History of the Han dynasty

The Zhou dynasty (c. 1056 – c. 256 BCE) had made the state of Qin in Western China as an outpost to breed horses and act as a defensive buffer against nomadic armies of the Rong, Qiang, and Di peoples.

[2] After conquering six Warring States (i.e. Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, and Qi) by 221 BCE,[2] the King of Qin, Ying Zheng, unified China under one empire divided into 36 centrally-controlled commanderies.

[12] Liu Bang gained Ziying's submission and secured the Qin capital of Xianyang;[12] persuaded by his chief advisor Zhang Liang (d. 189 BCE) not to let his soldiers loot the city, he instead sealed up its treasury.

In the eastern portion, he established 10 semi-autonomous kingdoms (Yan, Dai, Zhao, Qi, Liang, Chu, Huai, Wu, Nan, and Changsha) that he bestowed to his most prominent followers to placate them.

[33] South of Changsha, Gaozu sent Lu Jia (陸賈) as ambassador to the court of Zhao Tuo to acknowledge the latter's sovereignty over Nanyue (Vietnamese: Triệu dynasty; in modern Southwest China and northern Vietnam).

[48] Emperor Hui's reign saw the repeal of old Qin laws banning certain types of literature and was characterised by a cautious approach to foreign policy, including the renewal of the heqin agreement with the Xiongnu and Han's acknowledgment of the independent sovereignty of the Kings of Donghai and Nanyue.

[52] The court under Lü Zhi was not only unable to deal with a Xiongnu invasion of Longxi Commandery (in modern Gansu) in which 2,000 Han prisoners were taken, but it also provoked a conflict with Zhao Tuo, King of Nanyue, by imposing a ban on exporting iron and other trade items to his southern kingdom.

[58] Consort Bo, the mother of Liu Heng, King of Dai, was considered to possess a noble character, so her son was chosen as successor to the throne; he is known posthumously as Emperor Wen of Han (r. 180–157 BCE).

[62] Huang-Lao, named after the mythical Yellow Emperor and the 6th-century-BCE philosopher Laozi, viewed the former as the founder of ordered civilisation; this was unlike the Confucians, who gave that role to legendary sage kings Yao and Shun.

[63] Han imperial patrons of Huang-Lao sponsored the policy of "nonaction" or wuwei (a central concept of Laozi's Daodejing), which claimed that rulers should interfere as little as possible if administrative and legal systems were to function smoothly.

[71] Emperor Jing issued an edict in 145 BCE which outlawed the independent administrative staffs in the kingdoms and abolished all their senior offices except for the chancellor, who was henceforth reduced in status and appointed directly by the central government.

[82] Dong's synthesis fused together the ethical ideas of Confucius with the cosmological beliefs in yin and yang and Five Elements or Wuxing by fitting them into the same holistic, universal system which governed heaven, earth, and the world of man.

[103] Self-sustaining agricultural garrisons were established in these frontier outposts to support military campaigns as well as secure trade routes leading into Central Asia, the eastern terminus of the Silk Road.

[123] Although there was some violent resistance in 108 BCE and irregular raids by Goguryeo and Buyeo afterwards, Chinese settlers conducted peaceful trade relations with native Koreans who lived largely independent of (but were culturally influenced by) the sparse Han settlements.

[124] To fund his prolonged military campaigns and colonisation efforts, Emperor Wu turned away from the "nonaction" policy of earlier reigns by having the central government commandeer the private industries and trades of salt mining and iron manufacturing by 117 BCE.

[164] Huhanye Chanyu and his successors were encouraged to pay further trips of homage to the Han court due to the increasing amount of gifts showered on them after each visit; this was a cause for complaint by some ministers in 3 BCE, yet the financial consequence of pampering their vassal was deemed superior to the heqin agreement.

[187] The Tarim Basin kingdom of Yanqi (Karasahr, located east of Kucha, west of Turpan) rebelled against Xin authority in 13 CE, killing Han's Protector General Dan Qin (但欽).

[202] With the efforts of his officers Deng Yu and Feng Yi, Liu Xiu, now emperor Guangwu, forced the wandering Red Eyebrows to surrender on 15 March 27 CE, resettling them at Luoyang, yet had their leader Fan Chong executed when a plot of rebellion was revealed.

