List of emperors of the Han dynasty


The emperors of the Han dynasty were the supreme heads of government during the second imperial dynasty of China; the Han dynasty followed the Qin dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms. The era is conventionally divided between the Western Han and Eastern Han periods.
The Han dynasty was founded by the peasant rebel leader, known posthumously as Emperor Gao or Gaodi. The longest reigning emperor of the dynasty was Emperor Wu, or Wudi, who reigned for 54 years. The dynasty was briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang, but he was killed during a rebellion on 6 October 23 AD. The Han dynasty was reestablished by Liu Xiu, known posthumously as Emperor Guangwu or Guangwu Di, who claimed the throne on 5 August 25 AD. The last Han emperor, Emperor Xian, was a puppet monarch of Chancellor Cao Cao, who dominated the court and was made King of Wei. In 220 AD, Cao's son Pi usurped the throne as Emperor Wen of Wei and ended the Han dynasty.
The emperor was the supreme head of government. He appointed all of the highest-ranking officials in central, provincial, commandery, and county administrations. He also functioned as a lawgiver, the highest court judge, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and high priest of the state-sponsored religious cults.

Naming conventions

Emperor

In ancient China, the rulers of the Shang and Zhou dynasties were referred to as kings. By the time of the Zhou dynasty, they were also referred to as Sons of Heaven. By 221 BC, the King of Qin, Ying Zheng, conquered and united all the Warring States of ancient China. To elevate himself above the Shang and Zhou kings of old, he accepted the new title of emperor and is known to posterity as the First Emperor of Qin. The new title of emperor was created by combining the titles for the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors from Chinese mythology. This title was used by each successive ruler of China until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911.

Posthumous, temple, and era names

From the Shang to Sui dynasties, Chinese rulers were referred to by their posthumous names in records and historical texts. Temple names, first used during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han, were used exclusively in later records and historical texts when referring to emperors who reigned during the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, a single era name was used for each emperor's reign and became the preferred way to refer to Ming and Qing emperors in historical texts.
Use of the era name was formally adopted during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, yet its origins can be traced back further. The oldest method of recording years—which had existed since the Shang—set the first year of a ruler's reign as year one. When an emperor died, the first year of a new reign period would begin. This system was changed by the 4th century BC when the first year of a new reign period did not begin until the first day of the lunar New Year following a ruler's death. When Duke Huiwen of Qin assumed the title of king in 324 BC, he changed the year count of his reign back to the first year. For his newly adopted calendar established in 163 BC, Emperor Wen of Han also set the year count of his reign back to the beginning.
Since six was considered a lucky number, Han Emperors Jing and Wu changed the year count of their reigns back to the beginning every six years. Since every six-year period was successively marked as yuannian, eryuan, sanyuan, and so forth, this system was considered too cumbersome by the time it reached the fifth cycle wuyuan sannian in 114 BC. In that year a government official suggested that the Han court retrospectively rename every "beginning" with new characters, a reform Emperor Wu accepted in 110 BC. Since Emperor Wu had just performed the religious feng sacrifice at Mount Taishan, he named the new era yuanfeng. This event is regarded as the formal establishment of era names in Chinese history. Emperor Wu changed the era name once more when he established the 'Great Beginning' calendar in 104 BC. From this point until the end of Western Han, the court established a new era name every four years of an emperor's reign. By Eastern Han there was no set interval for establishing new era names, which were often introduced for political reasons and celebrating auspicious events.

Regents and empress dowagers

At times, especially when an infant emperor was placed on the throne, a regent, often the empress dowager or one of her male relatives, would assume the duties of the emperor until he reached his majority. Sometimes the empress dowager's faction—the consort clan—was overthrown in a coup d'état. For example, Empress Lü Zhi was the de facto ruler of the court during the reigns of the child emperors Qianshao and Houshao. Her faction was overthrown during the Lü Clan Disturbance of 180 BC and Liu Heng was named emperor. Before Emperor Wu died in 87 BC, he had invested Huo Guang, Jin Midi, and Shangguan Jie with the power to govern as regents over his successor Emperor Zhao of Han. Huo Guang and Shangguan Jie were both grandfathers to Empress Shangguan, wife of Emperor Zhao, while the ethnically-Xiongnu Jin Midi was a former slave who had worked in an imperial stable. After Jin died and Shangguan was executed for treason, Huo Guang was the sole ruling regent. Following his death, the Huo-family faction was overthrown by Emperor Xuan of Han, in revenge for Huo Guang poisoning his wife Empress Xu Pingjun so that he could marry Huo's daughter Empress Huo Chengjun.
Since regents and empress dowagers were not officially counted as emperors of the Han dynasty, they are excluded from the list of emperors below.

Emperors

Below is a complete list of emperors of the Han dynasty, including their personal, posthumous, and era names. Excluded from the list are de facto rulers such as regents and empress dowagers.

Timeline


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from: -202 till: -195 color:WH text:"Gao "
from: -195 till: -188 color:WH text:"Hui "
from: -188 till: -184 color:WH text:"Liu Gong "
from: -184 till: -180 color:WH text:"Liu Hong "
from: -180 till: -157 color:WH text:"Wen "
from: -157 till: -141 color:WH text:"Jing "
from: -141 till: -87 color:WH text:"Wu "
from: -87 till: -74 color:WH text:"Zhao "
from: -74 till: -74 color:WH text:"Liu He "
from: -74 till: -49 color:WH text:"Xuan "
from: -49 till: -33 color:WH text:"Yuan "
from: -33 till: -7 color:WH text:"Cheng "
from: -7 till: -1 color:WH text:"Ai "
from: -1 till: 6 color:WH text:"Ping "
from: 6 till: 9 color:WH text:"Liu Ying "
from: 23 till: 25 color:IN text:"Gengshi "
from: 25 till: 27 color:IN text:"Liu Penzi "
from: 25 till: 57 color:EH text:"Guangwu "
from: 57 till: 75 color:EH text:"Ming "
from: 75 till: 88 color:EH text:"Zhang "
from: 88 till: 106 color:EH text:"He "
from: 106 till: 106 color:EH text:"Shang "
from: 106 till: 125 color:EH text:"An "
from: 125 till: 125 color:EH text:"Liu Yi "
from: 125 till: 144 color:EH text:"Shun "
from: 144 till: 145 color:EH text:"Chong "
from: 145 till: 146 color:EH text:"Zhi "
from: 146 till: 168 color:EH text:"Huan "
from: 168 till: 189 color:EH text:"Ling "
from: 189 till: 189 color:EH text:"Liu Bian "
from: 189 till: 220 color:EH text:"Xian "
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