

The same night, he is proclaimed emperor.

Empress Deng became empress dowager.

After Emperor Shang’s brother, Prince Sheng, is created the Prince of Pingyuan.

Concerned that Emperor Shang might not live long, Empress Dowager Deng also keeps Liu Hu, the twelve-year old cousin of Emperor Shang, in the capital Luoyang as insurance against the infant emperor's death.

(Prince Hu is the son of Prince Qing of Qinghe, who was once a crown prince under Emperor He's father Emperor Zhang but had been deposed due to machinations of Emperor Zhang's wife, Empress Dou.

Therefore, he is viewed by some as the rightful heir.)

As Emperor Shang is an infant, actual and formal power are in Empress Deng's hands.

Her brother Deng Zhi becomes the most powerful official in the imperial government.

She issues a general pardon, which benefits the people who had had rights stripped from them for associating with the family of Empress Dou.

Late in 106, Emperor Shang dies.

The officials have by this time realized that Prince Sheng, his older brother, is not as ill as originally thought, and want to make him emperor.

However, Empress Dowager Deng is concerned that he might bear a grudge at not being made emperor before his brother, and therefore insists on making Emperor Shang's cousin Prince Hu emperor instead, and he takes the throne as Emperor An.

Empress Dowager Deng remains as the regent.

Emperor Shang, having died as a toddler, is not given a separate tomb, as is customary for emperors.

Rather, in order to avoid unnecessary expenses, he is buried in the same tomb complex as his father Emperor He.

The eunuch Zheng Zhong had served as the director of imperial gardens during the time of Empress Dowager Dou's regency over Emperor He, and had been among the eunuchs who had not endeared himself to Empress Dowager Dou's clan.

In 92, Emperor He, apparently dissatisfied with his suppression by the Dou clan, had plotted a coup d'etat with his brother Liu Qing the Prince of Qinghe, and Zheng.

They had been successful in carrying out the overthrow of the Dous, and as a reward, Emperor He had promoted Zheng to the post of the empress' palace's head of household.

Zheng had accepted the post but declined most of the monetary rewards that Emperor He gave him, a fact that made Emperor He even more impressed with him.

Emperor He often consulted with him on major affairs of state, and this started a precedent of eunuchs becoming involved in imperial governance.

In 102, breaking past precedent, Emperor He had created Zheng the Marquess of Chaoxiang, making him the first Eastern Han Dynasty eunuch to be created a marquess.

The first Han Dynasty eunuch with true power in government, Zheng has continued to be powerful after Emperor He's death, during the regency of Empress Deng Sui over Emperor Shang and Emperor An.

For his support, she adds three hundred households to his march in 107.

He dies later in the year.

The real power had remained in Empress Dowager Deng's hands after Emperor Ān ascended the throne in 106, and his parents Prince Qing and Consort Gěng (who is sent by Empress Dowager Deng to join her husband in the Principality of Qinghe, in modern central Héběi) appear to have no influence on the administration.

Empress Dowager Deng is generally a capable ruler, and while there are natural disasters and wars with the Qiang and the Southern Xiōngnú, she generally copes with these emergencies well.

She also carries out many reforms of criminal law.

During her regency, Emperor Ān appears to have had minimal input into the affairs of state, meanwhile becoming heavily personally influenced by the eunuchs Jiāng Jīng and Lǐ Rùn, and even more so by his wet nurse Wáng Shèng.

He also is heavily influenced by his favorite, Yán Jī, whom he creates empress in 115—even though she had poisoned to death one of his other consorts, Consort Li, who had in the same given birth to his only son Liú Bǎo.

While these individuals lack real power as long as Empress Dowager Deng lives, they have long planned to take power as soon as she is no longer alive.

Empress Dowager Deng is somewhat aware of these plans and is offended; she is also disappointed that Emperor Ān, who had been considered a precocious and intelligent child, had neglected his studies and has become interested only in drinking and women.

