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East Asia

Imperial houses, family conglomerates and estates in China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia.

204 storiesUnited StatesUnited KingdomFranceIndiaChinaJapanSouth KoreaIndonesiaPhilippinesThailandPacific islandsCaribbean islandsMongoliaSingapore

What do the East Asia estate cases show?

A dead star's image is protected only where an heir registers it and sues; elsewhere others register it first. A family rule that removes members on marriage reduces the pool of heirs each generation.

Stories
204
Years
1200 BCE to 2025
Main subjects
Japan and Southeast Asia, Asian dynasties, Business dynasties
Legal traditions
Chinese and East Asian law, Civil law
Updated
30 October 2026

Every story in East Asia, best-known first

Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.

  1. 1973A Chinese fast-food chain used a Bruce Lee figure as its logo for 15 years, and his daughter sued for 210 million yuangulfnews.com and 3 more
  2. 2021Japan's Princess Mako refused a ¥140 million payout to marry a commoner and lost her royal statusWikipedia (English) and 1 more
  3. 2009David Carradine was found dead in a Bangkok closet in 2009; Thai police said suicide, the family's pathologist said accident, and his widow sued the film companyabcnews.com and 3 more
  4. 1970Mishima's widow boycotted Paul Schrader's 1985 film, and his children won a copyright suit over his lettersavclub.com and 2 more
  5. 2022Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju's family paid inheritance tax with 29.3 percent of his holding company, and the government could not find a buyerKorea JoongAng Daily and 2 more
  6. 2015Lee Kuan Yew's will asked that his house be demolished, and Singapore made it a national monument over his son's objectionmccy.gov.sg and 3 more
  7. 2019Goo Hara's mother left when she was a child and claimed half her estate; Korea changed its inheritance lawsoompi.com and 3 more
  8. 1969Ho Chi Minh's will asked for cremation and his ashes split three ways; the Politburo embalmed him, cut the request from the published will and moved his death date by a dayInternet Archive and 3 more
  9. 2003Anita Mui put her estate in a trust to keep it from her mother; the mother sued for 20 years, went bankrupt, and died in 2026 after Mui's ashes went missingtaipeitimes.com and 5 more
  10. 2023Abby Choi's former husband and his father and brother are on trial for her murder over a flat she had put in her father-in-law's namethestar.com.my and 2 more
  11. 2012Tonga's constitution lets only children born in marriage inherit the throne or a noble estate, so King George Tupou V's daughter could not succeed himWikisource (primary text) and 4 more
  12. 2020A Bangkok dealer died under US indictment for selling looted Khmer statues, and his daughter gave the 125 pieces she inherited back to Cambodiaice.gov and 4 more
  13. 2008Formosa Plastics' founder died without a will, and his son sued to unwind $15 billion placed in Bermuda trustsInternet Archive and 3 more
  14. 1998Brunei accused the sultan's brother of taking billions as finance minister, and the Privy Council ordered him to hand over his hotelsnycourts.gov and 2 more
  15. 1993A Baguio locksmith said Marcos's men seized his golden Buddha, and a Hawaii jury valued the gold he never got back at $22 billionCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 4 more
  16. 1989Marcos drew a salary of 100,000 pesos a year, and the Philippine Supreme Court took $658 million of his Swiss depositsCaselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 5 more
  17. 1989The Dalai Lama named a six-year-old as Panchen Lama in 1995; the boy disappeared within days and China installed another boy chosen from a golden urntashilhunpo.org and 4 more
  18. 2008Indonesia's Supreme Court ordered General Suharto's Supersemar foundation to pay about 4.4 trillion rupiahnews.detik.com and 4 more
  19. 2014Ken Takakura's adopted daughter cremated him before his family knew he had died, and inherited his estate and film rightsfriday.kodansha.co.jp and 3 more
  20. 2024Suzuki Motor was run by four adopted sons in a row, including Osamu Suzuki, who married into the family and ran it for 43 yearsglobalsuzuki.com and 4 more
  21. 1948US Army papers show Hideki Tojo's ashes were scattered over the Pacific in 1948wjla.com and 4 more
  22. 2021South Korea could not collect 86.7 billion won of Chun Doo-hwan's forfeiture after he diedThe Korea Herald and 8 more
