Lingdi (156-189 c. e.) Lingdi (clever emperor) was the 11th emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty of China.
He was the great-great-grandson of Emperor zhangdi and acceded to the throne in 168 c. e. Lingdi was one of the few later Eastern Han emperors to live long enough to achieve a reign of any sort. The death of his predecessor, HUANDI (132-168), had left the empire without a clear path to the succession, and the dowager empress was enjoined to identify a person who would fulfill the necessary genealogical requirements. She called together a conclave of influential people representing the major factions to consider the alternatives. The final choice fell upon an 11-year-old boy called Liu Hong, the marquis of a fief, who had no prior experience of the court or life in the capital but whose great-great-grandfather had been the emperor zhangdi. There followed the customary bid for titles, status, and ultimately power by the various families representing the former court of Huandi and Lingdi’s own followers, as well as the corps of eunuchs in the palace. This resulted in the hatching of a plot to murder the eunuchs, led by a minister named Dao Wu. The plot was discovered, and the eunuchs took the royal SEALS from the dowager empress and sequestered her without influence, for they did not trust her to protect them. Then they marshaled their forces against those of Dao Wu and were able to persuade sufficient soldiers to follow their party; the death of Dao Wu and the reaffirmation of the eunuchs’ power in luoyang followed. There resulted the beginning of the end for the Eastern Han dynasty.
REBELLIONS AND CORRUPTION
The now all-powerful eunuchs gave their relatives and supporters positions of status and authority Despite attempts to reduce their power, they continued to dominate the court. However, the overall administrative machine began to break down as the sale of offices and corruption took increasing hold, and without sufficient revenue the central relief agencies could not assist the provinces affected by agricultural failures. This led to disturbances, most clearly seen in the “magic rebellion” of 172 C. E. and the uprising of the so-called yellow turbans in 184 C. E. The rebellion raged in southern China. The Yellow Turbans formed as a result of the teachings of Zhang Jue. He organized cells of followers with his prediction that the time was nigh for the replacement of the dynasty. This was predicted on the basis of a 60-year cycle with the next year of the cycle commencing in 184 C. E. The uprising began across 16 commanderies, timed to begin simultaneously. With limited success, the central army was deployed to counter this threat, but, as a brush-fire, the uprising recurred in different forms. Some historians maintain that the Yellow Turban movement was responsible for the ultimate fall of the dynasty, but the role of peasant revolts, fashionable in modern Communist historic writings, could well have been overemphasized.
Despite such insurrections, the corruption and open sale of government posts continued. In the office known as the Western Quarters, the rich could purchase ministerial posts and the governorships of commanderies. Naturally, these people sought a return on their investment, and this practice resulted in further corruption and extortion. When Lingdi died in 189 c. e. the effective rule of the Han dynasty also came to an end, although the dynasty itself survived until 220 c. e.
Ling yi During the western zhou dynasty (1045-771 b. c.e.) in China, ritual bronze vessels were cast in a wide variety of forms. Many bore inscriptions recording the circumstances under which they were cast. Often the vessels were given by the king to a high official in recognition of services rendered to the court. The corpus of inscriptions is one of the key sources for reconstructing Western Zhou history. In 1929 a large number of such vessels were robbed from a Western zhou grave outside LUOYANG, among which was the Ling yi. This bronze has one of the longest inscriptions dating to the period of the early Western Zhou dynasty In respect to historic content, it describes in general terms the appointment of administrative officials and proceeds to describe how one Ling was given wine, metal, and a small ox. He then had the yi cast. The balance of evidence points to a date in the reign of King Zhou (977-957 b. c.e.).
Linjia Linjia is a site in Gansu province, northwest China, belonging to the Majiayao phase of the late yang-SHAO CULTURE. It dates to about 3000 b. c.e. Its significance lies in the fact that a bronze knife found there in one of many underground storage pits is the earliest cast-bronze artifact discovered in china. This presents an anomaly, because its skillful casting in a double mold, involving alloying of copper and tin, is almost 1,000 years earlier than the next dated bronzes in this region. The origins of the Gansu and the Chinese bronze-working tradition are thought to lie in the West. The expansion of people and the spread of ideas along the course of the future SILK ROAD would have introduced the knowledge of alloying and casting.
