The Han Dynasty (202 BC [1] - 220 BC) was the dynasty that followed the Qin Dynasty in Chinese history. It was divided into the "Western Han Dynasty" (202 BC - 8 BC) and the "Eastern Han Dynasty" ( AD 25 - AD 220) two historical periods, collectively known as the Han Dynasty. The Western Han Dynasty was founded by Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, and his capital was Chang'an; the Eastern Han Dynasty was founded by Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, and his capital was Luoyang. During this period, Wang Mang briefly established a new dynasty on his own (8 AD - 23 AD).

Some also include the Shu Han Dynasty as a continuation of the Han Dynasty and classify it as a part of the Han Dynasty, but most of them include the Shu regime established by Liu Bei in the history of the Three Kingdoms dynasties. [Source request]

The Han Dynasty was a powerful empire that created a brilliant civilization. The Han Empire, the Roman Empire at the same time, and the Mauryan Dynasty in India were the most advanced civilizations in the world at that time [2]. The social and political systems established during the Han Dynasty continued into the 20th century. To this day, Chinese people still refer to themselves as "Han people", and the Central Plains tribal groups, mainly the Chinese people, are gradually being collectively referred to as "Han people", and their writing system is also called "Hanzi".

Name

Since the names of the Western Han Dynasty (also known as the Early Han Dynasty) and the Eastern Han Dynasty (also known as the Later Han Dynasty) are both "Han", the royal family has not changed and is customarily regarded as the same dynasty. . The Han Dynasty or Han Dynasty is actually the name of the era during which these two dynasties ruled. History books often refer to "Qin and Han" together, and the "Han" here refers to the "Two Han" including the Western Han and Eastern Han. [1]

The Western Han Dynasty took Chang'an as its capital, and the Eastern Han Dynasty took Luoyang (then known as Luoyang) as its capital, called "Xijing" and "Tokyo". The two capitals were collectively called the "Two Capitals", and later generations used this It is often referred to as "Three Dynasties" and refers to the "Two Han Dynasties". [3]

Some early classics or history books also used "Previous Han" and "Later Han" to distinguish the two Han dynasties. [4][5][6] However, this is easily confused with the fourth of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Personal political power was confused in the later Han Dynasty. Therefore, later generations changed the capital from Chang'an in the west to Luoyang in the east when Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu restored the Han Dynasty, dividing the two Han Dynasties into "East" and "West".

At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, determined Zhengshuo as water virtue according to the theory of five virtues. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he corrected Shuo as earth virtue. It was not until Wang Mang established the new dynasty that Liu Xiangliu was adopted. Xin and his son believed that the Han Dynasty belonged to Huode. After Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty restored the Han Dynasty, he officially recognized this statement and established Zhengshuo of the Han Dynasty as Huode. Historical books of the Eastern Han Dynasty and later, such as Hanshu and Three Kingdoms, all adopted this statement [7][8]. Therefore, the Han Dynasty is sometimes called "Yan Han", and also "Yan Liu" because the emperor of the Han Dynasty was named Liu.

History

After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang launched a four-year Chu-Han War. With the assistance of his subordinates Xiao He, Han Xin, Zhang Liang and others, Liu Bang finally defeated Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu, in the Battle of Gaixia.

202 BC was the founding year of the Western Han Dynasty. However, historians generally calculate the years of the Western Han Dynasty from the surrender of Qin Prince Ying in October 207 BC, and use October as the first month of the first year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. Liu Bang was named "King of Han" in 206 BC. The period from 206 BC to 202 BC was the period of the Chu-Han War. Liu Bang did not proclaim himself emperor, nor did he unify the country. However, when historians calculate the years of the Western Han Dynasty, in order to coincide with the demise of the Qin Dynasty, they start from 206 BC when Liu Bang was called "King of Han". [1]

