Portents of protest in the Later Han dynasty : the memorials of Hsiang K'ai to Emperor Huan

Abstract

Among the chief reasons for the weakness and ultimate collapse of the imperial system of Han were the social and political divisions which arose between the emperor and the scholar-officials who served him. Portents of Protest, which forms part of a continuing study of the reigns of the Emperors Huan and Ling, the last effective rulers of Han, discusses the criticisms that were made of imperial policies and the philosophical background to the debate. It studies in some detail the means by which critics of the imperial government sought to urge their case by reference to supernatural or unusual phenomena as warnings to the throne. Show more