Royals › Monarch / Emperor
Emperor Wen of Han
Han emperor enthroned after the fall of the Lu clan, who abolished mutilating punishments, remitted the land tax and kept a frugal court
Mural of the event “Reign of Wen and Jing”, which this person took part in.
In the early Western Han, the population was severely impoverished by late-Qin warfare and state finances were strained. The court required a policy of recuperation that could revive popular vitality.
Also known as Liu Heng · Emperor HanWen
- Roles
- Monarch / Emperor
Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng, was a son of Emperor Gaozu by Consort Bo and was made King of Dai in 196 BC. After Empress Lu died and Zhou Bo and Chen Ping destroyed her clan, he was enthroned in 180 BC; era names did not yet exist, and his reign was counted in two series of years. He abolished collective punishment of criminals' families and the crime of slander. In 167 BC, after the girl Tiying offered herself as a slave to redeem her father, he decreed an end to mutilating punishments, and the same year he remitted the land tax. He kept marriage alliances with the Xiongnu, added no palaces or parks, and had his Ba tomb furnished only with earthenware. He died in the Weiyang Palace in 157 BC, and was given the posthumous name Xiaowen and, under Emperor Jing, the temple name Taizong. The *Records of the Grand Historian* (*Shiji*) ends his annals with Emperor Jing's edict likening his virtue to heaven and earth.
Life and times
- 203 BCEBorn
Han - 180 BCEReign of Wen and Jing
Took partage 23Emperors Wen and Jing reduced land taxes, corvee, and punishments, allowing agriculture, population, and state reserves to recover. - 167 BCETiying Saves Her Father
In powerage 36In 167 BCE, when Chunyu Yi, granary director of Qi, faced mutilating punishment, his youngest daughter Tiying followed him to Chang'an and offered herself as a government slave to redeem him, and Emperor Wen then abolished mutilating punishments, replacing them with flogging and shaven, collared penal labour.- Tiying Petitions the Throne in Chang'anIn 167 BCE Tiying, youngest daughter of Chunyu Yi, granary director of Qi, followed her father to Chang'an and petitioned Emperor Wen, offering herself as a government slave to redeem his mutilating punishment.
- Emperor Wen Abolishes Mutilating PunishmentsIn 167 BCE Emperor Wen, moved by Tiying's petition, abolished mutilating punishments, and the chancellor Zhang Cang and imperial counsellor Feng Jing replaced them with shaven, collared penal labour, flogging and execution.
- Tiying Petitions the Throne in Chang'an
- 157 BCEDied
Works
Literature · Prose1- Edict Abolishing Mutilating PunishmentsHanEmperor Wen's 167 BCE edict abolishing mutilating punishments after the girl Tiying's plea
- Literature · Sayings1
- A True Gentleman Is Father and Mother to the PeopleHanLine from Emperor Wen's edict abolishing mutilation: a ruler should parent his people
Family tree
- Direct kin
Emperor Wen of Han
