Shen Xuan, courtesy name Ziming, is the legitimate heir of the Longxi Shen clan, a family that has produced three Excellencies in four generations in the late Han. His ancestors served as Grand Commandants under Emperors Huan and Ling, while his father served as Minister over the Masses. The family has been connected by marriage for generations to the Hongnong Yang and Runan Yuan clans, and its former students and officials are scattered throughout the land. As the realm falls into chaos near the end of Zhongping, Xuan is reborn in the first year of Jianning. Knowing in advance that the Yellow Turbans will rise, Dong Zhuo will seize power, and the warlords will carve up the land, he quietly makes plans and builds his strength, sheltering refugees, repairing armor and weapons, and forging ties with heroes. He first establishes his power in Liangzhou, pacifies the Qiang and Hu peoples, develops farmland, and steadily grows in prestige and influence. Later, he marches east through Hangu Pass, defeats Li Jue, pacifies Guanzhong, recruits Xun Yu and employs Jia Xu, and gradually annexes Yong, Yi, Si, and Yu provinces. In the fifteenth year of Jian'an, he accepts Emperor Xian’s abdication, ascends the throne, proclaims himself emperor, names his reign Xinghan, and establishes his capital at Luoyang. He rewards his meritorious followers, restores ritual and music, and wins the hearts of the realm. His dynasty is founded on combining Confucianism and Legalism and uniting Hu and Han peoples. It promotes the imperial examinations while curbing aristocratic privilege, and develops irrigation while encouraging farming and sericulture, ushering in a prosperous, unified empire. Historians call it “the Xinghan Prosperity.” Yet the secret of his rebirth is something he reveals only in the stillness of night, sighing alone before a single lamp at the Bronze Sparrow Terrace: “Can fate be defied? How could I not know? I simply could not betray my own heart.”
