text: courtesy name

text: emperor

text: Han dynasty

text: Wang Mang

text: Chimei

text: Luoyang

text: Chang'an

text: Emperor Jing

text: Han dynasty

text: county

text: commandery

text: Marquess

text: Emperor Wu

text: Gengshi Emperor

text: Liu Yan

text: Xin dynasty

text: Nanyang

text: Henan

text: Lülin

text: Ye County

text: Henan

text: Luoyang

text: Yin Lihua

text: Hou Han Shu

text: Chang'an

text: Chang'an

text: Yellow River

text: Deng Yu

text: Feng Yi

text: fortune teller

text: Handan

text: Wang Lang

text: Emperor Cheng

text: Empress Zhao Feiyan

text: Jicheng

text: Beijing

text: Hengshui

text: Hebei

text: Shijiazhuang

text: Hebei

text: Guo Shengtong

text: Geng Yan

text: Shanggu Commandery

text: Zhangjiakou

text: Hebei

text: Yuyang Commandery

text: Beijing

text: Wu Han

text: Geng Yan

text: Chimei

text: Kou Xun

text: Henei

text: Henan

text: Shaanxi

text: Shanxi

text: Liu Penzi

text: Shaanxi

text: Shandong

text: Jiangsu

text: Luoyang

text: Henan

text: Liu Yong

text: Emperor Cheng

text: Emperor Ai

text: Emperor Ping

text: Henan

text: Jiangsu

text: Gansu

text: Qinghai

text: Emperor Wu

text: Xiongnu

text: Chanyu

text: Inner Mongolia

text: Abakan

text: Xiongnu

text: Gongsun Shu

text: Chengjia

text: Yi Province

text: Sichuan

text: Chongqing

text: Shaanxi

text: Guizhou

text: Yunnan

text: Ma Yuan

text: Tianshui

text: Gansu

text: Hubei

text: Shaanxi

text: Chengdu

text: Sichuan

text: Geng Yan

text: marches

text: Emperor Taizu of Song

text: eunuch

text: Vietnamese

text: Trưng Trắc

text: Ma Yuan

text: Trưng sisters

text: defeated the Trưng sisters and killed them

text: Wuhuan

text: Xianbei

text: Xinjiang

text: central Asia

text: Yarkand

text: Guo Shengtong

text: crown prince

text: Liu Yang

text: Hunan

text: Guizhou

text: daughter

text: Emperor Ming

text: Liu Qi

text: Empress Guanglie

text: Liu Zhuang

text: Empress

text: Liu Ying

text: Family tree of the Han Dynasty

text: Resurgence of Guangwu

text: Zizhi Tongjian

text: Sima Guang

text: Bo Yang

text: Hou Han Shu

text: Fan Ye

categories: Han Guangwudi,5 BC births,Eastern Han dynasty emperors,57 deaths,1st-century Chinese monarchs,People from Xiangyang

paragraph: Emperor Guangwu of Han

paragraph: Emperor Guangwu (born Liu Xiu; 15 January 5 BC – 29 March 57), courtesy name Wenshu, was an emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty, restorer of the dynasty in AD 25 and thus founder of the Later Han or Eastern Han (the restored Han Dynasty). He ruled over parts of China at first, and through suppression and conquest of regional warlords, the whole of China was consolidated by the time of his death in 57.

paragraph: Liu Xiu was one of the many descendants of the Han imperial family. Following the usurpation of the Han throne by Wang Mang and the ensuing civil war during the disintegration of Wang's short-lived Xin dynasty, he emerged as one of several descendants of the fallen dynasty claiming the imperial throne. After assembling forces and proclaiming himself emperor in the face of competitors, he was able to defeat his rivals, destroy the peasant army of the Chimei, known for their disorganization and marauding, and finally reunify China in AD 36.

paragraph: He established his capital in Luoyang, east of the former capital Chang'an, ushering in the Later/Eastern Han dynasty. He implemented some reforms (notably land reform, albeit not very successfully) aimed at correcting some of the structural imbalances responsible for the downfall of the Former/Western Han. His reforms gave a new 200-year lease of life to the Han Dynasty.

paragraph: Emperor Guangwu's campaigns featured many able generals, but curiously, he lacked major strategists. That may very well be because he himself appeared to be a brilliant strategist; he often instructed his generals on strategy from afar, and his predictions generally would be accurate. This was often emulated by later emperors who fancied themselves great strategists but who actually lacked Emperor Guangwu's brilliance—usually to great disastrous results.

paragraph: Also unique among emperors in Chinese history was Emperor Guangwu's combination of decisiveness and mercy. He often sought out peaceful means rather than bellicose means of putting areas under his control. He was, in particular, one rare example of a founding emperor of a dynasty who did not kill, out of jealousy or paranoia, any of the generals or officials who contributed to his victories after his rule was secure.

paragraph: Section::::Family background.

paragraph: Liu Xiu was the sixth generation descendant of Emperor Jing of the Western Han dynasty. He was the son of Liu Qin (劉欽), magistrate (i.e., head official) of Nandun county (南頓令). Liu Qin was the son of Liu Hui (劉回), vice governor in charge of military affairs for Julu commandery (鉅鹿都尉). Liu Hui was the son of Liu Wai (劉外), governor of Yulin commandery (鬱林太守). Liu Wai was the son of Liu Mai (劉買), known posthumously as Marquess Jie of Chongling (舂陵節侯). Liu Mai was the son of Liu Fa (劉發), known posthumously as Prince Ding of Changsha (長沙定王). The prince of Changsha was a brother of Emperor Wu, a famous emperor of the Former Han and the son of Emperor Jing. As a descendant of Liu Fa, this also made Liu Xiu third cousin to the Gengshi Emperor.

paragraph: Liu Qin was married to the daughter of one Fan Chong (樊重), and he and his wife had three sons – Liu Yan, Liu Zhong (劉仲), and Liu Xiu. Liu Qin died early, and the brothers were raised by their uncle Liu Liang (劉良). Liu Yan was ambitious, and ever since Wang Mang usurped the Han throne in 8 and established the Xin dynasty, Liu Yan was constantly considering starting a rebellion to restore the Han Dynasty. Liu Xiu, in contrast, was a careful man who was content to be a farmer. However, his brother-in-law Deng Chen (鄧晨), the husband of his sister Liu Yuan (劉元), who believed in a prophecy that a man named Liu Xiu would be emperor, constantly encouraged him to be more ambitious.

paragraph: Section::::Participation in his brother's rebellion.

paragraph: In 22, with virtually the entire empire rebelling against Wang Mang's incompetent rule, Liu Yan prepared his rebellion. He planned, along with his brothers, and Li Tong (李通) and his cousin Li Yi (李軼), to kidnap the governor for Nanyang Commandery (roughly modern Nanyang, Henan) and call for the people of the commandery to join him. When the young men of their home territory of Chongling heard about the rebellion, they were all scared to join—until they saw that Liu Xiu was part of the rebellion as well, figuring that if even a careful man like Liu Xiu was part of the rebellion, the rebellion was carefully planned.

paragraph: However, the news of the plan leaked out, and Li Tong and Li Yi barely escaped with their lives (but their family was slaughtered). Liu Yan changed his plan and persuaded two branches of the Lülin – the Xinshi Force (新市兵) and Pinglin Force (平林兵) to join forces with him, and they had some military success. Encouraged, Liu Yan made a frontal assault against Wancheng (宛城), the capital of Nanyang Commandery—and suffered a major loss. Liu Yan and Liu Xiu, along with their sister Liu Boji (劉伯姬), survived, but their brother Liu Zhong and sister Liu Yuan died in the battle. Liu Yan's allies, seeing his defeat, considered leaving him, but Liu Yan was able to persuade them, along with another branch of the Lülin, the Xiajiang Force (下江兵), to join him. In 23, they had a major victory against Xin forces, killing Zhen Fu (甄阜), the governor of Nanyang Commandery.

paragraph: Section::::As official under Gengshi Emperor.

paragraph: Section::::As official under Gengshi Emperor.:The ascension of Gengshi Emperor.

paragraph: By this point, many other rebel leaders had become jealous of Liu Yan's capabilities, and while a good number of their men admired Liu Yan and wanted him to become the emperor of a newly declared Han Dynasty, they had other ideas. They found another local rebel leader, Liu Xuan, a third cousin of Liu Yan, who was claiming the title of General Gengshi (更始將軍) at the time and who was considered a weak personality, and requested that he be made emperor. Liu Yan initially opposed this move and instead suggested that Liu Xuan carry the title "Prince of Han" first (echoing the founder of the Han dynasty, Emperor Gaozu). The other rebel leaders refused, and in early 23, Liu Xuan was proclaimed emperor. Liu Yan became prime minister. Liu Xiu, along with many other rebel leaders, carried the title "general".

paragraph: Section::::As official under Gengshi Emperor.:The Battle of Kunyang.

paragraph: Liu Xiu would be instrumental in the key victory that sealed Wang Mang's fate. Wang, aware that Gengshi Emperor was becoming a major threat, sent his cousin Wang Yi (王邑) and his prime minister Wang Xun (王尋) with what he considered to be overwhelming force, some 430,000 men, intending to crush the newly constituted Han regime. The Han forces were at this point in two groups—one led by Wang Feng (王鳳), Wang Chang (王常), and Liu Xiu, which, in response to the arrival of the Xin forces, withdrew to the small town of Kunyang (昆陽, in modern Ye County, Henan) and one led by Liu Yan, which was still besieging Wancheng. The rebels in Kunyang initially wanted to scatter, but Liu Xiu opposed it; rather, he advocated that they guard Kunyang securely, while he would gather all other available troops in surrounding areas and attack the Xin forces from the outside. After initially rejecting Liu Xiu's idea, the Kunyang rebels eventually agreed.

paragraph: Liu Xiu carried out his action, and when he returned to Kunyang, he began harassing the sieging Xin forces from the outside. Wang Yi and Wang Xun, annoyed, led 10,000 men to attack Liu Xiu and ordered the rest of their troops not to move from their siege locations. Once they engaged in battle, however, after minor losses, the other units were hesitant to assist them, and Liu Xiu killed Wang Xun in battle. Once that happened, the Han forces inside Kunyang burst out of the city and attacked the other Xin units, and the much larger Xin forces suffered a total collapse. The soldiers largely deserted and went home, unable to be gathered again. Wang Yi had to withdraw with only several thousand men back to Luoyang. This was a major blow to Xin, psychologically; after this point on, there would be no hope for it.

