I The founding of the dynasty

The long reign of Wu-ti is characterized by expansion and active initiatives in all fields of administration, but also, during the last years, by a degradation of the situation (overtaxing of resources, military defeats, foul plays at the court, etc). The Emperor had been praised for many qualities by later writers, but it seems that he played little part in the main events under his reign.

Administration and internal borders

The growth and intensification of the administration led to a growing need for capable civil servants. It is why appeared the premises of the future complex examinations candidates would be submitted to. There was a positive bias towards Confucian writings and thoughts, materialized by the 136 edict that had academicians specializing in one of 5 works that would become “canonical”, making them the primary texts for officials’ education.

The main task of officials was the gathering of information useful for the administration and the drawing up of reports. They would also copy various imperial “texts” (calendars, edicts) for local use, prepare register and account books, and some would even draw up “identity cards” for officials who had to cross checkpoints.

The respect and acknowledgment of hierarchy protected those of lower ranks from the mistakes of their seniors, but also had the ill effect of discouraging initiative.

Concerning the administrative divisions of the empire, the general trend under Wu-ti was a decrease in size of both the commanderies and the kingdoms, while the number of the former increased from colonial expansion and the fragmentation of bigger administrative units.

Officials were sent to the borders where non-Chinese tribes acknowledged to a certain extent the Han sovereignty, but whose way of life was widely different, making things difficult for the Chinese civil servants established there.

During the same period, a new type of officials appeared, that of the regional inspectors, who were sent all over the country to check on the respect of the central government’s directives. They ranked lower than those they were controlling (namely the governors), which may have open the door for corruption –although nothing is known on this matter, and reported directly to the emperor’s administration.

Finally, this chapter wouldn’t be complete without reference to the orders of honor: at the time, out of the twenty orders existing, the marquisate was the highest. Originally, marquisates were given as rewards: it was the case when Kao-ti gave some to his supporters (their descendents lost their titles in 112 BC, except for 7). It became, under Wu-ti, a way of diminishing the risks of rebellion of the kings by giving their younger sons and relatives marquisates to divide their families’ interests. Moreover, it gave the central government more control since the marquisates lay under the jurisdiction of the commanderies. They were also given to foreign leaders who, by accepting them, acknowledged the emperor’s sovereignty. Thus, their number increased significantly, from 27 to 178 under Wu-ti’s reign.

The economy

When Wu-ti accessed to the throne, the wealth and reserves of China were supposedly incredibly high. From then, they would be considerably depleted to pay for the expansionist policies and positive initiatives of the modernists, who were in full force. In addition, new taxes were levied from 119 BC and the poll tax for the children was raised significantly. A few years later, the production of coin, and afterwards the industries of salt, iron and alcoholic beverages became monopolies of state. They were supervised by commissioners, themselves responsible to the superintendent of agriculture. Other policies implemented concerned the stability of prices and the coordination of transports to avoid shortage and profiteering. Also, many people were affected to the control of waterways. Because the government played an increasing role in the economy, a third office, the superintendent for waterways and parks, was created in 115 BC; years later, it would also take responsibility for the production of coins.

The policies were typical of modernists. Despite the fact that they and the reformists shared the same priority –agriculture over trade and manufacture- they didn’t agree over the means. On one hand, the modernists encouraged free enterprise and even the creation of estates in the primary sector, while the rest would be controlled by the state. On the other hand, reformists were afraid that estates would create an imbalance between rich and poor; this explains also why they were on principle against the creation of large fortunes through trade. Finally, they saw little interest in the exchange of luxury goods with foreign countries, something that will be developed under modernists’ impulse, as we’re about to see.

Foreign relations

As already mentioned, the foreign policy became expansionist. The timing is due, on top of the domination of modernists, to the fact that prior to Wu-ti’s reign, the resources were not sufficient to carry out such a policy.

