Establishing the Western Han Dynasty
3 min readAfter the death of Xiang Yu–his biggest rival, Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor on the northbank of the Si River(in present Dingtao County of Shandong Province) with “Han”as his dynasty’s title. Initially he set the capital in Luoyang, but soon moved to Chang’ an(present Xilan).
One day Liu Bang provided his courtiers with a feast at the imperial palace, and commented,”I’m neither equal to Zhang Liang who can devise strategies within a command tent that will assure victory a thousand li away, nor to Xiao He who can pacify civilians and ensure military supplies, nor to Han Xin who has millions of troops under his command, never failing to win a battle or to take a city.
Undoubtedly they are all outstanding persons.I know how to make proper use of them, so eventually I’m able to conquer and rule the country. Xiang Yu turned a deaf ear to Fan Zeng’s advice, and that’s the reason why he was defeated.”
In terms of its political structure, the newly-emerging Han Empire basically copied the preceding dynasty’s centralization of power and the establishment of prefectures and counties. However, Chancellor Xiao He who was responsible for enacting laws abolished the draconian Qin statutes andsevere punishments such as executing the whole clan relatives of the offender or punishing nearby households if one resident committed a crime. This was a great legal progress.
Economically, Liu Bang gave orders that land tax and other levies should be reduced nationwide so as to lessen the burden of the people, those paupers who sold themselves as bondservants should be liberated to strengthen the labor force, and government officials should cut down their expenditures Once the country was at peace, he reduced troops and gave land to the demobilized soldiers who returned to the countryside to do farm jobs. In order to promote economic prosperity in the capital Chang’ an, he also moved some 100 thousand rich people from the six extinct states of Qi, Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu and Yan to the Central Shaanxi Plain. All these measures had provided a great impetus to the economic growth in the country.
Killing Generals Who Had Performed Meritorious Service Once stabilizing his rule, Liu Bang gradually distrusted and had misgivings about generals who had done outstanding service before. As a result, some founders of the empire such as Han Xin, Peng Yue and Ying Bu were ruthlessly killed.
When the war between Chu and Han was drawing to a close, Liu Bang granted titles and territories to senior generals; for instance, Han Xin was made the Prince of Chu, Peng Yue the Prince of Liang, and Ying Bu the Prince of Huainan.
Portrait of Han Xin（c.228-196 BC）
Over to the side of Liu Bang and performed deeds of valor in battle.He was therefore granted the title of the”prince of chu”Han wasa renowned strategist and a military commander in the Qin and Han dynasties.He had been worshipped as the”God of War”in the later ages.
In 201 BC，Liu Bang took a false charge against Han Xin for truth，and demoted him to Marquis of Huaiyin.The resentful Han said:”The hounds are boiled once all the cunning hares are bagged；the good bows and arrows are packed away once all the flying birds are shot down；and the emperor’s counselors are doomed to death once the enemy state is destroyed.”
Four years later，Han Xin planned to stage a coup detat taking the opportunity that Liu Bang led troops north to quell a revolt.However，learning of the coup plot in advance，Chancellor Xiao He and Empress Lii used a stratagem to capture Han and had him executed the following year.The families of Han’s father，mother and wife were also exterminated.Initially，it’s Xiao He who recommended Han to Liu Bang，but now he helped Empress Lii to kill Han，hence the Chinese idiom:”success and failure of Han Xin are both due to Xiao He.”
The fate of Peng Yue was even more miserable.After putting him to death，Liu Bang cut his body into small pieces and sent them to the nobles separately as a warning.
