東漢章帝在位十三年，被視為是東漢的盛世，和明帝並稱為「明章之治」。在位期間，章帝深受身旁的兩個女性影響，一為養母明德馬后，一為妻子章德竇后。明德馬后與章德竇后，分別代表了馬氏及竇氏兩大家族。兩大外戚與章帝的相終始，影響了章帝的施政，也影響了日後和帝的政局。然而，章帝對外戚的寬容與寵幸，卻成為後人抨擊的對象；和帝以降的外戚與女主政治，也同樣被歸罪於章帝時代。這些環伺在章帝身旁的外戚家族，卻是明帝政策下的衍生物。依此，後人對章帝的評論並不盡公允。明、章二帝施政風格的不同，是後人津津樂道的話題；相較之下，兩人之間的相似與延續，卻是乏人問津的議題。章帝即位後，深受明帝的影響，許多政策都是承繼自明帝時代。明帝時代「以外戚制外戚」的政策，讓馬氏成為制衡陰、郭二氏的力量；同樣地，章帝對竇氏的支持，也是繼承自明帝「以外戚制外戚」的心法。因此，東漢女主與外戚干政的原因，早在明帝時便已萌芽。然而，東漢皇室一方面不斷壓抑外戚家族的力量，另一方面，和外戚家族的關係卻越來越緊密，甚至建立起互相依存的關係。外戚干政的情況，更勝於西漢時代。皇帝、女主與外戚，遂成為生命共同體。當東漢政權覆滅後，外戚家族也跟著走到盡頭。

Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang were the famous rulers in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and they usually were recognized as "Ming-Zhang zhi zhi" (the Flourishing Age of Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang). In the Chinese historical records, it's traditionally considered that the period of Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang was the golden age in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and could be competed with the period of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing in the Western Han Dynasty. Moreover, many historians usually emphasized the differences of individual characters and administrative measures between Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang. These studies revealed how Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang made their empires more stable and how different they were. However, these similarity between Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang. Therefore, these studies were not enough to comprehend Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang. To comprehend the period of Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang in depth, the study tries to focus on the relationship between Emperor Zhang and his relatives of the Ma clan and the Dou clan, and tries to explain why the emperor relied on his relatives by marriage. From the study, it's very conspicuous that Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang continued to use the policies of Emperor Kuang-wu who centralized state power and suspected the officials, these emperors' brothers, and the local powerful clans. From above reasons, the empress's families became the only one in whom the emperors could trust. It explains why these emperors' relatives by marriage could get the political power again in the Eastern Han Dynasty. In short, the strong partnership between Emperor Ming, Emperor Zhang and their empress' families finally led the Eastern Han Empire to go downhill.