Western Han Dynasty

Main article: Western Han Dynasty

Picture of the entry of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty

Picture of Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions and the enthronement of Emperor Liu Bang of the Han Dynasty Later, Shusun Tong's suggestion was adopted to restore etiquette and law, establish Sangong and Jiuqing, appointed Xiao He as prime minister, and adopted a policy of resting with the people. Politically, the heroes Han Xin, Chen Xi, Peng Yue, Yingbu, etc. were first enfeoffed as kings. When the political power was stable, their titles were revoked for various crimes. The oath that the king in the world will attack him." After Liu Bang's death, Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty Liu Ying succeeded to the throne, and Empress Lu took over the country. Cao Shen was appointed as the prime minister. Historians praise her, but Empress Lu also appointed her relatives to suppress the heroes, which led to the "Zhu Lu Rebellion".

In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, due to years of turmoil, the Han Dynasty's national power was weak. When Liu Bang attacked the Xiongnu, he was besieged by the Xiongnu Maodun Shanyu in Baideng, which was the siege of Baideng. From then on, the Han Dynasty adopted the policy of marriage and marriage in exchange for peace.

After Empress Lu's death, Zhu Lu's rebellion was eradicated, and all ministers welcomed Liu Qi, Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, he and his son Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty adopted the inaction method of Huang Lao, implemented the policy of light corvee and small taxes, and resting with the people. They restored the huge damage caused by years of war and alleviated the people's burden; however, during the reign of Emperor Jing ( 154 BC), the only turmoil during this period - the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms" occurred. However, it was pacified by Zhou Yafu in just a few months and had no impact on the Han Dynasty. This period is known as the Wenjing Dynasty in history. It was the first period that was envied by traditional historians since China first became unified.[10]

After the death of Emperor Jing, his son Liu Che came to the throne and became Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Wu (141 BC - 87 BC), he adopted a series of reform measures and forged ahead, making the Han Dynasty's politics, economy, and military stronger.

Politically, in order to strengthen the imperial power, Zhufu Yan’s suggestions were first adopted and the enforcing order was implemented, which weakened the power of the princes and kings. From then on, the power of the princes and kings could no longer pose a threat to the central government; On the grounds that the gold offered was impure, the titles of more than a hundred marquises were revoked, which is known in history books as the incident of losing marquises due to minted gold. After this second incident, centralization of power was greatly strengthened. Culturally, the Han Dynasty's idea of ??"Huang Lao's theory and inaction" in governing the country was abolished, and the country was actively governed; and Dong Zhongshu's suggestion of "deposing hundreds of schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone" was adopted. mainstream thinking of the year. Militarily, they actively dealt with the Han Dynasty's biggest foreign invasion, the Xiongnu. During this period, talented generals such as Wei Qing and Huo Qubing appeared in the Han Dynasty, and finally defeated the Xiongnu Chanyu, leaving Monan without a royal court. He also annexed South Vietnam and conquered Korea, making China the leader of East Asia. Diplomatically, Zhang Qian was sent on two missions to the Western Regions and opened up the Silk Road. And successively used the two princes Liu Xijun and Liu Jieyou to support the great powers of the Western Regions, and achieved the purpose of driving a wedge between the Western Regions and the Xiongnu, and then controlling the Western Regions. Economically, the Han Dynasty experienced many years of war, which had a certain impact on the economy. To this end, Emperor Wu brought coinage, salt and iron under central management, strengthened agricultural production, implemented the harmonious purchase method, dug white canals, and established policies of equalization and equalization of output to stabilize prices and compete with the people for profits.

The changes in this period had a great impact on the feudal social, political and economic systems of later generations in China. In history, they are usually compared with the series of new political and economic measures carried out by Qin Shihuang after he unified China. However, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty went on a military rampage for years and expanded everywhere, spending a lot of resources and weakening the national power of the Western Han Dynasty [2].

After the death of Emperor Wu, Liu Fuling ascended the throne as Emperor Zhao, assisted by Huo Guang. During the reign of Emperor Zhao and the subsequent Emperor Xuan, the Han Dynasty basically returned to its previous level, and the Huns were unable to resist, which was known as the Zhaoxuan Zhongxing in history. During the reign of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, the Western Regions Protectorate was established in the Western Regions to replace the Huns' child servant captains and actually control the Western Regions.

