Emperor Gaozu of Han

Emperor Gao , commonly known inside China by his Temple Name, Gaozu , personal name Liu Bang , was the first of the Chinese Han Dynasty, ruling over China from 202 BC until 195 BC, and one of only a few dynasty founders who emerged from the peasant class . Before becoming an emperor, he was also called Duke of Pei after his birthplace. He was also created as the Prince of Hàn by following the collapse of Qín Dynasty, and was called so before becoming emperor.

Early life

Liú Bāng was born into a peasant family in Pei . He relied on his brother's family for food. There is a story that tells of him bringing many friends home to eat with the family one day. Though there was more than enough food to feed everyone, his sister-in-law went to the kitchen to scrape the pots, thus causing all his friends to leave, as they thought that the family was too poor to feed them. His sister-in-law's contempt for his roguish ways was what made Liú Bāng think about actually studying and serving his country.

After he grew up, Liú Bāng served as a patrol officer in his county. Once he was responsible for transporting a group of prisoners to Mount Li in present Shaanxi province. During the trip many prisoners fled. Fearful that he would be punished for the prisoners' flight, Liú Bāng released the remaining prisoners. The prisoners, running for their lives, met up with a cobra snake and went back the way they came, running into Liú Bāng. Hearing their story, he went and killed the cobra himself. Legend says that the cobra was a representation from the gods indicating that he was the natural born leader. The cobra was supposedly larger than a full grown tree. The cobras breath was poisonous killing many prisoners. Liu Bang was brave enough to kill the snake at dawn. From then on, the prisoners respected him and made him their leader, hence Liú Bāng became the leader of a band of brigands. On one of his raids, he met a county magistrate who became impressed with his leadership skills and gave his daughter to him in marriage.

Chu-Han Contention

Now considering the whole former Qín Empire under his domination, Xiang Yu realigned the territories of not only the remaining parts of Qín but also the rebel states, dividing the territories into 19 principalities. Xiang Yu did not honor the promise by , who would soon himself be assassinated by Xiang's orders. Instead, he gave Guanzhong to the princes of three Qins. Liú Bāng was only awarded the .

In Hanzhong, Liú Bāng focused his efforts on developing agriculture methods and training an army, through which he reinforced his resource accumulation and military power. Before long, Liú broke out of his principality, deposed the kings of three Qins and occupied Guanzhong, where he launched a war now known as the Chu-Han War, against Xiang Yu. He quoted in his biography,"Establishment of the great," that "Those who earn their status by war are the most honorable of all."

Although Xiang Yu was far superior in military ability to Liú Bāng, he was at a political disadvantage. Xiang Yu kept defeating Liú in the battlefield, but each of his victories drove more people to support Liú. When Xiang Yu was finally defeated in the Battle of Gaixia, he could not recover and committed suicide.

The war lasted five years and ended with Liú Bāng's victory. Having defeated Xiang Yu, Liú proclaimed himself emperor and established the Hàn Dynasty in 202 BC and made Cháng'ān his capital city. Liú became historically known as Emperor Gāo of Hàn.

Reign as the Emperor

After Liu Bāng came into power, he re-centralised China based on Qín's model. He gradually replaced the original vassals, granting their lands to his relatives. Since the economy had been devastated by the war following the demise of the Qín Dynasty, he reduced taxes and corvée, developed agriculture and restricted spending. However, in response to what he saw as the decadence of Qín merchants, he restricted commerce by levying heavy taxes and legal restrictions on merchants. He also made peace with the Xiongnu. Under Gāozǔ's reign, thought gradually replaced thought; Confucian scholars were welcomed into his government, while the harsh Legalist laws were lessened. Emperor Gāozǔ's efforts laid a solid foundation for the over four-hundred-year reign of the Hàn Dynasty.

Liú Bāng also devoted to subduing the unruly . He soon annexed most of the kingdoms and established principalities, with his sons and relatives as princes. By doing so he consolidated his new-born empire.

Personal information

*Father:
** Liu Zhijia
*Mother:
** Wang Hanshi
*Wife:
** , mother of Emperor Hui and Princess Luyuan
*Major Concubines:
** Consort Cao, mother of Prince Fei -- initially Emperor Gao's mistress
** Consort Qi, mother of Prince Ruyi
** Consort Zhang
** Consort Wei
** , mother of Emperor Wen
** Consort Zhao, mother of Prince Chang
*Children
** Liu Fei , Prince Daohui of Qi
** Liu Ying , Crown Prince , later
** Liu Jian , Prince Ling of Yan
** Liu Ruyi ,
** Liu Heng , Prince of Dai , later
** Liu Hui , , later
** Liu You, Prince of Huaiyang , later , starved to death by Empress Dowager Lü 180 BC)
** Liu Chang ,
** Princess Luyuan
* Grandchildren
** , Prince Ai of Qi , son to Liu Fei , Prince Daohui of Qi by Consort Si
** , Prince Jing of Chengyang , son to Liu Fei , Prince Daohui of Qi
** Liu Xingju , Marquess of Dongmou , son to Liu Fei , Prince Daohui of Qi
** , Crown Prince , later Emperor Jing of Han, son to Liu Heng , Prince of Dai