paragraph: Section::::As official under Gengshi Emperor.:Liu Yan's death and Liu Xiu's bare survival.

paragraph: The very first major incident of infighting in Gengshi Emperor's regime would happen in this time, though. Gengshi Emperor was fearful of Liu Yan's capabilities and keenly aware that many of Liu Yan's followers were angry that he was not made emperor. One, Liu Ji (劉稷), was particularly critical of Gengshi Emperor. Gengshi Emperor arrested Liu Ji and wanted to execute him, but Liu Yan tried to intercede. Gengshi Emperor, encouraged by Li Yi (who had by that point turned against Liu Yan) and Zhu Wei (朱鮪), took this opportunity to execute Liu Yan as well.

paragraph: At this time, Liu Xiu was fighting on the frontlines. When he heard about his brother's death, he quickly left his army and went back to the temporary capital Wancheng to beg forgiveness. When Liu Yan's followers greeted him, he only thanked them but did not speak of his feelings, but rather blamed himself and did not mention of his achievements at Kunyang. He did not dare to mourn his brother. Gengshi Emperor, ashamed of what he had done, spared Liu Xiu and created him the Marquess of Wuxin (武信侯).

paragraph: Around this time, Liu Xiu married his childhood sweetheart, the famed beauty Yin Lihua. (According to "Hou Han Shu", while much younger, when Liu Xiu was visiting the capital Chang'an, he became impressed with the mayor of the capital ("zhijinyu", 執金吾) and, already impressed by Yin's beauty, he made the remarks: "If I were to be an official, I want to be "zhijinyu"; if I were to marry, I want to marry Yin Lihua". He eventually was able to accomplish both of these things and more.)

paragraph: Section::::As official under Gengshi Emperor.:Role in reorganization of Gengshi Emperor's regime and dispatch to northern China.:First Days under the new Emperor.

paragraph: Soon, Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty and its capital Chang'an fell to the Gengshi Emperor's forces, and Gengshi Emperor was acknowledged by virtually the entire empire as the emperor of the restored Han Dynasty. He initially planned to set his capital at Luoyang, and he made Liu Xiu governor of the capital region. Liu Xiu was commissioned to repair the palaces and governmental offices at Luoyang. Of all of the major Han officials following the restoration, Liu Xiu alone quickly showed his talent for organization, and his agency quickly grew to resemble its pre-Wang Mang counterpart.

paragraph: In any case, Gengshi Emperor's regime was only able to obtain nominal submission from many regions of the empire, and one of the troublesome regions was north of the Yellow River. The Emperor considered dispatching a general to try to pacify the region, and his cousin Liu Ci (劉賜), who had succeeded Liu Yan as prime minister, endorsed Liu Xiu for that task. Liu Yan's political enemies, including Li and Zhu, opposed, but after Liu Ci repeatedly endorsed Liu Xiu, the Gengshi Emperor relented and, in autumn 23, he sent Liu Xiu to the region north of the Yellow River.

paragraph: Liu Xiu was initially met with great gladness by the people north of the Yellow River. It was around this time that Deng Yu joined him (later to be his prime minister); other later important figures who joined him around this time included Feng Yi and Geng Chun (耿純). Deng, seeing that Gengshi Emperor lacked the ability to rule, persuaded Liu Xiu to keep his sights broad and consider eventual independence.

paragraph: Section::::As official under Gengshi Emperor.:Role in reorganization of Gengshi Emperor's regime and dispatch to northern China.:Northern expedition.

paragraph: Liu Xiu would soon have a major problem on his hand, however, in winter 23, as he faced a pretender for the Han throne. A fortune teller in Handan named Wang Lang claimed to be actually named Liu Ziyu (劉子輿) and a son of Emperor Cheng. He claimed that his mother was a singer in Emperor Cheng's service, and that Empress Zhao Feiyan had tried to kill him after his birth, but that a substitute child was killed indeed. After he spread these rumors among the people, the people of Handan began to believe that he was a genuine son of Emperor Cheng, and the commanderies north of the Yellow River quickly pledged allegiance to him as emperor. In spring 24, Liu Xiu was forced to withdraw to the northern city of Jicheng (modern Beijing). Not long after, he faced rebellions in his immediate vicinity, and was nearly killed by rebels who pledged allegiance to Wang. He reached two commanderies in modern central Hebei that were still loyal to Gengshi Emperor—Xindu (信都, roughly modern Hengshui, Hebei), whose governor was Ren Guang (任光), and Herong, (和戎, roughly part of modern Shijiazhuang, Hebei), whose governor was Pi Tong (邳彤). Ren's deputy Li Chong (李忠), Wan Xiu (萬脩) and Liu Zhi (劉植), who was powerful clan in the region, also joined him. Additionally, he began to make Liu Zhi persuade Liu Yang (劉楊) the Prince of Zhending, who held 100,000 troops, to join him. He entered into a political marriage with Guo Shengtong, the niece of Liu Yang, and combined his forces. He mobilized their forces and won some major battles against Wang's generals.

paragraph: Meanwhile, a follower of Liu Xiu, Geng Yan, the son of the governor of Shanggu Commandery (上谷, roughly modern Zhangjiakou, Hebei), had fled back to his father's commandery, and persuaded both his father Geng Kuang (耿況) and the governor of the neighboring Yuyang Commandery (漁陽, roughly modern Beijing), Peng Chong (彭寵), to support Liu Xiu. Geng Yan, being supported by Gen Kuang's deputy Kou Xun (寇恂) and Jing Dan (景丹), and Peng's deputy, Wu Han, led the two commanderies' cavalry and infantry forces south to join Liu Xiu. The combined forces gave Liu Xiu enough strength to make a direct assault against Handan, trapping and killing Wang Lang.

paragraph: After Wang's death, Gengshi Emperor created Liu Xiu the Prince of Xiao and summoned him back to the capital (then moved to Chang'an). Liu Xiu, persuaded by Geng Yan that he should be ready to set out his own course because the people were badly shaken by Gengshi Emperor and his officials' misrule, declined and claimed that the region still needed to be pacified.

paragraph: Section::::Independence from Gengshi Emperor.

paragraph: In autumn 24, Liu Xiu, still ostensibly an official under Gengshi Emperor, successfully pacified some of the larger agrarian rebel groups and merged them into his own forces. He also started replacing officials loyal to Gengshi Emperor with those loyal to himself. He consolidated his power north of the Yellow River and, as he predicted that the powerful Chimei would destroy Gengshi Emperor's government for him, he waited by for that to happen, not intervening on either side as that conflict was developing. He put Kou Xun in charge of the Henei (modern northern Henan, north of the Yellow River) region and made it the base for food and manpower supplies, while commissioning Deng with an expedition force to the modern Shaanxi region, waiting for the confrontation between Gengshi Emperor and Chimei. In early 25, Deng, on his way west, seized the modern Shanxi region and put it under Liu Xiu's control, before crossing the Yellow River into modern Shaanxi.

paragraph: At this point, territories that Liu Xiu controlled were already impressive, compared to any other regional power in the empire broken apart by civil war—but he still carried just the title Prince of Xiao (which Gengshi Emperor had created him) and still ostensibly was controlling those territories as Gengshi Emperor's deputy, even as he was already engaging militarily against some generals (e.g. Xie Gong – 謝躬) loyal to Gengshi Emperor (During this incident, Liu Xiu succeeded to persuade Ma Wu (馬武), who was the deputy of Xie Gong, to join him.). In summer 25, after repeated urging by his followers, he finally claimed the title of emperor and the right to succeed to the Han throne—as Emperor Guangwu.

paragraph: Section::::Campaign to unify the empire.

paragraph: Section::::Campaign to unify the empire.:Victory over the Chimei.

paragraph: Soon after Emperor Guangwu's ascension, his former liege Gengshi Emperor's regime was destroyed by the Chimei, who supported their own pretender to the Han throne, Emperor Liu Penzi. The Chimei leaders, while militarily powerful, were however, even less capable at ruling than Gengshi Emperor, and they soon alienated the people of the Guanzhong (關中, modern central Shaanxi) region, which they had taken over when they overthrew Gengshi Emperor. They pillaged the Guanzhong region for supplies, but as eventually the supplies ran out, they were forced to withdraw east in an attempt to return home (modern Shandong and northern Jiangsu). Emperor Guangwu, anticipating this, set up his forces to harass and tire the Chimei out, and then block them off at Yiyang (宜陽, in modern Luoyang, Henan). With their path blocked and their troops exhausted, the Chimei leaders surrendered. Emperor Guangwu spared them, including their puppet pretender Emperor Penzi.

paragraph: Section::::Campaign to unify the empire.:Gradual victories over other regional powers.

paragraph: Chimei was the largest of the enemy force that Emperor Guangwu had to deal with in his campaign to reunify the empire under the rule of his Eastern Han Dynasty, but there were a number of regional powers that he had to deal with. These included:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Yong (劉永), also claiming to be the proper emperor of Han, based on his lineage—as the son of Liu Li (劉立), the Prince of Liang under the reigns of Emperor Cheng, Emperor Ai, and Emperor Ping who had been forced by Wang Mang to commit suicide; he controlled the modern eastern Henan and northern Jiangsu region.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Peng Chong, who had been by this point aggravated by Emperor Guangwu's official Zhu Fu (朱浮) into rebellion (in a rare case of a succession of wrong decisions by Emperor Guangwu—mistakes that he learned from and would not repeat); he claimed the title of the Prince of Yan and controlled the modern Beijing region.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Zhang Bu (張步), nominally the Prince of Qi under Liu Yong, but who independently controlled the modern Shandong region.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Wei Xiao (隗囂), nominally the commander of the Xizhou (西州) region paying allegiance to Emperor Guangwu, but who independently controlled the modern eastern Gansu region, east of the Yellow River.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Dou Rong (竇融), nominally the governor of Liang Province (涼州) paying allegiance to Emperor Guangwu, but who independently controlled the modern western Gansu and northern Qinghai region, west of the Yellow River.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Lu Fang (), who also claimed the name Liu Wenbo (劉文伯) and claimed to be a descendant of Emperor Wu and the proper Han emperor. He, supported by Xiongnu's "Chanyu" Yu (輿), controlled the modern central and western Inner Mongolia region. Some Russian archaeologists have identified a Han-era Chinese-style palace unearthed near Abakan (in Southern Siberia) in 1941–45 as Lu Fang's residence after he had left China for the lands of the Xiongnu.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Gongsun Shu, who proclaimed himself emperor of Chengjia, who controlled the Yi Province, modern Sichuan, Chongqing and parts of Shaanxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan.