When he became emperor, he indulged in his gentle country and ignored the government affairs. The political situation was turbulent and the Han Dynasty began to decline. After experiencing Emperor Ai's "sleeve cutting habit", Wang Mang, a relative, took control of the political power. He first killed Emperor Ai's successor, Emperor Ping of Han, and after installing Prince Liu Ying as the "false emperor" himself, he seized power in AD 8, established a new dynasty, and the Western Han Dynasty fell.

Eastern Han Dynasty

Main article: Eastern Han Dynasty

Horse Treading on Flying Swallows was unearthed from the Leitai Han Tomb in Wuwei, Gansu, China. It is a representative work of bronzes from the Han Dynasty. This piece is a replica. In the 23rd year, Wang Mang's regime finally perished due to the Chimei and Green Forest uprisings. The Green Forest Army supported Liu Xuan of the Han clan as emperor, restored the Han Dynasty title, and changed the reign name. In 25 years, the Red Eyebrow Army established Liu Penzi as emperor, and then defeated the Green Forest Rebel Army. Later, Liu Xiu, the descendant of the Han Dynasty clan, ascended the throne of emperor in the south of Haoxian County (now southeast of Gaoyi, Hebei Province). After destroying Liu Penzi, he became Emperor Guangwu. He continued the Han Dynasty title and regarded this year as the first year of Jianwu. The capital was Luoyang, known as the Eastern Han Dynasty in history. In 37 years, the separatist forces such as Chimei, Kaixiao and Gongsunshu were finally eliminated and the country was unified.

Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty abolished the bad government of Wang Mang, and the society became stable. It was called the Guangwu Zhongxing in history. However, the enfeoffment of land also resulted in the increasingly serious situation of land annexation and the rise of local powerful forces, which laid hidden dangers for the eventual demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

During the reigns of Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty returned to the national strength and vitality of the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, which is known as the rule of Ming and Zhang in history. During this period, in October of the second year of Zhanghe (AD 88), the chariot general Dou Xian led his troops out of the fortress, defeated the Northern Xiongnu, climbed Yanran Mountain, and ordered Ban Gu to write an inscription and carve a stone to praise his merits. This eliminated hundreds of years of Xiongnu aggression against the Han Dynasty. Threats towards the northern border.

Afterwards, because the emperor was young and the empress dowager took over the throne, relatives and eunuchs alternately controlled the government. Even the emperor's dismissal and establishment were controlled by eunuchs or relatives. There were frequent fights between eunuchs and relatives, causing political instability. Moreover, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, the gentry were powerful and powerful. They often colluded with relatives or eunuchs of the dynasty to annex large amounts of land, which indirectly caused the increase of peasant uprisings in various places. During the reigns of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, two disasters caused by party corruption occurred, and the decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty was inevitable.

In 184, the Yellow Turban Uprising led by Zhang Jiao broke out. Although the rebellion was soon put down, the Han government's national strength was greatly reduced after this battle. In addition, in order to ensure smooth justice, the central government delegated military power to state officials in various regions. From then on, the powerful families in various places gradually began to support themselves with troops. In addition to their already strong economic strength, it eventually evolved into a situation in the late Eastern Han Dynasty where Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, Sun Jian and other powerful warlords separated themselves from each other and competed for power. During this period, the powerful ministers Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao controlled the government, excluded dissidents, and even "held the emperor to order the princes", thus making the power of the Han Dynasty empty and exist in name only.

In 220, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was deposed by Cao Pi, the son of Cao Cao, Emperor Wen of Wei. The Eastern Han Dynasty ended, the Han Dynasty was also declared destroyed, and Chinese history entered the divided Three Kingdoms era.

