There's another phenomenon in the Han which is worthy of note.
And this is the consort families, the families of imperial women, the
families that supply empresses and sometimes regents.
And given the role of Empress Lu in subverting the house of Liu early on
in the dynasty, it's been typical in Chinese historiography to blame the
role of women in politics, and to see in Han dynasty the role of the
families of the women married to emperors as sources of problems.
I have a slightly different view.
It seems to me that these consort families, as they're known, very
strong in the capital, could present great problems.
And there, in fact, we know of factional fighting at the end of
Emperor Wu's reign that goes on for days in the capital.
But one could also argue that the consort families actually, in Han,
played a very important role, because they bridged the inner court and the
outer court.
They often were high officials.
They often provided daughters to emperors and regents.
And that bridging was probably a good thing.