Han Dynasty

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Introduction; Political History of the Han; Economy; Religion and Philosophy; Literature and Art; Society; Legacy of the Han

Introduction

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Han Dynasty (206 bc-ad 220), Chinese imperial dynasty that reunited China after the fall of the Qin (Ch’in) dynasty (221-206 bc). The Han dynasty is known as the golden age of Chinese philosophy.

During their 426 year history, the Han created many of the institutions that made China distinctive. They expanded the boundaries of the state by making them similar to those of China today. Confucianism was elevated to the official state philosophical-religious system. Buddhism arrived from India and became an important religion. Literature and the arts flourished. Agriculture expanded, and with it the size of the population. The basic system of a strong central government whose policies were implemented by a complex and efficient bureaucracy, which continued until the 20th century, had its beginnings under the Han. Many of the harsh laws of the Qin period were rescinded, taxes were reduced, and almost all the Han territory was placed under direct imperial rule. To this day the term Han is used to differentiate the ethnic Chinese from other racial and cultural groups within China.

Political History of the Han

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Gaozu

As the Qin dynasty collapsed under the weight of military revolts and peasant rebellions, a minor official, Liu Bang (Liu Pang) became the head of a small band of soldiers and gradually began acquiring territory. Over time his forces swelled to an army, and more victories followed. In 206 bc, Liu named himself the wang (king) of Han, one of the states within the Qin empire. By 202 bc the last rulers of Qin were dead, and Liu had eliminated all his rivals; he declared himself emperor and adopted the imperial title, Gaozu. His dynasty is dated from the time he became king of Han, the state that gave the dynasty its name.

Liu Bang had conquered a highly centralized empire. He relaxed the system somewhat, dividing the realm into principalities ruled by members of his family or military commanders who had provided him outstanding service. This laid the foundations for a return to feudalism, in which land was divided between minor lords and was worked by tenant farmers in exchange for rent. For a time, however, Gaozu and the rulers who followed him were able to keep feudalism in check by sending counselors, responsible to the emperor alone, to oversee each province. They thus preserved the authority of the central government during much of the dynasty.

Wudi

When Gaozu died in 195 bc, his throne passed peacefully to his heirs. The most notable of these was Wudi (Wu-ti), who reigned from 141 to 87 bc. His reign is one of the most celebrated in Chinese history. Wudi paid particular attention to the art of governing. The power of local princes had grown over the years, but Wudi worked to recentralize government. In staffing the administrative hierarchy inherited from the Qin, the Han emperors followed the Confucian principle of appointing men on the basis of merit rather than birth. Written examinations were adopted as a means of determining the best qualified people, although use of the examinations in actually making appointments was limited. A school was established at the capital for training government officials. The administrative bureaucracy was systematized, and a career civil service was created and extended through much of the empire.

Although personally interested in the magical side of Daoism, Wudi made a descendent of Confucius the superintendent of public instruction, encouraged the study of the five Confucian classics (the Shu jing, or Book of History; the Shi jing, or Book of Songs; the I Ching or Yi jing, or Book of Changes; the Li ji, or Book of Rites; and the Chun qiu, or the Spring and Autumn Annals) on which Confucian education was based, and appointed those adept in Confucian knowledge to senior administrative posts. In an attempt to provide an all-inclusive ideology for the empire, however, the Han incorporated ideas from many other philosophical schools into Confucianism, and employed popular superstitions to augment and elaborate the spare teachings of Confucius and of his principal disciple, Mencius. These beliefs became part of popular folklore.

Commerce flourished under Wudi. Internal trade expanded with the long period of domestic peace, lower taxes, and the reduction of the power of local princes. Wudi's ministers kept prices steady by buying grain and cooking oil when prices were low and placing them on the market when commodities became scarce due to drought or poor harvest. Canals and irrigation works were dug and roads constructed. The country grew richer and stronger, the farms became prosperous, and the cities increased in size.

Almost from the beginning of his reign, Wudi set about expanding his empire. In the northwest, the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu), a seminomadic tribe of mounted warriors, had been raiding areas of northwestern China for some time. Wudi sent several expeditions against them, formed alliances with central Asian tribes, and broke the power of the Xiongnu. With his northwest frontier secured, Wudi expanded into the northeast, conquering Manchuria and much of what is now Korea. He added territories south of the Yangtze River as far as Annam, in northern Vietnam. The conquest of what is now Yunnan province opened a route into Burma and India.

Perhaps the most interesting of Wudi's conquests were those in central Asia. By taking control of territories in Ferghana (in what is now Uzbekistan) and the valley of the Jaxartes River (also called Syr Darya River, in what is now Kazakhstan), far west of China's present boundary, Wudi's troops were able to open the Silk Road, a 6500 km (4000-mi) trade route linking Chang'an and Rome. The Silk Road allowed China to trade with the states of the Persian Gulf and even of the eastern Mediterranean. By the time of his death in 87 bc, Wudi's empire was as large as the Roman empire was to become a few decades later under Julius Caesar.

However, Wudi's expansionist policies also had the effect of draining the imperial treasury, necessitating sharp increases in taxes and increased government control of the economy. Although these policies were effective for a short time, in the long term they weakened the dynasty substantially.

Wang Mang

Wudi's immediate successors maintained the empire for a time, but three consecutive weak rulers allowed imperial regent Wang Mang (45 bc-ad 23) to concentrate power almost entirely in his own hands. Wang Mang was a senior member of a family that had married into the imperial clan. His power grew until finally, in ad 9, he declared himself emperor of the short-lived Xin (Hsin, “New”) dynasty (ad 9-23).

Although Wang Mang had seized power through murder and intrigue, he was a reformer who wanted better, less corrupt government. He wanted to remedy the abuses resulting from the growing strength of feudalism. Much of the land was now held in large estates, rented out in small plots to farmers at exorbitant prices. In the first year of his reign, Wang Mang seized all of the land, striking at the power base of the barons and gentry. The land was divided into equal tracts and given to the farmers who actually cultivated it. He then proceeded to abolish slavery, made no-interest loans to farmers, and became a patron of Confucian learning.

However, these reforms faced serious opposition. The feudal barons formed an alliance and rebelled against Wang Mang. They were joined by members of the Liu family, who were descended from Jingdi (Ching-ti), a former Han emperor, and a civil war followed. As the empire fell into disorder, militant secret societies formed armed bands and attacked villages and towns. Wang Mang had believed that proper institutions would eventually bring peace to China, but in ad 23, an army led by the Liu clan breached the gates of Chang'an, murdered Wang Mang, and restored the Han dynasty.

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Introduction

Political History of the Han

Gaozu

Wudi

Wang Mang