  23. 2008Choi Jin-sil's ex-husband regained rights over her children the day she died, and a fan stole her ashes from her graveThe Korea Times and 6 more
  24. 2020Stanley Ho sued 11 defendants, including 2 of his wives and 5 of his children, hours after saying on television he would not sue his familyhkexnews.hk and 15 more
  25. 2025Najib Razak's stepson made The Wolf of Wall Street with money from Malaysia's state fund, and Najib was given 15 more years in prisonjamaica-gleaner.com and 3 more
  26. 2015A Korean court ordered SK Group's chairman to pay his ex-wife 1.38 trillion won, and the Supreme Court threw it outBBC and 3 more
  27. 1988Chiang Ching-kuo never acknowledged his twin sons, and one of them took the Chiang name 63 years latercna.com.tw and 5 more
  28. 1942Britain blew up Burmah Oil's installations in 1942, the House of Lords ruled the Crown must pay, and Parliament passed a law backdated to cancel the debtlegislation.gov.uk and 2 more
  29. 2020Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee's heirs paid 12 trillion won in inheritance tax, the largest in Korean historykhan.co.kr and 3 more
  30. 2017Malaysia stopped paying the Sulu sultan's heirs in 2013, and a Spanish arbitrator awarded them US$14.92 billionsagc.sabah.gov.my and 7 more
  31. 2008British and French troops looted the Summer Palace in 1860; Yves Saint Laurent's estate auctioned two of its bronze heads, and the winning bidder refused to payvisualizingcultures.mit.edu and 4 more
  32. 1997Bảo Đại handed his gold seal to the revolution in 1945, sued his own son for it in France, and his widow's heirs sold it for 6.1 million eurosvoatiengviet.com and 5 more
  33. 2001Shuji Nakamura was paid ¥20,000 for the blue LED patent, a Tokyo court awarded him ¥20 billion, and he settled for ¥840 millioncompoundsemiconductor.net and 2 more
  34. 2019K.K. Modi's trust deed split his family into court cases, and his son accused his mother's side of having him assaulted at a board meetingindialegallive.com and 4 more
  35. 1996Kim Kwang-seok's daughter, heir to his song copyrights, died in 2007, and her mother told no one for ten yearsThe Korea Times and 3 more
  36. 1941Thailand's finance ministry sued its abdicated king for 6.27 million baht in 1939 and won an order freezing everything he ownedth.wikisource.org and 4 more
  37. 1924When the Bogd Khan died in 1924, Mongolia's government took his seal, declared a republic and banned the search for his reincarnationdalailama.com and 4 more
  38. 1963Rikidōzan hid that he was Korean, died of a yakuza stab wound, and left his 22-year-old widow president of five companies and a reported 3 billion yen of debtKorea JoongAng Daily and 3 more
  39. 1890The Dominican landlords evicted José Rizal's family from Calamba in 1890, and the United States bought the friar estates in 1903Project Gutenberg and 2 more
  40. 1930Sakichi Toyoda sold his loom patents to a British firm, the money started Toyota, and the loom company went to an adopted son-in-lawtoyota-global.com and 3 more
  41. 2019Kelantan's council made the sultan's son sultan while the father lay ill, and the father asked the Federal Court to give his throne backInternet Archive and 5 more
  42. 1967China's last emperor kept his title and palace after abdicating, and soldiers blew open his ancestors' tombsWikipedia (English) and 2 more
  43. 1991A fugitive baron died in Manila with two infant sons by two women, and the Lords gave his title to his half-brother after DNA ruled out one boy and bigamy the otherpublications.parliament.uk and 4 more
  44. 1807Zheng Yi's widow took command of his pirate fleets, married his adopted heir, and surrendered to the Qing in 1810 keeping her plunderworldhistory.org and 2 more
  45. 1875Cixi made her sister's son emperor, an official killed himself to object to the adoption, and the emperor died of arsenic in 1908zh.wikisource.org and 4 more
  46. 2007Nina Wang won her kidnapped husband's estate in Hong Kong's top court in 2005, then her feng shui adviser was jailed for forging her willlegalref.judiciary.hk and 8 more
  47. 2024Wahaha founder Zong Qinghou's three other children froze $1.8 billion in Hong Kong to claim trusts he wrote by handcaixinglobal.com and 2 more
  48. 1976The Cojuangcos bought Hacienda Luisita in 1957 on a promise to sell it to tenants, and the Supreme Court ordered it handed to 6,296 farmworkers in 2011lawphil.net and 5 more
  49. 2025Two half-brothers were each crowned Pakubuwono XIII in 2004, and in 2025 two of the next king's sons each took the title Pakubuwono XIVthejakartapost.com and 8 more
