Jade Suit and Armor of a Han Dynasty (Vassal) King: 汉代王国- 中山靖王刘胜玉衣

October 13, 2022

Jade Suit and Armor of a Han Dynasty (Vassal) King: 汉代王国- 中山靖王刘胜玉衣

Music: For Extermination

Liu Sheng (165 BC ~ 133 BC), Prince of Zhongshan (中山靖王) was a king/prince of Western Han. Yes, King, for at least in the early part of the Han dynasty, much of what was eastern part of the empire was actually a series of semi- independent vassal states ruled over by imperial princes and uncles of the Liu clan. Han dynasty kingdom of Zhongshan is located in what is today's Hebei Province, in a territory largely corresponding to the eponymous kingdom that shared this name during the Late Spring and Autumn and early Warring States period.

WESTERN HAN DYNASTY VASSAL KINGS

This framework was created after the Han dynasty's founder Liu Bang reunited China after the collapse of the harsh Qin dynasty. In order to rule with a lighter touch, early Han dynasty gave the eastern part of the empire limited autonomy.

Ruse Kingdoms: The western imperial core (purple) directly administered by the primary imperial Liu clan and the patchwork of semi- autonomous "kingdoms" that were ruled by other hereditary branches of the Liu family (light purple, orange.)

Art by: Forky Xu

Unlike the highly centralized Qin, Liu Bang who founded the Han opted to give a semblance of local autonomy for his empire. He allowed a patchwork of "kingdoms" to exist in the east. These kings were highly autonomous in their respective domains but their kingdoms were the vassals of the Emperor.

Within these territories, they had great powers and controlled their own armies (Liu Bang had wished they were enough to repel external invasions and can put down ad hoc internal revolts.) They also lived opulent lives and amassed vast wealth from the locals. However, like the attitude adopted by Augustus toward the Senate in Rome, it was a ruse.

Liu Bang long realized the dangers of having these territories truly break off and have the realm revert back to a patchwork of Warring States so he instantly enfeoffed many of these kingdom's leaders to be members of his own family. The rest were forced to marry his family members. Han dynasty became a family enterprise. Soon, full assimilation of these royal uncles and cousins' domains began.

END OF THE RUSE: IMPERIAL INCORPORATION

Ever since their initial formation, Liu Bang and succeeding emperors persistently eroded their powers and in time, fully absorbed them as part of a fully centralized empire. The process was often inquisitorial and violent, and several occasions using preetext of rooting out corruption and suppressing local problems imperial investigators confiscated the vassal king's titles and kingdoms.

At least once, such threats of imperial overreach threatened the vassal kings enough that many of them rebelled together in what was called the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms 七国之乱. And at the height of this semi- coordinated revolt some 500,000 and 300,000 soldiers were mobilized on either side. But this was swiftly crushed by the Han Emperor Jing in 3 months. With this rebellion decisively put down, Emperor Jing confiscated several kingdoms and achieved even greater direct control over the vassal kingdoms. By the time of Emperor Jing's much more dynamic and authoritarian son Emperor Wu, this process was greatly sped up and expedited. By this time Wu's imperial investigators arrested and purged several vassal kings and princes under inquisitorial measures.

Liu Sheng in life was one of the more influential vassal kings of the realm and was known to have personally protested to Emperor Wu in the imperial capital about the mistreatment of the vassal kings by the Emperor's appointed officials on trumped up charges. Impressed with his petition Wu then ordered the persecutions and prosecutions of the vassal kings be halted. Having ameliorated the conditions of his fellow kings, Liu then enjoyed the rest of his life in opulence and splendor.

Despite their eventual evaporation into the empire, while they ruled, much of these vassal Han Kings lived in dazzling opulence and had magnificent material goods in their burials. Liu Sheng (165 BC ~ 133 BC), Prince of Zhongshan (中山靖王) had been buried in an expensive suit of jade laced together with expensive gold threads 金缕玉衣. When his extremely elaborate tomb was discovered in 1968 it was the first undisturbed Western Han tomb discovered.

Despite Liu Sheng's more laudable qualities, he was also a life long hedonist, and was known to have over indulged in wine and women, and was not only known to have had a large harem but was reputed to have fathered some 120 sons. Once his older brother, the vassal king of the nearby vassal kingdom of Zhao criticized him for his hedonistic carnal lifestyle, he protested that he led a harmless life. Indulgent to be sure but much more harmless compared to other vassal kings and princes that aggressively politicked at the Han capital. It was a dig at his brother, because by living such an idle life, politically he was keeping his hand perfectly clean compared to other vassal kings like his brother who accepted duties as an imperial official.

Eventually all of the Han vassal kingdoms were incorporated fully under direct centralized Han administration. During the long reign of Emperor Wu's rule he formulated many laws that severely limited the power of these vassal kingdoms, including forcing fathers to split up his inheritance among his sons, thus diluting their power base, or offered them similar privilege as governors or keepers of hereditary imperial noble inside the empire.

By the early Eastern Han period all were incorporated and ruled by the court at the imperial capital. By that time these regions were governed by a three-tier system composed of provinces (zhou), commanderies (jun), and counties (xian).

At the tail end of the Western Han dynasty the Han emperors were deposed by a court usurper called Wang Mang, and during the usurper's rule the realm was beset by a series of massive natural calamities. As a result many pockets of the realm erupted into open rebellion, and it had to take a minor relative of the Liu imperial family to both reunite the realm and patch up the broken empire (then set it on track into a new golden age again.) His rise from landowning farmer to soldier to warlord then to emperor are covered in detail in my section on the Gongwu Emperor. But suffice to point out that by the time he restored the realm under direct Han rule after defeating some dozens of regional warlords he was not interested in having any parallel kingdoms within his restored empire.

A VASSAL KING'S ARMOR: LIU SHENG ARMOR

This suit of armor is recreated from the set recovered from the tomb of Liu Sheng (165 BC ~ 133 BC), Prince of Zhongshan (中山靖王), who was a king/prince of Western Han.

Armor from Liu Sheng's Mausoleum, scale coated cuirass with separated flaps of attached faulds. The armor was fashioned like an article of clothing or a protective coat, and also had sleeves of scales sewn in with the armored coat. The front of the armor could be opened and is secured with silk knots.

This suit of armor is recreated from the set recovered from the tomb of Liu Sheng (165 BC ~ 133 BC), Prince of Zhongshan (中山靖王), who was a king/prince of Western Han. Yes, King, for at least in the early part of the Han dynasty, much of what was eastern part of the empire was actually a series of semi- independent vassal states ruled over by imperial princes and uncles of the Liu clan.