Rebellion of the Seven States (154 BC): Han Princes Rise Up

The Rebellion of the Seven States was a revolt in 154 BC by seven kingdoms of the Han empire, led by Liu Bi, King of Wu, against Emperor Jing. The kings, all members of the imperial Liu family, rose when the court began to take away their lands. The main rebel army was crushed in about three months, and its failure ended the threat that the great kingdoms posed to the Han emperors.

Background: kingdoms within the empire

When Liu Bang founded the Han dynasty and became emperor in 202 BC, he did not rule the whole empire directly. The western part was divided into commanderies run by officials, but much of the east was given as kingdoms to his relatives. These kings had their own courts, armies and tax revenues and were often more powerful than the emperor’s local officials.

The richest was Wu, in the lower Yangtze region, ruled by Liu Bi, a nephew of the founder. Wu had copper mines and sea salt, which let Liu Bi mint his own coins and sell salt so profitably that his people paid almost no tax. He also nursed a personal grudge. Years earlier his heir had been killed by the future Emperor Jing, then crown prince, who struck him with a board game board during a quarrel. Liu Bi stopped attending court and was treated cautiously by Emperor Wen.

The trigger

Emperor Jing came to the throne in 157 BC. His adviser Chao Cuo argued that the kingdoms would rebel sooner or later, and that it was better to weaken them at once. The court began confiscating commanderies from several kings on charges of misconduct, including territory belonging to Chu, Zhao and Wu.

Early in 154 BC Liu Bi rose in revolt, joined by the kings of Chu, Zhao, Jiaoxi, Jiaodong, Zichuan and Jinan. They claimed they only wished to remove the “evil minister” Chao Cuo. Liu Bi mobilised every man in Wu between the ages of 14 and 62, and his army was said to number more than 200,000.

The course of the rebellion

On the advice of Chao Cuo’s rival Yuan Ang, Emperor Jing tried to end the crisis by sacrificing his minister. Chao Cuo was summoned in his court robes and executed in the eastern market of Chang’an. The rebels did not disband. Liu Bi now openly styled himself the “Eastern Emperor”.

The Han commander Zhou Yafu adopted a cautious strategy. He let the kingdom of Liang, ruled by Emperor Jing’s younger brother Liu Wu, hold its capital at Suiyang against the main armies of Wu and Chu, despite Liang’s appeals for help. Meanwhile he fortified himself at Changyi and sent light cavalry to cut the rebels’ grain route where the Si River meets the Huai.

Short of food, the Wu and Chu army attacked Zhou Yafu’s camp and failed, then broke up. Liu Bi fled south to the Dong’ou people, who killed him for a Han reward. The King of Chu took his own life. The other kings were defeated or killed themselves. By about the third month of 154 BC the main revolt was over, although Zhao held out for several more months until Han forces flooded its capital, Handan.

Consequences

The defeat transformed the balance of power. The rebel kingdoms were abolished or reduced, and in 145 BC the kings lost the right to appoint their own senior officials, who were thereafter sent from the capital. Kings kept their titles and incomes but no longer governed.

The process continued under Jing’s son, Emperor Wu of Han. In 127 BC an edict required kings to divide their lands among all their sons rather than only the heir, steadily breaking the kingdoms into small marquisates. Zhou Yafu became chancellor but later fell out with Emperor Jing and died in prison.

Key people

• Emperor Jing (reigned 157–141 BC): the Han ruler whose policy of reducing the kingdoms provoked the revolt.
• Liu Bi (c. 216–154 BC): King of Wu for over 40 years and leader of the rebellion, a nephew of the dynasty’s founder.
• Chao Cuo (died 154 BC): the reforming minister who pressed for the confiscations and was executed early in the crisis.
• Zhou Yafu (died 143 BC): son of the founding general Zhou Bo, whose patient strategy defeated the rebels.
• Liu Wu, King of Liang: the emperor’s brother, whose stubborn defence of Suiyang held the main rebel army in place.

Timeline

• 202 BC: Han founded; eastern lands granted as kingdoms to relatives of Liu Bang.
• 196 BC: Liu Bi is made King of Wu.
• 157 BC: Emperor Jing succeeds Emperor Wen.
• 155 BC: Chao Cuo urges reducing the kingdoms; confiscations begin.
• 154 BC, first month: Seven kingdoms revolt; Chao Cuo is executed.
• 154 BC, about third month: Zhou Yafu defeats Wu and Chu; Liu Bi is killed.
• 145 BC: Kings lose control of their own administration.
• 127 BC: Emperor Wu’s edict divides the kingdoms among all sons.

Why it matters

The Rebellion of the Seven States was the last serious challenge from the Han kingdoms. Its defeat let the emperors govern through appointed officials across the whole empire, a model of centralised rule described by Sima Qian that shaped Chinese government for the next two thousand years.