Hammurabi Han Dynasty Essay ⋆ History Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Liu Bang (Liu Pang), a commoner, founded the Han dynasty (202 b.c.e.–220 c.e.), restoring unity, continuing the good reforms made by the Qin (Ch’in) dynasty, abolishing cruel Qin laws, and laying solid foundations that would sustain it for 400 years. The dynasty is divided into two segments: the Western Han (202 b.c.e.–9 c.e.), with its capital city at Chang’an (Ch’ang-an), and Eastern Han (25–220 c.e.), with its capital city at Luoyang (Loyang), interrupted by the reign of Wang Mang, who usurped the throne and attempted to establish a new dynasty between 9 and 23 c.e. Han achievements set the standard for subsequent dynasties and are so admired to the present that about 95 percent of Chinese call themselves Han people.

Liu Bang

The sudden death of the hated first emperor of the Qin in 209 b.c.e. inspired many revolts throughout China. Two men emerged—one was an aristocrat and brilliant general named Xiang Yu (Hsiang Yu), who won every battle but lost the contest because of his arrogance and cruelty; the other was Liu Bang, whose generosity and humanity won him the throne. Liu is remembered by his posthumous title, Gaodi (Kao-ti), which means “high emperor,” or Gaozu (Kao-tsu), which means “high progenitor.” Gaozu (r. 202–195 b.c.e.) had two huge immediate tasks. One was to deal with the Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu), fierce nomads to the north, whose raids threatened Han security and who gave shelter to defectors from the new and unstable dynasty. Defeated by the Xiongnu’s superior cavalry in 201 b.c.e. Gaozu made peace with them in the Heqin (Ho-ch’in) treaty, appeasing the Xiongnu by regularly giving them food, silk, and silver and periodically a princess as bride for the Xiongnu chief. The treaty was renewed for more than six decades.

Gaozu’s second problem was domestic. The people were exhausted by war and ruined by high Qin taxes. He cut the land tax to one-fifteenth of the crop (later reduced to one-thirtieth) and instituted frugal spending policies that led to recovery and prosperity. He modified the organization of the empire that he had inherited from Qin by retaining the commanderies and counties in about half of the territory, while creating princedoms and feudal realms in the remaining half to reward his allies and in recognition of the power of some former feudal houses. The laissez-faire policy of Gaozu and his successors (they included his wife Empress Lu, who ruled as regent between 195 and her death in 180 b.c.e.) lasted for 60 years.

Emperor Wu

Han Wudi (Han Wu-ti), the Martial Emperor, came to the throne in 141 b.c.e. at age 16 and ruled until 87 b.c.e. Bold and assertive, he was unwilling to appease the Xiongnu any longer, and his people agreed. Historians characterize his reign as epitomizing the Yang (male) model of aggressiveness, opposed to the Yin (female), or quiescent, model of his predecessors. Domestically Emperor Wu worked to reduce the lands and emasculate the powers of the princes and lords, effectively reducing them to impotence. He also confronted the power of the rich merchants who had amassed huge landed estates at the expense of independent farmers, avoided paying taxes, and charged usurious interests on loans. He enacted laws that taxed the merchants heavily, forbade them to own land, and nationalized the salt, liquor, and iron industries. He also established an “evernormal granary” whereby the state regulated the supply and price of grain, ending merchant speculation in basic commodities. Wudi’s domestic reforms were partly to strengthen his hand in confronting the Xiongnu. He sent an envoy, Zhang Qian (Chang Ch’ien), to seek allies in the Yuezhi (Yueh-chih), also victims of the Xiongnu. After amazing adventures Zhang found the Yuezhi settled in modern Afghanistan.

Even though they refused the offered alliance, Zhang’s journey opened Wudi’s eyes to the possibilities of trade with Central Asia and beyond. Wudi’s war against the Xiongnu began in 133 b.c.e. and continued on and off through the Han dynasty, until defeat forced some of the fragmented Xiongnu people to submit and others to flee westward. Chinese armies would campaign and subdue lands that are modern Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang (Sinkiang), while establishing protectorates among the oasis states throughout Central Asia. The Great Wall of China was extended. At the same time Wudi’s armies subdued and annexed northern Korea and the Nanyue (Nan-yueh) state that stretched from modern Guangdong (Kwangtung) and Guangxi (Kwanghsi) Provinces in southern China to northern Vietnam. Chinese power established the Pax Sinica across the eastern part of the Eurasian continent at the same time that the Roman Empire enforced the Pax Romana in western Asia and much of Europe. International trade flourished as a result, with camel caravans carrying luxury goods along routes called the Silk Road by modern-day historians and ships that linked China to Southeast Asia, India, and Roman Middle East. In addition to trade the Silk Road was important in introducing Buddhism from India to China.