  50. 2023LG's chairman adopted his nephew as heir; his widow and daughters sued to undo the share split and the adoption, and lost both in 2026The Korea Times and 3 more
  51. 2021An 88-year-old Shanghai man signed his 3 million yuan home over to the fruit seller who cared for him, a court later declared him incapable, and the gift still stoodbjnews.com.cn and 2 more
  52. 2020Lotte's 93-year-old founder fired his younger son, the shareholders kept the son, and a court put the father under guardianshipThe Korea Herald and 2 more
  53. 2020Hanmi Pharm's founder died owing a family tax bill of 500 billion won, his widow and daughter agreed to merge with OCI, and his sons stopped it at a shareholder voteThe Korea Times and 8 more
  54. 2019Korean Air's "nut rage" heiress joined an activist fund to oust her brother, and lost the shareholder voteThe Korea Times and 2 more
  55. 2019A Sinar Mas son was left 1 billion rupiah, sued his half-brothers over an estate he put at 649 trillion rupiah, and lost his status as a legitimate childfinance.detik.com and 4 more
  56. 2018Sun Hung Kai's chairman was removed by his mother and brothers, who said he was mentally ill, and cut from the family trustfamilybusinessmagazine.com and 2 more
  57. 2018Japan's "Don Juan of Kishu" left his fortune to his town; his widow was acquitted of killing him and may still inherit halfInternet Archive and 3 more
  58. 2018Japan hanged Aum's founder in 2018, his daughters fought over his ashes, and the state refused to hand them over until a 2026 court orderenglish.adnkronos.com and 1 more
  59. 2017North Korea's leader's half-brother was killed with VX at Kuala Lumpur airport, and Malaysia traded his body for nine of its citizens held in Pyongyangfoxnews.com and 3 more
  60. 2016The Ranbaxy brothers sold their drug company for billions, owed the buyer Rs 3,500 crore, and were arrested over their lenderscroll.in and 2 more
  61. 2016Thailand's new king changed the law to put the Crown Property Bureau's billions in his own nameReuters and 2 more
  62. 2016Evergreen's founder left his whole personal fortune to his youngest son, the three older half-brothers removed him from the airline, and the courts upheld the willtaiwannews.com.tw and 3 more
  63. 2016Douyin creators sold AI videos of dead actor Qiao Renliang saying he had not really left, and his father asked who gave them the rightsixthtone.com and 2 more
  64. 2015Samsung's founder's eldest son sued his brother Lee Kun-hee for 4.1 trillion won in shares and lostThe Korea Times and 2 more
  65. 2015A Japanese furniture founder fired his daughter, she beat him in a proxy fight, and the company was soldamt-law.com and 2 more
  66. 2015Yogyakarta's sultan has five daughters and no son, and all 11 of his younger brothers opposed him when he raised the eldest toward the thronenewmandala.org and 3 more
  67. 2014After the Sewol sank with 304 dead, the man prosecutors called its real owner fled, was found dead in a plum field, and the state went after his family's assetsThe Korea Herald and 3 more
  68. 2013A Chinese couple died in a car crash five days before their embryos were to be implanted, and four years later a surrogate from Laos gave birth to their sonblogs.loc.gov and 2 more
  69. 2013China's courts jail grave robbers who sell women's corpses as "ghost brides" for sons who died unmarriedmadeinchinajournal.com and 2 more
  70. 2011A singer's son by a Suharto minister changed Indonesian law: children born outside marriage can now claim their fathersnasional.kompas.com and 2 more
  71. 2010A man says he found the only other copy of the Korean alphabet's founding book while cleaning his house, and the state that owns it cannot find itThe Korea Herald and 2 more
  72. 2009A Doosan heir exposed his brothers' slush fund to win the chairmanship, was cast out of the family, and died by suicideKorea JoongAng Daily and 2 more
  73. 2009Kumho's board fired one founding brother, the group split in two, and the brothers sued each other for yearsKorea JoongAng Daily and 2 more
  74. 2005The last Korean imperial heir divorced his American wife after relatives pressed for a son, died in the Tokyo building where he was born, and was given an adopted son after his deathdonga.com and 3 more
  75. 2005The Rong family's mills passed to the state in the 1950s, and the son who stayed became China's vice president and his son a billionairevoanews.com and 4 more
  76. 2001Hyundai's founder split his empire between feuding sons, and the heir he chose jumped from his office during a corruption probeKorea JoongAng Daily and 2 more
