Liu Hsiu

Liu Hsiu , AD 6-AD 57, restorer of the Han dynasty. As first emperor (AD 25-AD 57) of the Later, or Eastern, Han (AD 25-AD 200), he curbed the power of the imperial princes and recreated the centralized state administration of the Former, or Western, Han (206 BC-AD 8). Although only a distant relative of the last emperor of the Earlier Han, Liu Hsiu emerged victorious from the free-for-all that followed the downfall of the usurper Wang Mang . Liu Hsiu moved the capital eastward from Xi'an, which had been destroyed by rebels, to Luoyang. The new capital was nearer his large landholdings in E Henan prov. and was more easily supplied with grain than the old capital. Liu Hsiu is also known by his posthumous temple name, Kuang-wu-ti.