There was probably no long-term planning, but the events follow a distinct strategy: first, the stabilization of the situation with the Hsiung-nu (the greatest threat, 135-119 BC), then the forces were gathered and refreshed (119-112) until they were sent again in various directions:

v Along the routes in Central Asia. As the Chinese forces were securing the territory against the Hsiung-nu in the northwest, Chang Ch’ien journeyed twice in Central Asia and as far as Persia, reporting about the various countries he discovered (India, Bactria) and hinting at the opportunities that trade with those countries could open. This is why it is in that direction that most were focused: extension of the defense lines westward, establishment of settlements until the Silk Road (more about that famous trade road in chapter 6). As the road was controlled by tribes as it crossed the desert, Chinese tried to befriend them to secure the way for their products; unfortunately, not all ‘arrangements’ were successful, and force was sometimes used. It is especially in those efforts to control those far away regions that appeared, at the end of Wu-ti’s reign, clear evidence of the overtaxing of resources

v To the south. The difficulty for Chinese troupes was that they were not used to the swampy climate often encountered there. However, there was no strong resistance, and through short military campaigns, great influence was established over local tribes

v To the southwest and southeast. Many Chinese goods were in circulation, leading to the interest of the central government for that region; that became especially true once the situation with the Hsiung-nu was settled. New commanderies will be created in this area

v To the east and Korea. There were relations with some independent kingdoms, but most of the area was deemed not suitable for an expansion. As for Korea, after a first failed attempt (128-127), the Chinese armies succeeded finally in winning over the local resistance and establishing new commanderies.

Intellectual and religious support

There were major developments in poetry (development of the ‘fu’ style), philosophy (explanation of a universal system of creation) and history under Wu-ti, but the emperor himself didn’t play much of a role in them, his only contribution being some short poems.

It was in religion that his influence was the greatest. He was far more conscientious in his worship of the sacred powers, especially the Five Powers (he visited their shrines 8 times at Yung), than the former Han emperors, and inaugurated new rites and cults (to the Earth Queen and to the Grand Unity), in order to secure their protection. It even led to the creation of a new office, the office of Music, responsible for the musical accompaniment of the services.

Moreover, Wu-ti was, like the first emperor of Ch’in, attracted to the search of immortality, leading him to hold a magnificent progress to the holy mountain, Mount T’ai, in 110 BC. Also, the element symbol of the Dynasty was changed from Water, inheritance of the Ch’in, to Earth, displaying the self-confidence in the future and the will of the Han to differentiate themselves from the former dynasty, and marking the beginning of what should have been a new era (104 BC).

Dynastic discord

There will be no new era or Grand Beginning, as within a few years, order had to be frequently restored by force; special commissioners were even appointed for that very task. The armies also suffered several defeats, and worse than anything else, the dynasty suffered a severe crisis in 91-90 BC, followed by an attempt to murder the Emperor. The crisis was born from the conflict between the most influential consorts’ families at the court, the Wei and the Li, which power grew once the empress dowager Tou died, and, with her, her restraining influence.

More and more statesmen were related to the consorts or even directly to the imperial family, through marriage; in the end, their position would be linked to the position of an empress or a consort at the court, leading to foul plays in order to secure one or the other family’s position. The rivalry between the Wei and the Li was particularly bitter, in that many people were executed, or at least stripped from their titles because of it. The Wei family had been the dominant one under Wu-ti until the 91 BC crisis, when the country showed definitive signs of exhaustion. The Li family tried to make them fall out of favor, resulting in a battle of five days in the capital, Ch’ang-an, while the emperor was away. After that, the LI had the upper hand for a while, until its ultimate ruin a few months later.

Of all this, one man, related to the empress Wei, who had avoid taking any part in all that, was left in strong position: Huo Kuang. As Wu-ti became ill and no heir apparent had been nominated, it was decided (and how much was it really the wish of the Emperor is left to guess) that a minor (Liu Fu-Ling, who would rule as Chao-ti, 8 years) would be put on the throne and the government would be ruled be a triumvirate which Huo Kuang would lead.

IV: The Years of Transition