Why did Dong Zhuo replace Emperor Shao with the Prince of Chenliu? Let us first examine how Dong Zhuo himself proposed this change of emperor.
The next day Dong Zhuo laid a great banquet in the garden for the elder lords and nobles, all of whom he had intimidated into attending. He waited until all the court officials had arrived and then with studied slowness rode to the gate, dismounted, and entered the grounds without removing his sword. After several rounds of wine he ordered the festivities to cease. “I have only one thing to say,” he said, his voice loud and harsh. “Hear it in silence.” The assembly was keenly attentive. “The Son of Heaven is sovereign lord of all,” Dong Zhuo went on, “but without awe-inspiring dignity he cannot do honor to the ancestral temple or our sacred shrines. The present Emperor is timid and weak. For intellect and learning he cannot match the prince of Chenliu, who deserves to inherit the throne. Hence I shall depose the Emperor and instate the prince. What do the great ministers have to say?”
— Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 3
Dong Zhuo’s Power Play
But was this truly Dong Zhuo’s real intention? Clearly, Dong Zhuo harbored no good intentions. It can be said that from the moment he led troops into the capital, his goal was not to exterminate the eunuch faction or stabilize the political situation but to seize the opportunity to plot treachery. The reason Dong Zhuo deposed Emperor Shao Liu Bian and installed the Prince of Chenliu Liu Xie (Emperor Xian of Han) after entering the capital was simple: to eliminate dissenting forces, suppress and even manipulate imperial power.
Obviously, as a local force entering the capital, Dong Zhuo would inevitably face resistance from the reigning emperor and the maternal relatives behind him. To usurp power, Dong Zhuo first needed to void or even eliminate the emperor. From the subsequent story development, Dong Zhuo did exactly this. He first deposed Emperor Shao Liu Bian and installed Liu Xie as emperor. One year after Liu Bian’s deposition, Dong Zhuo eliminated the root of the problem by poisoning Liu Bian, who died at the age of 18.
However, historically, such acts of installing new emperors typically did not end well. Although Dong Zhuo achieved his goal of rapidly expanding his influence and controlling the political situation, it also planted long-term hidden dangers and invited greater disasters.
Perhaps Dong Zhuo believed he was stronger than others and thought that installing an emperor would allow him to achieve his goals while avoiding unfavorable outcomes. Yet, in the end, Dong Zhuo was no exception.
Consequences of Deposing and Installing Emperors
After Liu Xie ascended the throne, Dong Zhuo completely control the imperial power, becoming the actual ruler of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He could arbitrarily appoint and dismiss officials and mobilize troops, with all political, military, and economic power in Luoyang the capital falling into his hands.
Dong Zhuo’s deposition and installation of emperors became the core excuse for thefeudal lords and warlords to rally against him. In 190 AD, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, and other warlords jointly raised armies under the pretext of opposing Dong Zhuo and restoring the legitimacy of Emperor Shao (who had already been poisoned by Dong Zhuo). Although the military alliance against Dong Zhuo eventually dissolved, Dong Zhuo was forced to abandon Luoyang and move the capital to Chang’an, significantly weakening his power. He was ultimately assassinated by Wang Yun and Lü Bu.
Dong Zhuo broke the tradition of the sacredness of imperial authority, setting a precedent for warlords to depose and install emperors. Thereafter, holding the emperor hostage to command the nobles and marquises became a common practice in the late Han dynasty (e.g., Cao Cao later held Emperor Xian of Han hostage). The imperial power of the Eastern Han Dynasty became a tool for warlords to compete for power, ultimately leading to the dynasty’s collapse.
What if Dong Zhuo had not deposed the Emperor?
Historically, after Dong Zhuo deposed the emperor, an alliance to crusade against him erupted in 190 AD, and he was assassinated in 192 AD. His monopolization of power lasted only three years. If Dong Zhuo had not deposed the emperor, how would history have developed? Could Dong Zhuo have become a figure like Cao Cao later? It is hard to say, as he lacked Cao Cao’s extraordinary talent and strategy to prevail in the warlord melee. However, at least in the short term, he could have avoided becoming the target of a united crusade by numerous warlords.
If Dong Zhuo had not deposed the emperor, after short-term pressures eased, the mid-term situation would have revolved around how to construct legitimacy for his power. He would still have needed to face three core issues: the identity flaw of being an outsider warlord, the potential threat posed by Emperor Shao and the maternal relatives, and the long-term trend of warlord separatism. For Dong Zhuo, this phase would have presented both opportunities and risks, but overall, it would have been more manageable than the situation after deposing the emperor.
In the long run, even if Dong Zhuo had not deposed the emperor, he could not have changed the trends of the collapse of the Eastern Han Dynasty and warlord separatism. If he were eventually counterattacked by Emperor Shao or defeated by other warlords, his reign would still have been significantly prolonged compared to his rapid downfall.
Perhaps it was due to Dong Zhuo’s lesson that Cao Cao later held the Emperor hostage for a long time without ever proclaiming himself emperor. Ultimately, he prevailed in the warlord conflicts and the tripartite struggle for supremacy.
Leave a Reply