IMPERIAL HAN DYNASTYThe Golden Age of Dragons

The Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) was an Imperial Dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty (221–207 BC) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms (220–280 AD). It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty (9–23 AD) of the former regent Wang Mang. This interregnum separates the Han into two periods: the Western Han (206 BC–9 AD) and Eastern Han (25–220 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the period of the Han Dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history. To this day, China's major ethnic group refers to itself as the "Han people" and the Chinese script is referred to as “Han characters”.

General Overview

General Overview

Government Monarchy

Emperor202-195 BC

25-57 ADEmperor GaozuEmperor Guangwu

Chancellor206-193 BC193-190 BC189-192 AD208-220 AD

220 AD

Xiao HeCao CanDong ZhuoCao CaoCao Pi

History206 BC202 BC

9-23 AD220 AD

Establishment of HanBattle of Gaixia; Imperial Han ruleInterruption of Han ruleAbdication to Cao Wei

Capital206 BC–9 AD

190-195 AD25-190 AD

196 AD196-220 AD

Chang An

Luo Yang

Xu Chang

Languages Old Chinese

Religion TaoismConfucianismChinese Folk Religion

Area50 BC (est.) 6,000,000 km2

(2,316,613 sq mi)

Population2 AD (est.) 57,671,400

CurrencyBan liang coinsWu zhu coins

General Overview

Government The Han system of Imperial government borrowed many of its core features from the regime established by the Qin Dynasty. For example, Chancellor Xiao He integrated much of the statutes of the Qin law code into the newly compiled Han law code. Yet Emperor Gaozu's establishment of central control over only a third of the empire—the other two-thirds of territory was controlled by semi-autonomous kingdoms—strayed from Qin's imperial model which gave the emperor direct control over all of China. In the Imperial Han central government, the Emperor is the supreme judge, commander-in-chief, and sole designator and appointer of higher ranks. Below the Emperor were his cabinet members—Three Councilors of State; and below them are the Nine Ministers each heading specialized ministry.

Emperor

Imperial Counselor Chancellor

Nine Ministers

Grand Marshal

General Overview

Government

LOCAL GOVERNMENT In descending order of size, the Han Empire, excluding kingdoms and marquisates, was divided into political units of provinces (zhou), commanderies (jun), and counties (xian). A county was divided into several districts, the latter composed of a group of hamlets, each containing about 100 families. The heads of provinces, whose official title was changed from Inspector to Governor and vice versa several times during Han, were responsible for inspecting several commandery-level and kingdom-level administrations. On the basis of their reports, the officials in these local administrations would be promoted, demoted, dismissed or prosecuted by the imperial court.

General Overview

Economy

The Han economy was defined by significant population growth, increasing urbanization, unprecedented growth of industry and trade, and government experimentation with nationalization. In this era, the levels of minting and circulation of coin currency grew significantly, forming the foundation of a stable monetary system. The Silk Road facilitated the establishment of trade and tributary exchanges with foreign countries across Eurasia, many of which were previously unknown to the people of ancient China. Under Han rule, industrialists, wholesalers, and merchants—from minor shopkeepers to wealthy businessmen—could engage in a wide range of enterprises and trade in the domestic, public, and even military spheres.

Wu zhu coins

Major Trade Goods

Lacquer pots Silk

General Overview

Culture

SOCIAL CLASS In the hierarchical social order, the emperor was at the apex of Han society and government. However the emperor was often a minor, ruled over by a regent such as the empress dowager or one of her male relatives. Ranked immediately below the emperor were the kings who were of the same Liu family clan. The rest of society, including nobles lower than kings and all commoners excluding slaves belonged to one of twenty ranks FAMILY STRUCTURE

The Han-era family was patrilineal and typically had four to five nuclear family members living in one household. Multiple generations of extended family members did not occupy the same house, unlike families of later dynasties. According to Confucian family norms, various family members were treated with different levels of respect and intimacy.

Han Dynasty Clothing

Man-Han Imperial Banquet

“When the Phoenix falls;Dragons rise

To take the Throne of Heaven”

Chinese Prophecy

History

Phoenix falling…

The Qin State was the first to achieved what was once an incredible and impossible feat during their time— the Unification of China. The Qin state, through superior strength and conquest, subjugated all the other six states during the Warring States Era and established the first Imperial Chinese dynasty. Despite such great accomplishment, the Qin Empire was short-lived and declined after the death of its first emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi. Due to its legalist approach on government, high taxation to support monumental construction, and ruthless methods to maintain power; the Qin Empire was met with several rebellions that weakened and undermined its authority. Until finally the great phoenix called Qin fell…