Lin-yi Lin-yi is the name given in Chinese records of the second to mid-fifth centuries c. e. to a polity lying to the south of Chinese provinces in the Hong (Red) River delta of Vietnam. The records describe a pattern of border conflict and friction that culminated in 446 c. E. with a major punitive raid. The people of Lin-yi were Cham speakers centered on the fertile river plain of the region of Hue.
See also cham civilization.
Linzi The city of Linzi in Shandong province, China, was the capital of the state of QI, one of the major states that emerged during the Western and eastern zhou DYNASTIES. Many seasons of archaeological research make Linzi one of the best-known cities occupied at a time when urban life was in a period of rapid development. In essence, this period witnessed the rise of an urban society involving artisans and merchants, as well as a considerable expansion in the size of the enclosed area at Linzi. The earlier of the two walled cities, founded during the western ZHOU DYNASTY (1045-771 B. C.E.), covered an area of approximately 1,720 hectares (4,300 acres). Its interior was dominated by a series of broad streets, up to 20 meters (66 ft.) wide, laid out on a grid pattern. The richest part of the interior was probably the northeastern sector, where a number of fine ritual bronze vessels have been recovered. There was also a cemetery containing tombs dating from the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 b. c.e.) to the WARRING STATES PERIOD (475-221 B. C.E.). One of the tombs in this area, while looted, displayed considerable wealth; the surrounding pits contained the remains of 600 horses. It is thought to have been constructed for Qi Jing Gong, who ruled Qi from 547 to 490 b. c.e.
The smaller city, constructed during the Warring States period, covered an area of about 300 hectares (750 acres). It was adjacent to the southwestern corner of the old city and may well have been constructed after the replacement of the old ruling family of Jiang by the usurping ministerial lineage of Tian. Its defenses are most solid on that part of the enclosure facing inward to the old city rather than to the outside, which suggests internal discord. There are palace foundations in the northern part of the new city as well as bronze and iron workshops and a mint. About 500 meters (1,650 ft.) south of Linzi, a very large tomb has been examined, under a mound 10 meters (33 ft.) in height. Although looted, it still contained individual chambered pits for 17 young women and nine further sacrificial victims who had been decapitated or otherwise mutilated.
Liuchengqiao Tomb 1 at Liuchengqiao in China is a particularly notable CHU grave dating to the late Spring and Autumn (770-476 b. c.e.) or early warring states PERIOD (475 to 221 B. C.E.). It was discovered in 1971 and contained the remains of a military leader, if the number of weapons found within is any guide. The tomb had a vertical shaft seven meters (23 ft.) in depth, at the base of which were two double chambers and three nested wooden coffins. The coffins were covered in a layer of white clay to keep out air and moisture, and this arrangement led to the preservation of wood, lacquer, and silk grave goods. The outermost coffin was fashioned from cypress planks held together with bronze nails in a zigzag pattern. The middle coffin was also made of wood neatly linked by mortise and tenon joints and secured with bronze nails, while the innermost coffin was painted black on the exterior and red within. A smaller coffin, possibly containing a sacrificial victim, was found in the corner of one chamber. The lacquerware includes a fine quiver still holding arrows, a drum, a table, and tomb guardians. Arguably the earliest example of a zither was also found. There are many ceramic vessels, jades, and fragments of silk, including one of the oldest examples known. The tomb master was interred with chariot trappings, and his weapons are of particular interest, because they seem to include a set used in chariot warfare. There are 93 weapons in all, including bronze swords, examples of the ko, or ax halberd; the mao, or thrusting spear, and the ji, which is a combination of both. The wooden hafts have survived, and these range up to 3.12 meters (10.2 ft.) in length. Such extremely long weapons are documented as being specific to chariot warfare. There is also a collection of three different types of arrows, some for long-distance shooting; other, heavier examples for piercing leather armor. The surviving bows were made of bamboo.
World History