Local Administration of the Han Dynasty

The nominal area ruled by the Han Dynasty in 87 BC

The actual area ruled by the Han Dynasty in 2 AD

Administrative Regions of the Western Han Dynasty

First-level administrative regions: counties (countries) There were more than 60 counties in the early Han Dynasty, and there were 103 counties and countries in 2 AD. The county magistrate was initially called the county governor, but was renamed the prefect during the reign of Emperor Jing. The country is a feudal state for the kings, and the chief executive is the prime minister sent by the central government.

Second-level administrative regions: counties (hou states, cities, and roads). The cities are the food towns granted by the empress dowager and princesses; the roads are county-level administrative regions located in ethnic minority areas. In 2 AD, there were 1,587 county-level administrative divisions in the country including counties, lords, towns, and roads. Counties with more than 10,000 households are called county magistrates, and counties with less than 10,000 households are called county magistrates.

The Xingbu (also known as the Governor's Department): Since the fifth year of Yuanfeng (106 BC), 13 more Xingbu have been set up above the counties, and each Xingbu has jurisdiction over several counties (countries). But at this time, the department was a supervisory area, not an administrative area in the true sense [source request]

Eastern Han Dynasty Administrative Region

The first-level administrative divisions are counties, states (kingdoms), and vassal states.

The secondary divisions are counties, towns, roads, principalities, and princes.

In the feudal states of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the first class was the king, the second class was the principality, and the third class was the marquis (the food counties of the marquises were the marquis country, the small marquis food township, and the pavilion. The marquis in the pass had no land and sent food. Yu County)[11].

Economic Population

The currency of the Han Dynasty was five baht. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, due to long-term wars, the population declined. By the time Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came to the throne, the population of the Western Han Dynasty had risen to more than 50 million. But by the end of Emperor Wu's reign, due to long-term military operations, the population dropped to half of what it was in the early years of Emperor Wu's reign. After Emperor Wu, his successors learned their lesson and adopted a rather moderate policy. By the time of Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty, the population had reached 59.6 million.

However, after the wars caused by the peasant uprising during Wang Mang's period, in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, the population was only 21 million. After a stable period of recovery, it recovered to 56.5 million by the time of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty. However, due to the wars during the Three Kingdoms period, By the early Jin Dynasty, the country's population was only 16 million. [12]

The economic policy of the Han Dynasty was to emphasize agriculture and suppress business. The land tax was only 1/30, heavy taxes were imposed on business, and businessmen were not allowed to wear clothes and travel in carriages. The descendants of businessmen were not allowed to serve as officials. .

However, due to the population tax, household registration tax, and male tax, the burden on farmers is not light.

The Han Dynasty’s national strength relied in part on trade with Mongolia, Korea, Central Asia, Vietnam and North India, as well as production and commerce in South China[2].

Science and Culture

Hongfeng Seismograph

Restored Model The Han Dynasty was a very glorious period of science, technology and culture in Chinese history. The country also attaches great importance to education and learning. During the reign of Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the number of imperial students alone was said to be 30,000[10].

In terms of culture, poetry, painting, music, philosophy, literature and history are all very prosperous. Sima Qian's "Historical Records" is China's first biographical general history and the first of the Twenty-Four Histories. The "Book of Han" compiled by Ban Gu and others became a model for subsequent dynasties to write the history of this dynasty. Many Western scholars believe[2] that the historical standards created by writers in the Han Dynasty were leading the world until the 18th century. Many documents destroyed by Qin Shihuang's burning of books and entrapment of Confucian scholars were reconstructed through the records of Han Dynasty scholars, including the ancient documents among the Five Classics, which were also excavated and sorted out at this time. The Han government established Yuefu to collect folk poems, which are called Yuefu poems. Many Yuefu poems of the Han Dynasty were collected in later "Yuefu Poetry Collection", "Nineteen Ancient Poems" and "New Odes of Yutai". The long narrative poem "The Peacock Flies Southeast" was also written At the end of the Han Dynasty. Jia Yi's "Public Security Policy" and "On Passing the Qin Dynasty", Mei Cheng's "Qifa", Sima Xiangru's "Zixu Fu" and "Shanglin Fu", Zhang Heng's "Er Capital Fu", etc. are all literary names that have been praised throughout the ages. articles.

