ABSTRACT
HUO GUANG 霍光(d. 68 BC) Minister for thirty years under the Han emperor Wudi and appointed by him as regent for the young Emperor Zhaodi. He maintained his power as effective ruler of the state throughout the boy’s brief reign and into that of Xuandi, whose accession he influenced. During his lifetime his position was unchallenged and he died to the accompaniment of praise and honour from the Emperor, who accorded him a jade suit for burial (see also Liu Sheng). But he had been guilty of nepotism on a grand scale, and after his death his family were unable to survive the intense political rivalry of the Chang’an court. Michael LOEWE, Crisis and Conflict in Han China, 104 BC to AD 9 (George Allen and Unwin, 1974).
