Late Reign
Later in his reign, Emperor Wen became superstitious and started search for supernatural events. In 165 BC, at the instigation of the sorcerer Xinyuan Ping (新垣平), he built a temple north of Wei River dedicated to five gods. He then promoted Xinyuan and awarded him with much treasure. At Xinyuan's suggestion, Emperor Wen planned a thorough revision of the governmental system and the building of many temples. In 164 BC, Xinyuan Ping had an associate place a jade cup outside the imperial palace with mysterious writings on them, and also predicted a regression in the path of the sun. (This phenomenon has never been adequately explained, but might have been actually a partial solar eclipse.) In response, Emperor Wen joyously proclaimed an empire-wide festival and also restarted the calendering for his reign. (Therefore, the years 163 BC and on, for the rest of his reign, was known as the later era of his reign.) However, in winter 164 BC, Xinyuan was exposed to be a fraud, and he and his clan were executed. That ended Emperor Wen's period of supernatural fascination.
In 158 BC, when Xiongnu made a major incursion into the Commanderies of Shang (上, modern northern Shaanxi) and Yunzhong (雲中, modern western Inner Mongolia, centering Hohhot), Emperor Wen made a visit to the camps of armies preparing to defend the capital Chang'an against a potential Xiongnu attack. It was on this occasion when he became impressed with Zhou Bo's son Zhou Yafu as a military commander—compared to the other generals, who, upon the emperor's arrival, dropped all things and did what they could to make the emperor feel welcome, Zhou remained on military alert and required the imperial guards to submit to proper military order before he would allow the imperial train to enter. Later, he would leave instructions for Crown Prince Qi that if military emergencies arose, he should make Zhou his commander of armed forces—instructions that were heeded during the Rebellion of the Seven States.
Emperor Wen died in summer 157 BC. He was succeeded by Crown Prince Qi. Emperor Wen, in his will, reduced the usual mourning period to three days, contrary to the previous lengthy periods of mourning in which weddings, sacrifices, drinking, and the consumption of meat were disallowed, thus greatly reducing the burden on the people. He also ordered that his concubines be allowed to return home. (Before and after Emperor Wen, generally, imperial concubines without children were required to guard the emperor's tomb for the rest of their lives.)
Read more about this topic: Emperor Wen Of Han
Famous quotes containing the words late and/or reign:
“Sir Andrew Aguecheek. I know, to be up late is to be up late.
Sir Toby Belch. A false conclusion. I hate it as an unfilled can. To be up after midnight and to go to bed then, is early; so that to go to bed after midnight is to go to bed betimes.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
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—Earl Felton, and Richard Fleischer. Captain Nemo (James Mason)