Han Dynasty
The Han Empire began in 206 B.C. when Liu Bang, prince of Han, defeated the Qin army in the valley of Wei. The defeat was part of a larger rebellion that began after the first Emperor’s death. The people were dissatisfied with the tyranny of the Qin leaders and their legalist form of government. However, while traditional Chinese history portrays the Han as implementing immediate changes in government, evidence shows the Han continued to rule in the tradition of the Qin, and only gradually incorporated Confucian ideals into their legalist form of government. Economic expansion, changing relationships with the people of the steppes, strengthening of the palace at the expense of the civil service, weakening of the state's hold on the peasantry, and the rise of the families of the rich and the gentry were all factors that led to the adoption of Confucian ideals.
Under this new form of Legalism and Confucianism, rewards and punishments were still used for common people. However, the administrators were judged based on Confucian principles with the justification for these different sets of standards as they were educated. As a last resort, the ruler could use punishment for both the people and the officials. It was believed that force alone was not a sufficient way to rule and so the emperor needed the help of the Confucianists to guide him morally. Evidence of rulers using their power to punish is found in the records of officials who were beheaded.
When Liu Bang conquered the Qin, he created his capital at Ch'ang-an. He kept most of the laws and regulations by the Qin and made many of his friends nobility and gave them fiefs. However, the land was still divided up into commanderies and prefectures. Even the fiefs given out were treated like commanderies. Han power was based on direct control of people by the state.
Like the Qin before them, the main goal of the Han was the unification of China. This goal led to the eventual breakup of the fiefs and the downfall of the imperial nobility. This process was finally complete during Wu Di's reign (141-87 B.C.) His reign was a period of great military expansion. He expanded the borders into Vietnam and Korea and pushed the Xiong nu south of the Gobi. Wu Di transplanted an estimated 2 million people to the northwestern region in order to colonize these areas.
The expansion also led to trade with the people of inner Asia. Thereafter, the Silk Road was developed. The Silk Road actually consisted of more than one possible route through the mountains that the traders followed. Agriculture grew with the development of better tools. Iron tools were made of better quality, and oxen drawn ploughs were commonly used. Irrigation systems were increased to help develop the areas of North China. Crop rotation was also practiced from 85 B.C. onwards. The state attempted to monopolize the production of iron and salt, which were the two biggest sectors of the economy, but succeeded for less than a century. Silk weaving and copper work were also important activities.
Education became more important during this period, as a new class of gentry was introduced. A result of this was the compilation of many encyclopedias. The best known is the Book of the Mountains and Seas, which contained everything known at the time about geography, natural philosophy, the animal and plant world, and popular myths. Sima Qian, considered being China's greatest historian wrote his famous Records of the Historian (Shiji) during this time. This history book became the model by which all other histories would follow. It was one of the first attempts in China to make a record of the past in a proper form.
The Han Dynasty is actually two separate dynasties. It is considered one dynasty by the Chinese because the second dynasty was founded by a member of the former Han dynasty who declared he had restored the Han Dynasty. The original Han Dynasty (Western Han Dynasty) was overthrown when the wealthy families gained more power than the emperor. The families became allied with each other through marriages and were responsible for the selection of officials. The widow of the emperor Yuan Di succeeded in placing all of her relatives in government positions and ruling in place of her son. Her nephew, Wang Mang eventually declared himself emperor of a new dynasty, the Xing (New). His rise to emperor is unusual because he gained much public support on his rise and he began a ceremony in which a seal of precious stone was passed to the emperor. From then on, whoever held this seal was the official emperor. Wang Mang was overthrown by a secret society of peasants known as the Red Eyebrows, because they painted their eyebrows red. The descendents of the Han dynasty eventually joined in the uprising, and, it was the armies of these nobles, under the leadership of Liu Hsiu, who killed Wang Mang in 22A.D. The fighting continued until 25 A.D., when Liu Xiu became the emperor. As an emperor he was called Guang-wu Di. Millions of people died during the fighting, leaving land for the peasants, and often, the freedom of debt as the lenders had died.
