The Road to the Throne

Book excerpt: Annotation The stories of the Chinese great emperors reflect the ancient Chinese philosophy, ideology, their wisdom and their ways of administration. Liu Bang is an outstanding example. Rising from a peasant background to become Emperor, he founded the Han Dynasty which lasted for about four hundred years and essentially laid the foundations of China as we know it. Liu Bang (256 BC?195 BC), posthumously called Emperor Gaozu, was a low-ranking functionary in an obscure corner of the realm when he caught the wave of the great uprisings against the Qin Dynasty. First as leader of a local contingent and then as general of larger and larger armies, he eventually overthrew the despotic Qin emperor. Today, the Han are the majority ethnic identity in China. This is the story of the rise of Emperor Gaozu, his alliances and his rivalries, and the priceless partnership provided by his chief military strategist Zhang Liang, who planned victorious campaigns from a distance of 1000 miles; Xiao He, who stabilized the state, pacified the people, and assured the food supply to the army; and General Han Xin, who commanded the Han army in its conquest of the State of Wei, the State of Zhao, the State of Yan and the State of Qi and played a great role in the defeat of Xiang Yu.