Emperor Ai of Han, personal name Liu Xin (劉欣; 25 BCEmperor Ai's biography in Book of Han indicated that he was 3 (by East Asian reckoning) when he inherited his father's title of Prince of Dingtao. – 15 August 1 BC), was an emperor of China's Han dynasty. He ascended the throne when he was 20, having been made heir by his childless uncle Emperor Cheng, and he reigned from 7 to 1 BC.
The people and the officials were initially excited about his ascension, as he was viewed by them (as well as Emperor Cheng) to be intelligent, articulate, and capable. However, under Emperor Ai, corruption became even more prevalent and heavy taxes were levied on the people. Furthermore, Emperor Ai was highly controlled by his grandmother Consort Fu (consort of his grandfather and his predecessor's father Emperor Yuan), who demanded the title of Grand Empress Dowager—even though she had never been an empress previously and therefore did not properly hold that title, and this led to the unprecedented and unrepeated situation of four women possessing empress dowager titles at the same time—Empress Wang Zhengjun (Emperor Cheng's mother and Emperor Yuan's wife), Empress Zhao Feiyan (Emperor Cheng's wife), Consort Fu, and Consort Ding (Emperor Ai's mother). Consort Fu's control of the political scene extended until her death in February 2 BC.
During Emperor Ai's reign, he also stripped the Wang clan (Empress Wang's clan), which had been powerful during Emperor Cheng's reign, of much of their power, and substituted members of the Fu and Ding clans in their stead (which, ironically, caused the people, who were not enamored with the Wangs initially, to long for their return to power, as they associated the departure of the Wangs from power with Emperor Ai's incompetence in administration).
In an unpopular act, Emperor Ai had his prime minister Wang Jia (王嘉, unrelated to the Wang clan mentioned above) put to death for criticizing him, an act that made him appear tyrannical. Emperor Ai's shortcomings quickly led to the demoralization of the people towards the government and the acquisition of power by Wang Mang, in a backlash, after Ai died in 1 BC.
Many regarded Emperor Ai as the most effusive homosexual emperor of the Han dynasty, although the Han Dynasty included many emperors that had male lovers. Traditional historians characterized the relationship between Emperor Ai and Dong Xian as one between homosexual lovers and referred to their relationship as "the passion of the cut sleeve" (斷袖之癖) after a story that one afternoon after falling asleep for a nap on the same bed, Emperor Ai cut off his sleeve rather than disturb the sleeping Dong Xian when he had to get out of bed. During Emperor Ai's reign, officials became aware of the promises tied to his favoritism, beginning to dress in a highly ornate fashion. Ironically, Dong was noted for his relative simplicity and given progressively higher and higher posts as part of the relationship, eventually becoming the supreme commander of the armed forces by the time of Emperor Ai's death. Dong was afterward forced to die by suicide.
Emperor Ai also became an influential figure in a Chinese historical anthology called Duanxiupian (断袖篇) focusing on homosexuality in ancient China.Vitiello, Giovanni. “The Dragon’s Whim: Ming and Qing Homoerotic Tales from ‘The Cut Sleeve.’” T’oung Pao 78, no. 4/5 (1992): 341–72. Additionally, Emperor Ai is an important figure in Chinese pop culture, especially in online Dan Mei pieces. Online literature referring to him have been emerging on websites such as Jinjiang Literature City.“断袖之恋 | 笑谈 - 往复遗址博物馆.” Accessed February 17, 2025. https://wangf.org/%E8%89%BA%E6%96%87%E7%B1%BB%E8%81%9A/%E6%96%AD%E8%A2%96%E4%B9%8B%E6%81%8B%20%7C%20%E7%AC%91%E8%B0%88/.
Family background and early life as the Prince of Dingtao Emperor Ai was born to Liu Kang (劉康), Prince of Dingtao, a brother of then-reigning Emperor Cheng and son of Emperor Yuan, and his concubine Consort Ding, in 25 BC, presumably at Prince Kang's principality (roughly modern Heze, Shandong). From birth, he was raised by his paternal grandmother, the domineering Consort Fu, and not by his mother. Prince Kang died in September or October 23 BC,Vol.30 of Zizhi Tongjian indicated that Liu Kang died on the jiashen day of the 8th month of the 2nd year of the Yang'shuo era, but there was no jiashen day in that month. The month corresponds to 21 Sep to 20 Oct 23 BCE in the proleptic Julian calendar. and the two-year-old Prince Xin became the Prince of Dingtao.
In 9 BC, the then-18-year-old Prince Xin impressed his uncle Emperor Cheng when on an official visit to the capital Chang'an, when he brought three key officials of his principality—his teacher, his prime minister, and the commander of his capital's defense forces—to accompany him and cited the proper legal regulations that, in his opinion, required and allowed him to bring them with him (even though it was customary that princes would bring only their teachers). He also showed clear understanding of the Confucian classic Shi Jing, further impressing Emperor Cheng. At that time, the son-less Emperor Cheng was beginning to consider making either his younger brother Liu Xing, Prince of Zhongshan (中山王劉興) or his nephew Prince Xin his heir. Emperor Cheng became convinced that Prince Xin was more capable, and at the same time, Prince Xin's grandmother Consort Fu was endearing herself to Emperor Cheng's wife Empress Zhao Feiyan, her sister and Emperor Cheng's favorite Consort Zhao Hede, and Emperor Cheng's uncle Wang Gen with lavish gifts, and so the Zhaos and Wang Gen both praised Prince Xin as well. Emperor Cheng therefore seriously considered making Prince Xin his heir.Sturgeon, Donald. “漢哀帝 - Chinese Text Project.” Accessed February 17, 2025. https://ctext.org/datawiki.pl?if=en&res=360316&remap=gb.