  77. 2001Japan's Supreme Court struck down the half-share rule for children born outside marriage in 2013, 18 years after upholding itcourts.go.jp and 2 more
  78. 2001A dying man in Luzhou left his savings and his ashes to the woman he lived with, and the court gave everything to his wifeInternet Archive and 2 more
  79. 2000A Hong Kong buyer asked twice whether anything had happened in the flat; a boy had fallen to his death from its balconyvlex.hk and 3 more
  80. 1996Samsung's heir and his three siblings bought Everland bonds at 7,700 won a share in 1996, two executives were convicted, and their father was cleared on that chargeKorea JoongAng Daily and 3 more
  81. 1994A Yuen Long woman's brother drove her from their father's house, and village women made Hong Kong let daughters inherit New Territories land in 1994varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk and 2 more
  82. 1990Sun Hung Kai's eldest son was kidnapped for a record ransom, then removed as chairman by his mother, who controlled the family's shareshkexnews.hk and 3 more
  83. 1989Japan's imperial family paid 3.3 billion yen in property tax in 1947, and in 1989 the new emperor paid 428 million yen in inheritance tax while the regalia passed tax-freekokushikan.repo.nii.ac.jp and 2 more
  84. 1989Marcos's body lay in a glass case in Batac for 23 years until a 9-5 Supreme Court vote put it in the Heroes' Cemeterylawphil.net and 2 more
  85. 1987A doctor fled south in 1950 with one daughter, and 59 years later his four children left in North Korea sued their half-siblings for his estatenkeconwatch.com and 2 more
  86. 1986Japanese courts cancelled auction sales of houses where owners had died by suicide, and in 2021 the state set a three-year disclosure rulemc-law.jp and 2 more
  87. 1976A Pertamina general died with 54 million marks in Singapore accounts in his and his widow's names, and the courts gave it to the state oil company as bribeslaw.nus.edu.sg and 3 more
  88. 1970A Korean family gave away 300 years of wealth to found a college, and the government merged it and named Park Chung-hee its founderimaeil.com and 5 more
  89. 1964Seibu's founder left his railway empire to his third son over the eldest, and that son was convicted in 2005 over shares kept in other people's namesNBC News and 3 more
  90. 1959Thailand executed Si Quey in 1959 and a hospital museum displayed his embalmed body as a "cannibal" for 60 years before he was crematednationthailand.com and 2 more
  91. 1956Taiwan's leading landlord Lin Hsien-tang left for Japan "for treatment" in 1949 and never came back, and the 1953 land-to-the-tiller law paid landlords in bonds and shareszh.wikisource.org and 4 more
  92. 1953A landowner whose family gave the Viet Minh 700 taels of gold was shot as the land reform's first example in 1953, and her family found her bones in 1990cand.vn and 4 more
  93. 1521Magellan left a hereditary governorship to his son, but his wife and sons died, and his brother-in-law was still claiming the estate in 1540sevilla.2019-2022.org and 3 more
  94. 1613Tokugawa Ieyasu's mine magistrate died rich in 1613, and the shogunate made his seven sons kill themselves and seized everything he ownedmlit.go.jp and 2 more
  95. 1227Genghis Khan's sons fought over the eldest son's birth before he named a successor, and his grave was never recordedzh.wikisource.org and 5 more
  96. 1949Landlord Liu Wencai died before land reform reached him, his manor became a museum of his crimes, and in 1988 its "water dungeon" was relabelled an opium storedeniseyho.com and 2 more
  97. 1947The regent who found the 14th Dalai Lama handed power to a rival in 1941, was arrested for plotting to take it back, and died in a Potala celltibet.prm.ox.ac.uk and 2 more
  98. 1946Thailand's 20-year-old king was found shot in his bed, and three palace servants were executed nine years laterWikipedia (English)
  99. 1946Japan's largest landlord told reporters in 1945 he would not regret going from 1,500 chō to 5, and the 1946 law left a resident landlord about onecollections.dartmouth.edu and 3 more
  100. 1945Workers in Tokyo dug up the bones of at least 62 people at the old Army Medical School in 1989, and Japan has never identified themCBS News and 2 more
  101. 1944Japan hanged Soviet spy Richard Sorge and Moscow refused to claim him; his Japanese partner moved his body to her own grave plot and tended it until she diednippon.com and 2 more
  102. 1931Shanghai's richest landlord left everything to his Eurasian Buddhist widow, his Iraqi relatives sued, and the People's Republic closed the case in 1957thechinaproject.com and 2 more