The second Han Dynasty (Eastern Han Dynasty) had much success with their foreign policy. Part of this success was due more to luck than to anything the Han did. The Xiong nu who had previously been one of the most dangerous enemies of the Chinese was defeated by the Xian-bei and the Wu-huan. Half of the Xiong nu moved south, and became part of the Chinese empire. The Xiong nu appeared to be trying to reunite and form a large empire comprising all of Turkestan. Thus, in 73 A.D. the Chinese began a campaign in Turkestan. The whole of Turkestan was quickly conquered which would have ensured a trading monopoly, however, the emperor Ming Di died and Zhang Di became emperor. He favored an isolationist policy so that much of what was gained in Turkestan was now lost. Ban Ch'ao, the deputy commander who had led the invasion, stayed in Turkestan to try and hold onto what had been won, and eventually in 89 A.D. a new emperor came to power with a renewed interest in holding Turkestan. Despite this military success, economic and political struggles arose within China. Internal struggles for power taxed the peasants, until in 184 A.D. when another peasant uprising occurred. This movement was begun by the Yellow Turbans. This uprising served to unite the factions who had previously been fighting one another because they needed to unite to defeat the Yellow Turbans. Despite conquering them, China did not return to a united state. Rather, three kingdoms emerged and the Han dynasty came to an end.
List of Emperors of the Han Dynasty
Posthumous name | Personal name | Period of reign | Era name | Range of years | |||
Western Han Dynasty 202BC – 9 AD | |||||||
Gaozu | 高祖 | Liu Bang | 劉邦 | 202–195 BC | Did not exist | ||
Huidi | 惠帝 | Liu Ying | 劉盈 | 195–188 BC | Did not exist | ||
Shaodi (Shaodi Gong) | 少帝 | Liu Gong | 劉恭 | 188 – 184 BC | Did not exist | ||
Shaodi (Shaodi hong) | 少帝 | Liu Hong | 劉弘 | 184 – 180 BC | Did not exist | ||
Wendi | 文帝 | Liu Heng | 劉恆 | 180 – 157 BC | Qíanyuán | 前元 | 179–164 BC |
Hòuyuán | 後元 | 163–156 BC | |||||
Jingdi | 景帝 | Liu Qi | 劉啟 | 157 – 141 BC | Qíanyuán | 前元 | 156–150 BC |
Zhōngyuán | 中元 | 149–143 BC | |||||
Hòuyuán | 後元 | 143–141 BC | |||||
Wudi | 武帝 | Liu Che | 劉徹 | 141–87 BC | Jiànyuán | 建元 | 141–135 BC |
Yuánguāng | 元光 | 134–129 BC | |||||
Yuánshuò | 元朔 | 128–123 BC | |||||
Yuánshòu | 元狩 | 122–117 BC | |||||
Yuándǐng | 元鼎 | 116–111 BC | |||||
Yuánfēng | 元封 | 110–105 BC | |||||
Tàichū | 太初 | 104–101 BC | |||||
Tiānhàn | 天漢 | 100–97 BC | |||||
Tàishǐ | 太始 | 96–93 BC | |||||
Zhēnghé | 征和 | 92–89 BC | |||||
Hòuyuán | 後元 | 88–87 BC | |||||
Zhaodi | 昭帝 | Liu Fuling | 劉弗陵 | 87–74 BC | Shǐyuán | 始元 | 86–80 BC |
Yuánfèng | 元鳳 | 80–75 BC | |||||
Yuánpíng | 元平 | 74 BC | |||||
The Prince of Changyi | 昌邑王 or海昏侯 | Liu He | 劉賀 | 74 BC | Yuánpíng | 元平 | 74 BC |
Xuandi | 宣帝 | Liu Bingyi | 劉病已 | 74–49 BC | Běnshǐ | 本始 | 73–70 BC |
Dìjié | 地節 | 69–66 BC | |||||
Yuánkāng | 元康 | 65–61 BC | |||||
Shénjué | 神爵 | 61–58 BC | |||||
Wǔfèng | 五鳳 | 57–54 BC | |||||
