Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty was frugal and wore straw shoes to the hall Mocha Town

Emperor Wen of Han Ascended the Throne Wearing Straw Shoes

Published Date: 2010-09-26

Song dynasty litterateur Wu Jing's "Wuzongzhi" records that Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng, "ascended the throne wearing straw shoes without any padding." The earliest name for straw shoes was "ju." Since the materials used to make straw shoes were mainly grass and hemp, which were very economical and inexhaustible, commoners could all prepare them themselves. In the Han dynasty, they were called "bu jie." By the time of Emperor Wen of Han, there were already cloth shoes, and straw shoes had become the attire of the poor. However, Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng, set an example of frugality by "ascending the throne wearing straw shoes," meaning he went to work in the palace wearing straw shoes. Not only did he wear straw shoes, but when his dragon robe was torn, he would have the empress mend it for him and continue to wear it. Emperor Wen himself wore coarse cloth clothing, and even the concubines in the harem dressed plainly.

In ancient times, the palaces where emperors lived were often adorned with large and beautiful terraces. Emperor Wen of Han also wanted to build a terrace, so he found some craftsmen and asked them to calculate how much it would cost. The craftsmen said: "Not much, a hundred catties of gold will suffice." Emperor Wen was startled, shaking his head and waving his hands, saying: "Now the court has very little money, let's save this money instead." Emperor Wen ruled for twenty-three years and never built a palace, never constructed a garden, never added carriages or ceremonial guards, and didn't even increase the number of dogs and horses. He cared about the hardships of the people and shortly after ascending the throne, he issued an order: the state would support elders over eighty years old, providing them with rice, meat, and wine every month; for those over ninety, additional hemp cloth, silk, and cotton would be provided to make clothes.

Before his death, he arranged one last act of frugality — his own funeral. In his final edict, he harshly criticized the custom of lavish burials and requested a simple funeral for himself. Regarding his final resting place, "Baling," he explicitly required: "All items must be made of pottery, no decoration of gold, silver, copper, or tin is allowed, no mound shall be constructed, aiming to save resources and avoid troubling the people." Due to Emperor Wen's spirit of integrity and love for the people, as well as his dedication to governance, the prosperous era of "Wenjing Zhizhi" was created. Later, when the Chimei Army attacked Chang'an, many imperial tombs were excavated, but they left Emperor Wen's tomb untouched because they knew there were no valuable items inside.