Kingdoms of Han Dynasty

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Wangs of Han Dynasty can be divided as two categories: Yixing Wang (Kings) and Tongxing Wang (Princes). Yixing Wang literally means "Wangs with a different family name than the emperors" while Tongxing Wang means "Wangs with the same family name as the emperors". Tongxing Wang are normally relatives of the emperors by direct male line.

It is arguable how to translate the Chinese "Wang" into English. Here "kings" are used for "Yixing Wang" because these Yixing Wang usually were generally derived from peer kings of Liu Bang, King of Han. They had enormous power in their territories and were de facto sovereigns to some extent. Tongxing Wang is translated into "princes" since they were normally sons or brothers of the emperors, and after Rebellion of the Seven Princes had relative little power in their territories. However, it should be pointed out in the early period of Han Dynasty there was no legal distinction between Yixing Wang and Tongxing Wang. The early princes were as powerful as kings in their territories.

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[edit] Yixing Wang (Kings)

Wangs (Kings) were remnants of the rebellion against Qin Dynasty. When Qin Dynasty collapsed, many former nobles of the old Warring States joined the rebellion and occupied territories. They called themselves "kings" and often used the old Warring States kingdom names to bid for support from peoples of those states. Among those kingdoms Chu was the most powerful. After Qin Dynasty was overthrown, Xiang Yu decided to align all the kingdoms for his own political advantage. After the alignment, 18 Kingdoms were formed. However, many of these kings were not satisfied with this arrangement and rebelled against Xiang Yu, among which included Liu Bang, King of Han. Liu Bang later beat Xiang Yu and became the first emperor of Han Dynasty. The kings which sided with Liu Bang in Chu-Han Contention remained as kings under the Han Emperors while some other kingdoms were created for some generals and favorites of Liu Bang.

Although nomically under the rule of Han Dynasty, these kings were de facto sovereigns, with very high power in their territories. Liu Bang felt it was dangerous to the unity of his empire and devoted to subdue these unruly kingdoms. By conspiracies, wars and other political maneuvers many of these kings were deposed and their kingdoms annexed during Liu Bang's life time. When Liu Bang was dying, he order his ministers make a swear that only royal house members with the family "Liu" could be created as Wangs (i.e., Tongxing Wang or princes) in Han Dynasty. In spite of this, some new Yixing Wang were still created later, especially during the reign of Empress Dowager Lü. Most of these newly-created kingdoms were abolished after the death of her. The last king in Han Dynasty was Wu Chan, King Jing of Changsha. He died without a heir in 157 BC. After that there were no Yixing Wang in Han Dynasty.

[edit] Tongxing Wang (Princes)

After establishing Han Dynasty, Liu Bang created several Tongxing Wang, or princes for his relatives and sons. After that it became a tradition that sons of Chinese emperors should be automatically created as princes. This tradition continued until Qing Dynasty, in which sons of emperors could be created as lower nobles. Liu Bang and his successers originally thought by creating princes for royal house members would strengthen the royal house and gain an upper hand against kings (Yixing Wang). However, some of these princes became as powerful as those kings and equally as dangerous. To some extent these princes might be more dangerous because as members of royal house, they were themselves eligible for the succession of the throne, thus created several pretenders. Several rebellions or attempted rebellions of these powerful princes happened during the reigns of Emperor Jing and Emperor Wu, the famous one being Rebellion of Seven Princes. After that Emperor Wu deprived of most power of these princes and divided their territories so that they would no longer be a threat to the throne.

[edit] Power of the kings and princes

In the early period of Han Dynasty, kings or princes were the rulers of their territories, usually including several prefects. After Emperor Wu, there were no kings and princes were limited as the rubberstamp head of their territories, while the real power were given to the prime ministers of these princes, who were appointed by the court. Moreover, prince territories were reduced to only one prefect.

[edit] Crown Prince

Crown Prince in Han Dynasty was the heir apparent to the throne. Crown Prince was normally the eldest son of the Emperor and the Queen Consort but it was not always followed so. The power to nominate the Crown Prince lay with the throne, although the Emperor generally had to inquire with his high ministers for their advice or consent. Crown Prince would not be awarded with a princehood, but rather lived with the Emperor in the capital. When a prince became Crown Prince, his princehood became extinct. Crown Prince could be dismissed and it happened several times in Han Dynasty.

[edit] List of Crown Princes

[edit] List of the kings and princes in Han Dynasty

[edit] Kings

[edit] Kingdoms existing when Han Dynasty was established

[edit] Kingdoms created by Emperor Gao of Han

[edit] Kingdoms created by Empress Dowager Lü

  • King of Lu
  • King of Huaiyang
  • King of Changshan
  • King of Lü

[edit] Princes

[edit] Princes first created by Emperor Gao of Han

[edit] Princes first created by Emperor Wen of Han

  • Prince of Liang
  • Prince of Chengyang
  • Prince of Jibei
  • Prince of Zichuan
  • Prince of Jinan
  • Prince of Jiaodong
  • Prince of Jiaoxi
  • Prince of Hengshan
  • Prince of Lujiang
  • Prince of Hejian

[edit] Princes first created by Emperor Jing of Han

  • Prince of Linjiang
  • Prince of Jiangdu
  • Prince of Changsha
  • Prince of Zhongshan
  • Prince of Guangchuan
  • Prince of Qinghe
  • Prince of Changshan
  • Prince of Jichuan
  • Prince of Jidong
  • Prince of Shanyang
  • Prince of Jiyin

[edit] Princes first created by Emperor Wu of Han

  • Prince of Guangling
  • Prince of Changyi
  • Prince of Lu'an
  • Prince of Zhending
  • Prince of Sishui
  • Prince of Pinggan

[edit] Princes first created by Emperor Xuan of Han

[edit] Princes first created by Emperor Yuan of Han

  • Prince of Dingtao

[edit] Princes first created by Emperor Cheng of Han

  • Prince of Guangde

[edit] Princes first created by Emperor Ai of Han

  • Prince of Guangping

[edit] Princes first created by Emperor Ping of Han

  • Prince of Guangshi
  • Prince of Guangzong
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