page_title: Government of the Han dynasty
section_title: Staffs of the heir apparent, empress, and harems
hierarchical_section_title: Government of the Han dynasty / Central government / Staffs of the heir apparent, empress, and harems
caption_attribution_description: A terracotta statue of a horse from the Chinese Han Dynasty (202 BCE &#8211; 220 CE). Musée Cernuschi, Paris, France. The original work is old enough so that copyright (if any) has long since expired. The museum imposed no restrictions on photography (except prohibiting flash) in writing and when I explicitly asked; thus the original image appears free of copyright restrictions.
context_page_description: The Han dynasty of ancient China was the second imperial dynasty of China, following the Qin dynasty. It was divided into the periods of Former Han and Later Han, briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty of Wang Mang. The capital of Western Han was Chang'an, and the capital of Eastern Han was Luoyang. The emperor headed the government, promulgating all written laws, serving as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and presiding as the chief executive official. He appointed all government officials who earned a salary of 600 bushels of grain or more with the help of advisors who reviewed each nominee. The empress dowager could either be the emperor's actual or symbolic mother, and was in practice more powerful than the emperor, as she could override his decisions. The emperor's executive powers could also be practiced by any official upon whom he bestowed the Staff of Authority. These powers included the right to execute criminals without the imperial court's permission.
  Near the beginning of the dynasty, semi-autonomous regional kings rivaled the emperor's authority.
context_section_description: When a Liu-family relative of an emperor—usually a princely son—was designated as his heir apparent, he was provided living quarters within the palace and a personal staff which was not disbanded until he became the next emperor. During Western Han, the staff had two divisions: one was led by educators of the heir apparent, known as the Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent (ranked 2000–dan) and Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent (ranked 2000–dan), the other led by a Supervisor of the Household (ranked 2,000-dan). During Eastern Han, the Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent lost his administrative role but remained the chief educator and was promoted in rank to Fully 2,000-dan; the Junior Tutor remained an administrator with a salary-rank of 2,000-dan. The post of Supervisor of the Household was abolished. Other Western Han staff offices of the heir apparent were abolished during Eastern Han, such as the Chief of the Kitchen and the Household Prison of the Heir Apparent. If he reached adulthood, the heir apparent could be married to a principal wife who led a harem of his concubines.
  The empress, the legal wife of the emperor, also had an area of the palace separate from that of the emperor's private apartments, where the empress was expected to spend every fifth night with the emperor. Both the empress and the heir apparent received an income from the taxes of forty counties. She also had a Supervisor of the Household (ranked 2,000-dan), and many other subordinates, either male eunuchs or female maids, who took care of domestic needs. The concubines of the harem were subordinates of the empress and were ranked below her in fourteen grades by the reign of Emperor Yuan of Han (r. 49–33). However, the founder of Eastern Han abolished the fourteen salary-ranks in favor of three ranks with no definite salary; instead, the concubines were irregularly granted gifts. The chief concubine of Western Han, the Brilliant Companion, shared the same salary-rank as the Chancellor, while the concubine ranked just below her, the Favorite Beauty, shared the same salary-rank as any one of the Nine Ministers.
caption: A Han-dynasty terracotta statue of a prancing horse
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