Li Guangli | |||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 李廣利 | ||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 李广利 | ||||||||
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Li Guangli (died 89 BC [1] ) was a Chinese military general of the Western Han dynasty and a member of the Li family favoured by Emperor Wu of Han. His brother Li Yannian was also close to Emperor Wu. With the suicide of Emperor Wu's crown prince Liu Ju in 91 BC,his nephew Liu Bo was among the candidates for the title of crown prince.
Li was a brother-in-law of Emperor Wu,whose favourite concubine was his sister Lady Li,and was the chosen general in the War of the Heavenly Horses. His supplies for his second sortie are described as being 100,000 cattle,30,000 horses,and many mules and camels. [2]
Li besieged the city of Erh-shih (probably near Samarkand) to obtain certain fine horses of the Ferghana that had been demanded by the Han Empire but refused. He was given the title "General of Erh-shih" (貳師將軍) in expectation of success. [3] He diverted the river that supplied the inner city with water,and "received three thousand horses in tribute." [4]
In 90 BC,when Li was campaigning in the north against the Xiongnu Empire,his wife was imprisoned in the capital after being involved in a political scandal involving their in-law Liu Qumao (one of Liu's sons had married one of the Lis' daughters). Li sought a quick victory,hoping to win his wife's release. He overextended his army and was decisively defeated by a Xiongnu army of 50,000 led by their Chanyu Hulugu. Li surrendered to the Xiongnu,and the Chanyu gave him his daughter for marriage. However,about a year later,he was executed,becoming a human sacrifice, [5] after having a conflict with Wei Lü (衛律),another Han defector who was favoured by the Chanyu. [6]
Year 103 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marius and Orestes and the Second Year of Taichu. The denomination 103 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period,when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 102 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marius and Catulus and the Third Year of Taichu. The denomination 102 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period,when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 101 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marius and Aquillius and the Fourth Year of Taichu. The denomination 101 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period,when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
This article concerns the period 109 BC –100 BC.
This article concerns the period 129 BC –120 BC.
Year 99 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antonius and Albinus and the Second Year of Tianhan. The denomination 99 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period,when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 90 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Lupus and the Third Year of Zhenghe. The denomination 90 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period,when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Emperor Wen of Han,personal name Liu Heng (劉恆),was the fifth emperor of the Han dynasty from 180 until his death in 157 BC. The son of Emperor Gao and Consort Bo,his reign provided a much needed stability within the ruling Liu clan after the unstable and violent regency of Empress Lü,who went after numerous members of the clan. The prosperous reigns of Emperor Wen and his son Emperor Jing are highly regarded by historians,being referred to as the Rule of Wen and Jing.
Emperor Wu of Han,born Liu Che and courtesy name Tong,was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty from 141 to 87 BC. His reign lasted 54 years –a record not broken until the reign of the Kangxi Emperor more than 1,800 years later –and remains the record for ethnic Han emperors. His reign resulted in a vast expansion of geopolitical influence for the Chinese civilization,and the development of a strong centralized state via governmental policies,economical reorganization and promotion of a hybrid Legalist–Confucian doctrine. In the field of historical social and cultural studies,Emperor Wu is known for his religious innovations and patronage of the poetic and musical arts,including development of the Imperial Music Bureau into a prestigious entity. It was also during his reign that cultural contact with western Eurasia was greatly increased,directly and indirectly.
The Han–Xiongnu War,also known as the Sino–Xiongnu War,was a series of military conflicts fought over two centuries between the Chinese Han Empire and the nomadic Xiongnu confederation,although extended conflicts can be traced back as early as 200 BC and ahead as late as 188 AD.
Modu,Maodun,Modun was the son of Touman and the founder of the empire of the Xiongnu. He came to power by ordering his men to kill his father in 209 BCE.
Li Ling,courtesy name Shaoqing,was a Chinese military general of the Western Han dynasty who served during the reign of Emperor Wu. He later defected to the Xiongnu after being defeated in an expedition in 99 BC.
This article concerns the period 99 BC –90 BC.
The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China. It followed the Qin dynasty,which had unified the Warring States of China by conquest. It was founded by Liu Bang. The dynasty is divided into two periods:the Western Han and the Eastern Han,interrupted briefly by the Xin dynasty of Wang Mang. These appellations are derived from the locations of the capital cities Chang'an and Luoyang,respectively. The third and final capital of the dynasty was Xuchang,where the court moved in 196 CE during a period of political turmoil and civil war.
Junchen was the son and successor to Laoshang Chanyu. As chanyu of the Xiongnu Empire,Junchen outlived the Han emperors Wen,Jing. He died during the reign of the Emperor Wu of Han. All three Han emperors confirmed the heqin peace and kinship treaty with the Xiongnu.
Qiedihou,whose name was probably Qiedi,was a Chanyu of the Xiongnu Empire,and the successor to Xulihu. His reign was contemporaneous with that of the Emperor Wu of Han. He was the younger brother of Xulihu,who died,after just a one-year reign,during a campaign against a newly built Western Han fort Shuofang in Ordos.
The War of the Heavenly Horses or the Han–Dayuan War was a military conflict fought in 104 BC and 102 BC between the Chinese Han dynasty and the Saka-ruled (Scythian) Greco-Bactrian kingdom known to the Chinese as Dayuan,in the Ferghana Valley at the easternmost end of the Greek empire. The war was allegedly instigated by trade disputes compounded by the extended geopolitics surrounding the Han-Xiongnu War,resulting in two Han expeditions that eventuated in a Han victory,allowing Han China to expand its hegemony deep into Central Asia.
Lady Li(Chinese:李夫人;pinyin:LǐFūrén,died between 104 and 101 BC) was a Han dynasty concubine of Emperor Wu. Civil unrest broke out between her family and Wei Zifu's family. Moreover,her siblings defected to the Xiongnu and became traitors to China. As a result,Emperor Wu ordered her relatives to be tried and executed,leading to the downfall of her and her family.
The military of the Han dynasty was the military apparatus of China from 202 BC to 220 AD,with a brief interregnum by the reign of Wang Mang and his Xin dynasty from 9 AD to 23 AD,followed by two years of civil war before the refounding of the Han.
Hulugu was a chanyu of the Xiongnu Empire. He was the son and successor of Qiedihou and reigned from 96 to 85 BC.