History

Dragons rising…

During the later years of the Qin dynasty, two dragons rebelled against the Qin for supremacy over all of China: Liu Bang the Prince of Han; and Xiang Yu the Hegemon King of Chu Liu Bang was the one who defeated the Qin dynasty by capturing their capital Chang-An. But Xiang Yu challenged his authority and waged war against him leading to the Chu-Han Contention. Initially Xiang Yu, a military genius, defeated Liu Bang in every engagement. It was only until Liu Bang recruited capable strategists and other regional kings who have a grudge against Xiang Yu that he gained the upper hand. Finally, during the Battle of Gaixia, Liu Bang ultimately defeated Xiang Yu, who later committed suicide. A lone dragon soaring the heavens…

Liu BangLDR 67WAR 66INT 44POL 58CHR 100

Xiang YuLDR 94WAR 100INT 69POL 20CHR 95

History

Dragon enthroned…

History

After the victory at the Battle of Gaixia, Liu Bang became unopposed and established the era of a new dynasty—the Han Dynasty. Liu Bang became the first emperor of the Han dynasty and assumed the title Emperor Gaozu (202-195 BC). Emperor Gaozu, with the help of his trusted advisor Zhang Liang and Chancellor Xiao He, manage to established and consolidate a strong central government that ruled over 13 commanderies on the western regions and facilitating over 10 semi-autonomous kingdoms on the eastern regions. Emperor Gaozu adopted the administrative model of a tripartite cabinet along with nine subordinate ministries.

Zhang Liang

Xiao HeEmperor Gaozu

Dragon roars…

History

Unlike any other empires, the Han dynasty started out as a weaker empire, even to the point of becoming an inferior tributary vassal to the Xiongnu tribe. It was only until the ascension of Han’s seventh emperor, Emperor Wu (141–84 BC), that the Han dynasty saw its greatest extent through expansion. Emperor Wu, a known military genius, started out by conquering the Xiongnu and Xianbei tribes to the north of the Great Wall expanding until the Tarim basin. Then Emperor Wu expanded south by annexing the Nanyue and Dian tribes in northern Vietnam; and east by subjugating the northern Korean peninsula.

Emperor Wu

Xiongnu Xianbei

Dian

Korea

Nanyue

History

With the death of Emperor Wu, the Han dynasty was not able to capitalize on the momentum brought about by his aggressive territorial expansion due to a lack of strong and able succeeding emperors that followed. With political maneuvers and assassinations, the regent Wang Mang was able to seize power in the Imperial Han court that by 10 January 9 AD he declared the end of the Han dynasty and the beginning of his Xin Dynasty (9–23 AD). Wang Mang instituted a series of major reforms that were ultimately unsuccessful: a. Outlawing slavery b. Equal distribution of land c. Introducing new currency Growing unrest and rebellions, coupled with massive floods during 11 AD brought about the fall of Wang Mang’s short-lived Xin Dynasty.

Dragon wounded…

The period between the foundation of the Han Dynasty and Wang Mang's reign is known as the Western Han Dynasty; while the era between the fall of the Xin dynasty until the fall of the Han dynasty is known as the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Wang Mang

History

Dragon healed…

Liu Xiu, a relative of the Imperial court started to restore the Han dynasty after the death of Wang Mang. On 5 August 25 AD, Liu Xiu was proclaimed Emperor Guangwu of Han (25–57 AD) and formally started the Later Han Dynasty. During Wang Mang’s tumultuous reign, the Han dynasty lost a lot of territory to foreign countries and rampant rebellions ravaged the land. The Han lost control of the Tarim basin while the Xiongnu retook their lost territories during the reign of Emperor Wu. The Trưng Sisters of Vietnam led rebellions in the south while the Red Eyebrows terrorized the country from within. From 26 until 36 AD, Emperor Guangwu had to wage war against other regional warlords who claimed the title of emperor; when these warlords were defeated, China reunified under the Han.

History

Dragon ailing…

Zhang JiaoEmperor Ling

The Eastern Han Dynasty has been considered to be the highest point of the dynastic house. Alongside the rise of the Imperial Court, another group of men also increased their wealth and power—the eunuchs. Subsequent reigns were increasingly marked by eunuch intervention in court politics and their involvement in the violent power struggles of the Imperial consort clans. During the reign of Emperor Ling (168 – 189 AD), ten powerful eunuchs manage almost all affairs of the state. Corruption is rampant as top government offices are auctioned by the “Ten Eunuchs”. Peasants and the gentry class, discontented and fed up with corruption, wore yellow scarves and rebelled under the leadership of Zhang Jiao—which was later known as The Yellow Turban Rebellion.

The Ten Eunuchs Yellow Turban Rebellion

History

Dragon weakened…

Emperor Ling ordered Grand Commander He Jin to quell the Yellow Turban Rebellion. He Jin immediately rallied the Imperial troops and with the aid of local warlords pacified the rebellion within 2 years. He Jin rewarded the local warlords by distributing land and titles to them, giving them autonomy in governance to ensure rebellions are easily met. Unknowingly, He Jin hastened the fall of the Han dynasty by weakening the power of the Imperial Court. He Jin then planned to remove the eunuchs from the Imperial court but was preempted and assassinated by the Ten Eunuchs. This lead to the massacre of the eunuchs in the Imperial Capital by He Jin’s followers. In the midst of the confusion, Dong Zhuo seized power and declared himself Chancellor. In a bold move, Dong Zhuo dethroned Emperor Shao (189 AD) and placed Emperor Xian (189–220 AD) on the throne as his puppet.

