Ho Guan (died 68 BC) ( Chinese 霍光 ), name in childhood Tsimen (子 孟) - an influential Chinese dignitary of the Western Han Empire, who for a long time served as regent. He is cited as an example of a dignitary who, acting in the interests of the state and rejecting personal gain, was able to remove the emperor and find a worthy candidate for the throne. He was the half-brother of General Ho Quibing .
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Service under Emperor U-di
Ho Guan's early career is not covered in documents, it is known that in 88 BC. e. he already possessed quite high titles of fenche-duwei (奉 車 都尉) and guanlu dafu (光祿 大夫). When Wu-de, before his death, appointed the heir of his youngest son, Li Fulin (who later became Emperor Zhao-di ), he appointed three co-regents - Ho Guan, Jin-Midi (representative of the Huns ) and head of the Shanguan Jie Guard (上官桀), but at the same time, Ho received the titles of dasyma (大 司馬) and dajiangjun (大 將軍), with which he was to head the government. In 87 BC e. the emperor died, eight-year-old Zhao-di remained in the care of coregents. All three coregents refused the title “ hou ” that U-di offered them.
Service under Emperor Zhao di
The older brothers' envy of Zhao-di led to several conspiracies against the emperor. In 86 BC e. Liu Dan (劉 旦), Wu-di's eldest son, who bore the title of Yan Prince (燕王), tried to plot, but after the plot was uncovered, he was forgiven, presumably by Ho's decision - although other conspirators were executed.
In 86 BC e. died Jin Midi . The conflict between Ho and Shanguan Jie escalated. However, Ho's daughter and Shanguan's son were married, and their daughter (granddaughter of both) was married to Emperor Zhao-di. She became Empress of Shanguan.
In 80 BC e. the conflict between Ho and Shanguan flared up again; Shangguan Jie and Liu Dan gathered a new conspiracy and presented the emperor with a list of charges against Ho. The emperor did not believe the allegations, but Ho was able to uncover the plot and prevent a coup attempt, all the conspirators were executed, Liu Dan was sentenced to suicide.
Changyi-Wan and Xuan Di
In June 74 BC e. Emperor Zhao-di died at the age of 21, leaving no sons, regent Ho Guan rejected the candidacy of Liu Xu (劉 胥), the only surviving son of Emperor Wu-di , since W-di considered Xu too impulsive and did not want to see him on the throne.
Prince He (Changyang-wang) was chosen as the grandson of Wu-di , who immediately went from his capital Shanian (山陽, the modern city of Jining in Shandong Province ) to the imperial capital Chang'an , he flew so fast that the horses of his guards fell dead from exhaustion. Wang Ji warned him that you should not ride so fast during mourning, but the prince did not pay attention. Upon arrival, he immediately ordered a special chicken dish in the palace and called the women for entertainment (which was not allowed during the mourning), he took the blame on the objections of Gong Sui to the head of his slaves, who was immediately executed.
Having become emperor, Changyang immediately began to nominate his friends from Changyi, violating the rituals of mourning and organizing holidays. Gong Sui was very unhappy.
The behavior of the prince upset Ho Guang, he summoned the Minister of Agriculture Tian Yannian (田 延年), with whom he began to discuss the possibility of depriving the emperor of the throne. General Zhang Anshi (張安世) and Prime Minister Yang Chang (楊 敞) were brought to the plot.
A group of dignitaries led by Ho Guan drew up a detailed plan for depriving the emperor of the throne, which was implemented on the 27th day of the reign. They forced the majority of senior officials to agree to the plan, threatening to execute, and secured the consent of the Dowager Empress Shanguan (she was estimated to be about fifteen years old), who was assigned the main role. The emperor was called to the Dowager Empress, where senior officials were already present, and at first had little understanding of what was happening. The empress in formal attire, adorned with billiards, sat on the throne; officials stood on either side of her.
Ho Guang and senior officials presented the Dowager Empress with incriminating materials against the emperor and loudly read out a list of 1,127 allegations listing all the mistakes made by the emperor during his reign. In particular:
- Refusal to abstain from meat and sexual relations during mourning
- Inability to keep state treasury
- Appointment of those unworthy of their surroundings in Changyi during mourning
- Organization of festivities and parties during mourning
- Offering sacrifices to his father during his uncle's mourning
Empress Shanguan approved the idea of abdication and ordered her to be removed from the emperor. The guard escorted the former emperor back to Changyi.
Ho Guang could not find a worthy contender for the throne among the princes. Bin recommended Binji, the grandson of U-di and the son of the rejected crown prince; the choice was supported by the Dowager Empress of Shanguan. So that the commoner did not fall on the throne, the empress awarded him the title of Yanu-hou, and on the same day he was given the imperial seal and the throne.
Service under the Emperor Xuan Di
The emperor highly appreciated the talents of Ho Guang, and appointed his relatives and descendants to high posts, granting titles. He took Ho Guan's daughter as his wife, but at first he did not make her Empress, since he already had a wife, Empress Xu and her child, who was later appointed heir to the throne. As a result of the intrigues of the Ho family, the doctor poisoned Empress Xu during childbirth, and Ho Guan's daughter became the Empress.
Ho's Death and Destruction
Ho Guang died in 68 BC. e. , the emperor and empress of Shanguan built an impressive mausoleum, Ho Guang was included in the list of the most highly respected dignitaries. The mausoleum is located near the "Chinese pyramid" in Maolin ( Chinese 茂陵 ), where Emperor Wu-de is buried.
When the emperor chose the son of his first wife Xu, secretly mortified wife of Ho Guan, to be the heir to the throne, the widow of Ho and other relatives of Ho organized a plot to kill the heir to the throne, and then the emperor himself. The conspiracy was uncovered, and the entire clan of Ho was executed, Empress Ho was removed, while the emperor continued to highly honor the memory of Ho Guan himself.
Importance in Chinese History
On the one hand, historians praised the determination and professionalism of Ho Guang, but, on the other hand, noted elements of despotism, when the imprisonment of senior relatives led to a conspiracy and ended with the complete extermination of the whole family.
Later, many dignitaries, justifying their harsh and authoritarian actions, referred to Ho Guan; Moreover, their true goals did not always coincide with the interests of the state. The precedent of Ho Guang allowed for many years to remove and appoint juvenile emperors at the behest of guardians and regents.