Gānlù | 甘露 | 53–50 BC | |||||
Huánglóng | 黃龍 | 49 BC | |||||
Yuandi | 元帝 | Liu Shi | 劉奭 | 49–33 BC | Chūyuán | 初元 | 48–44 BC |
Yǒngguāng | 永光 | 43–39 BC | |||||
Jiànzhāo | 建昭 | 38–34 BC | |||||
Jìngníng | 竟寧 | 33 BC | |||||
Chengdi | 成帝 | Liu Ao | 劉驁 | 33–7 BC | Jiànshǐ | 建始 | 32–28 BC |
Hépíng | 河平 | 28–25 BC | |||||
Yángshuò | 陽朔 | 24–21 BC | |||||
Hóngjiā | 鴻嘉 | 20–17 BC | |||||
Yǒngshǐ | 永始 | 16–13 BC | |||||
Yuányán | 元延 | 12–9 BC | |||||
Suīhé | 綏和 | 8–7 BC | |||||
Aidi | 哀帝 | Liu Xin | 劉欣 | 7–1 BC | Jiànpíng | 建平 | 6–3 BC |
Yuánshòu | 元壽 | 2–1 BC | |||||
Pingdi | 平帝 | Liu Kan | 劉衎 | 1–6 AD | Yuánshǐ | 元始 | 1–5 AD |
Ruzi | 孺子 | Liu Ying | 劉嬰 | 6–9 AD | Jùshè | 居攝 | 6–8 AD |
Chūshǐ | 初始 | 8–9 AD | |||||
Xin Dynasty (9-23 AD) | |||||||
Xin Dynasty of Wang Mang (王莽) | 9–23 AD | Shǐjiànguó | 始建國 | 9–13 AD | |||
Tiānfēng | 天鳳 | 14–19 AD | |||||
Dìhuáng | 地皇 | 20–23 AD | |||||
Continuation of Han Dynasty | |||||||
Gengshi-di | 更始帝 | Liu Xuan | 劉玄 | 23–25 AD | Gēngshǐ | 更始 | 23–25 AD |
Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) | |||||||
Guangwu-di | 光武帝 | Liu Xiu | 劉秀 | 25–57 AD | Jiànwǔ | 建武 | 25–56 AD |
Jiànwǔzhōngyuán | 建武中元 | 56–57 AD | |||||
Mingdi | 明帝 | Liu Yang | 劉陽 | 57–75 AD | Yǒngpíng | 永平 | 57–75 AD |
Zhangdi | 章帝 | Liu Da | 劉炟 | 75–88 AD | Jiànchū | 建初 | 76–84 AD |
Yuánhé | 元和 | 84–87 AD | |||||
Zhānghé | 章和 | 87–88 AD | |||||
Hedi | 和帝 | Liu Zhao | 劉肇 | 88–106 AD | Yǒngyuán | 永元 | 89–105 AD |
Yuánxīng | 元興 | 105 AD | |||||
Shangdi | 殤帝 | Liu Long | 劉隆 | 106 AD | Yánpíng | 延平 | 9 months in 106 AD |
Andi | 安帝 | Liu Hu | 劉祜 | 106–125 AD | Yǒngchū | 永初 | 107–113 AD |
Yuánchū | 元初 | 114–120 AD | |||||
Yǒngníng | 永寧 | 120–121 AD | |||||
Jiànguāng | 建光 | 121–122 AD | |||||
Yánguāng | 延光 | 122–125 AD | |||||
Shaodi, the Marquess of Beixiang | 少帝 or 北鄉侯 | Liu Yi | 劉懿 | 125 AD | Yánguāng | 延光 | 125 AD |
Shundi | 順帝 | Liu Bao | 劉保 | 125–144 AD | Yǒngjiàn | 永建 | 126–132 AD |
Yángjiā | 陽嘉 | 132–135 AD | |||||
Yǒnghé | 永和 | 136–141 AD | |||||
Hàn'ān | 漢安 | 142–144 AD | |||||
Jiànkāng | 建康 | 144 AD | |||||
Chongdi | 沖帝 | Liu Bing | 劉炳 | 144–145 AD | Yōngxī | 永熹 | 145 AD |
Zhidi | 質帝 | Liu Zuan | 劉纘 | 145–146 AD | Běnchū | 本初 | 146 AD |
Huandi | 桓帝 | Liu Zhi | 劉志 | 146–168 AD | Jiànhé | 建和 | 147–149 AD |
Hépíng | 和平 | 150 AD | |||||
Yuánjiā | 元嘉 | 151–153 AD | |||||
Yǒngxīng | 永興 | 153–154 AD | |||||
Yǒngshòu | 永壽 | 155–158 AD | |||||
Yánxī | 延熹 | 158–167 AD | |||||
Yǒngkāng | 永康 | 167 AD | |||||
Lingdi | 靈帝 | Liu Hong | 劉宏 | 168–189 AD | Jiànníng | 建寧 | 168–172 AD |
Xīpíng | 熹平 | 172–178 AD | |||||
Guānghé | 光和 | 178–184 AD | |||||
Zhōngpíng | 中平 | 184–189 AD | |||||
Shaodi, the Prince of Hongnong | 少帝 or 弘農王 | Liu Bian | 劉辯 | 189 AD | Guāngxī | 光熹 | 189 AD |
Zhàoníng | 昭寧 | 189 AD | |||||
Xiandi | 獻帝 | Liu Xie | 劉協 | 189–220 AD | Yǒnghàn | 永漢 | 189 AD |
Chūpíng | 初平 | 190–193 AD | |||||
Xīngpíng | 興平 | 194–195 AD | |||||
Jiàn'ān | 建安 | 196–220 AD | |||||
Yánkāng | 延康 | 220 AD |
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