Patron-Client Relations in the Later Han

Abstract

During the second Century A.D., much of the social and political activity of upper class men was organized on the basis of private ties between superiors and inferiors. These patron-client ties were created every time a man took on a teacher, accepted an appointment as a political subordinate, or received a recommendation for office by an official. Clients were expected to show loyalty to their patrons, mourning for them if they died and supporting them in political disputes. Patrons had reciprocal duties and could loose their clients if they did not show them proper respect and aid. Although ties of locality underlay most patron-client relations, high court officials sometimes attracted students from all over the country. Patron-client ties could be extended beyond the two individuals involved to form networks of men linked to common patrons, and to the patrons of their patrons. These networks provided a means of organization outside the formal government system. The first to exploit these networks were the various consort family regents who periodically rose to power after A.D. 89. After 140 officials who opposed the power of the consort families and eunuchs relied on their own patron-client networks; confidence that their client would aid and protect them enabled provincial officials to attack the clients of their opponents. In the 170s and 180s, after the failure of the partisan movement, patron-client networks remained strong, incorporating many men excluded from office. With the end of the Han, however, the personal subordination involved in patron-client relations seems to have lost much of its appeal to upper class men, and links between individuals came more often to be made on grounds of common status and kinship.