Han Dynasty of China the Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty of China

The Han Dynasty lasted from 206 BC to 280 AD. It followed on the heels of the short-lived Qin Dynasty and came into being as a result of Liu Bang's victory in rebellion. The Han Dynasty may be separated into two parts: the Western Han, which lasted approximately the first two hundred years; and the Eastern Han, which made up approximately the second two hundred years. In between these two parts, appeared the Xin Dynasty, which existed for little more than a decade. Aside from this interlude, the Han Dynasty had a tremendous stay and its impact on China was considerable. Today, it is remembered as a Golden Age of China. This paper will discuss the Han Dynasty and show what made it so particularly special to the Chinese people.

With the fall of the Qin Dynasty, China split into warring factions. Liu Bang was "the eventual victor in the struggle for power" and became Emperor Gaozu (McKay 135). Gaozu had a rather pacifying effect on the empire, which the Qin left behind. For example, he abolished the harsher laws, reduced taxes, and promoted a free market economy (McKay 135). It is no wonder then that the Han Dynasty started off strongly and brought stability to the empire.

The Han Dynasty was also devoted to philosophy, the philosophy of choice being, of course, Confucianism. Confucianism inspired many statesmen. Yet, despite this effort to maintain a kind of spiritual purity, the Dynasty gradually gave way to greed, with government monopolies over "the production of iron, salt, and liquor" (McKay 136).

The greatest threat during the era of the Western Han was the Xiongnu nomadic tribe (Di Cosmo 238). The Han Dynasty finally suppressed this tribe, and Emperor Wu, who reigned during the era of the Western Han, greatly expanded the empire through a show of military strength. He controlled the Silk Road, and the Dynasty as a whole "developed a tributary system to regulate contact with foreign powers" (McKay 138). This was an impressive time in China, when power and strength met honor, nobility, and scholasticism.

A short period of rebellion and instability occurred at the end of the first half of the Han Dynasty. The Eastern Han restored order, though. The Dynasty again showed its strength by fighting off the Huns, which pushed these people towards Europe where they played a major part in the fall of Rome.

The Eastern Han in its early days "was politically enlightened," and oversaw great improvements in agriculture, irrigation, and technology, "exceed (ing) the achievements of the Western Han Dynasty" (China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization 53). The Dynasty, of course, valued work on the land as superior to work involved in mercantile trading: "agriculture and crafts were more honorable because they produced something" (McKay 139). Nonetheless, agricultural production could not save the Han Dynasty (nor could the excellent histories, which were also composed at this time). The Dynasty eventually suffered from overwhelming dissensions; before long, the Dynasty dissolved into quarrels, rebellions, and corruption.