  103. 1925Siam's 1924 succession law barred princesses, so King Vajiravudh's only child, born as he lay dying, could not inherit his throneInternet Archive and 5 more
  104. 1919Confucius's 77th-generation heir was made a duke as a baby, and Red Guards later dug up his father and hung the body from a treearchive.spectator.co.uk and 5 more
  105. 1918Singapore took the Ong clan's burial hill for a public cemetery, then dug up more than 4,000 of its graves for a highway, and unclaimed remains were to be scattered at seawiki.sg and 2 more
  106. 1916King Thibaw handed Burma's crown jewels to a British colonel in 1885, and the Nga Mauk ruby was never seen againInternet Archive and 8 more
  107. 1722The Kangxi Emperor deposed his heir twice, and the son who followed him hid the next heir's name behind a palace plaquezh.wikisource.org and 4 more
  108. 210 BCEThe Shiji says the First Emperor's chancellor and his seal-keeper forged his last letter, and his eldest son killed himself on the forged orderzh.wikisource.org and 4 more
  109. 1855Prince Diponegoro was arrested at peace talks in 1830, and the kris the Dutch returned in 2020 had been missing for decadesthejakartapost.com and 3 more
  110. 705Wu Zetian deposed one son, had another forced to kill himself, made herself emperor, and was buried as an empress in her husband's sealed tombzh.wikisource.org and 5 more
  111. 1662Koxinga ordered his heir and his own wife killed over a child born to a wet nurse, and died before his generals obeyedzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  112. 1835Raffles made Hussein sultan without the regalia, and in 1897 a court ruled his grandsons' palace land belonged to the Crownsso.agc.gov.sg and 6 more
  113. 208Cao Cao had his physician Hua Tuo put to death, and Hua Tuo burned his book of methods in prison when the jailer would not take itzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  114. 1895Dutch troops took a quarter tonne of gold from the Lombok palace in 1894, and with it the only manuscript of Majapahit's royal chronicleamsterdam.wereldmuseum.nl and 4 more
  115. 1894A widow inherited a Kobe sugar trader, her manager made it bigger than Mitsui, rioters burned it, and it failed in 1927kotobank.jp and 3 more
  116. 1890A widow at 19 promised to guard her family's two great bronze cauldrons, hid them through seven Japanese raids, and gave them to the statetouch.shio.gov.cn and 3 more
  117. 1883Emperor Tự Đức's will called his heir unfit, and his regents crowned four emperors in just over a year and poisoned twovi.wikisource.org and 5 more
  118. 1880Japanese scientists dug up more than 1,600 Ainu remains for study, and Ainu groups sued universities to bring them home47news.jp and 4 more
  119. 1864David Sassoon's sons split his firm in two, his daughter-in-law Flora was pushed out, and his great-grandson Victor lost Shanghaismu.edu and 3 more
  120. 1862A British officer shot the last Mughal emperor's sons in 1857, and in 2025 India's Supreme Court threw out his great-grandson's widow's claim to the Red FortLiveLaw and 4 more
  121. 626Li Shimin killed his two brothers at the Xuanwu Gate, executed their ten sons and had the throne from his father within two monthszh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  122. 1398The Yongle Emperor took his nephew's throne in 1402, and the deposed emperor's two-year-old son was held for 55 yearszh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  123. 1248Ögedei named a grandson as heir, two widows put other men on the throne, and Möngke executed the grandson's mother for sorceryzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  124. 1704Danjūrō I was stabbed to death in his dressing room by a rival actor, and his 15-year-old son took the name that is now in its 13th generationkabuki21.com and 3 more
  125. 1792Gia Long dug up the Tây Sơn emperors in 1802, pounded their bones and locked their skulls in a prisonzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  126. 1457Danjong's uncle took his throne, and three Joseon records give three accounts of how the 16-year-old died in exileencykorea.aks.ac.kr and 2 more
  127. 578The Kongō family built temples for 40 generations from 578, and lost the company to debt in 2006kongogumi.co.jp and 4 more
  128. 976Song records say the founder's mother made him leave the throne to his brother, and on the night he died the messenger fetched the brother instead of the sonzh.wikisource.org and 4 more
