Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, is the grandson of Liu Bang IX, the great ancestor of the Western Han Dynasty, and the descendant of Liu Fa, the son of Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty. Therefore, the Eastern Han Dynasty also inherited the orthodoxy of the Western Han Dynasty. The emperors of both Han Dynasties came from Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty. However, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the royal family declined, and many royal families in the Western Han Dynasty took advantage of the situation to rise, and many local governors emerged. Among them, Liu Bei, Emperor Zhaolie of Shu Han, is the descendant of Liu Sheng, the son of Emperor Jing of Western Han Dynasty. Liu Bei carved up Jingzhou, Yizhou and Hanzhong, forming a Shu Han with one third of the world.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, since the late reign of Zhang Han, consorts began to rise. Emperor Gaozu Liu Zhao succeeded to the throne at the age of ten, and Dou Taihou called him the imperial concubine. At this point, the dictatorship of consorts in the Eastern Han Dynasty was opened for nearly a hundred years. Although Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty joined forces with eunuchs to eradicate the autocratic family of Dou's family, the power of eunuchs also developed. Since then, in the return period of the Han Dynasty, there have been the exclusive rights of consorts in the period of Deng, Yan, Liang and Emperor Han Ling. Although these consorts were basically wiped out by eunuch forces, consorts and eunuchs monopolized power in turn and tried their best to crack down on imperial clan forces, which led to the darker rule of the Eastern Han Dynasty and accelerated its demise.
Among the dynasties, the average life expectancy of the emperors in the Eastern Han Dynasty should be regarded as the shortest, only 27 years old, and the young emperors in the Eastern Han Dynasty are also the most. Since the Han Dynasty and Liu Zhao, almost no emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty has lived over forty years old. Emperor Shang, Emperor Chong and Emperor Zhi became emperors when they were young. Not only did these emperors die young, but even their children were dying. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was no second vassal like Wang Liusheng, the ancestor of Liu Bei, who gave birth to 120 sons. The power struggle between consorts and eunuchs since the Han Dynasty and the emperor has further marginalized the already weak imperial clan of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The Eastern Han Dynasty basically inherited the imperial clan enfeoffment system of the Western Han Dynasty. Of course, the pardon order established during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was basically inherited by Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu. However, the imperial clan dominated by Chun Ling clan was superior to other imperial clans, which became an important standard of imperial clan in Yuan Dynasty. However, the imperial clan of the nearest branch has not flourished enough since the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it cannot play its due role in the autocratic power of consorts and eunuchs. On the contrary, those imperial families in the Western Han Dynasty lost their due social status after entering the Eastern Han Dynasty and became powerless civilians for a long time. So, they develop silently.
During the reign of Emperor Han Xian, the last emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial clan of the Eastern Han Dynasty was hit to the limit of ten and twelve, and could not form a strong force against careerists like Cao Cao. Liu Bei, a commoner, seized the opportunity and eventually became a lean man who continued the foundation of the Han Dynasty.