206 B.C.E. - 220 C.E.

The Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E. - 220 C.E.)

Han Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms (220 - 280 C.E.). It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known as Emperor Gaozu of Han.

The dynasty was interrupted by The Xin Dynasty (9 – 23 C.E.) This period separates the Han into two periods: the Western Han (206 B.C.E. - 9 C.E.) and Eastern Han (25 - 220 C.E.).

The Han Dynasty was an age of economic prosperity and saw a significant growth of the money economy. The coinage issued by the central government mint in 119 B.C.E. remained the standard coinage of China until the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 C.E.).

To pay for its military campaigns and the settlement of newly conquered frontier territories, the government nationalized the private salt and iron industries in 117 B.C.E.. These monopolies were repealed during the Eastern Han period, and the lost revenue was recouped through heavily taxing private entrepreneurs.

The emperor was at the pinnacle of Han society. He presided over the government but shared power with both the nobility and appointed ministers who came largely from the scholarly gentry class.

From Emperor Wu onward, the Chinese court officially sponsored Confucianism in education and court politics. This policy endured until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 C.E..

Science and technology saw significant advances, including papermaking, the nautical steering rudder, the use of negative numbers in mathematics, the raised-relief map, the hydraulic-powered armillary sphere for astronomy, and a seismometer employing an inverted pendulum.

In 2 C.E. China's first known census the population was registered as having 57,671,400 individuals in 12,366,470 households.

The Han Empire was divided into Commanderies controlled by the central government and a number of semi-autonomous kingdoms. These kingdoms gradually lost all of their areas following the Rebellion of the Seven States.

In 200 B.C.E. the Han were defeated by the Xiongnu, a Nomadic confederation. Emperor Wu of Han (141 - 87 B.C.E.) defeated the Xiongnu and forced them to accept vassal status as Han tributaries. These campaigns expanded Han sovereignty into the Tarim Basin of Central Asia, divided the Xiongnu into two separate confederations, and helped establish the vast trade network known as the Silk Road, which reached as far as the Mediterranean world.

In the south he annexed

* Nanyue in 111 B.C.E. and

* Dian in 109 B.C.E., and in the

* Korean Peninsula Xuantu and Lelang Commanderies in 108 B.C.E..

After 92 C.E., the Imperial authority was challenged by:

* Palace eunuchs engaging in violent power struggles between the various consort clans of the empresses and empress dowagers,

* Daoist religious societies which instigated the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion.

Following the death of Emperor Ling (168 - 189 C.E.), the palace eunuchs were massacred by military officers, allowing members of the aristocracy and military governors to become warlords and divide the empire. When Cao Pi, King of Wei, usurped the throne from Emperor Xian, the Han Dynasty ceased to exist.