paragraph: Of these powers, Gongsun Shu's Chengjia was wealthy and powerful, but Gongsun was content to maintain his regional empire and not carry out any military expeditions outside his empire. Instead, he sat by as Emperor Guangwu carried out his unification campaign. Emperor Guangwu, hesitant to carry out annihilation campaigns, largely preferred first trying to persuade the regional warlords to submit to him. Wei and Dou did in 29, and as they were assisting Eastern Han forces to the north of Chengjia, Gongsun was further discouraged from trying to expand his empire.

paragraph: Also in 29, Liu Yong's son and heir Liu Yu (劉紆) was defeated by Eastern Han forces and killed. Also in 29, Peng's slaves assassinated him, leading to a collapse of his regime. Zhang, seeing the futility of resistance, surrendered and was created a marquess. By 30, all of eastern China was under Emperor Guangwu's rule.

paragraph: Wei, seeing that Eastern Han was gradually unifying the empire, inexplicably began considering independence. He tried to persuade Dou to enter into an alliance with him to resist Eastern Han; Dou refused. When Eastern Han started considering conquering Chengjia, Wei, apprehensive of the implications of Chengjia's fall, tried to persuade Emperor Guangwu not to carry out a campaign against Chengjia, and later refused to lead his forces south against Chengjia.

paragraph: Emperor Guangwu, who in any case preferred peaceful resolution, repeatedly wrote both Wei and Gongsun with humble terms, trying to get them to submit to him, promising them titles and honors. Wei continued to nominally submit but act as an independent power, while Gongsun refused outright—but continued to be indecisive and took no actions while Eastern Han's rule was being confirmed throughout the land.

paragraph: Realizing that neither Wei nor Gongsun would voluntarily submit, Emperor Guangwu started a campaign against Wei in summer 30—assisted by Wei's friend Ma Yuan, who had served as Wei's liaison officer to Emperor Guangwu and had tried in vain to persuade him not to take the course of independence. In response, Wei formally submitted to Gongsun and accepted a princely title—Prince of Shuoning—from him, and also tried to persuade Dou to join him. Dou refused, and attacked Wei in coordination with Emperor Guangwu's forces. After some initial successes, Wei's small independent regime eventually collapsed under overwhelming force and was reduced severely. In 33, Wei died and was succeeded by his son Wei Chun (隗純). In winter 34, Shuoning's capital Luomen (落門, in modern Tianshui, Gansu) fell, and Wei Chun surrendered.

paragraph: Emperor Guangwu then turned his attention to Chengjia. He commissioned his generals Wu Han, Cen Peng (岑彭), Lai She (來歙), and Gai Yan (蓋延) to go on a two-pronged attack on Chengjia—Wu and Cen leading an army and a navy up the Yangtze river from modern Hubei, while Lai and Gai led an army south from modern Shaanxi. Instead of fighting the Eastern Han expedition on the battlefield, Gongsun tried to repel them by assassinating their generals—and he was initially successful, assassinating Cen and Lai and temporarily causing the Eastern Han forces to halt. However, Eastern Han forces regrouped, and in 36 they had Gongsun surrounded in his capital Chengdu (成都, modern Chengdu, Sichuan). However, initial attempts to siege the city was unsuccessful, and Wu, then in command of the expeditory force, considered withdrawing. Persuaded by his lieutenant Zhang Kan (張堪) that Gongsun was in desperate straits, however, Wu tricked Gongsun into believing that the Eastern Han forces were collapsing from fatigue, drawing him out of the city and engaging in battle. Gongsun was mortally wounded in battle, and Chengdu surrendered in winter 36. Liu's general Wu Han then killed more than 10,000 people.

paragraph: After Chengjia's fall, Dou turned over the lands under his control to Emperor Guangwu in 36, and was made prime controller. Lu, after initially submitting to Emperor Guangwu and made the Prince of Dai (as Emperor Guangwu maintained the fiction that Lu was actually from imperial lineage), eventually rebelled again, but, unable to succeed, eventually fled to Xiongnu in 42. The empire was entirely under Emperor Guangwu's rule. During the wartime, Liu's general Geng Yan massacred 300 cities.

paragraph: Section::::Reign over unified empire.

paragraph: Although Emperor Guangwu had already created many of his generals and officials marquesses, in 37, after the conquest of the empire was largely complete, he readjusted their marches in accordance with their accomplishments. He also considered what would be the best way to preserve the relationships between him and his generals and to protect their title and position so he therefore resolved to give the generals large marches but not give them official positions in his government. He rewarded them with great wealth and often listened to their advice, but rarely put them in positions of authority. He thereby reduced friction between him and his generals, thus allowing for their relationships to be preserved. In this, he was matched perhaps only by Emperor Taizu of Song (Zhao Kuangyin).

paragraph: As the emperor of the unified empire, Emperor Guangwu's reign was marked by thriftiness, efficiency, and laxity of laws. For example, in 38, his official Liang Tong (梁統) submitted a petition to restore the criminal laws of late Western Han Dynasty—which were far more severe. After discussion with other officials, Emperor Guangwu tabled Liang's suggestion. But he is the one started order servants in the inner palace must be eunuchs.

paragraph: Emperor Guangwu, however, had to deal with two campaigns against non-Chinese peoples. In 40, a Vietnamese woman named Trưng Trắc (Chinese: Zheng Ce (徵側)) and her sister Trưng Nhị (Chinese: Zheng Er (徵貳)) rebelled. Trưng Trắc claimed the title of queen, and she ruled over an independent kingdom for several years. In 41, Emperor Guangwu sent Ma Yuan against the Trưng sisters. In 43, he defeated the Trưng sisters and killed them. (According to Vietnamese historians, they committed suicide by drowning.)

paragraph: Emperor Guangwu also had to deal with periodic minor battles against the Xiongnu to the north. However, throughout his reign, there were no major wars with Xiongnu. Nevertheless, because of raids by Xiongnu, Wuhuan, and Xianbei, the northern commanderies became largely unpopulated, as the people suffered great casualties and also fled to more southerly lands.

paragraph: With these engagements, Emperor Guangwu declined yet another foreign engagement. In 46, many Xiyu (modern Xinjiang and former Soviet central Asia) kingdoms were suffering under the hegemony of one of the kingdoms, Shache (Yarkand). They petitioned Emperor Guangwu to again reestablish the Western Han post of the governor of Xiyu. Emperor Guangwu declined, stating that his empire was so lacking in strength at the time that he could not expend efforts to protect Xiyu kingdoms. In response, the Xiyu kingdoms submitted to Xiongnu.

paragraph: Section::::Marital and succession issues.

paragraph: As alluded above, while still under Gengshi Emperor, Emperor Guangwu married his childhood sweetheart Yin Lihua. Later, in 24, while he was on his expedition north of the Yellow River, he entered into a political marriage with Guo Shengtong (郭聖通), the niece of a regional warlord, Liu Yang (劉楊) the Prince of Zhending. In 25, Guo bore him a son, Liu Jiang (劉疆).

paragraph: In 26, Emperor Guangwu was prepared to create an empress, and he favored his first love, Yin. However, Yin had not yet had a son by that point, and she declined the empress position and endorsed Guo. Emperor Guangwu therefore created Guo empress and her son Prince Jiang crown prince.

paragraph: By 41, however, Empress Guo had long lost the emperor's favor. She continuously complained about that fact, and this angered Emperor Guangwu. In 41, he deposed her and created Yin empress instead. Rather than imprisoning Guo (as is often the fate of deposed empresses), however, he created her son Liu Fu (劉輔) the Prince of Zhongshan and created her the Princess Dowager of Zhongshan. He made her brother Guo Kuang (郭況) an important official and, perhaps as a form of alimony, rewarded him with great wealth.

paragraph: Not having the heart to depose mother and son, Emperor Guangwu initially left Guo's son, Crown Prince Jiang, as crown prince. Crown Prince Jiang, however, realizing that his position was precarious, repeatedly offered to step down. In 43, Emperor Guangwu agreed and created Liu Yang (劉陽), the oldest son of Empress Yin, crown prince instead. Former Crown Prince Jiang was created the Prince of Donghai. He also changed Prince Yang's name to Zhuang (莊).

paragraph: Section::::Late reign.

paragraph: In 47, an opportunity arose with regard to Xiongnu. Xiongnu had a succession dispute, pitting the current chanyu, Punu (蒲奴) against his cousin Bi (比), the son of a former chanyu. In 48, Bi also claimed the title of chanyu, and submitted to Emperor Guangwu's authority. Punu also submitted, in response, and the divided Xiongnu stopped waging war against Han.

paragraph: In 49, a rare blot on Emperor Guangwu's rule occurred. He had once again commissioned Ma Yuan to go on an expedition—against the indigenous people of the Wulin Commandery (modern northwestern Hunan and eastern Guizhou), who had rebelled. While Ma was on the expedition, however, a number of Ma's political enemies made false accusations against Ma. Emperor Guangwu, believing these accusations, began investigating Ma, who happened to die of illness while on the campaign. With Ma dead and unable to defend himself, Emperor Guangwu stripped Ma of his marquess title and denounced him posthumously. (Ma's reputation was not restored until his daughter later became empress to Emperor Guangwu's son Emperor Ming.)

paragraph: In 57, Emperor Guangwu died. He was succeeded by Crown Prince Zhuang, who ascended the throne as Emperor Ming.

