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Gaozu, the first Emperor of China’s Han dynasty, was originally a bandit leader from peasant stock before seizing the throne in 202 BCE. He retained a strong suspicion of elites for the rest of his life. How did he show his contempt for China’s scholar-aristocracy?

Answer: He would seize their hats and urinate in them. This suspicion eventually cost him his life however, as his refusal to see doctors hastened his death from septicemia in 195 BCE.

Source: The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia by David Crystal

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