Emperor Ming of Han, (汉明帝, 28-75) was second emperor of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty. He was the second son of Emperor Guangwu. It was during Emperor Ming's reign that Buddhism began to spread into China. One night, he is said to have dreamed of a golden man or golden men. The next day he told his ministers, and the minister Zhong Hu explained to him that he probably dreamed of Buddha in India. The emperor then sent a delegation of 18 headed by Cai Yin, Qin Jing and Wang Zun to seek Buddhism. They returned from Afghanistan with an image of Gautama Buddha, 42 sutras and two eminent monks. The next year, the emperor ordered the construction of White Horse Temple three li west of the capital Luoyang, to remember the horse that carried back the sutras. It was China's first Buddhist temple. Emperor Ming's brother Liu Ying, the Prince of Chu, became the first well-known Buddhist.

Emperor Ming was a hard-working, able administrator of the empire who showed integrity and demanded integrity from his officials. However, a major downside to his personality was his overeagerness to punish. When his brothers Liu Ying the Prince of Chu and Liu Yan the Prince of Huaiyang were accused of plotting against him, he pursued the matters so harshly that several tens of thousands of people were executed as part of the plot, even though the vast majority of those people were in all likelihood innocent. Later in his reign, this tendency was moderated by the influences of his wife, Empress Ma.

Emperor Ming also established the control of the Chinese Empire on the Tarim Basin and eradicated the Xiongnu influence there, through the conquests of his general Ban Chao (班超). The reigns of Emperor Ming and his son Emperor Zhang were typically considered the golden age of the Eastern Han Emperor and known as the Rule of Ming and Zhang.

Early reign

Emperor Ming quickly established himself as a diligent and capable administrator of the empire. He did many things to try to stamp out corrupt officials, often putting them to death if they were discovered.

One thing traditional historians praised him for was his fair treatment of his brothers by the deposed Empress Guo, treating them as if they were also born of his mother Empress Dowager Yin. In 58, when his older brother, Prince Jiang of Donghai (the former crown prince) died, he ordered that the princes and major officials to attend Prince Jiang's funeral -- a highly unusual honor -- at Lucheng (鲁城, in modern Jining, Shandong), the capital of Donghai.

In 59, at the suggestion of his brother Liu Cang (刘苍) the Prince of Dongping, Emperor Ming instituted a number of Confucian rituals, in which the emperor personally honored the officials who had helped him, to show humility.

In 60, he created his favorite Consort Ma (who was also a favorite of his mother Empress Dowager Yin) empress, and created her adopted son Prince Da crown prince.

The same year, to honour the generals and officials who had assisted his father Emperor Guangwu in reestablishing the Han Dynasty, Emperor Ming, perhaps echoing what Emperor Xuan had done, had the portraits of 28 of them drawn on a palace tower. Later, four more portraits were added. However, Ma Yuan, because he was the father of the empress, did not receive this honor.

During the early part of his reign, North Xiongnu continued to be a constant threat to both Han and her ally South Xiongnu. Emperor Ming engaged in a variety of military and economic tactics to try to maintain peace with North Xiongnu and was largely successful. In 65, he established a permanent border defense force, known as the Duliao Army (度辽营), in charge of protecting the northern boundaries and South Xiongnu, and also to prevent the people of South Xiongnu from defecting to North Xiongnu.

In 66, in what would eventually evolve into the first imperial university in Chinese history, Emperor Ming built a Confucian school at the capital Luoyang, for the children of high officials and marquesses. South Xiongnu nobles' children also attended.

Late reign

Emperor Ming was, early in his reign, known for his generosity and affection for his brothers. This, however, apparently caused some of them to engage in behavior that were considered taboo at the time and, ironically, caused them to be severely punished by Emperor Ming, leading also to two major mass executions that blotted Emperor Ming's reign.

The first of these incidents happened in 66-67 and was relatively bloodless. The ambitious Prince Jing of Guanglin wanted to be emperor, and he plotted with people under him to rebel. When he was informed, he confessed, and Emperor Ming initially spared him and permitted him to remain the Prince of Guanglin but stripped his political powers. However, later Prince Jing hired warlocks to curse Emperor Ming. After he was discovered, Emperor Ming initially took no action, but in 67 forced Prince Jing to commit suicide.

