Chinese emperors family tree (early)
Emperor Xian, the last emperor of the Han dynasty, was a descendant of the first emperor Liu Bang. Lasting for over 400 years (the first to last for more than a century), the Han Dynasty is regarded as one of the golden ages of Chinese history. The Han Dynasty was interrupted by the reign of the usurper Wang Mang, who declared the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD); on this basis, the Han Dynasty is generally divided into the Western Han (206 BC – 9 AD and 23–25 AD) and the Eastern Han (25–220 AD). The rulers of the Shu Han, one of the three successor states to the Han Dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period, were descended from the Han imperial family, and considered themselves a continuation of the Han Dynasty; they are included below.
History of the Han dynasty
Emperor Xian fled Chang'an in 195 CE and returned to Luoyang by August 196 CE. Meanwhile, the empire was being carved into eight spheres of influence, each ruled by powerful commanders or officials: in the northeast there was Yuan Shao and Cao Cao (155–220 CE); south of them was Yuan Shu, located just southeast of the capital; south of this was Liu Biao (d. 208 CE) in Jing; Sun Ce (d. 200 CE) controlled the southeast; in the southwest there was Liu Zhang (d. 219 CE) and Zhang Lu (d. 216 CE) located just north of him in Hanzhong; the southern Liang Province was inhabited by the Qiang people and various rebel groups. Although prognostication fueled speculation over the dynasty's fate, these warlords still claimed loyalty to Han, since the emperor was still at the pinnacle of a cosmic-religious system which ensured his political survival.