paragraph: Section::::Era names.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Jianwu (建武 py. jiàn wŭ): 25–56

paragraph: BULLET::::- Jianwuzhongyuan (建武中元 py. jiàn wŭ zhōng yuán): 56–58

paragraph: Section::::Family.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Parents:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Qin (; d. 3), a great great grandson of Liu Fa, the sixth son of Liu Qi

paragraph: BULLET::::- Lady, of the Fan clan (; d. 22), personal name Xiandou ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Consorts and Issue:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Empress Guanglie, of the Yin clan (; 5–64), personal name Lihua ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Zhuang, Emperor Xiaoming (; 28–75), fourth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Cang, Prince Xian of Dongping (; d. 83), sixth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Nieyang (), personal name Zhongli (), second daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Dou Gu of Fufeng, Marquis Xianqin (; d. 88)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Jing, Prince Si of Guangling (; d. 67), eighth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Liu Heng, Duke Huai of Linhuai" (; d. 41), ninth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Jing, Prince Xiao of Langya (; d. 81), 11th son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Empress, of the Guo clan (; d. 52), fifth cousin, personal name Shengtong ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Qiang, Prince Gong of Donghai (; 25–58), first son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Fu, Prince Xian of Pei (; d. 84), second son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Kang, Prince An of Jinan (; d. 97), fifth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Guantao (; d. 73), personal name Hongfu (), third daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Han Guang (; d. 73), and had issue (one son)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Yan, Prince Zhi of Fuling (; d. 89), seventh son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Yan, Prince Jian of Zhongshan (; 39–90), tenth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Meiren", of the Xu clan (; d. 86)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Ying, Prince Chu (; d. 71), third son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Unknown

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Wuyang (), personal name Yiwang (), first daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Liang Song, Marquis Ling (), and had issue (one son)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Yuyang (), personal name Liliu (), fourth daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Guo Huang, Marquis Yang'an (; d. 92) in 52

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Liyi (; d. 59), personal name Shou (), fifth daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Yin Feng (; d. 59)

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::1. Family tree of the Han Dynasty

paragraph: BULLET::::2. Resurgence of Guangwu

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Bielenstein, Hans. (1986). "Wang Mang, the Restoration of the Han Dynasty, and Later Han", in "The Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220", 223–290. Edited by Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Zizhi Tongjian" by Sima Guang, vols. 38–44 (original available at ), and Modern Chinese Edition edited by Bo Yang (Taipei, 1982–1989).

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Hou Han Shu" by Fan Ye, vol. 1 (Biography of Emperor Guangwu), .

alias:
Shi Zu
Liu Xiu
Guangwu Di

description: emperor of the Han Dynasty

wikidata_label: Emperor Guangwu of Han

wikipedia_title: Emperor Guangwu of Han


text:
emperor
Han dynasty
Confucianism
Emperor Ming
Rule of Ming and Zhang
Ban Chao
Silk Road
consort clan
Empress Dowager Ma
Empress Dou
Liu Zhuang
Consort Jia
Consort Ma
Emperor Guangwu
Empress Dowager Yin Lihua
empress
crown prince
Confucian classics
empress dowager
Xinjiang
central Asia
Ban Chao
Dou Rong
Consort Dou
Liu Qing
Consort Liang
Liu Zhao
cuscuta
Cai Lun
marches
Dou Xian
consort clan
Emperor Wu
Qiang
Jianchu (76–84)
Liu Zhuang
Empress Zhangde
Empress Gonghuai
Liu Zhao
Empress Jingyin
Liu Qing
Family tree of the Han Dynasty

categories: 88 deaths,1st-century Chinese monarchs,57 births,Eastern Han dynasty emperors

paragraph: Emperor Zhang of Han

paragraph: Emperor Zhang of Han (; 57 – 9 April 88) was an emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty from 75 to 88. He was the third emperor of the Eastern Han.

paragraph: Emperor Zhang was a hardworking and diligent emperor. He reduced taxes and paid close attention to all affairs of state. Zhang also reduced government spending as well as promoted Confucianism. As a result, Han society prospered and its culture flourished during this period. Along with his father Emperor Ming, Emperor Zhang's reign has been highly praised and was regarded as the golden age of the Eastern Han period, and their reigns are collectively known as the Rule of Ming and Zhang.

paragraph: During his reign, Chinese troops under the leadership of General Ban Chao, progressed far west while in pursuit of Xiongnu insurgents harassing the trade routes now collectively known as the Silk Road.

paragraph: The Eastern Han dynasty, after Emperor Zhang, would be plagued with internal strife between royal factions and eunuchs struggling for power. The people for the coming century and a half would yearn for the good days of Emperors Ming and Zhang. (However, part of the strife came from the power obtained by consort clans – and the precedent was set by Emperor Zhang's bestowing of power on both his adoptive mother Empress Dowager Ma's clan and his wife Empress Dou's clan.)

paragraph: Section::::Family background.

paragraph: Then-Prince Da was born to then-Crown Prince Liu Zhuang and one of his consorts, Consort Jia, in 57. As Crown Prince Zhuang's favorite, Consort Ma – Consort Jia's aunt (her mother's sister) – had no sons, at Crown Prince Zhuang's instruction, Consort Ma adopted Prince Da as her own son. Prince Da therefore grew up considering Consort Ma as his mother, and while he clearly knew that Consort Jia was his birth mother, he never treated her as mother.

paragraph: Also in 57, Prince Da's grandfather Emperor Guangwu died, and his father Crown Prince Zhuang succeeded to the throne as Emperor Ming. In 60, at the behest of his mother Empress Dowager Yin Lihua, Emperor Ming created Consort Ma empress, and Prince Da, as her son, was created crown prince, even though he had four brothers older than he was.

paragraph: Section::::As crown prince.

paragraph: Not much was recorded about Crown Prince Da's career as crown prince, other than he was taught of the Confucian classics at a young age and was encouraged in his studies by his adoptive mother, Empress Ma, with whom he had a close relation. He was also close to his uncles of the Ma clan.

paragraph: In 75, Emperor Ming died, and Crown Prince Da succeeded to the throne as Emperor Zhang at the age of 18. Empress Ma received the title of empress dowager.

paragraph: Section::::Early reign.

paragraph: Emperor Zhang continued his father's hardworking tendencies as emperor, but he was more lenient than his strict father. He sought out honest officials and promoted them, and he himself lived thriftily. He was generally humble and honored the senior officials who had served his grandfather and father faithfully in accordance.

paragraph: In 76, at the suggestion of his advisor Yang Zhong (楊終) and prime minister Diwu Lun (第五倫), Emperor Zhang ordered that his father's Xiyu (modern Xinjiang and former Soviet central Asia) campaigns be abandoned. However, one of the Han generals in Xiyu, Ban Chao, seeing the importance of maintaining Han presence in Xiyu, refused to withdraw, and Emperor Zhang eventually relented and put Ban in charge of Han's operations in Xiyu.

paragraph: Being close to his Ma uncles, Emperor Zhang wanted to create them marquesses from the early start of his reign. This was initially rebuffed by Empress Dowager Ma, who found this inappropriate. In 79, however, he created them marquesses over her objection and over their requests to only be made acting marquesses.

paragraph: In 77, Emperor Zhang took a daughter of his cousin, the Princess Piyang (沘陽公主), and great-granddaughter of the statesman Dou Rong (竇融), as consort. He greatly loved her, and in 78, he created Consort Dou empress.

paragraph: In 79, Empress Dowager Ma, who had given him much good counsel, died. Even after her death, Emperor Zhang did not honor his birth mother Consort Jia as his mother, but merely permitted her to take on the style of an imperial prince.

paragraph: Section::::Palatial intrigue.

paragraph: After his mother's death, Emperor Zhang continued to be a diligent emperor, but within the palace, there was much struggle between Empress Dou and the other imperial consorts, which would create political instability down the road.

paragraph: While Empress Dowager Ma was alive, she selected two daughters of Song Yang (宋楊) as consorts for Emperor Zhang. In 78, the elder Consort Song gave birth to a son named Liu Qing, and because Empress Dou was sonless, Prince Qing was created crown prince in 79. The Consorts Song were greatly favored by Empress Dowager Ma.

paragraph: Later in 79, however, Empress Dou would (perhaps remembering Empress Dowager Ma's example) adopt the son of another imperial consort, Consort Liang, Liu Zhao, as her own son, and she plotted, along with her mother Princess Piyang and her brothers, to have her adopted son made crown prince. After Empress Dowager Ma's death, she put her plan into action. She had her brothers collect dossiers on faults of the Song clan while bribing the servants and eunuchs of Consorts Song to gather their own faults.

paragraph: In 82, an opportunity came for Empress Dou. The elder Consort Song had become ill, and in her illness, she craved raw cuscuta, and she requested that her family bring them. Empress Dou seized the cuscuta and falsely accused Consort Song of using it for witchcraft. Emperor Zhang was enraged and expelled Crown Prince Qing from the palace. He had the Consorts Song arrested and interrogated by the eunuch Cai Lun. The Consorts Song saw that they were in deep straits, and they committed suicide by poison. Crown Prince Qing was deposed and created the Prince of Qinghe instead; he was replaced by Prince Zhao as crown prince. Prince Zhao, however, was friendly to his brother, and they often spent time together.

paragraph: The Song sisters would not be Empress Dou's only victims. After Prince Zhao was made crown prince, his birth mother's clan, the Liangs, did not dare to openly celebrate, but were secretly happy. When the Dou clan heard of this, they were displeased and fearful, and they felt that they had to destroy the Liangs. Empress Dou began to give false reports about Prince Zhao's birth mother, Consort Liang, and her sister, also an imperial consort, and they lost Emperor Zhang's favor. In 83, the Dous further submitted false anonymous accusations against the Consorts Liang's father Liang Song (梁竦), causing him to die in prison. The Consorts Liang died of sadness and fear.

paragraph: The Dous, having made these powerplay, would eventually gain their goals of becoming even more powerful than they were. Also in 83, Emperor Zhang, having seen that his Ma cousins were not following the law, stopped favoring his Ma uncles, and eventually sent them back to their marches. Empress Dou's brothers Dou Xian (竇憲) and Dou Du (竇篤) effectively took over in the power structure – the first time in Han history that the empress' clan, rather than the empress dowager's clan, was the most powerful consort clan. This trend held sway for the rest of Eastern Han Dynasty and a would prove to be a source of corruption.

paragraph: Section::::Late reign.

paragraph: However, Emperor Zhang himself remained fairly diligent and open-minded. For example, in 84, when two university students, Kong Xi (孔僖) and Cui Yin (崔駰) were accused of improperly criticizing his ancestor Emperor Wu and, by criticizing Emperor Wu, making veiled criticism of Emperor Zhang, Emperor Zhang accepted the letter that Kong submitted in his own defense and made him an official in his administration.

paragraph: In 86, the first of the Qiang (羌) rebellions began, and while the Qiang were pacified fairly quickly, this would be bad omen for the decades to come, as the Qiang, mistreated frequently by Han officials, would constantly rebel throughout the rest of the Eastern Han Dynasty and become a major factor in the decline of the Han Empire.

