Kingship, Power and the Hsüan-Wu Men Incident of the T'Ang

Abstract

This article will discuss the politics of succession in the Northern Dynasties and the early T'ang. The discussion will focus on the institution of the retired emperorship (t'ai-shang huang-ti, 7&W). In a broad sense, modes of political succession are component parts of the general political culture of a polity (be this polity a tribe, empire, or nation-state). The development of specific modes of political succession are, of course, a function of contingent historical circumstances. The historical actors may not be fully conscious of being the architects of enduring political institutions. However, for the historian looking back over a large expanse of time, broad patterns can be discerned. The pre-modern native Chinese empires practiced a form of succession to the throne. That is, in terms of both ideology and often praxis, the imperial succession was expected to travel from the father to the eldest son born of the main consort. The tribal confederacies and empires of North Asia (which were often political competitors with Chinese regimes) had a tendency to practice a variety of forms of horizontal succession. Horizontal succession could mean brother to brother (often, though not always, focusing on uterine brothers), nephew to uncle or to even more distant kin, depending on specific circumstances. Generally, North Asian political culture was familiar with the practice of a rotating succession. North Asian regimes also demonstrated a notable capacity consciously, and quite rapidly, to switch from one mode of succession to another, that is, from a horizontal mode to a vertical mode, or vice versa (note the Hsiung-nu practice during the early Eastern Han period, the Toba alteration of the succession in the late fourth century under Tao-wu-ti, and the practice of the Turkish regimes in Asia Minor). In the tribal confederacies and pre-modern empires, succession