[217] Population size fluctuated according to periodically updated Eastern Han censuses, but historian Sadao Nishijima notes that this does not reflect a dramatic loss of life, but rather government inability at times to register the entire populace.

[227] In addition to providing disaster relief, Zhang also made reforms to legal procedures and lightened existing punishments with the bastinado, since he believed that this would restore the seasonal balance of yin and yang and cure the epidemic.

[232] When plagues of locusts, floods, and earthquakes disrupted the lives of commoners, Emperor He's relief policies were to cut taxes, open granaries, provide government loans, forgive private debts, and resettle people away from disaster areas.

[244] After Dou sent 2,000 cavalry to attack the Northern Xiongnu base at Hami, he was followed by the initiative of the general Ban Chao (d. 102 CE),[245] who earlier installed a new king of Kashgar as a Han ally.

[250] However, from oral accounts Gan was able to describe Rome as having hundreds of walled cities, a postal delivery network, the submission of dependent states, and a system of government where the Roman "king" (i.e. consul) is "not a permanent figure but is chosen as the man most worthy.

[275] Emperor An continued similar disaster relief programs that Empress Dowager Deng had implemented, though he reversed some of her decisions, such as a 116 CE edict requiring officials to leave office for three years of mourning after the death of a parent (a Confucian more).

[286] The gentry class became alienated by Huan's corrupt government dominated by eunuchs and many refused nominations to serve in office, since current Confucian beliefs dictated that morality and personal relationships superseded public service.

[298] Even after eastern Liang province (comprising modern southeastern Gansu and Ningxia) was resettled, there was another massive rebellion there in 184 CE, instigated by Han Chinese, Qiang, Xiongnu, and Yuezhi rebels.

[301] The Xianbei quickly occupied the deserted territories and incorporated some 100,000 remnant Xiongnu families into their new federation, which by the mid-2nd century CE stretched from the western borders of the Buyeo Kingdom in Jilin, to the Dingling in southern Siberia, and all the way west to the Ili River valley of the Wusun people.

[309] Archaeological findings at Óc Eo (near Ho Chi Minh City) in the Mekong Delta, which was once part of the Kingdom of Funan bordering the Chinese province of Jiaozhi (in northern Vietnam), have revealed Mediterranean goods such as Roman gold medallions made during the reigns of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.

[318] Cao Jie armed Emperor Ling with a sword and hid him with his wet nurse, while Wang Fu had Shan Bing killed and Empress Dowager Dou incarcerated so that the eunuchs could use the authority of her seal.

[325] After claiming to have seen the deified Laozi as a holy prophet who appointed him as his earthly representative known as the Celestial Master, Zhang created a highly organised, hierarchical Daoist movement which accepted only pecks of rice and no money from its lay followers.