paragraph: In 88, Emperor Zhang died and was succeeded by Crown Prince Zhao, who became Emperor He.

paragraph: Section::::Era names.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Jianchu (76–84)" (建初 py. jiàn chū) 76–84

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Yuanhe" (元和 py. yuán hé) 84–87

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Zhanghe" (章和 py. zhāng hé) 87–88

paragraph: Section::::Family.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Parents:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Zhuang, Emperor Xiaoming (; 28–75)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Guiren", of the Jia clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Consorts and Issue:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Empress Zhangde, of the Dou clan of Fufeng (; d. 97), first cousin once removed

paragraph: BULLET::::- Empress Gonghuai, of the Liang clan (; 61–83)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Zhao, Emperor Xiaohe (; 79–106), fourth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Empress Jingyin, of the Song clan (; 58–78)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Qing, Emperor Xiaode (; 78–106), third son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Guiren", of the Shen clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Shou, Prince Hui of Jibei (; d. 120), fifth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Kai, Emperor Xiaomu (; d. 131), sixth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Unknown

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Kang, Prince Zhen of Qiancheng (; d. 93), first son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Liu Quan, Prince Dao of Pingchun" (; d. 79), second son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Shu, Prince Huai of Chengyang (; d. 94), seventh son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Liu Wansui, Prince Shang of Guangzong" (; d. 90), eighth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Wude (), personal name Nan (), first daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Pingyi (), personal name Wang (), second daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Feng You ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Yin'an (), personal name Ji (), third daughter

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Family tree of the Han Dynasty

alias:
Han Zhangdi
Suzong
Xiaozhang
Liu Da
Zhang Di
Su Zong

description: emperor of the Han Dynasty

wikidata_label: Emperor Zhang of Han

wikipedia_title: Emperor Zhang of Han


text: Austria

text: ethnomusicologist

text: Sachs–Hornbostel

text: musical instrument classification

text: Curt Sachs

text: Vienna

text: Hornbostel

text: piano

text: harmony

text: counterpoint

text: chemistry

text: Berlin

text: Carl Stumpf

text: musical psychology

text: psychoacoustics

text: Berliner Phonogramm-Archiv

text: Sachs–Hornbostel

text: Nazi Party

text: Jew

text: Switzerland

text: Cambridge

text: folk music

text: ethnomusicology

text: Pawnee people

text: Oklahoma

text: Henry Cowell

text: musical tuning

text: anthropological

text: binaural hearing

text: interaural time difference

text: sound localization

text: World War I

text: Max Wertheimer

text: Virtual Laboratory

categories: Saxon nobility,Austrian Jews,1935 deaths,20th-century Austrian people,19th-century Austrian people,Austrian untitled nobility,1877 births,Austrian musicologists,Ethnomusicologists

paragraph: Erich von Hornbostel

paragraph: Erich Moritz von Hornbostel (25 February 1877 – 28 November 1935) was an Austrian ethnomusicologist and scholar of music. He is remembered for his pioneering work in the field of ethnomusicology, and for the Sachs–Hornbostel system of musical instrument classification which he co-authored with Curt Sachs.

paragraph: Section::::Life.

paragraph: Hornbostel was born in Vienna into a musical family. The House of Hornbostel is a Saxon nobility. He studied the piano, harmony and counterpoint as a child, but his PhD at the University of Vienna was in chemistry. He moved to Berlin, where he fell under the influence of Carl Stumpf and worked ith him on musical psychology and psychoacoustics. He was Stumpf's assistant at the Berlin Psychological Institute, and when the archives of the Institute were used as the basis for the Berliner Phonogramm-Archiv, he became its first director in 1905. It was during his time there that he worked with Curt Sachs to produce the Sachs–Hornbostel system of musical instrument classification (published 1914).

paragraph: In 1933, he was sacked from all his posts by the Nazi Party because his mother was a Jew. He moved first to Switzerland, then the United States, and finally to Cambridge in England, where he worked on an archive of non-European folk music recordings. He died there in 1935.

paragraph: Section::::Contributions.

paragraph: Hornbostel did much work in the field of ethnomusicology, then usually referred to as "comparative musicology". In 1906, he was in America to study the music and psychology of the Pawnee people, Native Americans in the state of Oklahoma; he had by that time already studied the native music of Tunisia and of South Sea Islanders.

paragraph: Hornbostel's students include American composer Henry Cowell. Hornbostel specialized in African and Asian music, making many recordings and developing a system that facilitated the transcription of non-Western music from record to paper. He saw the musical tunings used by various cultural groups as an essential element in determining the character of their music, and did much work in comparing different tunings. A lot of this work has been criticized since, but in its time, this was a rarely explored area. Hornbostel also argued that music should be a part of more general anthropological research.

paragraph: Hornbostel also contributed to the theory of binaural hearing, propose the theory of interaural time difference as the main cue, and developing sound localization devices (for finding the directions to artillery, aircraft, submarines, etc.) for the German war effort during World War I. With Max Wertheimer, he developed a directional listening device that they referred to as the "Wertbostel".

paragraph: Section::::Selected works.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Hornbostel, Erich M. von. 1910. Über vergleichende akustische und musikpsychologische Untersuchungen. Beiträge zur Akustik und Musikwissenschaft 5: 143-167

paragraph: BULLET::::- Stumpf, C. and E. v. Hornbostel. 1911. Über die Bedeutung ethnologischer Untersuchungen für die Psychologie und Ästhetik der Tonkunst. Beiträge zur Akustik und Musikwissenschaft 6: 102-115

paragraph: BULLET::::- Hornbostel, E. v. 1913. Über ein akustisches Kriterium für Kulturzusammenhänge. Beiträge zur Akustik und Musikwissenschaft 7: 1-20

paragraph: BULLET::::- Erich M. v. Hornbostel and Curt Sachs: "Systematik der Musikinstrumente. Ein Versuch". In: "Zeitschrift für Ethnologie". Band 46, 1914, Heft 4–5, S. 553–590.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Beobachtungen über ein- und zweiohriges Hören". In: "Zeitschrift für Psychologie und ihre Grenzwissenschaften". Band 4, 1923, S. 64–114.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Short biography with links on digitized sources in the Virtual Laboratory of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

description: Austrian ethnomusicologist

wikidata_label: Erich von Hornbostel

wikipedia_title: Erich von Hornbostel


text:
Rudolstadt
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
Gotha
Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
German
publisher
the publishing house
Thuringia
Rudolstadt
Schwarzburg
Gotha
cartographic
Friedrich Christoph Perthes
Hamburg
Hand-Atlas
Adolf Stieler
Heinrich Berghaus
Christian Gottlieb Reichard
Karl Spruner
Emil von Sydow
August Heinrich Petermann
Bruno Hassenstein
Almanach de Gotha
German
French
Ernst Behm
Hermann Wagner
Portal to Texas History
DavidRumsey.com
map archive
German Democratic Republic
GDR
perthes.de
perthes.de

categories: 1816 deaths,Map publishing companies,1749 births,German publishers (people),People from Rudolstadt

paragraph: Justus Perthes

paragraph: Johann Georg Justus Perthes (11 September 1749, Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt – 2 May 1816, Gotha, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg) was a German publisher and founder of the publishing house that bears his name.

paragraph: Section::::Life.

paragraph: He was born in the Thuringian town of Rudolstadt, the son of a Schwarzburg court physician. From 1778 he worked as a bookseller in nearby Gotha, where he founded the cartographic publishing firm "Justus Perthes Geographische Anstalt Gotha" in 1785. In this, he was joined in 1814 by his son Wilhelm Perthes (1793–1853), who had been in the publishing house of Justus's nephew Friedrich Christoph Perthes at Hamburg. On Justus' death in Gotha, Wilhelm took over the firm and laid the foundation of the geographical branch of the business for which it is chiefly famous, by the first publishing of the "Hand-Atlas" from 1817–1823 after Adolf Stieler (1775–1836).

paragraph: Wilhelm Perthes engaged the collaboration of the most eminent German geographers of the time, including Stieler, Heinrich Berghaus (1797–1884), Christian Gottlieb Reichard (1758–1837), who was associated with Stieler in the compilation of the atlas, Karl Spruner (1803–1892), and Emil von Sydow (1812–1873).

paragraph: The business passed to his son Bernhardt Wilhelm Perthes (1821–1857), who was associated with August Heinrich Petermann under whose direction the well-known periodical "Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen" was first edited in 1855, and Bruno Hassenstein (1839–1902); and in next generation to his son Bernhard Perthes (1858–1919), who was born after his father Bernhardt Wilhelm had died.

paragraph: Since 1785 the firm also issued the Almanach de Gotha, a statistical, historical and genealogical annual (in German and French) of the various countries of the world (first published by Carl Wilhelm Ettinger, Gotha, in 1763); and in 1866 the elaborate "Geographisches Jahrbuch" was produced under the editorship of Ernst Behm (1830–1884), on whose death it was continued under that of Professor Hermann Wagner.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- See an 1872 map by August Petermann, published by Justus Perthes, [https://archive.today/20121215040630/http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-2469 "[Map of Texas, Indian Territory, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas] / bearbeitet v. H. Habenicht."] hosted by the Portal to Texas History.