  129. 903Japan's court exiled Michizane on a rival's charge, then restored his offices and made him Chancellor 90 years after his deathkotobank.jp and 2 more
  130. 940Masakado fought his uncles for land, called himself the new emperor, and his head mound in Tokyo moved the Finance Ministrypinktentacle.com and 2 more
  131. 1443Zeami lost his son and the leadership of his Noh troupe to the shogun's favourite, and was exiled to Sado at about 72the-noh.com and 2 more
  132. 235 BCESima Qian writes that a merchant bought a hostage prince the throne of Qin, then drank poison when the new king turned on himzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  133. 23The Han shu records that Wang Mang took the throne from a Han child, declared all land the "king's fields", repealed it three years later, and his head was kept for 272 yearszh.wikisource.org and 4 more
  134. 1129Li Qingzhao lost her late husband's collection to war and thieves, then reported her second husband to the courts and went to jail for itzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  135. 649A Tang emperor sent an agent in disguise to take Wang Xizhi's Orchid Pavilion Preface from an old monk, and took it into his tombzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  136. 937China's Heirloom Seal passed to every usurper for 1,100 years, and the last Later Tang emperor carried it into the firezh.wikisource.org and 4 more
  137. 1694Mitsui's 1722 house code barred any branch from dividing or selling its share, and the US occupation took the families' property in 1946archive.dartmouthalumnimagazine.com and 3 more
  138. 1200 BCEFu Hao led the Shang king's armies, the oracle said her childbirth was "not good" because she had a girl, and hers is the only Shang royal tomb found intactenglish.henan.gov.cn and 2 more
  139. 192The Hou Han Shu says Cai Yong begged to be mutilated so he could finish his history, died in prison, and his ransomed daughter rewrote 400 of his 4,000 books from memoryzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  140. 1592Their mother produced a letter naming the younger son, Hideyoshi removed the elder as head of the Honganji, and Ieyasu gave the elder land for a rival temple in Kyotomlit.go.jp and 3 more
  141. 1799China's new emperor arrested his father's favourite five days after the old emperor died, let him hang himself, and seized a fortune put at up to 800 million taelsWikisource (primary text) and 3 more
  142. 1796Burma took Ayutthaya's former king prisoner in 1767, and in 2013 a Thai team dug up the tomb said to hold his ashesthesiamsociety.org and 2 more
  143. 1782General Chakri took Taksin's throne in 1782 while Taksin's son and heir was away at war, and dug up Taksin's body two years latervajirayana.org and 5 more
  144. 1778The future Rama I took the Emerald Buddha from conquered Vientiane, and it has stayed in Bangkok for two centuriesvajirayana.org and 2 more
  145. 1762King Yeongjo locked his heir in a rice chest until he died, and the heir's son became king and moved the body into a new fortressencykorea.aks.ac.kr and 4 more
  146. 1741Okiku broke one of ten heirloom dishes, was killed and thrown into a well, and Himeji Castle still shows the welledizionicafoscari.it and 2 more
  147. 1716The child shogun died in 1716 and the Tokugawa main line ended, so a branch lord whose three elder brothers had died took the titlekotobank.jp and 3 more
  148. 1705The shogunate confiscated Osaka's richest merchant house in 1705 for living beyond its stationkotobank.jp and 2 more
  149. 1701The shogunate confiscated Lord Asano's 53,000-koku domain the day he drew his sword, and his retainers waited 21 months to take revengekotobank.jp and 3 more
  150. 1682Tibet's regent hid the Fifth Dalai Lama's death for 15 years; a Mongol khan later deposed the Sixth and put his own candidate in the Potalatricycle.org and 2 more
  151. 1636Oiwa's shrine says she and her adopted-heir husband restored the Tamiya fortunes; the 1825 play has him betray her for a richer matchprojects.mcah.columbia.edu and 2 more
  152. 1621The Dutch East India Company executed 44 Banda chiefs in 1621 and gave the nutmeg groves to Dutch planters, and one planter family says it has held its grove for 13 generationsdaily.jstor.org and 3 more
  153. 1608King Gwanghae's officials killed his eight-year-old half-brother in exile, and the boy's mother gave her name to the coup that deposed himencykorea.aks.ac.kr and 3 more
  154. 1598Hideyoshi took over Nobunaga's house by backing a two-year-old heir, and after he died Tokugawa Ieyasu did the same to his own five-year-old sonkotobank.jp and 5 more
