Han Zhangdi (漢章帝)
Family name Chinese name Personal names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the family name first and the given name next, therefore "John-Paul Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John-Paul"... :	Liu Liu 劉 is a common Chinese family name. The transliteration Liu can represent several different surnames written in different Chinese characters:*劉 / 刘, pinyin: Liú...  (劉; liú)
Given name Chinese name Personal names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the family name first and the given name next, therefore "John-Paul Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John-Paul"... :	Da (炟, dá)
Temple name Temple name Temple names are commonly used when naming most Chinese, Korean , and Vietnamese royalty. They should not be confused with era names. Compared to posthumous names, the use of temple names is more exclusive... :	Suzong (肅宗, sù zōng)
Posthumous name Posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given to royalty, nobles, and sometimes others, in East Asia after the person's death, and is used almost exclusively instead of one's personal name or other official titles during his life... : (full)	Xiaozhang (孝章, xiào zhāng) literary meaning: "filial and polite"
Posthumous name Posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given to royalty, nobles, and sometimes others, in East Asia after the person's death, and is used almost exclusively instead of one's personal name or other official titles during his life... : (short)	Zhang (章, zhāng) "polite"

Emperor Zhang of Han, ch.

Chinese character

Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...

 漢章帝, py

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

. hàn zhāng dì, wg

Wade-Giles

Wade–Giles , sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a romanization system for the Mandarin Chinese language. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Wade during the mid-19th century , and was given completed form with Herbert Giles' Chinese–English dictionary of 1892.Wade–Giles was the most...

. Han Chang-ti, (57-88) was an emperor

Emperor of China

The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...

 of the Chinese Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

 from 75 to 88. He was the third emperor of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty.

Emperor Zhang was a hardworking and diligent emperor. He reduced taxes and paid close attention to all affairs of state. Zhang also reduced government spending as well as promoting Confucianism

Confucianism

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

. As a result, Han society prospered and its culture flourished during this period. Along with his father Emperor Ming

Emperor Ming of Han

Emperor Ming of Han, , was second emperor of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty.He was the second son of Emperor Guangwu. It was during Emperor Ming's reign that Buddhism began to spread into China. One night, he is said to have dreamed of a golden man or golden men...

, Emperor Zhang's reign has been highly praised and was regarded as the golden age of the Eastern Han period, and their reigns are collectively known as the Rule of Ming and Zhang

Rule of Ming and Zhang

The Rule of Ming and Zhang refers to the reigns of Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang of the Eastern Han Dynasty, which was considered the golden age of that dynasty. Both Emperors Ming and Zhang were generally regarded as able administrators who cared about the welfare of the people and who...

.

During his reign, Chinese troops under the leadership of General Ban Chao

Ban Chao

Ban Chao , courtesy name Zhongsheng , was born in Xianyang, Shaanxi, and the younger brother of the famous historian, Ban Gu who, with his father Ban Biao, and sister, Ban Zhao, wrote the famous Hanshu, or 'History of the Former Han Dynasty'....

, progressed far west while in pursuit of Xiongnu insurgents harassing the trade routes now collectively known as the Silk Road

Silk Road

The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...

.

The Eastern Han Dynasty, after Emperor Zhang, would be plagued with internal strife between royal factions and eunuchs struggling for power. The people for the coming century and a half would yearn for the good days of Emperors Ming and Zhang. (However, part of the strife came from the power obtained by consort clan

Consort clan

The consort clan is the family, clan of or group related to an empress dowager or a spouse of a Chinese dynastic ruler or a warlord. The leading figure of the clan was either a sibling, cousin, or parent of the empress or consort.- Han Dynasty :...

s -- and the precedent was set by Emperor Zhang's bestowing of power on both his adoptive mother Empress Dowager Ma

Empress Ma (Ming)

Empress Ma , formally Empress Mingde , was an empress during Han Dynasty from the year 60 until her death...

's clan and his wife Empress Dou

Empress Dou (Zhang)

Empress Dou , formally Empress Zhangde , was an empress during Han Dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Zhang. She was already influential during her husband's reign, but became particularly powerful as empress dowager regent for her adoptive son Emperor He after Emperor Zhang's death...

's clan.)

Family background

Then-Prince Da was born to then-Crown Prince Liu Zhuang

Emperor Ming of Han

Emperor Ming of Han, , was second emperor of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty.He was the second son of Emperor Guangwu. It was during Emperor Ming's reign that Buddhism began to spread into China. One night, he is said to have dreamed of a golden man or golden men...

 and one of his consorts, Consort Jia

Consort Jia

Consort Jia was an imperial consort to Han Dynasty's Emperor Ming. She gave birth to Prince Liu Da , later Emperor Zhang, in 57, while Emperor Ming was still crown prince. At Emperor Ming's direction, his wife Empress Ma, Consort Jia's aunt—her mother's sister—adopted Prince Da as her own son...