paragraph: BULLET::::- The 1875 Stieler Hand-Atlas, and many other maps and atlases, are viewable online at DavidRumsey.com

paragraph: BULLET::::- More information about the history and the current situation of the huge archive (map archive, bibliothèque) of 'Justus Perthes Geographische Anstalt Gotha' (including 'VEB Hermann Haack Geographisch-Kartographische Anstalt Gotha', publishing firm in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1955 to 1991, and 'Justus Perthes Geographische Verlagsanstalt Darmstadt', publishing firm in Darmstadt from 1953 to 1994), as well as about the current publishing house 'Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, Zweigniederlassung Gotha, Programmbereich Klett-Perthes' available online at perthes.de (German language)

paragraph: BULLET::::- More information about 'Almanach de Gotha' (English) online at perthes.de

description: German publisher

wikidata_label: Justus Perthes

wikipedia_title: Justus Perthes


text: feminist

text: Oxford University

text: St Hilda's College, Oxford

text: second-wave feminism

text: Sexual Politics

text: Columbia University

text: Liza Featherstone

text: feminist

text: human rights

text: peace

text: civil rights

text: anti-psychiatry

text: Waseda University

text: Bryn Mawr College

text: Barnard College

text: University of California, Berkeley

text: Lambda Pioneer Award for Literature

text: Yoko Ono

text: Courage Award for the Arts

text: National Women's Hall of Fame

text: Poughkeepsie, New York

text: Saint Paul, Minnesota

text: genteel

text: Irish Catholic

text: parochial school

text: magna cum laude

text: University of Minnesota

text: Bachelor of Arts

text: English literature

text: Kappa Alpha Theta

text: St Hilda's College, Oxford

text: first-class degree

text: Columbia University

text: Barnard

text: University of North Carolina

text: Waseda University

text: Barnard College

text: peace

text: Civil Rights Movement

text: Congress of Racial Equality

text: Bryn Mawr College

text: Poughkeepsie, New York

text: University of California, Berkeley

text: second-wave feminism

text: National Organization for Women

text: New York Radical Women

text: Radicalesbians

text: Downtown Radical Women

text: Robin Morgan

text: patriarchy

text: Betty Friedan

text: Sylvia Likens

text: Gertrude Baniszewski

text: Tehran

text: Ayatollah Khomeini's

text: Tehran University

text: International Women's Day

text: Freedom Square

text: acid

text: Columbia University

text: bestselling book

text: patriarchy

text: sexism

text: heterosexism

text: D. H. Lawrence

text: Henry Miller

text: Norman Mailer

text: Jean Genet

text: Time

text: Alice Neel

text: Norman Mailer

text: Ivy Bottini

text: Barbara Love

text: Three Lives

text: The New York Times

text: The New York Times Book Review

text: intergenerational sex

text: age of consent

text: gay male

text: abolish age of consent laws

text: children's rights

text: She's Beautiful When She's Angry

text: Great American Lesbian Art Show

text: Woman's Building

text: On the Issues

text: After Dark

text: Oliver Reed

text: freewheeler

text: hypercalcaemia

text: psychiatric wards

text: Tokyo University of the Arts

text: University of California, Berkeley

text: University of California, Berkeley

text: pro bono

text: due process

text: bipolar disorder

text: lithium

text: Thorazine

text: Margaretta D'Arcy

text: bipolar disorder

text: schizophrenia

text: Marilyn Yalom

text: institutional psychiatric

text: anti-psychiatry

text: MindFreedom International

text: Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

text: Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press

text: Bowery

text: National Organization for Women

text: The Feminine Mystique

text: Betty Friedan

text: The New York Times

text: Women's Strike for Equality

text: sexual revolution

text: coming out

text: consciousness-raising

text: off our backs

text: Camille Paglia

text: Paris

text: cardiac arrest

text: Courage Award for the Arts

text: Yoko Ono

text: Lambda Pioneer Award for Literature

text: Foundation for Contemporary Arts

text: Veteran Feminists of America

text: Susan Brownmiller

text: Gloria Steinem

text: National Women's Hall of Fame

text: Seneca Falls, New York

text: Women's Caucus for Art

text: University of Maryland

text: Guide to the Kate Millett Papers at Duke University

categories: LGBT people from Minnesota,University of Minnesota alumni,Writers from Saint Paul, Minnesota,20th-century American non-fiction writers,Mental health activists,21st-century American non-fiction writers,Bisexual feminists,Columbia University alumni,Psychiatric survivor activists,American memoirists,American feminist writers,Bisexual writers,American people of Irish descent,American feminists,Anti-psychiatry,People with bipolar disorder,2017 deaths,Bisexual women,Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford,LGBT writers from the United States,1934 births,20th-century women writers,Feminist artists,21st-century women writers

paragraph: Kate Millett

paragraph: Katherine Murray Millett (September 14, 1934 – September 6, 2017) was an American feminist writer, educator, artist, and activist. She attended Oxford University and was the first American woman to be awarded a degree with first-class honors after studying at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She has been described as "a seminal influence on second-wave feminism", and is best known for her book "Sexual Politics" (1970), which was based on her doctoral dissertation at Columbia University. Journalist Liza Featherstone attributes previously unimaginable "legal abortion, greater professional equality between the sexes, and a sexual freedom" being made possible partially due to Millett's efforts.

paragraph: The feminist, human rights, peace, civil rights, and anti-psychiatry movements were some of Millett's principal causes. Her books were motivated by her activism, such as woman's rights and mental health reform, and several were autobiographical memoirs that explored her sexuality, mental health, and relationships. In the 1960s and 1970s, Millett taught at Waseda University, Bryn Mawr College, Barnard College, and the University of California, Berkeley. Some of her later written works are "The Politics of Cruelty" (1994), about state-sanctioned torture in many countries, and "Mother Millett" (2001), a book about her relationship with her mother. Between 2011 and 2013, she won the Lambda Pioneer Award for Literature, received Yoko Ono's Courage Award for the Arts, and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

paragraph: Millett was born and raised in Minnesota, and then spent most of her adult life in Manhattan and the Woman's Art Colony, established in Poughkeepsie, New York, which became the Millett Center for the Arts in 2012. Millett came out as a lesbian in the year the book "Sexual Politics" was published. She was married to a sculptor Fumio Yoshimura (1965 to 1985) and later, until her death in 2017, she was married to Sophie Keir.

paragraph: Section::::Early life and education.

paragraph: Katherine Murray Millett was born on September 14, 1934 to James Albert and Helen (née Feely) Millett in Saint Paul, Minnesota. According to Millett, she was afraid of her father, an engineer, who beat her. He was an alcoholic who abandoned the family when she was 14, "consigning them to a life of genteel poverty". Her mother was a teacher and insurance saleswoman. She had two sisters, Sally and Mallory; the latter was one of the subjects of "Three Lives". Of Irish Catholic heritage, Kate Millett attended parochial schools in Saint Paul throughout her childhood.

paragraph: Millett graduated in 1956 magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature; she was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. A wealthy aunt paid for her education at St Hilda's College, Oxford gaining an English literature first-class degree, with honors, in 1958. She was the first American woman to be awarded a degree with first-class honors having studied at St. Hilda's. After spending about 10 years as an educator and artist, Millett entered the graduate school program for English and comparative literature at Columbia University in 1968, during which she taught English at Barnard. While there, she championed student rights, women's liberation, and abortion reform. She completed her dissertation in September 1969 and was awarded her doctorate, with distinction, in March 1970.

paragraph: Section::::Career and activism.

paragraph: Section::::Career and activism.:Early career as an artist and educator.

paragraph: Millett taught English at the University of North Carolina after graduating from Oxford University, but she left mid-semester to study art.

paragraph: In New York City she worked as a kindergarten teacher and learned to sculpt and paint from 1959-61. She then moved to Japan and studied sculpture. Millett met fellow sculptor Fumio Yoshimura, had her first one-woman show at Tokyo's Minami Gallery, and taught English at Waseda University. She left Japan in 1963 and moved to New York's Lower East Side.

paragraph: Millett taught English and exhibited her works of art at Barnard College beginning in 1964. She was among a group of young, radical and untenured educators who wanted to modernize women's education; Millett wanted to provide them with "the critical tools necessary to understand their position in a patriarchal society." Her viewpoints on radical politics, her "stinging attack" against Barnard in "Token Learning", and a budget cut at the college led to her being dismissed on December 23, 1968. Her artwork was featured in an exhibit at Greenwich Village's Judson Gallery. During these years Millett became interested in the peace and Civil Rights Movement, joined the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and participated in their protests.

paragraph: In 1971, Millett taught sociology at Bryn Mawr College. She started buying and restoring property that year, near Poughkeepsie, New York; this became the Women's Art Colony and Tree Farm, a community of women artists and writers and Christmas tree farm. Two years later she was an educator at the University of California, Berkeley.

paragraph: Section::::Career and activism.:Feminism and sexuality.

paragraph: Section::::Career and activism.:Feminism and sexuality.:Feminism.

paragraph: Millett was a leading figure in the women's movement, or second-wave feminism, of the 1960s and 1970s. In 1966, Millett became a committee member of National Organization for Women and subsequently joined the New York Radical Women, Radicalesbians, and Downtown Radical Women organizations.

paragraph: She contributed the piece "Sexual politics (in literature)" to the 1970 anthology "", edited by Robin Morgan.

paragraph: She became a spokesperson for the feminist movement following the success of the book "Sexual Politics" (1970), but struggled with conflicting perceptions of her as arrogant and elitist, and the expectations of others to speak for them, which she covered in her 1974 book, "Flying".

paragraph: Millett was one of the first writers to describe the modern concept of patriarchy as the society-wide subjugation of women. Biographer Gayle Graham Yates said that "Millett articulated a theory of patriarchy and conceptualized the gender and sexual oppression of women in terms that demanded a sex role revolution with radical changes of personal and family lifestyles". Betty Friedan's focus, by comparison, was to improve leadership opportunities socially and politically and economic independence for women.

paragraph: Millett wrote several books on women's lives from a feminist perspective. For instance, in the book "The Basement: Meditations on a Human Sacrifice" (1979), completed over four years, she chronicled the torture and murder of Indianapolis teenager Sylvia Likens by Gertrude Baniszewski in 1965 that had preoccupied her for 14 years. With a feminist perspective, she explored the story of the defenseless girl and the dynamics of the individuals involved in her sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Biographer Roberta M. Hooks wrote, "Quite apart from any feminist polemics, "The Basement" can stand alone as an intensely felt and movingly written study of the problems of cruelty and submission." Millett said of the motivation of the perpetrator: "It is the story of the suppression of women. Gertrude seems to have wanted to administer some terrible truthful justice to this girl: that this was what it was to be a woman".

paragraph: Millett and Sophie Keir, a Canadian journalist, traveled to Tehran, Iran in 1979 for the Committee for Artistic and Intellectual Freedom to work for Iranian women's rights. Their trip followed actions taken by Ayatollah Khomeini's government to prevent girls from attending schools with boys, to require working women to wear veils, and not to allow women to divorce their husbands. Thousands of women attended a protest rally held at Tehran University on International Women's Day, March 8. About 20,000 women attended a march through the city's Freedom Square; many of whom were stabbed, beaten, or threatened with acid. Millett and Keir, who had attended the rallies and demonstrations, were removed from their hotel room and taken to a locked room in immigration headquarters two weeks after they arrived in Iran. They were threatened that they might be put in jail and, knowing that homosexuals were executed in Iran, Millett also feared she might be killed when she overheard officials discuss her lesbianism. After an overnight stay, the women were put on a plane that landed in Paris. Although Millett was relieved to have arrived safely in France, she was worried about the fate of Iranian women left behind, "They can't get on a plane. That's why international sisterhood is so important." She wrote about the experience in her 1981 book "Going to Iran".

