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Huo's early career in Han government was not well-documented, but it is known that as of 88 BC -- near the end of Emperor Wu of Han|Emperor Liu Che (Emperor Wu)'s reign, he was already a fairly highly ranked official with dual titles of fengche duwei (????????????) and guanglu daifu (????????????). When Emperor Wu, near the end of his life, chose his youngest son Liu Fuling (later Emperor Zhao of Han|Emperor Zhao) as heir, he commissioned Huo, ethnically-Xiongnu official Jin Ridi (?????????), and imperial guard commander Shangguan Jie (?????????) as regent|coregents, but with Huo effectively in command of the government, with the titles of dasima (?????????) and dajiangjun (?????????). When Emperor Wu died in 87 BC, Emperor Zhao, then eight-years-old, was left in the tutelage of Huo, Jin, and Shangguan. Emperor Wu's will created the three of them as marquess|marquesses, but all three declined. Emperor Zhao, as the youngest son of Emperor Wu, drew jealousy from his older brothers, and in his reign there were multiple conspiracies. In 86 BC, a conspiracy involving Liu Dan (??????), the Prince of Yan (??????) and an elder son of Emperor Wu, was discovered, but the prince was not punished, presumably under Huo's decision, even though the other conspirators were executed. In the same year, Jin, a moderating influence in the coregency, died. After Jin's death, Shangguan became increasingly jealous of Huo's powers, even though the two had been great friends, and Huo had given his daughter in marriage to Shangguan's son Shangguan An (?????????). In 84 BC, as a ploy to further strengthen his powers, Shangguan Jie gave his granddaughter (also Huo's granddaughter), then age five, in marriage to the emperor, then age 11, and Empress Shangguan|she was made empress in 83 BC. In 85 BC, Huo was created the Marquess of Bowang (?????????). In 80 BC, the dormant conflict between Huo and Shangguan came to a head. Shangguan formed a conspiracy with Liu Dan the Prince of Yan, the Princess Eyi (????????????) (who, as the emperor's sister, had served as his caretaker), and another important official Sang Hongyang (?????????) to make false allegations of treason against Huo. However, Emperor Zhao, who trusted Huo, did not act on the allegations. The conspirators then planned a coup d'etat, but were discovered. Most of the conspirators, including Shangguan, were executed, and Liu Dan and the Princess of Eyi were forced to commit suicide. In 74 BC, Emperor Zhao died at age 21 without issue -- and therefore without an heir. Even though Emperor Zhao had living older brothers, Huo considered them incompetent and unfit for the throne. After some investigation, he settled on making Liu He, Emperor Zhao's nephew and the Prince He of Changyi|Prince of Changyi the new emperor. Once the Prince of Changyi was installed as the emperor, however, he began to spend incessantly and otherwise act inappropriately during the period of mourning for Emperor Zhao. In response, Huo decided to depose the new emperor -- then an unprecedented action in Chinese history. Under an edict issued by Empress Dowager Shangguan -- Huo's granddaughter -- Prince He was deposed after just 28 days as emperor and exiled to his old principality of Changyi, but without a princely title. There was no imperial heir in sight who fit Huo's standard of a diligent and skilled emperor. At the suggestion of another senior official Bing Ji (??????), Huo made a great-grandson of Emperor Wu (whose grandfather Liu Ju (??????) had been Emperor Wu's crown prince by Empress Wei but who subsequently fell out of favor and was killed in a disturbance, with his issue being removed from the imperial household), Liu Bingyi (?????????, later Liu Xun ??????) emperor. 27 days after Prince He was deposed, Liu Bingyi, who then was a commoner with no titles, became emperor (later known as Emperor Xuan of Han|Emperor Xuan). In 73 BC, Huo offered to return all authority to Emperor Xuan, but the emperor declined and reaffirmed that all important matters were to be presented to Huo before Huo would present them to the emperor. The emperor also made Huo's son Huo Yu (??????) and his grandnephews Huo Yun (??????) and Huo Shan (??????) (Huo Qubing's grandsons) key officials in his administration. Huo Guang's sons-in-law Fan Mingyou (?????????) and Deng Guanghan (?????????) were made high military commanders. During the next few years, Huo and the emperor effectively shared imperial powers. In 71 BC, Huo Guang's wife Xian (???), in order to make her daughter Empress Huo Chengjun|Huo Chengjun (?????????) empress, poisoned Emperor Xuan's wife Empress Xu Pingjun (?????????) by bribing her doctor. In 70 BC, Huo Chengjun was created empress. In 68 BC, Huo Guang became ill and died. Emperor Xuan and Empress Shangguan|Empress Dowager Shangguan made the nearly-unprecedent act of personally attending Huo's wake (ceremony)|wake and built an impressive mausoleum for Huo. After Huo's death, his sons, sons-in-law, and grandnephews remained in important posts and were made marquesses. The Huo family lived luxurious lives and acted as if it were the imperial household. Emperor Xuan, unhappy about the Huos' arrogance, began to gradually strip their actual powers while formally keeping their titles impressive. In 67 BC, Emperor Xuan made his son Liu Shi (??????, later Emperor Yuan of Han|Emperor Yuan), by the deceased Empress Xu, crown prince, an act that greatly angered Lady Xian, who instructed her daughter to murder the crown prince. Allegedly, Empress Huo did make multiple attempts to do so, but failed each time. Around this time, the emperor also heard rumors that the Huos had murdered Empress Xu, which led him to further strip the Huos of actual power. In 66 BC, Lady Xian revealed to her son and grandnephews that she had, indeed, murdered Empress Xu. In fear of what the emperor might do if he had actual proof, Lady Xian, her son, her grandnephews, and her sons-in-law formed a conspiracy to depose the emperor. The conspiracy was discovered, and the entire Huo clan was executed by Emperor Xuan -- an act that later drew heavy criticism from historians for its ungratefulness to Huo Guang. (e.g., Sima Guang in his Zizhi Tongjian.) (For the time being, Empress Huo was deposed but not executed, but 12 years later she was exiled; in response, she committed suicide.) Despite the destruction of the Huo clan, Emperor Xuan continued to honor Huo Guang posthumously. In 51 BC, when he painted the portrait of 11 great statesmen of his administration in the great hall of his palace, Huo, alone among the 11, was referred to by title and family name only, which was considered an even greater honor than the honor given to the other 10. Huo was treated somewhat paradoxically by posterity. On one hand, he was greatly admired for his skillful administration of the empire and his selflessness in putting himself in great danger in deposing an unfit emperor. On the other hand, he was also criticized for his dictatorial governing style and alleged nepotism -- traits that some historians claim eventually led to his clan's destruction. Many later conspirators in Chinese history would often claim that they were acting in the empire's best interest, like Huo, even though few actually did. (One example -- perhaps the only one -- was the conspiracy against Emperor Shao of Southern Song|Emperor Shao of Song Dynasty (420-479)|Southern Song Dynasty.) Conversely, when emperors wanted to accuse (and execute) officials of treason, they often euphemistically refer to them as "wanting to act like Huo Guang." Effectively, Huo set a standard of decisiveness and strength that was rarely matched and even more rarely used for the benefit of the state. Category:68 BC deaths|Huo Guang Category:History of China|Huo Guang Category:Han Dynasty|Huo Guang ja:?????? zh:?????? This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Huo Guang".
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