In 60 CE, Emperor Ming of the

Eastern Han The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

dynasty honored 28 founding generals of the dynasty, who had served his father

Emperor Guangwu Emperor Guangwu of Han (; 15 January 5 BC29 March AD 57), born Liu Xiu (), courtesy name Wenshu (), was a Chinese monarch. He served as an emperor of the Han dynasty by restoring the dynasty in AD 25, thus founding the Eastern Han dynasty. He ...

, by painting their portraits on the Cloud Terrace (Yuntai) of the South Palace in the capital

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

. They became known as the twenty-eight generals of the Cloud Terrace (or Yuntai) (雲台二十八將). One criterion Emperor Ming used for his selection was that the men honored must not be relatives of the imperial family. Thus,

Ma Yuan Ma Yuan may refer to: * Ma Yuan (Han dynasty) (馬援; 14 BC – 49 AD), general of the Han dynasty * Ma Yuan (painter) (馬遠; 1160–1225), painter of the Song dynasty * Ma Yuan (judge) (:zh:馬原 (政治人物), 馬原; born 1930), a former V ...

(whose

daughter A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state, condition or quality of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show r ...

was Emperor Ming's empress) and Lai Xi (来歙, Emperor Guangwu's uncle-in-law) were not selected, despite their great contributions. Unusual in Chinese history, the 28 generals all had natural deaths or died while in service to Emperor Guangwu. Guangwu himself was lauded for his trust of these men who helped him forge his empire.

Order

This order is per Hu Sanxing's annotations to ''Tongjian''. The order in ''Tongjian'' is slightly different; Hu himself noted that compared to the record in ''Tongjian'', the order was recorded differently in "past histories". # Grand Tutor, Marquis of

Gaomi Gaomi () is a county-level city of eastern Shandong province, China, under the administration of Weifang City. It is the hometown of writer and 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Mo Yan, who has set some of his stories in the region. Admin ...

Deng Yu Deng Yu (2 – June 585th month of the 1st year of the ''Yong'ping'' era, per Emperor Ming's biography in ''Book of the Later Han''. The month corresponds to 11 Jun to 9 Jul 58 in the Julian calendar.), courtesy name Zhonghua, was a Chinese sta ...

(鄧禹) # Grand Marshal, Marquis of Guangping, Wu Han (吳漢) # Left general, Marquis of Jiaodong, (賈復) # Grand general who establishes might, Marquis of Haozhi, Geng Yan (耿弇) # Commander of the capital guards, Marquis of Yongnu, (寇恂) # Grand general who conquers the south, Marquis of Wuyang, (岑彭) # Grand general who conquers the west, Marquis of Yangxia, Feng Yi (馮異) # Grand general who establishes virtue, Marquis of Ge, (朱祜) # General who conquers barbarians, Marquis of Yingyang, Zhai Zun (祭遵) # Grand general of swift cavalry, Marquis of Yueyang (景丹) # Grand general of the tiger corps, Marquis of Anping, (蓋延) # Commander of the palace guards, Marquis of Ancheng, (銚期) # Governor of Dong, Marquis of Dongguang, (耿純) # Colonel of the capital gate, Marquis of Langling, (臧宮) # General who captures barbarians, Marquis of Yangxu, Ma Wu (馬武) # General of swift cavalry, Marquis of Shen, (劉隆) # Governor of Zhongshan, Marquis of Quanjiao, (馬成) # Governor of Henan, Marquis of Fucheng, (王梁) # Governor of Langya, Marquis of Zhu'e, (陳俊) # Grand general of swift cavalry, Marquis of Canqu, (杜茂) # General of

repeating crossbow The repeating crossbow (), also known as the repeater crossbow, and the Zhuge crossbow (, also romanized Chu-ko-nu) due to its association with the Three Kingdoms-era strategist Zhuge Liang (181–234 AD), is a crossbow invented during the W ...

, Marquis of Kunyang, (傅俊) # Left minister of war, Marquis of

Hefei Hefei is the Capital city, capital of Anhui, China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census. Its built-up (or ''metro'') area is made up of four u ...

, (堅鐔) # Governor of Shanggu, Marquis of Huailing, (王覇) # Governor of Xindu, Marquis of Eling, (任光) # Governor of Yuzhang, Marquis of Zhongshui, (李忠) # Right general, Marquis of Huaili, (萬脩) # Minister of ceremonies, Marquis of Lingshou, (邳彤) # General of brave cavalry, Marquis of Changcheng, (劉植)

Other honorees

In addition to the 28 generals, Emperor Ming hung the portraits of four other men in the Cloud Terrace. They are: # Wang Chang (王常) # Li Tong (李通); Li was also Emperor Ming's uncle-in-law as his wife is Emperor Ming's aunt (and Emperor Guangwu's sister) Liu Boji. # Dou Rong (窦融) # Zhuo Mao (卓茂)

References

* ''

Zizhi Tongjian The ''Zizhi Tongjian'' (1084) is a chronicle published during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) that provides a record of Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning almost 1400 years. The main text is ...

'' by Sima Guang, vols. 38-44 (original available

here Here may refer to: Music * ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994 * ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016 * ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979 * ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012 * ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004 * ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...

), and Modern Chinese Edition, edited by Bo Yang (Taipei, 1982–1989). {{Authority control Han dynasty generals Sets of portraits Chinese paintings 1st-century paintings

Order

Other honorees

See also

References