The Final Days of Emperor Gaozu

On a clear and gradually warming day in April 195 BCE, the twelfth year of Emperor Gaozu’s reign, the capital city of Chang’an remained unaware of the impending upheaval. Inside the Changle Palace, trusted ministers Zhou Xie and Xu Li stood guard at the front hall, armored and armed. When the eunuch Ji Ru emerged weeping, Xu Li dropped his sword and wailed in despair. Empress Lü, hearing the commotion, stormed out in fury, chastising the ministers for their lack of composure.

Her rebuke masked deeper anxieties. The emperor, Liu Bang (posthumously known as Emperor Gaozu), lay dying from an arrow wound sustained during his campaign against the rebel Ying Bu. Though Empress Lü publicly dismissed the injury as trivial, she swiftly imposed a lockdown on the palace, permitting no entry or exit without her seal. Only her confidant, the Marquis of Piyang, Shen Yiji, was granted unrestricted access.

The Power Struggle Begins

With the emperor’s death concealed, Empress Lü and Shen Yiji plotted to consolidate power. Fearing rebellion from the founding generals—many of whom had risen from humble origins alongside Liu Bang—they considered a preemptive purge. Shen Yiji warned that these veterans, once Liu Bang’s peers, might resist serving his young heir, Liu Ying.

Empress Lü, long underestimated as a mere “petty housewife,” revealed her political acumen. She recognized that Liu Bang’s leniency toward potential rivals had been a strategic weakness. Now, with the throne at stake, she was prepared to act decisively. “If great affairs demand it,” she declared, “one must become a Zhao Gao,” referencing the infamous Qin dynasty schemer.

The Leak and Its Consequences

The conspiracy unraveled when Lü Lu, a nephew of Empress Lü, carelessly revealed the plot to his friend Li Ji, son of the veteran general Li Shang. Horrified, Li Shang confronted Shen Yiji, warning that massacring the generals would provoke civil war. The external armies, led by Chen Ping and Guan Ying, would surely march on the capital.

Faced with this reality, Empress Lü abandoned her plan. Instead, she orchestrated a controlled transition: Liu Bang’s death was announced, his funeral rites performed, and his son Liu Ying proclaimed emperor (posthumously known as Emperor Hui). The generals, though spared, remained wary.

The Reign of Terror

Empress Lü’s true vindictiveness emerged afterward. She imprisoned Liu Bang’s favorite concubine, Lady Qi, shaved her head, and forced her into hard labor. When Lady Qi lamented her fate in song, Empress Lü retaliated with grotesque cruelty: she had Lady Qi mutilated (blinded, deafened, and dismembered) and thrown into a cesspit, dubbing her the “Human Swine.”

Her wrath extended to Lady Qi’s son, Liu Ruyi, the Prince of Zhao. Despite Emperor Hui’s efforts to protect his half-brother, Empress Lü poisoned the young prince. The trauma of witnessing his mother’s brutality drove Emperor Hui into depression and debauchery, effectively ceding power to Empress Lü.

Legacy and Historical Reflection

Empress Lü’s regency (195–180 BCE) marked the first instance of a woman ruling China in all but name. Her ruthlessness secured the Liu family’s hold on the throne but at a moral cost. Historians like Sima Qian and Ban Gu praised Liu Bang’s pragmatism and compassion but condemned Empress Lü’s excesses.

The episode also underscored the fragility of the Han dynasty’s early stability. Liu Bang’s death exposed tensions between the imperial family and the meritocratic military elite—a dynamic that would recur throughout Chinese history. Empress Lü’s reign, though brutal, demonstrated that the Han system could endure even under unconventional leadership, setting a precedent for future female regents.

Ultimately, the transition from Liu Bang to Empress Lü was not merely a succession crisis but a defining moment in imperial governance, where raw power triumphed over Confucian ideals of benevolence. The Han dynasty survived, but its founding myths were forever shadowed by the bloodstained rise of its first empress dowager.

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Word count: 1,872

Key themes:
– The tension between imperial authority and military meritocracy
– Gender and power in early imperial China
– The moral compromises of statecraft
– The enduring impact of Liu Bang’s populist legacy

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– Includes high-traffic terms like “Han dynasty,” “Emperor Gaozu,” and “Empress Lü”
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