Dong Zhuo

Emperor Shao

Emperor Xian

Dragon weakened…

History

A coalition of local warlords under the leadership of Yuan Shao challenged the authority of Dong Zhuo. In response, Dong Zhuo burned Luo Yang and move the capital to Chang An. Despite the number of warlords and troops, the Anti-Dong Zhuo coalition still failed and disbanded just after one year of its establishment. Unable to assail and dethrone the fortified Dong Zhuo, the local warlords waged war with one another. Dong Zhuo was then assassinated by his adopted son Lu Bu and Emperor Xian fell to the hands of the ambitious warlord Cao Cao. Under the guise of the emperor and restoring the Han dynasty, Cao Cao was able to subjugate local warlords Tao Qian, Yuan Shu, Lu Bu, Kong Zhuo, and many others. In 200 AD, Cao Cao won a great battle against Yuan Shao, his greatest rival warlord in the north, in Guan Du complete solidifying his control over all the Central Plains and Northern China.

Yuan Shao Cao Cao

History

After conquering the north, Cao Cao has set his eyes on the south which has been untouched by wars. He was initially successful in driving his arch nemesis Liu Bei into wandering and forced an unconditional surrender of the Jing territory by the young and inept warlord Liu Cong. But Cao Cao’s biggest obstacle in the south is the Eastern Wu region dominated by the Sun clan (believed to be descendants of Sun Tzu). In 208 AD, Cao Cao’s invincible army of 1 million faced a combined Sun Quan-Liu Bei Allied troops of roughly 50,000 in Red Cliff. Cao Cao’s army was utterly defeated not by sheer force but with wits and strategy. In 220 AD Cao Cao died, Cao Pi who inherited his position dethroned Emperor Xian and named himself Emperor Wen of Wei. This formally ended the Han dynasty and initiated the Age of the Three Kingdoms: Wu, Wei, and Shu.

Dragon falls…

Battle of Red Cliff

History

Cao Wei

Shu Han Sun Wu

“The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been.”

Luo GuanzhongRomance of the Three Kingdoms

History

Contributions

The Han dynasty has been considered to be one of the Golden Ages of Imperial China. During this era, the Han dynasty was able to structure its government, expand its territory, developed its technology, bloomed its economy, and improved the well-being of its citizenry. It became a world leader in the field of arts and literature, sciences, and politics; and its contribution are numerous both technologically, economically, and politically. Here are some examples of the contributions of the Imperial Han dynasty.

Contributions

Political

THE IMPERIAL EXAMINATIONS The Imperial examination was a civil service examination system in Imperial China designed to select the best potential candidates to serve as administrative officials, for the purpose of recruiting them for the state's bureaucracy. The tests were designed as objective measures to evaluate the educational attainment and merit of the examinees, as part of the process by which final selections and appointments to office would be made. The earliest form of Imperial examinations was started during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (141–87 BC).

Contributions

Economic

THE SILK ROAD The Silk Road, or Silk Route, is a series of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from China to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time. The Silk Road gets its name from the lucrative Chinese silk trade, a major reason for the connection of trade routes into an extensive transcontinental network

Contributions

Technology

THE HOUFENG SEISMOGRAPH

In 132, Zhang Heng, a famous astronomer in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), invented the world's first earthquake-observation instrument, the urn-like Houfeng Seismograph that was made of fine copper with a central pendulum. According to the principle of inertia, an Earth tremor would cause the pendulum to lose balance, activating a set of levers inside. Then, one of the eight dragons placed in eight directions outside the urn would release a bronze ball held in its mouth. The ball would fall into the mouth of a toad and give off a sound, informing people of the time and direction of an earthquake.

Contributions

Technology

Compass Wheelbarrow Horse stirrups

Paper Glazed Pottery Hot-air Balloon

Trivia

Did you know that… there were 24 Emperors who reigned during the span of the Han dynasty?

Did you know that… the Han dynasty is as large as the Roman Empire during this time period?

Did you know that… that the Han dynasty emphasized tradition and order which outlasted their dynasty by 2000 years? Did you know that…

because of the belief that one must eat in the after-life just like they do when alive, many during the Han dynasty would bring terra cotta piglets in their tombs?

Trivia

Did you know that… the Han dynasty was believed to be the era of dragons and legends?

Dragons like… Zhang Liao who defeated a strong 100,000 man Wu army with a mere 800 crack troops

Legends like… Zhao Yun who charged Cao Cao’s 1 million troops to save Liu Bei’s son and escaped unscathed.