paragraph: Section::::Career and activism.:Feminism and sexuality.:"Sexual Politics".

paragraph: "Sexual Politics" originated as Millett's PhD dissertation and was published in 1970, the same year that she was awarded her doctorate from Columbia University. The bestselling book, a critique of patriarchy in Western society and literature, addressed the sexism and heterosexism of the modern novelists D. H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, and Norman Mailer and contrasted their perspectives with the dissenting viewpoint of the homosexual author Jean Genet. Millett questioned the origins of patriarchy, argued that sex-based oppression was both political and cultural, and posited that undoing the traditional family was the key to true sexual revolution. In its first year on the market, the book sold 80,000 copies and went through seven printings and is considered to be the movement's manifesto.

paragraph: As a symbol of the women's liberation movement, Millett was featured in a "Time" magazine cover story, "The Politics of Sex", which called "Sexual Politics" a "remarkable book" that provided a coherent theory about the feminist movement. Alice Neel created the depiction of Millett for the August 31, 1970 cover.

paragraph: According to biographer Peter Manso, "The Prisoner of Sex" was written by Norman Mailer in response to Millett's "Sexual Politics". ""The Prisoner of Sex" is structured as a contest. His rhetoric against her prose, his charm against her earnestness, his polemic rage against her vitriolic charges. The aim is to convert the larger audience, the stronger presence as the sustaining truth. "The Prisoner of Sex" combines self parody and satire...", said Andrew Wilson, author of "Norman Mailer: An American Aesthetic".

paragraph: Section::::Career and activism.:Feminism and sexuality.:Sexism and sexuality.

paragraph: While Millett was speaking about sexual liberation at Columbia University, a woman in the audience asked her, "Why don't you say you're a lesbian, here, openly. You've said you were a lesbian in the past." Millett hesitantly responded, "Yes, I am a lesbian". A couple of weeks later, "Time" December 8, 1970 article "Women's Lib: A Second Look" reported that Millett admitted she was bisexual, which it said would likely discredit her as a spokesperson for the feminist movement because it "reinforce[d] the views of those skeptics who routinely dismiss all liberationists as lesbians." In response, two days later a press conference was organized by feminists Ivy Bottini and Barbara Love in Greenwich Village in which they spoke of their "solidarity with the struggle of homosexuals to attain their liberation in a sexist society" to Kate Millett and other attendees.

paragraph: Millett's 1971 film "Three Lives" is a 16mm documentary made by an all-woman crew, including co-director Susan Kleckner, cameraperson Lenore Bode, and editor Robin Mide, under the name Women's Liberation Cinema. The 70-minute film focuses on three women—Mallory Millett-Jones, the director's sister; Lillian Shreve, a chemist; and Robin Mide, an artist—reminiscing about their lives. Vincent Canby, "The New York Times" art critic, wrote: ""Three Lives" is a good, simple movie in that it can't be bothered to call attention to itself, only to its three subjects, and to how they grew in the same male-dominated society that Miss Millett, in her "Sexual Politics", so systematically tore apart, shook up, ridiculed and undermined—while, apparently, tickling it pink." It received "generally excellent reviews" following its premiere at a New York City theater.

paragraph: In her 1971 book "The Prostitution Papers", Millett interprets prostitution as residing at the core of the female's condition, exposing women's subjection more clearly than is done with marriage contracts. According to her, degradation and power, not sex, are being bought and sold in prostitution. She argues for the decriminalization of prostitution in a process directed by the sex workers themselves.

paragraph: In 1974 and 1977, respectively, Millett published two autobiographical books. "Flying" (1974), a "stream-of-consciousness memoir about her bisexuality", which explores her life after the success of "Sexual Politics" in what was described in "The New York Times Book Review" as an example of "dazzling exhibitionism". Millett captured life as she thought, experienced and lived it, in a style like a documentary film. "Sita" (1977) explores her sexuality, particularly her lesbian lover who committed suicide and the effect on Millett's personal and private life.

paragraph: In an interview with Mark Blasius, Millett was sympathetic to the concept of intergenerational sex, describing age of consent laws as "very oppressive" to gay male youth in particular but repeatedly reminding the interviewer that the question cannot rest on the sexual access of older men or women to children but a rethinking of children's rights broadly understood. Millett added that "one of children's essential rights is to express themselves sexually, probably primarily with each other but with adults as well" and that "the sexual freedom of children is an important part of a sexual revolution ... if you don't change the social condition of children you still have an inescapable inequality". In this interview, Millett criticized those who wished to abolish age of consent laws, saying the issue was not focused on children's rights but "being approached as the right of men to have sex with kids below the age of consent" and added that "no mention is made of relationships between women and girls".

paragraph: Millett is featured in the feminist history film "She's Beautiful When She's Angry" (2014).

paragraph: Section::::Career and activism.:The 1980s through 2000s.

paragraph: In 1980, Millett was one of the ten invited artists whose work was exhibited in the Great American Lesbian Art Show at the Woman's Building in Los Angeles. the "Naked Ladies" sculpture, one of which was mounted on the roof of the Building. Millett was a contributor to "On the Issues" magazine, and continued writing into the early 2000s. She discussed state-sanctioned torture in "The Politics of Cruelty" (1994), bringing attention to the use of torture in many countries.

paragraph: Millett was involved in the controversy resulting from her on a UK television programme called "After Dark". Actor Oliver Reed, who had been drinking during the programme, moved in on her and tried to kiss her. Millett pushed him away but allegedly later asked for a tape of the show to entertain her friends. Throughout the programme Reed used sexist language.

paragraph: Millett was also involved in prison reform and campaigns against torture. Journalist Maureen Freely wrote of Millett's viewpoint regarding activism in her later years: "The best thing about being a freewheeler is that she can say what she pleases because 'nobody's giving me a chair in anything. I'm too old, mean and ornery. Everything depends on how well you argue.

paragraph: Section::::Career and activism.:"Mother Millett".

paragraph: Kate wrote "Mother Millett" (2001) about her mother who in her later years developed several serious health problems, including a brain tumor and hypercalcaemia. Made aware of her mother's declining health, Millett visited her in Minnesota; their visits included conversations about their relationship and outings to baseball games, museums, and restaurants. When her mother was no longer able to care for herself in her apartment, she was placed in a nursing home in St. Paul, Minnesota, which was one of Helen Millett's greatest fears. Kate visited her mother and was disturbed by the care she received and her mother's demoralized attitude. Nursing home residents who were labeled as "behavioral problems", as Helen was, were subject to forcible restraint. Helen said to Kate, "Now that you're here, we can leave."

paragraph: Aware of the efforts her mother made to give her life, support her and raise her, Millett became a care-giver and coordinator of many daily therapies, and pushed her mother to be active. She wanted to give her "independence and dignity". In the article "Her Mother, Herself", Pat Swift wrote: "Helen Millett might have been content to go "gently into that good night"—she was after all more afraid of the nursing home than dying—but daughter Kate was having none of that. Feminist warrior, human rights activists, gay liberationist, writer and artist, Kate Millett has not gone gently through life and never hesitates to rage at anyone—friend or foe, family or the system—to right a perceived wrong. When the dignity and quality of her ailing mother's life was at stake, this book's unfolding tale became inevitable." Even though Helen played a role in having her daughter committed to the University of Minnesota's Mayo wing, Kate had her mother removed from the nursing home and returned to her apartment, where attendants managed her care. During this period, Millett could also "bully" her mother for her lack of cultural sophistication and the amount of television she watched and could be harsh with caregivers.

paragraph: Section::::Career and activism.:Millett Center for the Arts.

paragraph: In 2012, The Women's Art Colony became a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and changed its name to the Millett Center for the Arts.

paragraph: Section::::Personal life.

paragraph: Section::::Personal life.:Interpersonal relationships.

paragraph: Millett was not the "polite, middle-class girl" that many parents of her generation and social circle desired: she could be difficult, brutally honest, and tenacious. Liza Featherstone, author of "Daughterhood Is Powerful," says that these qualities helped to make her "one of the most influential radical feminists of the 1970s." They could also make for difficult interpersonal relationships. Millett wrote several autobiographical memoirs, with what Featherstone calls "brutal honesty," about herself, her husband, lovers, and family. Her relationship with her mother was strained by her radical politics, domineering personality, and unconventional lifestyle. Helen was particularly upset about examination of her lesbianism in her books. Family relationships were further strained after she was involuntarily committed to psychiatric wards and again when she wrote "The Loony Bin Trip".

paragraph: Millett focused on her mother in "Mother Millett", a book about how she was made aware by her sister Sally of the seriousness of Helen Millett's declining health and poor nursing home care. Kate removed her mother from the home and returned her to an apartment, where caregivers managed her health and comfort. In the book, "Millett writes about the situation—her mother's distance and imperiousness, her family's failure to recognize the humanity of the old and the insane—with brutal honesty. Yet she also describes moments of forgiveness, humility and admiration." During this time, she developed a close relationship, previously inconceivable, with her mother, which she considered "a miracle and a grace, a gift." Her relationships with her sisters were troubled during this time, but they all came to support their mother's apartment-living. The suggestion of her role as the heroine in "Mother Millett", however, may have been "at the expense of her two siblings".

paragraph: Section::::Personal life.:Marriage.

paragraph: In 1961, Millett moved to Japan and met fellow sculptor Fumio Yoshimura, the widower of a woman named Yoshiko. A Japanese native, Yoshimura studied painting at Tokyo University of the Arts. In 1963 Yoshimura and Millett left Japan and moved to New York's Lower East Side in the Bowery district. In 1965, the couple married and during their marriage Millett said that they were "friends and lovers". She dedicated her book "Sexual Politics" to him. Author Estelle C. Jelinek says that during their marriage he "loves her, leads his own creative life, and accepts her woman lovers". In 1985, the couple divorced. At the time of her death, Millett was married to Sophie Keir.

paragraph: Section::::Personal life.:Mental illness.