  155. 1595Hideyoshi's adopted heir was forced to kill himself after a son was born, and 39 of his wives, children and servants were beheaded in Kyotokyohaku.go.jp and 3 more
  156. 1591Hideyoshi ordered his tea master to kill himself in 1591, and the Sen family won back the name that three tea houses still carrynippon.com and 4 more
  157. 1510The eunuch who ran the Ming government was searched in front of the emperor, who found millions in silver and false sealsEncyclopaedia Britannica and 2 more
  158. 157 BCEEmperor Wen gave his favourite a copper mountain and the right to mint coins; the next emperor took everything, and he died owning nothingzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  159. 900The Laguna Copperplate of 900 AD cleared the children of Namwaran of a debt in gold, and warned anyone who later said it was unpaidInternet Archive and 2 more
  160. 92Ban Gu died in a magistrate's prison with the Book of Han unfinished, and the emperor ordered his sister Ban Zhao to complete itzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  161. 1135The Jurchens took two Song emperors north in 1127; a 1142 treaty brought home the father's coffin and left the son, a crowned emperor, in captivity until he diedzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  162. 1490A childless shogun adopted his brother as heir in 1464, then his wife bore a son, and the quarrel burned Kyoto for 11 yearskotobank.jp and 3 more
  163. 1450Kyoto Imperial University took bones from a Ryukyuan royal tomb, descendants sued for them, and the university gave them to the village in 2025 on condition they never be buriedryukyushimpo.jp and 4 more
  164. 1441Sejo dug up Queen Hyeondeok's tomb after her son's fall; the legend says her coffin was thrown into the sea, and her rank came back 56 years laterih.snu.ac.kr and 2 more
  165. 1424Japan's Southern Court gave up the sacred regalia in 1392 on a promise to share the throne, the promise was broken, and loyalists stole the jewel back in 1443kotobank.jp and 5 more
  166. 1424Two princes of Ayutthaya killed each other on elephants in 1424, and looters robbed their crypt in 1957vajirayana.org and 2 more
  167. 1407A royal in-law took Vietnam's throne from his own grandson in 1400, and China invaded claiming to restore the true heirzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  168. 1406Two heirs of Majapahit went to war, 170 Ming soldiers died in the crossfire, and China billed the winner 60,000 liang of goldjv.wikisource.org and 5 more
  169. 1379The History of Ming says a rich man paid for a third of Nanjing's walls, offered to pay the emperor's army, and was exiled to Yunnanzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  170. 1330Korean thieves stole a Buddha from a Japanese island temple, a Korean temple claimed pirates had stolen it first, and Korea's Supreme Court sent it backculturalpropertynews.org and 2 more
  171. 1275A widowed nun rode from Kyoto to Kamakura in 1279 to sue her stepson for her son's estate, and her son's family still owns the archive she fought forkotobank.jp and 5 more
  172. 1275Nun Abutsu travelled to Kamakura in 1279 to claim her son's inheritance, died waiting, and the case ended 30 years lateredizionicafoscari.unive.it and 3 more
  173. 1259When Möngke died at a siege, two of his brothers were proclaimed Great Khan in the same year and fought for four yearszh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  174. 1256The last lord of Alamut surrendered to the Mongols in 1256, the Persian historian Juvayni burned the castle's library, and the imam was killed on his way home from the Khaniis.ac.uk and 3 more
  175. 1247The Pararaton says a smith cursed the kris that killed him, and that it killed three rulers of Singhasari in turnInternet Archive and 3 more
  176. 1226Vietnam's only reigning empress was made to hand the throne to her child husband in 1225, and the chronicle says the Lý clan was buried alive in 1232zh.wikisource.org and 7 more
  177. 1219The shogun's nephew killed him on the shrine steps in 1219 to avenge his father, and the Minamoto line of shoguns ended that nightkotobank.jp and 3 more
  178. 1189The Ōshū Fujiwara grew rich on northern gold, the fourth lord turned on the fugitive his father told him to protect, his own vassal beheaded him, and his head lies in the family's gold hallebi.ac.uk and 2 more
  179. 1185A six-year-old emperor drowned at Dan-no-ura in 1185 in his grandmother's arms, and the sacred sword went down with himkotobank.jp and 4 more