, in 57. As Crown Prince Zhuang's favorite, Consort Ma

Empress Ma (Ming)

Empress Ma , formally Empress Mingde , was an empress during Han Dynasty from the year 60 until her death...

 -- Consort Jia's aunt (her mother's sister) -- had no sons, at Crown Prince Zhuang's instruction, Consort Ma adopted Prince Da as her own son. Prince Da therefore grew up considering Consort Ma as his mother, and while he clearly knew that Consort Jia was his birth mother, he never treated her as mother.

Also in 57, Prince Da's grandfather Emperor Guangwu

Emperor Guangwu of Han

Emperor Guangwu , born Liu Xiu, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty, restorer of the dynasty in AD 25 and thus founder of the Later Han or Eastern Han...

 died, and his father Crown Prince Zhuang succeeded to the throne as Emperor Ming. In 60, at the behest of his mother Empress Dowager Yin Lihua

Empress Yin Lihua

Empress Yin Lihua , formally Empress Guanglie was an empress during Han Dynasty. She was the second empress of her husband Emperor Guangwu -- even though she married him as his wife before his first empress, Empress Guo Shengtong, did. She was famed for her beauty and meekness...

, Emperor Ming created Consort Ma empress, and Prince Da, as her son, was created crown prince

Crown Prince

A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....

, even though he had four brothers older than he was.

As crown prince

Not much was recorded about Crown Prince Da's career as crown prince, other than he was taught of the Confucian classics

Chinese classic texts

Chinese classic texts, or Chinese canonical texts, today often refer to the pre-Qin Chinese texts, especially the Neo-Confucian titles of Four Books and Five Classics , a selection of short books and chapters from the voluminous collection called the Thirteen Classics. All of these pre-Qin texts...

 at a young age and was encouraged in his studies by his adoptive mother, Empress Ma, with whom he had a close relation. He was also close to his uncles of the Ma clan.

In 75, Emperor Ming died, and Crown Prince Da succeeded to the throne as Emperor Zhang at the age of 18. Empress Ma received the title of empress dowager

Empress Dowager

Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...

.

Early reign

Emperor Zhang continued his father's hardworking tendencies as emperor, but he was more lenient than his strict father. He sought out honest officials and promoted them, and he himself lived thriftily. He was generally humble and honored the senior officials who had served his grandfather and father faithfully in accordance.

In 76, at the suggestion of his advisor Yang Zhong (楊終) and prime minister Diwu Lun (第五倫), Emperor Zhang ordered that his father's Xiyu (modern Xinjiang

Xinjiang

Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...

 and former Soviet central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

) campaigns be abandoned. However, one of the Han generals in Xiyu, Ban Chao

Ban Chao

Ban Chao , courtesy name Zhongsheng , was born in Xianyang, Shaanxi, and the younger brother of the famous historian, Ban Gu who, with his father Ban Biao, and sister, Ban Zhao, wrote the famous Hanshu, or 'History of the Former Han Dynasty'....

, seeing the importance of maintaining Han presence in Xiyu, refused to withdraw, and Emperor Zhang eventually relented and put Ban in charge of Han's operations in Xiyu.

Being close to his Ma uncles, Emperor Zhang wanted to create them marquesses from the early start of his reign. This was initially rebuffed by Empress Dowager Ma, who found this inappropriate. In 79, however, he created them marquesses over her objection and over their requests to only be made acting marquesses.

In 77, Emperor Zhang took a daughter of his cousin, the Princess Piyang (沘陽公主), and great-granddaughter of the statesman Dou Rong (竇融), as consort. He greatly loved her, and in 78, he created Consort Dou

Empress Dou (Zhang)

Empress Dou , formally Empress Zhangde , was an empress during Han Dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Zhang. She was already influential during her husband's reign, but became particularly powerful as empress dowager regent for her adoptive son Emperor He after Emperor Zhang's death...

 empress.

In 79, Empress Dowager Ma, who had given him much good counsel, died. Even after her death, Emperor Zhang did not honor his birth mother Consort Jia as his mother, but merely permitted her to take on the style of an imperial prince.

Palatial intrigue

After his mother's death, Emperor Zhang continued to be a diligent emperor, but within the palace, there was much struggle between Empress Dou and the other imperial consorts, which would create political instability down the road.

While Empress Dowager Ma was alive, she selected two daughters of Song Yang (宋楊) as consorts for Emperor Zhang. In 78, the elder Consort Song gave birth to a son named Liu Qing, and because Empress Dou was sonless, Prince Qing was created crown prince in 79. The Consorts Song were greatly favored by Empress Dowager Ma.