paragraph: Mental illness affected Millett's personal and professional life from 1973, when she lived with her husband in California and was an activist and teacher at the University of California, Berkeley. Yoshimura and Sally, Kate's eldest sister, became concerned about Kate's extreme emotions. Her family claimed that she went for as many as five consecutive nights without sleep and could talk nonsensically for hours. During a screening of one of her films at University of California, Berkeley, Millett "began talking incoherently". According to her sister, Mallory Millett-Danaher, "There were pained looks of confusion in the audience, then people whispered and slowly got up to leave." Sally, who was a law student in Nebraska, signed papers to have her younger sister committed. Millett was forcefully taken and held in psychiatric facilities for ten days. She signed herself out using a release form intended for voluntary admissions. During a visit to St. Paul, Minnesota, a couple of weeks later, her mother asked Kate to visit a psychiatrist and, based upon the psychiatrist's suggestion, signed commitment papers for Kate. She was released within three days, having won a sanity trial, due to the efforts of her friends and a "pro bono" attorney.

paragraph: Following the two involuntary confinements, Millett became depressed, particularly so about having been confined without due process. While in the mental hospitals, she was given "mind-altering" drugs or restrained, depending upon whether she complied or not. She was stigmatized for having been committed and diagnosed with manic depression (now commonly called bipolar disorder). The diagnosis affected how she was perceived by others and her ability to attain employment. In California doctors had recommended that she take lithium to manage wide manic and depression swings. Her depression became more severe when her housing in the Bowery was condemned and Yoshimura threatened divorce. To manage the depression, Millett again began taking lithium.

paragraph: In 1980, with support of two friends and photojournalist Sophie Keir, Millett stopped taking lithium to improve her mental clarity, relieve diarrhea and hand tremors, and better uphold her philosophies about mental health and treatment. She began to feel alienated and was "snappish" as Keir watched for behavioral changes. Her behavior was that of psychiatric drug withdrawal, including "mile-a-minute" speech, which turned her peaceful art colony to "a quarrelsome dystopia." Mallory Millett, having talked to Keir, tried to get her committed but was unsuccessful due to New York's laws concerning involuntary commitments.

paragraph: Millett visited Ireland in the fall of 1980 as an activist. Upon her intended return to the United States, there was a delay at the airport and she extended her stay in Ireland. She was involuntarily committed in Ireland after airport security "determined from someone in New York" that she had a "mental illness" and had stopped taking lithium. While confined, she was heavily drugged. To combat the aggressive pharmaceutical program of "the worst bin of all", she counteracted the effects of Thorazine and lithium by eating a lot of oranges or hid the pills in her mouth for later disposal. She said of the times when she was committed, "To remain sane in a bin is to defy its definition," she said.

paragraph: After several days, she was found by her friend Margaretta D'Arcy. With the assistance of an Irish parliament member and a therapist-psychiatrist from Dublin, Millett was declared competent and released within several weeks. She returned to the United States, became severely depressed, and began taking lithium again. In 1986, Millett stopped taking lithium without adverse reactions. After one lithium-free year, Millett announced the news to stunned family and friends.

paragraph: Millett's involvement with psychiatry caused her to attempt suicide several times due to both damaging physical and emotional effects but also because of the slanderous nature of psychiatric labeling that affected her reputation and threatened her very existence in the world. She believed that her depression was due to grief and feeling broken. She said, "When you have been told that your mind is unsound, there is a kind of despair that takes over..." In "The Loony Bin Trip", Millett wrote that she dreaded her depressed periods:

paragraph: Section::::Personal life.:Mental illness.:Views on mental illness.

paragraph: Millett disputed diagnoses and labels like manic depression (bipolar disorder) and schizophrenia, which she claimed are placed upon people who exhibit socially unacceptable behavior. "Many healthy people, she said, are 'driven to mental illness' by society's disapproval and by the 'authoritarian institution of psychiatry.' She attributed her own depression to her diagnosis, and not the other way around, writing, "When you have been told that your mind is unsound, there is a kind of despair that takes over". Millett documented her experiences in the book "The Loony Bin Trip" (1990).

paragraph: Feminist author and historian Marilyn Yalom wrote that "Millett refuses the labels that would declare her insane", continuing "she conveys the paranoid terror of being judged cruelly by others for what seems to the afflicted person to be a reasonable act."

paragraph: Section::::Personal life.:Mental illness.:Activism.

paragraph: Angered by institutional psychiatric practices and lenient involuntary commitment processes, Millett became an activist. With her lawyer, she changed the State of Minnesota's commitment law so that a trial is required before a person is involuntarily committed.

paragraph: Millett was active in the anti-psychiatry movement. As a representative of MindFreedom International, she spoke out against psychiatric torture at the United Nations during the negotiations of the text of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2005).

paragraph: In 1978, Millett became an associate of the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP). WIFP is an American nonprofit publishing organization. The organization works to increase communication between women and connect the public with forms of women-based media.

paragraph: Section::::Personal life.:Bowery redevelopment.

paragraph: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Millett was involved in a dispute with the New York City authorities, who wanted to evict her from her home at 295 Bowery as part of a massive redevelopment plan. Millett and other tenants held out, but ultimately lost their battle. Their building was demolished, and the residents were relocated.

paragraph: Section::::Scholarship.

paragraph: Kristan Poirot, author of "Mediating a Movement, Authorizing Discourse", says that the release of Millett's "Sexual Politics" (1970) was a pivotal event in the second wave of the feminist movement. Although there were other important moments in the movement, like the founding of the National Organization for Women and release of "The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan, it was in 1970 that the media gave greater attention to the feminist movement, first with a front page article in "The New York Times" and coverage on the three network's news programs about the Women's Strike for Equality event that summer. Millett used psychology, anthropology, the sexual revolution, and literary criticism to explain her theory of sexual politics, which is that western societies have been driven by a belief that men are superior to women. According to Poirot, the book, which received widespread media coverage, "was considered to be the first book-length exposition of second wave radical feminist theory." Published accounts of Millett's lesbianism played a part in the fracture in the feminist movement over lesbians' role within the movement and reduced her effectiveness as a women's rights activist.

paragraph: Millett wrote her autobiographical books "Flying" (1974) and "Sita" (1977) about coming out as gay, partly an important consciousness-raising activity. She realized beginning an open dialogue is important to break down the isolation and alienation that hiding in privacy can cause. She wrote in "Flying" what Alice Henry calls in her "off our backs" review of "Sita" an "excruciating public and political 'coming out'" and its effect on her personal, political, and artistic lives. While she discussed some of her love affairs in "Flying", in "Sita" she provides insight into a lesbian love affair and her fears of being alone or inadequate. Henry writes, "Kate's transparent vulnerability and attempts to get to the root of herself and grasp her lover are typical of many women who love women."

paragraph: Millett recorded her visit to Iran and the demonstrations by Iranian feminists against the fundamentalist shift in Iran politics under Khomeini's government. Her book "Going to Iran", with photography by Sophie Keir (1979) is "a rare and therefore valuable eyewitness account of a series of important developments in the history of Iranian women", albeit told from the perspective of a feminist from the western world.

paragraph: Scholar Camille Paglia described Millett's scholarship as deeply flawed, declaring that "American feminism's nose dive began" when Millett achieved prominence. According to Paglia, Millett's "Sexual Politics" "reduced complex artworks to their political content and attacked famous male artists and authors for their alleged sexism," thereby sending serious academic literary appreciation and criticism into eclipse.

paragraph: Section::::Death.

paragraph: Millett died in Paris on September 6, 2017 from cardiac arrest, eight days before her 83rd birthday. Her spouse, Sophie Keir was with her at the time of her death.

paragraph: Section::::Awards and honors.

paragraph: Millett won the Best Books Award for "Mother Millett" from Library Journal in 2001. In 2012, she was awarded one of that year's Courage Award for the Arts by Yoko Ono, which Ono created to "recognize artists, musicians, collectors, curators, writers—those who sought the truth in their work and had the courage to stick to it, no matter what" and "honor their work as an expression of my vision of courage". Between 2011 and 2012, she was also awarded the Lambda Pioneer Award for Literature and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award (2012). She was honored in the summer of 2011 at a Veteran Feminists of America gala; attendees included feminists such as Susan Brownmiller and Gloria Steinem.

paragraph: In March 2013, the U.S. National Women's Hall of Fame announced that Millett was to be among the institution's 2013 inductees. Beverly P. Ryder, board of directors co-president, said that Millett was a "real pillar of the women's movement". The induction ceremony took place on October 24, 2013, at the National Women's Hall of Fame headquarters in Seneca Falls, New York.

paragraph: Section::::Works.

paragraph: Section::::Works.:Exhibitions.

paragraph: Some of her exhibitions and installations are:

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1963 – Minami Gallery, Tokyo

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1967 – Group exhibition, "12 Evenings of Manipulation", Judson Gallery, New York City

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1968 – "Situations", Brooklyn Community College, New York

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1970 – "The American Dream Goes to Pot", "The People's Flag Show," Phoenix Art Museum; Judson Memorial Church, New York

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1972 – "Terminal Piece," Women's Interart Center, New York

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1973 – "Small Mysteries", Womanstyle Theatre Festival, New York

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1977 – "Naked Ladies," Los Angeles Women's Building, California

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1977 – Solo exhibition, Andre Wauters Gallery, New York

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1977 – "The Lesbian Body", Chuck Levitan Gallery, New York

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1978 – "The Trial of Sylvia Likens," Noho Gallery, New York

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1979 – "Elegy for Sita," Noho Gallery, New York

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1979 – Women's Caucus for Art

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1980 – Group exhibition, Great American Lesbian Art Show, Los Angeles

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1980 – Solo exhibition, "Lesbian Erotica", Galerie de Ville, New Orleans; Second Floor Salon

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1981 – Solo exhibition, "Lesbian Erotica", Galerie des Femmes, Paris

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1986 – Group exhibition, "Feminists and Misogynists", Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1988 – "Fluxus," Museum of Modern Art, New York

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1991–1994 – Courtland Jessup Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1992 – Group exhibition, "Body Politic," La MaMa La Galleria

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1991 – Solo exhibition, "Freedom from Captivity," Courtland Jessup Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1997 – "Kate Millett, Sculptor: The First 38 Years," Fine Arts Gallery, University of Maryland, Catonsville

paragraph: BULLET::::- 2009 – "Black Madonna", multimedia show of 41 artists, HP Garcia Gallery, New York

paragraph: Section::::Works.:Books.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Author

paragraph: BULLET::::- Co-author

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Guide to the Kate Millett Papers at Duke University

description: American writer and activist

wikidata_label: Kate Millett

wikipedia_title: Kate Millett