It is suspected that at some point, she even considered replacing the emperor with his cousin Liú Yì, the Prince of Pingyuan, but then decides against it.

The invention of the wheelbarrow, the development of wheeled carts from around five thousand years ago notwithstanding, is usually traced to China, where there are a number of competing claims.

The earliest depictions of single-wheel Chinese wheelbarrows come from second-century Han Dynasty tomb murals and brick tomb reliefs.

The painted tomb mural of a man pushing a wheelbarrow was found in a tomb at Chengdu, Sichuan province, dated precisely to CE 118.

Emperor Ān had in 120 named his only son, Prince Bǎo, crown prince.

Empress Dowager Deng dies in 121, and An, at the age of 27, finally has the reins of the imperial administration.

He posthumously honores his father Prince Qing as Emperor Xiaode and his mother Consort Zuǒ as Empress Xiaode; his paternal grandmother Consort Song as Empress Jingyin; and his stepmother Consort Gěng with the unique title of "Grand Consort of Gānlíng" (Gānlíng being Prince Qing's tomb) -- a title inferior to his mother's, even though Consort Gěng was his father's wife.

He, however, was close to her and her brother Gěng Bǎo, and he quickly makes his stepuncle a powerful official in his administration.

Initially, Ān continued to follow the Empress Dowager's policies, including leaving members of her clan in important advisorial positions.

However, his own close circle of associates, including Jiang, Li, Wang, and Empress Yan, are ready to act.

Late in 121, he strips members of the Deng clan of their posts and fiefs, and many of them commit suicide, probably under duress.

Later, he relents and allows some of the survivors to return, but by that time the Deng clan has been decimated.

In 121, there are again Qiang and Xianbei rebellions, which will continue to plague the emperor for the rest of his reign.

The Song clan of Emperor Ān's grandmother has become honored in the place of the Dengs, but the clan of the empress, the Yáns—particularly Empress Yán's brothers Yán Xiǎn, Yán Jǐng, and Yán Yào—wieldi much more actual power.

Also powerful are the eunuchs Jiang and Li, who are created marquesses.

They, along with several other eunuchs, as well as Wang and her daughter Bó Róng, have become extremely corrupt in their ways, without any punishment from Emperor Ān, who ignores all criticism of these individuals.

The emperor often listens to their suggestions, while ignoring the advice of his key officials.

One of the most outspoken of these is Yáng Zhèn, the commander of the armed forces, who will eventually be removed from his post in 124 and commit suicide in protest.

The only border where there are Hàn accomplishments during Ān's reign is on the northwestern front—the Xiyu (modern Xinjiang and former Soviet central Asia)—where Ban Chao's son Ban Yong is able to reestablish Hàn suzerainty over a number of kingdoms.

The great Han general Ban Chao had written a request to the Emperor in 100 CE, saying, among other things: "I have taken care to send my son (Ban) Yong to enter the frontier following porters with presents, and thus, I will arrange things so that (Ban) Yong sees the Middle Territories [usually referred to as the 'Western Regions'—mainly the kingdoms in and around the Tarim Basin] with his own eyes while I am still alive." (From the Hou Hanshu (Book of the Later Han), Chapter 77 [sometimes given as Chapter 47], translated and adapted by E. Chavannes.).

The Western Regions in modern Xinjiang province in 107 CE had rebelled against Chinese rule.

Ban Yong had been appointed as a major and, with his elder brother, Ban Xiong, had gone via Dunhuang to meet up with the Protector General of the Western Regions, Ren Shang (?-119 CE), who had replaced Ban Chao as Protector General in 102 CE.

The Chinese had been forced to retreat and, following this, there have been no Chinese functionaries in the Western Regions for more than ten years.

Emperor An in 123 CE gives Ban Yong the title of 'Senior Clerk of the Western Regions' so that he can lead five hundred freed convicts west to garrison Liuzhong (Lukchun, in the southern Turpan Basin).

Ban Yong afterward conquers and pacifies Turpan and …

…Jimasa (in modern Jimsar County).