Emperor Yuan of Han family House of Liu
Emperor Yuan of Han (Liu Shi 劉奭; 75 BC – 8 July 33 BC) was an emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty. He reigned from 48 BC to 33 BC. Emperor Yuan promoted Confucianism as the official creed of the Chinese government. He appointed adherents of Confucius to important government posts.
However, at the same time that he was solidifying Confucianism's position as the official ideology, the empire's condition slowly deteriorated due to his indecisiveness, his inability to stop factional infighting between officials in his administration, and the trust he held in certain corrupt officials.Family background
When Emperor Yuan was born as Liu Shi in 75 BC, his parents Liu Bingyi and Xu Pingjun were commoners without titles.  Bingyi was a great-grandson of Emperor Wu, and his grandfather Liu Ju was Emperor Wu's crown prince, until he was forced by Emperor Wu's paranoia into a failed rebellion in 91 BC while Bingyi was still just an infant.  The aftermath of the failed rebellion was that Prince Ju committed suicide and virtually his entire family was wiped out.  Bingyi was spared because of his young age, but became a commoner and survived on the largess of others.  One of his supporters was chief eunuch Zhang He, who had been an advisor for Prince Ju before his rebellion, and who was punished by being castrated.
Around 76 BC, Zhang wanted to marry his granddaughter to Bingyi, but his brother Zhang Anshi (張安世), then an important official, opposed this, fearing that it would bring trouble. Zhang, instead, invited one of his subordinate eunuchs (who had also been castrated by Emperor Wu), Xu Guanghan (許廣漢), to dinner, and persuaded him to marry his daughter Xu Pingjun to Liu Bingyi. When Xu's wife heard this, she became extremely angry and refused, but because Zhang was Xu's superior, Xu did not dare to renege on the promise. Bingyi and Pingjun were married in a ceremony entirely paid for by Zhang (because Bingyi could not afford the cost). Zhang also paid the bride price. After their marriage, Bingyi heavily depended on his wife's family for support.Succession issues
Emperor Yuan had two favourite concubines in addition to Empress Wang, Consort Fu (傅昭儀) and Consort Feng Yuan (馮昭儀), each of whom bore him one son. Empress Wang apparently tried to maintain a cordial relationship with both, and she was largely successful, at least as far as Consort Feng was concerned. However, a struggle between Empress Wang and Consort Fu for their sons' heir status erupted.
As Crown Prince Ao grew older, Emperor Yuan became increasingly unhappy with his fitness as imperial heir and impressed with Consort Fu's son, Prince Kang of Dingtao (山陽王劉康).  Several incidents led to this situation.  One happened in 35 BC, when Emperor Yuan's youngest brother Prince Liu Jing of Zhongshan (中山王劉竟) died. Emperor Yuan became angry because he felt that the teenage Crown Prince Ao was not grieving sufficiently, particularly because Princes Ao and Jing were of similar age and grew up together as playmates, thus showing insufficient respect to Prince Jing.  Prince Ao's head of household, Shi Dan (史丹), a relative of Emperor Yuan's grandmother and a senior official respected by Emperor Yuan, managed to convince Emperor Yuan that Crown Prince Ao was trying to stop Emperor Yuan himself from over-grieving, but the seed of dissatisfaction was sown.
As the princes grew older, Emperor Yuan and Prince Kang became closer.  They shared a love of and skills in music, particularly the playing of drums.  Prince Kang also showed high intelligence and diligence, while Crown Prince Ao was known for drinking and womanizing.  When Emperor Yuan grew ill during 35 BC, an illness that he would not recover from, Consort Fu and Prince Kang were often summoned to his sickbed to attend to him, while Empress Wang and Crown Prince Ao rarely were.  During his illness, apparently encouraged by Consort Fu, Emperor Yuan reconsidered whether he should make Prince Kang his heir instead.  Only the intercession of Shi Dan, who risked his life by stepping onto the carpet of the imperial bed chamber, an act that only the empress was allowed to do (on pain of death) led Emperor Yuan to cease those thoughts.  When Emperor Yuan died in 33 BC, Crown Prince Ao ascended the throne (as Emperor Cheng).
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