Confucianism And Daoism

Gaozu banned Legalism as the governing principle of his empire but professed no political ideology. Confucian scholars flocked to serve him, and he employed them to teach his sons and draw up state ceremonies and rituals that dignified the government. Confucians also dominated education. It was Wudi who confirmed Confucianism as the official ideology of the dynasty and banned people who professed other philosophies from state service. Under the influence of a great Confucian scholar, Dong Chungshu (Tung Chung-shu; c. 179–104 b.c.e.), whose interpretation of Confucianism became state orthodoxy, he founded a state university whose curriculum was based on Confucianism and instituted examinations for aspiring officials that were based on the Confucian Classics.

By the mid-second century c.e. the university had more than 30,000 students. Confucianism would remain China’s state ideology until the 20th century and, because of China’s political and cultural dominance, would be the guiding political philosophy of Korea, Vietnam, and Japan also. Han rulers and people were eclectic in their beliefs and practices, which included philosophical Daoism (Taoism) and religious or popular Daoism, which combined local religious cults and ancestor worship. Around the beginning of the Common Era, Buddhism entered northern China via the Silk Road and southern China by the sea route. It was initially an exotic foreign religion practiced by non-Chinese. Buddhism and popular Daoism borrowed vocabulary, religious rituals, and practices from each other.

Literature

In literature the Han dynasty was distinguished for great works of history. Two families produced towering historians who have been admired and emulated for the next 2,000 years. The first was the Sima (Ssu-ma) family that produced a father-son team Sima Dan (Ssu-ma T’an) and his more famous son Sima Qian (Ssu-ma Ch’ien), who held the title of grand astrologer in the court of Wudi. Together they wrote the monumental history of the Chinese world up to their time titled Shiji (Shih-chi), or Records of the Historian. This 130-chapter tome is admired for its organization and style and became the model for later dynastic histories. The second family was surnamed Ban (Pan) and consisted of father Ban Biao (Pan Piao), who began writing the classic titled Hanshu (Han-shu), or Book of Han, completed by his son Ban Gu (Pan Ku) and daughter Ban Zhao (Pan Ch’ao). His other son, Ban Chao (Pan Ch’ao), was a famous general and diplomat. These two historical works set the hallmark for historiography, which is one of the great contributions of Chinese civilization. The invention of paper during the Eastern Han would have important consequences in advancing intellectual activities.

Life In Han China

Han China had a large population for ancient times. The census in 1 c.e. had a registered population of 56 million people. Most lived in northern China, and most were freehold farmers living in families of five to six persons. Marriages were monogamous, except for rich and powerful men, who could have concubines. All able-bodied men served for one year in the army at age 23, then in the reserve until 56. They were also liable for corvée labor service on public works for one month a year. All adults also paid a poll tax. The government took an active part in agricultural development, sponsoring major irrigation projects, settling people on newly opened farmlands, and promoting the use of iron agricultural tools and new crops. Men tilled the land, while women raised silkworms and spun silk cloths. The government also sponsored state industries in producing salt, iron, and silk textiles and financed large trading caravans; it also encouraged private enterprise, some employing thousands of workers. Bronze coinage replaced barter in trade. While strong earlier rulers in both Western and Eastern Han eras promoted independent small farmers, their weak successors allowed usury and exploitation by the rich, leading to the growth of large estates and the eviction of small farmers. Social and economic inequities led to peasant rebellions that contributed to the fall of both the Western and Eastern Han.

Women did not receive formal education, take examinations, or enter government service; however, wives, mothers, and grandmothers of emperors often played powerful roles in governing. It began with Empress Lu, wife of Gaozu, who totally dominated her son and grandsons as regent and contemplated establishing her own dynasty. Even the powerful Wudi could not control his consorts and their families. Empress dowagers in the latter part of both Western and Eastern Han often placed minors on the throne so they could rule. The usurper Wang Mang was the last of many of the Wang family to grasp power through his female relative the empress Wang. To escape their mothers and wives some emperors promoted their favorite eunuchs to power. Eunuch abuse of power was another contributing factor to the fall of the Haan dynasty in 220 c.e.

References:

Hinsch, B. Women in Early Imperial China. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2002;
Pirazzoli-t’Serstevens, Michele. The Han Dynasty. New York: Rizolli, 1982;
Twitchett, Denis, and Michael Loewe, eds. The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 1, The Ch’in and Han Empires, 221 b.c.e.–220 c.e. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986;
Wang, Zhongshu. Han Civilization. Trans. by K. C. Chang, et al. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982.

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