In 8 BC, Emperor Cheng summoned several key officials to discuss with him who would be the more proper heir. The majority, perhaps seeing that Emperor Cheng was leaning toward Prince Xin, recommended him, citing the general rule of succession that when one lacked an heir, he should adopt a brother's child to be his own son and heir; one official recommended Prince Xing under the rationale that he was closer in bloodline with the emperor. Emperor Cheng, whose mind was fairly made up, created him Crown Prince Xin. In an act praised one as showing humility, Prince Xin declined the honor of living at the crown prince's palace, stating that he was only at the capital to serve Emperor Cheng until Emperor Cheng would produce an heir and that he should stay at the Dingtao mission in the capital.
As crown prince Whether Emperor Cheng was formally adopting Prince Xin would quickly become a major controversy. Emperor Cheng viewed his recognition of Prince Xin as crown prince as formal adoption, and he believed that Prince Xin was now his son, no longer Prince Kang's. When he created a cousin to be the new Prince of Dingtao to serve as Prince Kang's heir in December 8 BC,11th month of the 1st year of the Sui'he era, per vol.30 of Zizhi Tongjian. The month corresponds to 3 Dec 8 BC to 1 Jan 7 BC in the proleptic Julian calendar. Prince Xin, grateful that his father would continue to be worshipped as an ancestor, submitted a formal note of thanksgiving—at which Emperor Cheng was highly offended, believing that Prince Xin should not be grateful any more for whatever is done for his birth father.
Emperor Cheng's desire to have Prince Xin act as only his son extended to the arena of Prince Xin's relationship with his grandmother Consort Fu and his mother Consort Ding. Emperor Cheng decreed that Consort Fu (now princess dowager of Dingtao) and Consort Ding be required to remain in Dingtao and not be allowed to come to Chang'an to visit Prince Xin. Some time later, Emperor Cheng's mother Empress Dowager Wang, not wanting to continue these harsh regulations, decreed that Princess Dowager Fu be allowed to see Prince Xin, under the rationale that she, having raised him, was merely in the role of a wet nurse. Consort Ding, however, would continue to not be allowed to see Prince Xin.
Emperor Cheng died suddenly in April 7 BC, apparently from a stroke (although historians also report the possibility of an overdose of aphrodisiacs given to him by Consort Zhao Hede). Crown Prince Xin ascended the throne as Emperor Ai. Empress Dowager Wang, as his step-grandmother (and "legal" grandmother) became grand empress dowager, and Empress Zhao became empress dowager. He created Consort Fu, the daughter of his grandmother Princess Dowager Fu's cousin Fu Yan (傅晏), empress.
As emperor Early reign—optimism Emperor Ai, aged 20 at his ascension, quickly ended Emperor Cheng's practice of delegating imperial authorities to his uncles and cousins of the Wang clan and appeared diligent in his rule. He also reduced national expenditure greatly. Both the officials and the people thought that after the reigns of the indecisive Emperor Yuan and the impulsive and lavish spending Emperor Cheng, there would finally be a capable emperor.
In addition, Emperor Ai ordered Liu Xin to compile texts of the Seven Arts (Qi Lue), a crucial historical bibliographical work, often referred to as the first systemic compiled text of the genre in Chinese history.Hunter, Michael. “The ‘Yiwen Zhi’ 藝文志 (Treatise on Arts and Letters) Bibliography in Its Own Context.” JAOS 138, no. 4 (2018): 763–80. https://doi.org/10.7817/jameroriesoci.138.4.0763.Long-yu, Chen. “On the Classification in ‘Qi Lue’ and Influence,” 2005. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/On-the-Classification-in-%22Qi-Lue%22-and-It's-Long-yu/7da6d3b72c65f557bf6c4d31e4f19afed77c5ff1.
In 7 BC, under Emperor Ai's auspices, a major proposal to reduce involuntary servitude was made by several officials—princes would be limited to 200 servants (it was as many as they like before), marquesses and princesses to 100 servants (it was 200 before), and other nobility and commoners to 30 servants (it was 100 before, and that servants would be set free after a service of three years) . However, after the proposal was leaked, many slave owners pushed to have the proposal tabled, and Emperor Ai only issued a limited version of the proposal—freeing servants over age 50.
Optimism shattered The issue of the roles of Princess Dowager Fu and Consort Ding (and what honor, if any, to posthumously bestow on Emperor Ai's biological father Prince Kang), however, would quickly again erupt into a major controversy. Initially, Grand Empress Dowager Wang decreed that Princess Dowager Fu and Consort Ding see him periodically, every 10 days. However, Princess Dowager Fu quickly began to visit her grandson everyday, and she insisted that two things be done: that she receive an empress dowager title, and that her relatives be granted titles, like the Wangs. Grand Empress Dowager Wang, sympathetic of the bind that Emperor Ai was in, first granted Prince Kang the unusual title of "Emperor Gong of Dingtao" (定陶共皇) and then, under the rationale of that title, granted Princess Dowager Fu the title "Empress Dowager Gong of Dingtao" (定陶共皇太后) and Consort Ding the title "Empress Gong of Dingtao" (定陶共皇后). Several members of the Fu and Ding clans were created marquesses. Grand Empress Dowager Wang also ordered her paternal nephew Wang Mang, the commander of the armed forces, to resign and transfer power to the Fus and the Dings. Emperor Ai declined and begged Wang Mang to stay in his administration.