CHINESE - Eastern Han Dynasty (25-221A.D.) - Emperor Lingdi - Reigned 168-190 A.D. - Bronze Wu Shu 25mm Struck circa 168-190 A.D. Reference:
Schjoth 179, FD512, CC250 - RARE

You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.

Revival of the Han Dynasty - Eastern Han

The fall of Wang Mang brought on 2 years of civil war. The Red Eyebrows, a force of uneducated peasants from the east along the Yellow River and driven by famine, were so called because of the red paint on their foreheads that they used to distinguish themselves from the government troops. As they swept west, the former imperial family tried to use them to regain power, but they could not agree on who would be the candidate for emperor. Guang Wudi stepped forward in AD25 and seized power, but it took him 10 years of bitter struggle to fend off the other 11 claimants and consolidate his power. This period saw the sacking of Chang'an, the capital, and the sacking of many Han Dynasty tombs and was so devastating that Guang Wudi forbade the word war to be uttered in his presence. Guang Wudi moved the capital east to Luoyang, thus his dynasty is referred to as the Eastern Han.

Biography of Emperor Lingdi

Lingdi ascended the throne at age 12. The reign of Lingdi began and ended with attempts to massacre the eunuchs who dominated much of the palace beauracracy. At the beginning, the plot was leaked and the eunuchs foiled the plans, gaining even more power and ruling for 20 years, during which many senior officials were killed or disgraced, their places being taken by eunuchs or their relatives. In order to supplement falling tax revenues, which were falling due to the skimming of corrupt officials, he authorized the sale of posts and titles. The administration slowly disintegrated and was unable to cope with a growing agricultural crisis. Rural unrest reached a peak in AD184 and a rebellion broke out in the east (this group was called the Yellow Turbans after their headgear). An army of 360,000 men swept west. Shortly after this a group known as the Five Pecks of Rice sect revolted in the southwest and established a breakaway state in Sichuan. The long struggle to put doewn these uprisings caused a shift in the political scene. Unable to rely on the central power, the provincial leaders established their own armies and subsequently power shifted to the warlords who controlled the emperor. Upon Lingdi's death there was a battle for succession and a ruthless warlord from the west, Dong Zhou intervened with his troops to eradicate the eunuch's power. he occupied and estroyed the capital of Luoyang, murdered 2,000 or more eunuchs and burned the imperial library,causing more damage than the First Emperor's Burning of the Books. The new young emperor was killed and his half brother Xiandi became the last Han emperor. He fled north under the protection of a northern warlord as ruled nominally until AD220. At that time the warlord's son usurped the throne and founded the Wei Dynasty. The following year a warlord in the south in Sichuan, Liu Bei, also declared himself emperor, taking the dynastic name Han (known as Shu Han) and a third general, Sun Ch'uan, founded the Wu Dynasty in AD222. This ushered in the period known as the Three Kingdoms. What followed was nearly three and a half centuries of almost incessant warfare.