The next incident would not be so bloodless. In 70, Prince Ying of Chu -- incidentally, the only son of Emperor Guangwu not born of either of his empresses but of Consort Xu -- hired warlocks to create golden turtles and jade cranes, and carved characters calling for unusual blessings on them -- a major taboo at the time. Further, he was discovered to have written revolutionary writings. Emperor Ming did not put him to death, but deposed him from his principality, exiled him, and made him a commoner (but with a small fief of 500 households). In 71, Prince Ying committed suicide in exile. However, the investigation did not end. By Emperor Ming's orders, Prince Ying's associates (but not his family) were harshly tortured and interrogated, and anyone that they named as a coconspirator was arrested and further tortured and interrogated. The interrogators themselves used this opportunity to falsely accuse many others of conspiracy. Tens of thousands of people died, either of torture or execution, during the investigation. Only after Empress Ma's intercession and persuasive petitions by one of the interrogators, Han Lang (寒朗), did the interrogations taper off.

A similar incident happened in 73, when Prince Yan of Huaiyang was informed to have hired warlocks to curse Emperor Ming. Several of Prince Yan's associates were executed, and there were also many others who were executed or exiled after Chu-style interrogations were carried out. Prince Yan himself was not executed, but was demoted from his commandery-level principality to be the Prince of Fulin, with only two counties in his principality.

In 73, annoyed at North Xiongnu's constant incursions against Han, Emperor Ming commissioned his generals Geng Bing (耿秉) and Dou Gu (窦固) to lead a major expedition against North Xiongnu. They only had minor successes, but it demonstrated to North Xiongnu that Han was now in a position to strike back.

Dou, as part of his campaign, sent his assistant Ban Chao to visit the Xiyu (modern Xinjiang and former Soviet central Asia) kingdom of Shanshan (on the eastern edge of the Taklamakan Desert. (Xiyu kingdoms had long submitted to North Xiongnu's authority, and unable to bear the heavy taxes, had often requested that Han step in and reassert suzerainty that had been established during the Western Han Dynasty, starting with Emperor Wu's reign. However, they had been constantly rebuffed by Emperors Guangwu and Ming, who judged Han to be not sufficiently strong to engage in a Xiyu campaign.) Initially, the king of Shanshan was very pleased and welcomed the Han ambassadors as honored guests, but eventually the welcome faded. Ban realized that North Xiongnu ambassadors must have arrived. He found out where the North Xiongnu ambassadors were, and, in a night raid, massacred the Xiongnu ambassadors. The king of Shanshan was shocked but somewhat pleased, and submitted to Han suzerainty once again.

Emperor Ming promoted Ban and commissioned him to next visit Yutian (Khotan), then the strongest kingdom in southern Xiyu, which had a strong alliance with North Xiongnu. Guangde (广德), the King of Yutian, trusted his chief warlock, who demanded Ban's horse. Ban agreed to give him the horse, and then, when the warlock arrived to pick up the horse, immediately executed him, and sent his head back to Guangde. Guangde was impressed and submitted to Han's suzerainty. With Yutian having submitted, the Xiyu kingdoms largely all submitted as well.

In 74, Dou and Geng led a major military expedition against a major remaining ally of North Xiongnu, Cheshi (车师, roughly modern Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang). Cheshi submitted, and at Dou's suggestion, the office of the Protector General of Xiyu (都护) was reinstituted. A North Xiongnu expedition in 75 to recapture Cheshi was repelled by Geng Gong (耿恭), one of the deputies of the protector general.

Death

In 75, Emperor Ming died. His will ordered that no temple be built for him, and that he only be worshipped as part of the worship of his mother Empress Dowager Yin. (This became a systematic reform that the rest of the Eastern Han Dynasty emperors largely followed; they did not have separate temples built for themselves, but instead were worshipped along with Emperor Guangwu. This was a major saving compared to the Western Han system of building a separate temple for each emperor.) His son Crown Prince Da succeeded to the throne as Emperor Zhang.