Emperor Cheng of Han
漢成帝
简体 汉成帝
“Left the government to his mother's family and the palace to two sisters”
Under him the Wang clan took every senior post in the state and the emperor took no interest. He died childless, having allowed — the histories say ordered — the killing of the sons other women bore him, and the succession passed sideways into the crisis that ended the Western Han.
The court astronomers of his reign blamed eclipses on his private life in writing, which is how we know as much about it as we do.
Two of his empresses are in the collection. Empress Xu was deposed on a charge the histories themselves call false and killed nine years later; Zhao Feiyan, a dancer from a princess's household, replaced her, and was rewritten centuries afterwards into an erotic legend that has almost nothing to do with the woman.
The empresses of this reign
Painted on silk in gemstone mineral pigments by Xiang Li.
About this page
Written for this site to place Cheng's reign around the paintings. For the full biography, the dynastic histories and the scholarship behind them, start at Wikipedia.
Every Han emperor
Western Han
西漢 / 西汉 202 BC – 9 AD| Reign | Emperor | Painted empresses |
|---|---|---|
| 202 – 195 BC | Gaozu 漢高祖 / 汉高祖 Liu Bang 劉邦 / 刘邦 | |
| 195 – 188 BC | Hui 漢惠帝 / 汉惠帝 Liu Ying 劉盈 / 刘盈 | |
| 188 – 184 BC | Qianshao 漢前少帝 / 汉前少帝 Liu Gong 劉恭 / 刘恭 | — |
| 184 – 180 BC | Houshao 漢後少帝 / 汉后少帝 Liu Hong 劉弘 / 刘弘 | — |
| 180 – 157 BC | Wen 漢文帝 / 汉文帝 Liu Heng 劉恆 / 刘恒 | |
| 157 – 141 BC | Jing 漢景帝 / 汉景帝 Liu Qi 劉啟 / 刘启 | |
| 141 – 87 BC | Wu 漢武帝 / 汉武帝 Liu Che 劉徹 / 刘彻 | |
| 87 – 74 BC | Zhao 漢昭帝 / 汉昭帝 Liu Fuling 劉弗陵 / 刘弗陵 | |
| 74 BC, for 27 days | Liu He 海昏侯 Liu He 劉賀 / 刘贺 | — |
| 74 – 48 BC | Xuan 漢宣帝 / 汉宣帝 Liu Bingyi 劉詢 / 刘询 | |
| 48 – 33 BC | Yuan 漢元帝 / 汉元帝 Liu Shi 劉奭 / 刘奭 | |
| 33 – 7 BC | Cheng 漢成帝 / 汉成帝 Liu Ao 劉驁 / 刘骜 | |
| 7 – 1 BC | Ai 漢哀帝 / 汉哀帝 Liu Xin 劉欣 / 刘欣 | |
| 1 BC – 6 AD | Ping 漢平帝 / 汉平帝 Liu Kan 劉衎 / 刘衎 | |
| 6 – 9 AD | Ruzi Ying 孺子嬰 / 孺子婴 Liu Ying 劉嬰 / 刘婴 | — |
Eastern Han
東漢 / 东汉 25 – 220 AD| Reign | Emperor | Painted empresses |
|---|---|---|
| 25 – 57 AD | Guangwu 漢光武帝 / 汉光武帝 Liu Xiu 劉秀 / 刘秀 | |
| 57 – 75 AD | Ming 漢明帝 / 汉明帝 Liu Zhuang 劉莊 / 刘庄 | |
| 75 – 88 AD | Zhang 漢章帝 / 汉章帝 Liu Da 劉炟 / 刘炟 | |
| 88 – 106 AD | He 漢和帝 / 汉和帝 Liu Zhao 劉肇 / 刘肇 | |
| 106 AD | Shang 漢殤帝 / 汉殇帝 Liu Long 劉隆 / 刘隆 | — |
| 106 – 125 AD | An 漢安帝 / 汉安帝 Liu Hu 劉祜 / 刘祜 | |
| 125 AD, seven months | Beixiang 漢少帝懿 / 汉少帝懿 Liu Yi 劉懿 / 刘懿 | — |
| 125 – 144 AD | Shun 漢順帝 / 汉顺帝 Liu Bao 劉保 / 刘保 | |
| 144 – 145 AD | Chong 漢沖帝 / 汉冲帝 Liu Bing 劉炳 / 刘炳 | — |
| 145 – 146 AD | Zhi 漢質帝 / 汉质帝 Liu Zuan 劉纘 / 刘缵 | — |
| 146 – 168 AD | Huan 漢桓帝 / 汉桓帝 Liu Zhi 劉志 / 刘志 | |
| 168 – 189 AD | Ling 漢靈帝 / 汉灵帝 Liu Hong 劉宏 / 刘宏 | |
| 189 AD, five months | Shao 漢少帝 / 汉少帝 Liu Bian 劉辯 / 刘辩 | — |
| 189 – 220 AD | Xian 漢獻帝 / 汉献帝 Liu Xie 劉協 / 刘协 |