During the Han Dynasty, official script gradually replaced Xiaozhuan as the main writing font. The emergence of official script laid the foundation for the glyph structure of modern Chinese characters and became a watershed between ancient and modern writing. During this period, the prototype of punctuation marks also appeared.

The governance ideas of the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty used Legalist methods when establishing the country. During the Wenjing Dynasty, Taoist Huang-Lao thought was mainly used, supplemented by Confucian and Legalist thoughts as the guiding ideology of the legal system. It not only emphasized inaction, but also paid attention to the role of etiquette and morality, and recognized the law. importance, and adhere to the principle of simplicity and simplicity in order to ensure the safety of the people. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the rulers established Confucianism as orthodox thought, and supplemented it with Legalism as the guiding ideology of the legal system. The center of which is "virtue is the main force and punishment is auxiliary", that is, first use virtue and etiquette to educate, and then apply it if the education is ineffective. By punishment. This way of governing the country, which combines hardness and softness, became the guiding ideology of the legal system of the Han Dynasty after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. This idea had a great influence on the legislation of subsequent dynasties. Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty once had a famous saying: "The Han family has its own system, which is based on the overlord's way." This is an incisive exposition of this idea.

In terms of science and technology, the Western Han Dynasty had begun to use silk wadding and hemp to make paper. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun improved papermaking, and papermaking became one of China's four great inventions. Zhang Heng of the Eastern Han Dynasty made the world's first wind seismograph capable of predicting earthquakes. Zhang Zhongjing was revered as the "Medical Sage" for his Treatise on Febrile Diseases and Miscellaneous Diseases. Historical records record that Hua Tuo was the first doctor in the world to use general anesthesia (the authenticity of which is now questioned by Chen Yinke and others [source request]). The "Zhou Bi Suan Jing" written in the first century BC and the "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic" written in the early Eastern Han Dynasty are masterpieces in the field of mathematics. Among them, "Nine Chapters on Arithmetic" is a summary of the development of mathematics during the establishment and consolidation of feudal society in the Warring States, Qin, and Han Dynasties. It lists the four arithmetic operations of fractions, Jinyoushu (known as the three rate method in the West), square root and cube root (including quadratic Numerical solution of equations), surplus-deficiency method (called double method in the West), various area and volume formulas, linear equations solution, addition and subtraction rules for positive and negative numbers, Pythagorean solution method (especially the Pythagorean theorem and Pythagorean solution) (number method) and other calculation methods, forming an independent system centered on calculation that is completely different from ancient Greek mathematics.

The Han Dynasty was also the era when porcelain firing was first invented in China. The Taichu Calendar formulated by Luo Xiahong and others incorporated the twenty-four solar terms into the calendar for the first time. This period also saw the invention of the distillation method, the water-powered mill, the prototype of the modern horse yoke and girdle, lacquerware, the reciprocating piston bellows used in metallurgy, the wheelbarrow, waterwheel, and suspension bridge that appeared in the late Han Dynasty. Shipbuilding had adopted watertight bulkheads, multiple masts and sternpost rudders, and the use of compasses had begun. In addition, blood circulation was first discovered at this time [2].

During the Han Dynasty, China's smelting technology also made great progress, and the technology for casting coins was mature, such as three-baht coins, five-baht coins, etc. The painting process is unique, such as the silk calligraphy paintings unearthed in Mawangdui[13], and various daily necessities are complete, such as the bronze mirror known as the "Han Dynasty Magic Mirror". The technology of boiling salt has also been continuously improved. Distilled liquor and wine making have appeared in the Han Dynasty. The level reaches perfection. Agricultural technology has improved significantly, and drainage irrigation tools appeared in the early Eastern Han Dynasty.