Emperor Guangwu

The first emperor of China (reigned 25-57) who overthrew the Xin Dynasty of Wang Mang and founded the Later Han Dynasty. His surname was Liu Xiu. His pen name was Wenshu. His temple name was Shizu. His father was Liu Qin and his mother was from the powerful Fan clan. He lived in Caiyang County, Nanyang County (Hubei Province). His ancestors can be traced back to Emperor Jing of the Former Han Dynasty. His father's great-grandfather, Liu Jia, was the Marquis of Zhiling and had a fief in Lingling County (Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region). Liu Xiu had connections to the Han Dynasty and had been the subject of much attention from local people. He studied in Chang'an in his youth, but returned to his hometown during the chaos at the end of the Han dynasty and engaged in agriculture and commerce. When Wang Mang's misrule reached its peak, he called on local nobles with whom he had long-standing connections to raise an army to overthrow the Xin dynasty. He won the Battle of Kunyang in 23, and thereafter incorporated peasant armies such as Tongma into his command, ruling the Hebei and Shandong regions. He then ascended to the throne in Luoyang in 25, but it took several more years for him to bring the warlords who were based in outlying areas such as the Sichuan region under his control. When he established the Later Han government, he had the generals return the titles of generals that he had given them, and consolidated military power under the emperor. Instead, he gave them the titles of marquis and gave them fiefs, creating a system of many small fiefdoms. In this way, while following the prefectural and county system of the Western Han Dynasty, they also adopted a system of feudal divisions between villages, an attempt to absorb local clans into the bureaucracy and reduce the effect of decentralization.

In terms of ideology, there was also a movement to integrate centralization and decentralization. Emperor Guangwu respected the Tusen, which was based on the Mandate of Heaven, and had it officially recognized as a scripture that did not go against Confucian etiquette. This does not mean that the absoluteness of imperial power was acknowledged in a magical irrational way, but rather that it was affirmed on the basis of Confucian rationality. The system and ideology of the Later Han dynasty appear to have been a solution that relatively resolved the contradictions between imperial power and local clan forces that had existed during the Former Han period. The Later Han dynasty was more stable than the Former Han dynasty, and local clans supported small-scale agriculture and commerce as the core of their regions. The universal conscription system was also abolished, and a society known as Confucian civil rule was established. Emperor Guangwu played a major role as its founder.

[Takashi Yoshinami]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、王莽(おうもう)の新朝を倒して後漢(ごかん)王朝を創始した初代皇帝（在位25～57）。姓名は劉秀(りゅうしゅう)。字(あざな)は文叔(ぶんしゅく)。廟号(びょうごう)は世祖。父は劉欽(りゅうきん)、母は豪族樊(はん)氏の出である。南陽郡蔡陽(さいよう)県（湖北省）に居住していた。祖先をたどると前漢の景帝に行き着く。父の曽祖(そうそ)にあたる劉賈(りゅうか)は舂陵(しょうりょう)侯として零陵(れいりょう)郡（広西チワン族自治区）内に封邑(ほうゆう)をもっていた。劉秀は漢朝とかかわりがあるので、地方人士のかねてから注目するところであった。若いころ長安で学問を習ったが、漢末の混乱時にあって郷里に帰り、農業や商業に従事していた。王莽の失政が極に達した際、かねて気脈を通じていた在地豪族層に呼びかけて新朝打倒の挙兵をした。23年昆陽(こんよう)の戦いで勝利を収め、以後、銅馬(どうば)などの農民軍を麾下(きか)に編入し、河北、山東一帯を支配した。そして25年洛陽(らくよう)において皇帝位についたが、四川(しせん)地方など辺地に割拠する諸雄を傘下に収めるにはなお数年かかっている。後漢政権を発足するにあたって諸将に与えていた将軍号を返還させ、軍事権を皇帝の下に集約した。かわりに列侯の爵(しゃく)を与えて封土をもたせ、小規模多数の封邑体制をつくった。こうして、前漢の郡県制を踏襲しつつ、しかも分邑封建の措置をとった。在地豪族を官僚制に吸収して分権の効果を減じようと試みる方法である。

　思想の面でもこの集権と分権とを統合しようとする動きがある。光武帝は天命に基礎を置く図讖(としん)を尊び、しかもこれを儒家の礼に反しない経典として公認させているのである。このことは皇帝権の絶対性を呪術(じゅじゅつ)的非合理性において認めるというのでなく、儒教的合理性のもとにおいて肯定するという意味をもつ。皇帝権力と在地豪族勢力が前漢代の矛盾をそれなりに解決した解答が、この後漢王朝の体制と思想であったと思われる。後漢は前漢と比べて安定しており、在地豪族が地域の核として小規模の農業、商業を支えていた。国民皆兵制も廃されて、儒家的文治といわれる社会が到来した。その創設者として光武帝の役割は大きい。

［好並隆司］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例