  180. 1176The Tale of the Soga Brothers says a guardian took his ward's estate, the ward killed the guardian's son, and the son's boys killed him 17 years laterkotobank.jp and 3 more
  181. 1164Emperor Sutoku lost the throne to his brothers, died in exile, and was brought home as a spirit in 1868archived.writersinkyoto.com and 2 more
  182. 1156A retired emperor and his brother went to war over the throne in 1156, and the winning side made a son behead his own fatherkotobank.jp and 2 more
  183. 1142Song China killed its leading general on a charge its chancellor admitted might not exist, held his family 20 years, then restored his name and reburied himehangzhou.gov.cn and 3 more
  184. 1052Fan Zhongyan's 1050 clan trust fed every member a daily rice ration, and within a few years his son had to ask the emperor to let courts enforce itzh.wikisource.org and 5 more
  185. 995An emperor gave Japan's oldest medical book to one physician family, and the author's descendants spent centuries trying to get it backonline.bunka.go.jp and 2 more
  186. 926The Liao History says Abaoji's widow cut off her right hand and put it in his coffin instead of following him into deathzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  187. 841Jang Bogo ruled the seas between China, Korea and Japan, tried to make his daughter a queen, and was stabbed over wine by an envoy who said he had fled the courtworldhistory.org and 2 more
  188. 756An empress gave her dead husband's treasures to a temple in 756, took back two swords, and they were found under the Great Buddhahistorynewsnetwork.org and 2 more
  189. 718A Japanese inn passed father to son for 46 generations since 718, and the heir's death put a daughter in line for the first timepublishing.insead.edu and 3 more
  190. 671Emperor Tenji passed over his brother for his son in 671, and the brother raised an army, won the throne and had the official history written by his own sonWikisource (primary text) and 4 more
  191. 645Prince Naka no Ōe cut down Soga no Iruka at court in 645, Iruka's father burned the court histories as he died, and a 646 edict abolished private estateskotobank.jp and 3 more
  192. 314A Sogdian merchant's wife left in Dunhuang wrote that she would rather be a dog's wife than his; her daughter added that the family's debts had made them servantsdepts.washington.edu and 2 more
  193. 1On the Xiongnu frontier the great tombs were built for women, each flanked by commoner men in simple graveseuropepmc.org and 2 more
  194. 59 BCELiu He was emperor for 27 days, was removed for 1,127 offences, and his gold-filled tomb was found after tomb robbers dug into itzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  195. 87 BCEEmperor Wu chose his youngest son as heir and had the boy's mother put to death, according to a supplement to the Shijizh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  196. 140 BCEAn iron magnate swore his widowed daughter would get not one coin after she eloped, then gave her 100 servants and a million cash when she sold wine in his townzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  197. 176 BCEThe Shiji says a physician with five daughters and no son was sentenced to mutilation, and his youngest daughter's petition ended the punishmentzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  198. 543 BCEZheng's minister was killed in the sheep market, his rivals died on the days his ghost named, and Zichan gave his son office to stop the hauntingzh.wikisource.org and 2 more
  199. 842Tibetan Buddhist histories say a monk shot Emperor Langdarma in 842; his two sons by different queens split the empireinfo-buddhism.com and 2 more
  200. 1833The Korean tale of Heungbu and Nolbu says the elder brother took the whole inheritance and threw the younger out, and a swallow reversed their fortunesjjan.kr and 2 more
  201. 1300In the Yuan play The Chalk Circle, a wife poisons her husband and claims his concubine's son to take the fortune, and Judge Bao tests the two motherswww2.kansai-u.ac.jp and 2 more
  202. 583 BCEThe Zuo zhuan and the Shiji give two accounts of how Jin destroyed the Zhao clan and gave its lands back to the one surviving boyzh.wikisource.org and 3 more
  203. 660 BCEThe Kojiki says the Sun Goddess sent her grandson to rule Japan with a mirror, a jewel and a sword, and the law still passes them with the throneWikisource (primary text) and 6 more
  204. 690 BCEThe Han Feizi says two kings cut off Bian He's feet for calling a stone jade, and the Shiji says Qin later offered 15 cities for the disczh.wikisource.org and 2 more