Han Dynasty * 203 BCE - 220 CE		Printer Version
The Han Dynasty Begins The Han (Hahn) Dynasty began at a time when many people in China wanted to change how the government was run. The previous Qin Dynasty had been very harsh and punished people for not agreeing with the beliefs or policies of the emperor. It is not surprising that when the first Qin emperor died, people saw a chance to break free and they did. One leader of the rebellion against the Qin was a peasant, Liu Bang, and it took him six years to eventually take over control of China. When he did, he changed his name to Emperor Han Gaozu (Han gow zhoo) and that is why his rule began what is called the Han Dynasty. Political System A New Government System Han Gaozu first concentrated on improving the way the government was set up. He did not believe in the way that the Qin emperor had totalitarian or total control. He divided his government into inner and outer courts. He and Han emperors in the future would be the inner court with a group of specially chosen and trained people called eunuchs to be his messengers. The outer court was set up to have a “Prime Minister” in charge and a group called a cabinet who would be responsible for running things such as the military, trade, and taxes in the country. All positions were to be appointed by the emperor and Han Gaozu rewarded many of those who had helped him come to power with positions in his government. By setting up the government in this way, the emperor did not have complete control over China, but relied on the advice and guidance of others in the outer court. Chinese Examination System Because the new system of government allowed more people to participate in running the county, the emperor needed to be able to judge their abilities. Han Gaozu and future Han emperors began to give tests to see who should be given government jobs. The tests mostly focused on the person’s skills to do the job. Later, they also tested the person’s knowledge of the teachings of a great writer and thinker named Confucius who taught that it was important to treat others as you wanted to be treated. Over many years, the specific skills and knowledge that were tested continued to change as something called the Chinese Examination System was developed. The Chinese Examination System was a test that was developed to help decide if a person had the skills or talents needed to work in the government. A person needed a good education to pass the tests. Because people wanted the power and money that came with the jobs, it became more common for people to want an education. Of course, since time and money were needed to get the education that was required to pass the tests, government jobs were still out of the reach of many people. Still, the tests helped the emperor to be sure that people had the talent and ability to do the jobs and kept people in his government from just giving jobs to friends or family who might not be qualified. That is why The Chinese Examination System eventually inspired the use of tests to award government jobs that still exists in many countries even today. Improving Society and the Economy Besides reorganizing the government, Emperor Han Gaozu made changes that made the lives of ordinary people better. He stopped the book burning and allowed them to read books freely. He also improved the way he collected taxes. Instead of making farmers leave their homes each month and travel to the nearest city to pay, taxes were collected twice a year. The new system reduced what the government had to invest in sending the tax collectors so often. That money could be spent on things such as improving roads and other things that benefited the people. Farmers saved the time, effort, and cost of the ten extra trips and could spend that time and money in other ways. Agriculture Emperor Gaozu and other Han emperors who followed him made changes in agricultural methods that eventually improved economic conditions for the entire country. Because he had been a farmer himself, Emperor Gaozu knew what the farmers needed and was interested in improving their conditions. The government promised land to those who were willing to farm and encouraged farmers to invent more effective farm tools. Richer farmers who could afford to do so began to put metal tips on tools and plows to make work easier, which further increased the time that they had for other things. Some had enough time to make simple machines to improve the irrigation system and supply a more controlled and reliable source of water. Another important advance at this time was the use of fertilizers and crop rotation. Farmers found that growing the same crop on the same land every year eventually led to fewer crops from that ground. By rotating or changing what they planted each year they could produce more. They noticed ways to make the soil more fertile by growing certain plants after others or adding items such as animal waste. Better control of the water and improved nutrition to the plant increased the amount of crops grown from each area of land. A surplus of food meant greater ability to buy even better tools and other goods they wanted. The Economy Expands The changes in farming led to economic growth in other areas. The additional metal that was being used to increase the effectiveness of plows, irrigation, and other tools led to increased need for iron mining and craftsmen to turn the iron into useful tools. As people had more surplus to spend, new industries developed and the production of goods for them to buy increased. For example, salt mining increased, porcelain making developed, and paper was invented to meet the needs of education and record keeping. The making of silk fabric and jobs related to creating textiles (cloth) were expanded as more people had money to buy the fabrics. Tea growing became more developed as machines were invented to dry and clean the tea leaves better. The development of so many skills and products led to a better economy and it also increased trade and communication between the many parts of China as people looked to market their goods and ideas to others and to see what others had to offer. Despite all of these changes, the majority of China’s people remained poor farmers who still could not afford to take advantage of the advances that were occurring. They continued to live as they had for centuries in villages and small towns growing, raising, and making they things they needed. Their lives remained difficult and hard by our standards today. All of this economic growth resulted in many changes in Chinese society. A new class of people called merchants began to emerge. They were people who made a living selling and trading goods both inside and outside of the country. At first, merchants were looked down upon. Over time, however, they were given more respect.		