Han Gaozu

Han Gaozu ( 漢 高祖 )
Family name :	Liú ( 劉 )
First name :	Ji ( 季 ), later Bāng ( 邦 )
Major Age Name (Zi):	Ji ( 季 )
Posthumous title : (complete)	Emperor Gao ( 高帝 )
Temple name :	Taizu ( 太祖 ), later Gaozu ( 高祖 )
Reign:	February 28, 202 BC Chr. To 1 June 195 v. Chr.

The emperor Gao von Han ( Chinese  漢 高祖  /  汉 高祖 , Pinyin Hàn Gāozǔ , * 256 BC or 247 BC ; † June 1, 195 BC ), with personal name Liú Bāng ( 劉邦  /  刘邦 ), also (before his reign as emperor) Duke of Pei ( 沛公 , Pèi Gōng ), was between 202 BC. And until his death emperor of China and founder of the Han dynasty .

Liu Bang came from a humble background; he was one of the two Chinese emperors who came from a peasant family. Liu Bang was originally a minor officer who transported those sentenced to forced labor. When the uprisings against the Qin rule broke out, he released them and took the lead. Within a few months, under similar circumstances, six “kingdoms” emerged which rose against the Qin dynasty. An old aristocratic "King Huai of Chu" was recognized as the formal leader of the insurgents.

The most powerful leader was the nobleman Xiang Yu (232–202 BC) from Chu in the south of what was then China. Liu Bang was originally allied with Xiang Yu and both rose to become the most important rebel leaders, but there was ultimately a power struggle between them. Liu Bang reached the Qin capital Xianyang in Shaanxi on the Wei River near today's Xi'an before Xiang Yu , but had to give way to the four times stronger army of Xiang Yu after receiving the imperial insignia. Xiang occupied the capital for the second time, had it plundered and destroyed and also killed the last Qin ruler (206 BC).

Liu Bang moved his residence to Nanzhong and contented himself with the title "King of Han", which Xiang Yu gave him. 206 BC. But there was an open conflict. Liu Bang was supposed to be assassinated during the later famous Hongmen Banquet, but he left the festival under an excuse and escaped the trap. Xiang Yu was initially militarily superior to Liu Bang, but he soon made the mistake of handing over the heartland around the Wei Valley to three generals and going to his homeland, Chu. He created his own kingdom there and divided the rest of China among 18 generals. He had King Huai of Chu, then the formal leader of the rebels, killed. But the troop leaders got into a quarrel with one another in the same year. B. A general named Tian Rong, who was overlooked in the fief distribution , rose against Xiang Yu.

On that occasion, Liu Bang again arrested himself in Wei Valley, or the former Qin State. There it was strategically well protected and well supplied due to the fertility of the soil. While Xiang Yu had to switch from one theater of war to another and, despite outstanding military successes, wore out his army, Liu Bang supported his opponents and pulled one area after another. At Gaixia, Xiang Yu was born in 202 BC. And committed suicide in this situation. Liu Bang decided the power struggle and became Emperor under the title Taizu or Gaozu.

Han Emperor Gaozu maintained the Qin Dynasty's administrative apparatus and adhered to the majority of its laws and ordinances, including the ban on books. At least criminal law and taxes have been eased. He was close to Daoism and was therefore not a friend of Confucius and his teachings, but nevertheless visited his grave once and preferred Confucianism at least to legalism . In the year 200 BC He was almost captured during a campaign against the Xiongnu Mao Tuns (209–174 BC), but was able to save himself through negotiations.

When Gaozu died, his widow Lü Zhi († 180/79 BC) took over the reign of her 14-year-old son and murdered the rest of the family with perverse cruelty.

literature

• Denis Twitchett , Michael Loewe (Eds.): The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 1: The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC-AD 220. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1986, ISBN 9780521243278 .

Web links

Commons : Han Gaozu  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Ziying	Emperor of China 206–195 BC Chr.	Hui