Kings of The Han Dynasty

Kings Of The Han Dynasty

The Kings and Princes of the Han dynasty were members of the ancient Chinese nobility.

Their Chinese titles were identical: "Wáng" (Chinese: 王), the same title borne by the "emperors" of the Shang and Zhou dynasties and by the "kings" of the Warring States. However, the custom in English is to translate the Chinese distinction between the wangs of the Han clan and those of other dynasties by calling the former "princes" and the latter "kings".

During the early period of the Han in the 2nd century BC, there were no legal distinctions between these two groups and both wielded enormous power within their territories. The kings represented an obvious threat to the Han state and Liu Bang and his successors suppressed them as quickly as was practical: they had disappeared by 157 BC. The princes were originally left to their own devices but, after the Rebellion of the Seven Princes in 154 BC, their independence was curtailed. Eventually, they lost almost all of their autonomy, with their administrations staffed and monitored by the central government.