Defending China Under the Han Emperor Wu-di (140 – 87 BCE) the dynasty used both its military and political methods to expand its territory and encourage trade within the kingdom. A powerful tribe of nomads had been raiding northern China for a long time and this outside threat kept that area from being fully used and developed. Wu-di reversed the traditional idea of putting up with them and relying on guards along the Great Wall that had been built to try to keep them out. He used his military to attack and push them back across the Gobi Desert. Wu-di then extended the wall and fortified or built it up more. The wall was not successful as a long-term solution, but it did provide more security and allowed people to use their time and resources to concentrate on things that could improve their lives. It also encouraged more trade with that area as people felt safer to journey to that area. New Contacts to the West Wu-di sent an ambassador, Zhang Qian to begin interaction with other to areas of the west as far as Afghanistan. At first he was just hoping that he might find other cultures that would join with China to control the invaders. When he returned, he brought back information about other cultures as well as goods such as Afghan horses and grapes. His stories about what he saw and experienced made the emperor want to know more about the other countries, their inventions, and what was going on in other parts of the world. Trade Expands Wu-di continued to encourage trade when he sent Zhang Qian back to the western areas with products such as tea, silk, and pottery. He hoped the products would make others interested in learning about and interacting with the Chinese culture. To encourage the interactions, he sent military groups to explore and gain control of the Oxusian Valley trails to the west. The military protection he sent meant that trade to and from the west could occur more safely and freely. That trade route eventually went all the way to Rome. Trade brought items such as gold, cotton, and glassware into China. It also made people in the west more interested in Chinese products and knowledge as they had more contact with the Chinese and saw the products they had. They especially wanted the beautiful fabric know as silk that no one else in the world knew how to make. The fabric became such an important item to trade that the trail to and from China was later called the Silk Road. This trading was one of the earliest interactions between Eastern and Western civilizations. The country was affected in other ways as the Chinese sent goods from other parts of China to cities along the Silk Road where they could be traded or sold. The trading of goods, services, and ideas led to more communication and sharing of culture. It helped the cities to grow and created areas where people from different cultures could meet and interact for longer periods of time. The trading of goods was bringing civilizations from the east and west together, but the trade route called the Silk Road also caused some competition, bad feelings, and fighting as China and other countries competed to control the areas along the trade route. More Chinese soldiers had to leave home to go and guard or fight to preserve the trade benefits and cultural exchange that was occurring. Buddhism: A New Religion Enters China One of the most important parts of Chinese culture today that entered along the Silk Road was a religion from India called Buddhism. Buddhism challenged the ancient ideas of Confucius that emphasized life in this world, as well as the ancient tradition of worshiping dead ancestors. Buddhist ideas emphasized using this life to become more “enlightened” in preparation for an improved life after death. Though it took another 400 years for the religion to be accepted and widespread in China, it eventually became a major religion in China. The Han Dynasty Ends For 400 years the Han Dynasty helped China to prosper. They had encouraged improvements in farming that led to a surplus of food. That surplus had allowed other inventions such as paper and silk, crafts, artistic development and economic grown to occur. Territory and trade in the north and west had been expanded and new products and ideas were moving into and out of China. But remember, not all people could trade and grow richer. As time went by, the government did less to provide for what the common people needed. It had to spend more and more tax money to maintain the military that was keeping the trade route safe and invaders out. They raised taxes on things people used the most such as salt and iron, to pay the military expenses. This benefited those who used the trade routes and lived near the invaders, but these things did not help most people and paying extra taxes made their lives harder. Because it spent more on the military, the government made fewer improvements to irrigation systems and roads. Without good irrigation, they had fewer crops. Bad roads made it harder to move about and trade within the country. When the ability to trade declined, people had less money to spend. For many of the poor peasants, these changes made the difference between making it and starvation. For merchants it meant the loss of their business and a life of poverty. People began to rebel and rise up against the government. As outsiders began to invade Han territory it became clear that the Han government had become too weak to protect and provide for its people. The country was split and the central Han government lost power as regions were taken over by local military groups. China went through a period over the next four hundred years when it slowly divided into smaller kingdoms. The Han Dynasty had originally done so much to encourage improvements, inventions, creativity and trade. Over time, it had slowly stopped providing the supports that had helped the county to enjoy more economic * About These Documents This collection of documents was developed in collaboration with MCPS and ___. They provide additional information and explanation of the political, economic, and social systems of each dynasty. Students and teachers may find them helpful when completing the Dynasty Project in the sixth grade Unit 3 guide The Impact of Economics in Ancient and Modern China. The additional readings are provided to also supplement student understand of the achievements of ancient China and their influence on other civilizations.