The Han dynasty in 2 CE (brown), with military garrisons (yellow dot), dependent states (green dot), and tributary vassal states (orange dot) as far as the Tarim Basin in the western part of Central Asia .
Qin dynasty soldiers from the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang 's mausoleum, located near Xi'an
A Western Han bronze wine warmer with cast and incised decoration, from Shanxi or Henan , 1st century BCE
A gilded belt clasp with turquoise from the 4th–3rd centuries BCE
Beginning in the Han period, kings were interred in jade burial suit made of small pieces of jade sewn together with golden thread. [ 28 ] [ 29 ] ( 金縷玉衣 )
An iron chicken sickle and an iron dagger from the Han dynasty
A Western Han bronze cowrie container, Yunnan Provincial Museum , Kunming; cowrie shells were used as an early form of money in this region of China and were kept in elaborately decorated bronze containers such as this one, surmounted by a freestanding gilded horseman who is encircled by four oxen, that are approached in turn by two tigers climbing up on opposite sides of the container.
Terracotta figurine of a female servant, Western Han Era
A silk banner from Mawangdui , Changsha , Hunan which was draped over the coffin of the Lady Dai (d. 168 BCE), wife of the Marquess Li Cang ( 利蒼 ; d. 186 BCE), chancellor for the Kingdom of Changsha [ 59 ]
Eastern Han earthenware figures playing on a model liubo board game
Territories during the Rebellion of Seven States
Western Han Era infantry (foreground) and mounted cavalry (background) pottery figurines
A lacquerware -painted scene on a 1st or 2nd century CE basket from the Han colony at Lelang (modern North Korea ) showing historical paragons of filial piety
A 2nd century BCE Western Han gilded bronze oil lamp set with painted silver designs
A Western or Eastern Han bronze horse with a lead saddle
The ruins of a Han-dynasty watchtower made of rammed earth at Dunhuang , Gansu, the eastern end of the Silk Road
Western Han woven silk textile from Tomb No. 1 at Mawangdui Han tombs site
The Portland Vase , Roman cameo glass , 5–25 CE; Roman glass has been found in Han Chinese tombs dating from the reign of Emperor Wu onwards. [ 106 ]
The front and reverse of a wushu ( 五銖 ) coin issued during the reign of Emperor Wu , 25.5 mm (1.00 in) in diameter
A gilded bronze oil lamp in the shape of a female servant, dated 2nd century BCE, found in the tomb of Dou Wan , wife to the Han prince Liu Sheng ; its sliding shutter allows for adjustments in the direction and brightness in rays of light while it also traps smoke within the body. [ 134 ] [ 135 ]
Western Han bronze with silver inlay rhinoceros figurine sporting a saddle on its back
A cylindrical lacquerware box from tomb no. 1 at Mawangdui , 2nd century BCE
Western Han painted ceramic mounted cavalryman from the tomb of a military general at Xianyang , Shaanxi
A Eastern Han gilded bronze handle (now disconnected from the ware) shaped like a dragon's head and neck
The raised-relief decorated reverse side of a Han bronze mirror showing animal figures representing the Chinese zodiac
Bronze Chinese coins , in the shape of knives and spades , from the reign of Wang Mang
Western Han jade-carved sword scabbard slide with a dragon design , from the Era
An Eastern Han pottery soldier with a now faded coating of paint and a missing weapon from his right hand
Eastern Han Era bronze statuette of a mythical chimera ( 麒麟 ), 1st century CE
This pottery model of a palace found in a Han dynasty tomb displays outer walls and courts, gate houses, towers, halls, verandas, and roof tiles .
An Eastern Han statue of Li Bing ( fl. 3rd century BCE ), who engineered the Dujiangyan irrigation system; this statue was placed in the middle of the water there to serve as a water level gauge. [ 218 ]
A Western Han Era bronze door knocker
An earthenware pouring vessel in the shape of a goose , painted with pigment, Western Han Era
A miniature guard brandishing a handheld crossbow from the top balcony of a model watchtower , made of glazed earthenware during the Eastern Han
Carving of a young man in Parthian clothing, from Palmyra , Syria , dated early 3rd century CE
Vima Takto (r. c. 80–90 CE), ruler of the Kushan Empire ; the Kushan emperors minted copper coins in imitation of the silver denarii of Augustus (r. 27 BCE – c. 14 CE ), first emperor of the Roman Empire [ 238 ]
A Han dynasty glazed pottery dog tomb statuette with a decorative pet collar
Rubbing of 2nd-century CE stone-carved chariots and horses in Stone Chamber 1 of the Wu family shrines in Shandong
A Han-era painted pottery head, now broken off from its body
Animalistic guardian spirits of day and night wearing Chinese robes , Han paintings on ceramic tile; Michael Loewe writes that the hybrid of man and beast in art and religious beliefs predated Han and remained popular during Han. [ 273 ]
Two black-and-red painted, footed ceramic wares decorated with acrobat figurines, each one balancing himself on both hands, dated to the Western Han Era
2nd-century BCE lidded hill censer with geometric decoration and narrative scenes
Statue of the Buddha from Gandhara , then under the Kushan Empire , 1st–2nd century CE
A fragment (with rubbing paper) of the 'Stone Classics' ( 熹平石經 ); these stone-carved Five Classics installed during Emperor Ling's reign along the roadside of the Imperial University (right outside Luoyang ) were made at the instigation of Cai Yong (132–192 CE), who feared the Classics housed in the imperial library were being interpolated by University Academicians. [ 315 ]
A Han dynasty pottery model of two residential towers joined by a covered bridge
An Eastern Han feline stone guardian statue from Donghan, Xuchang
An Eastern Han ceramic candle-holder with prancing animal figures
A Han dynasty ceramic ox-drawn cart figurine
Detail on the backside of a Western Han bronze mirror painted with pigment and flower motif, 2nd century BCE