Later in 79, however, Empress Dou would (perhaps remembering Empress Dowager Ma's example) adopt the son of another imperial consort, Consort Liang

Consort Liang

Consort Liang , posthumous title Empress Gonghuai , was an imperial consort to Emperor Zhang of Han...

, Liu Zhao

Emperor He of Han

Emperor He of Han, ch. 漢和帝, py. hàn hé dì, wg. Han Ho-ti, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty who ruled from 88 to 105. He was the 4th emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty....

, as her own son, and she plotted, along with her mother Princess Piyang and her brothers, to have her adopted son made crown prince. After Empress Dowager Ma's death, she put her plan into action. She had her brothers collect dossiers on faults of the Song clan while bribing the servants and eunuchs of Consorts Song to gather their own faults.

In 82, an opportunity came for Empress Dou. The elder Consort Song had become ill, and in her illness, she craved raw cuscuta

Cuscuta

Cuscuta is a genus of about 100-170 species of yellow, orange or red parasitic plants. Formerly treated as the only genus in the family Cuscutaceae, recent genetic research by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has shown that it is correctly placed in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae...

, and she requested that her family bring them. Empress Dou seized the cuscuta and falsely accused Consort Song of using it for witchcraft. Emperor Zhang was enraged and expelled Crown Prince Qing from the palace. He had the Consorts Song arrested and interrogated by the eunuch Cai Lun

Cai Lun

Cai Lun , courtesy name Jingzhong , was a Chinese eunuch. He is traditionally regarded as the inventor of paper and the papermaking process, in forms recognizable in modern times as paper...

. The Consorts Song saw that they were in deep straits, and they committed suicide by poison. Crown Prince Qing was deposed and created the Prince of Qinghe instead; he was replaced by Prince Zhao as crown prince. Prince Zhao, however, was friendly to his brother, and they often spent time together.

The Song sisters would not be Empress Dou's only victims. After Prince Zhao was made crown prince, his birth mother's clan, the Liangs, did not dare to openly celebrate, but were secretly happy. When the Dou clan heard of this, they were displeased and fearful, and they felt that they had to destroy the Liangs. Empress Dou began to give false reports about Prince Zhao's birth mother, Consort Liang, and her sister, also an imperial consort, and they lost Emperor Zhang's favor. In 83, the Dous further submitted false anonymous accusations against the Consorts Liang's father Liang Song (梁竦), causing him to die in prison. The Consorts Liang died of sadness and fear.

The Dous, having made these powerplay, would eventually gain their goals of becoming even more powerful than they were. Also in 83, Emperor Zhang, having seen that his Ma cousins were not following the law, stopped favoring his Ma uncles, and eventually sent them back to their marches

Marches

A march or mark refers to a border region similar to a frontier, such as the Welsh Marches, the borderland between England and Wales. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, the word spread throughout Europe....

. Empress Dou's brothers Dou Xian

Dou Xian

Dou Xian was a prominent Chinese general and statesman of the Eastern Han Dynasty. A native of modern-day Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, he was part of the powerful Dou clan which dominated court politics during his tenure. However, his father Dou Xun fell into disgrace and died in 70, leaving Dou...

 (竇憲) and Dou Du (竇篤) effectively took over in the power structure -- the first time in Han history that the empress' clan, rather than the empress dowager's clan, was the most powerful consort clan

Consort clan

The consort clan is the family, clan of or group related to an empress dowager or a spouse of a Chinese dynastic ruler or a warlord. The leading figure of the clan was either a sibling, cousin, or parent of the empress or consort.- Han Dynasty :...

. This trend held sway for the rest of Eastern Han Dynasty and a would prove to be a source of corruption.

Late reign

However, Emperor Zhang himself remained fairly diligent and open-minded. For example, in 84, when two university students, Kong Xi (孔僖) and Cui Yin (崔駰) were accused of improperly criticizing his ancestor Emperor Wu

Emperor Wu of Han

Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...

 and, by criticizing Emperor Wu, making veiled criticism of Emperor Zhang, Emperor Zhang accepted the letter that Kong submitted in his own defense and made him an official in his administration.

In 86, the first of the Qiang (羌) rebellions began, and while the Qiang were pacified fairly quickly, this would be bad omen for the decades to come, as the Qiang, mistreated frequently by Han officials, would constantly rebel throughout the rest of the Eastern Han Dynasty and become a major factor in the decline of the Han Empire.

In 88, Emperor Zhang died and was succeeded by Crown Prince Zhao, who became Emperor He.

Era names

• Jianchu (建初 py. jìan chū) 76-84
• Yuanhe (元和 py. yúan hé) 84-87
• Zhanghe (章和 py. zhāng hé) 87-88