Traces of Emperor Guangwu

Traces of Emperor Guangwu

Traces of Emperor Guangwu

In bygone days, how many heroes rode with might,     Yet in the turning, their ambitions came to naught.     From White Water rose the Red Emperor once more,     In Nanyang, he made a makeshift Weiyang Palace.     The imperial splendor still recalls bear guards in array,     Yet only stone statues remain among the attendants.     The Han tombs have mostly vanished with time,     But here, through ages, the sacred air stays lush and green.     — Qing Dynasty, Wei Yijie

To the west of the main road in Shiwuli Village, fifteen li north of the county, stands the Temple of Emperor Guangwu of Han, the very place where Liu Xiu ascended the throne as emperor.     In the final years of the Xin Dynasty, famine struck across the land, sparking widespread peasant uprisings. Liu Xiu also took the opportunity to raise an army and joined the Green Forest Rebels. Later, the Green Forest forces supported Liu Xuan, a member of the Han imperial family, as emperor to rally broader support. In the first year of the Gengshi era, Liu Xuan sent Liu Xiu to patrol the Hebei region with imperial authority. Liu Xiu formed alliances with Ren Guang, governor of Xindu; Geng Kuang, governor of Shanggu; and Peng Chong, governor of Yuyang. Together, they successively eliminated Wang Lang, subdued the Bronze Horses, and suppressed various peasant rebel groups including the Qingdu, Shangjiang, Wufan, and Dadeng armies. His power gradually grew.     In the third year of Gengshi, as Liu Xiu reached Zhending, his generals such as Geng Chun urged him to proclaim himself emperor. According to the Book of the Later Han: Biography of Emperor Guangwu, “Emperor Guangwu then ordered officials to set up an altar at Qiucheng Slope in Qiannian Pavilion, south of Zhending. On the day of the sixth month, jiwei, he ascended the throne. He offered burnt sacrifices to Heaven, paid homage to the Six Ancestral Spirits, and prayed to the multitude of deities.” He renamed Zhending as Gaoyi, and thus became Emperor Guangwu. The coronation ceremony was held on a battlefield — an unprecedented move — and the ensuing sacrificial ceremonies lasted several months. The Book of the Later Han: Records of Sacrifices details the content, scale, location, and even the number of animals sacrificed during this event, reflecting the grandeur of the occasion.     Following the swift currents of history, Liu Xiu restored the rule of the Han dynasty, thereby founding the Eastern Han Dynasty, which would last two hundred years. In the third year of the Yuanhe era during the reign of Emperor Zhang of Han (86 AD), Liu Xiu decreed that a temple be built on the coronation altar in Gaoyi (formerly Zhending) to enshrine Emperor Guangwu, with annual ceremonies held in his honor. The front hall of the temple housed a statue of Emperor Guangwu, while the rear section was used as living quarters for monks. In front of the temple stood a stone figure with its head broken off.     Legend has it that when Liu Xiu fled from Jizhou to Xindu, he became lost in the dark of night. Arriving at Qiucheng Slope, south of Zhending, he heard voices ahead and approached to ask where he was and the direction to Xindu — but the figures ahead did not reply. When he asked again, there was still no answer. Enraged, Liu Xiu drew his sword and struck the shadowy form. With a thud, one figure fell, and another fled. As he drew near, he saw that it was a stone statue. Along the path are two stone tablets, one inscribed with seven large characters: “The Place Where Emperor Guangwu of Han Slew the Stone Man.” This tablet survived until before the Marco Polo Bridge Incident but has since been destroyed, and its original site can no longer be identified (the county annals include a photo of the Guangwu Temple).