The Han Dynasty
Government
- The former Han ruled for two centuries, until nine A.D. the later Han ruled for another two centuries.
- Liu Bang, the emperor, established a centralized government, which meant that central authority controlled the state.
- To win popular support, Liu Bang made punishment less harsh and lowered taxes.
- Liu bang dies in 195 B.C.
- Liu Bang’s son becomes the emperor, but Empress Lu is the real ruler; she had powerful friends in the court that helped her seize power.
- Empress Lu outlived her son and kept power by naming infants who were too young to rule Emperor.
- When Empress Lu dies in 180 B.C., people with power executed the old empress’s family.
- Liu Bang’s great grandson took the throne, and kept Liu Bang’s idea of centralized policies.
- Liu Bang’s great grandson, Wudi, reigned from 141 to 87 B.C., and lived to be the emperor that held the throne the longest.
- Wudi was also called the “Martial Emperor” because he expanded China through war.
- The Xiongnu, Wodi’s first enemy, were nomads known for their acherery skills while on horseback. They raided China’s settled farmland, stealing livestock, grain, other valuables, and taking hostages. The Han emperors tried to buy them off by sending thousands of pounds of gifts, but the Xiongnu just took them and continued their raids.
- Confucianism, the study and teachings of Confucius, was now used as a method for government testing for who they employ; Wudi began this.
- Even though earlier Han emperors had employed Confucian scholars for their courts, it was Wudi who began to favor them.
- Wudi had a school set up were people who were possible job applicants from around China could come and study Confucianism.
- After the hopeful job applicants did their studying, they would be tested on history, law, literature, and Confucianism.
- In spite of the flaw that basically only the rich could afford to be educated to take these exams, the system was so successful it was used in China until 1912.
Society in the Han Dynasty
• During the Han dynasty, society was highly structured. The emperor had divine power, as the Chinese believed that their emperor was the connection between earth and the heavens; that if he did well, peace and prosperity would reign throughout the empire, but if he didn’t do well, the gods would be displeased and send earthquakes, famines, and floods.
• The Han dynasty had a complex government, and running the government and the army was expensive. To raise money taxes were issued.
• Peasants gave part of their yearly crop to the government, and merchants paid taxes.
• In addition to paying taxes, peasants also owed the government a month’s worth of work, or military service. With this labor, roads were built, ditches irrigated, and the Great Wall expanded.
• The Han dynasty had a complex government, and running the government and the army was expensive. To raise money taxes were issued.
• Peasants gave part of their yearly crop to the government, and merchants paid taxes.
• In addition to paying taxes, peasants also owed the government a month’s worth of work, or military service. With this labor, roads were built, ditches irrigated, and the Great Wall expanded.
Achievements in Chinese culture
- Collar harnesses for horses made it easier and possible for horses to drag heavier loads. This invention passed the European technology at the time.
- The Chinese also perfected the plow, giving it two blades for more efficiency.
- The Chinese also improved tools, invented the wheel barrow, and started using water mills to grind grain.
- Silk was a very guarded secret, as the Chinese were the only ones who knew how to make it. With this monopoly, the Chinese made great amounts of money. The Silk Roads expanded through Asia, India and all the way to Rome.
Fall of the Han dynasty
- The gap between the poor and the rich grew, as it was tradition for the land to be split amongst the families male members, so that every generation, less and less land was given to each male. With this, there weren’t enough crops to feed a family, so the poor had to borrow from the rich, and with huge interest rates. As the rich landowners didn’t have to pay taxes, the taxes upon peasants grew, along with the gap between the rich and the poor.
- Finally, a Confucian scholar named Wand Mang overthrew the government. He made new money, took land from the poor and gave it to the rich, and began a public grainery.
- This supply of new money gave merchants the ability to raise prices, and the wealthy land owners were angry at Wang Mang for taking their land.
- Eventually, a flood killed thousands and displaced millions, and Wang Mang was assassinated.
- Within a few years, the old imperial family regained the throne and so began the Later Han.
The Later Han
- The first few years of the late Han were prosperous.
- The government sent soldiers to expand the Silk Roads, but that couldn’t
make up for the unrest inside of China By 220, the dynasty fell into three rival tribes.