He of Han

Emperor He of Han (79 – February 13, 105) is an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty who rules from 88 to 105.

He is the 4th emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty.

Emperor He is the son of Emperor Zhang.

He ascends the throne at the age of nine and reigns for 17 years.

It is during Emperor He's reign that the Eastern Han begins its decline.

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

Her family is corrupt and intolerant of dissension.

In 92, Emperor He is able to remedy the situation 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 creates a precedent for eunuchs to be involved in important affairs of state.

These trend will continue to escalate for the next century, contributing to the fall of the Han dynasty.

Further, while Qiang revolts, spurred by corrupt and/or oppressive Han officials, had begun during his father Emperor Zhang's reign, they begin to create major problems for the Han during Emperor He's reign and will last until the reign of Emperor Ling.

Emperor He himself appears to be a largely kind and gentle young 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 began Han's long decline, notable scientific progresses were made during this period including the invention of paper by the eunuch Cai Lun in 105.

One additional trend that started with Emperor He was the lack of imperial heirs—Emperor He continuously lost sons while in childhood, and at his death he had only two live male children, neither of whom survived him long.

Whereas many dynasties had succession issues involving the emperors' many sons, the Eastern Han Dynasty had the succession issues involving the lack of direct line male heirs, which further added to the instability.

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