Han 漢  | |||||||||||||||
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 The Western Han dynasty in 2 AD[1]
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| Capital | |||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Old Chinese | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | |||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
| Emperor | |||||||||||||||
• 202–195 BC (first) | Emperor Gaozu | ||||||||||||||
• 141–87 BC | Emperor Wu | ||||||||||||||
• 74–48 BC | Emperor Xuan | ||||||||||||||
• 25–57 AD | Emperor Guangwu | ||||||||||||||
• 189–220 AD (last) | Emperor Xian | ||||||||||||||
| Chancellor | |||||||||||||||
• 206–193 BC | Xiao He | ||||||||||||||
• 193–190 BC | Cao Shen | ||||||||||||||
• 189–192 AD | Dong Zhuo | ||||||||||||||
• 208–220 AD | Cao Cao | ||||||||||||||
• 220 AD | Cao Pi | ||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Imperial | ||||||||||||||
| 206 BC | |||||||||||||||
• Battle of Gaixia; Liu Bang proclaimed emperor | 202 BC | ||||||||||||||
| 9–23 AD | |||||||||||||||
• Abdication to Cao Wei | 220 AD | ||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||
| 50 BC (est. Western Han peak)[2] | 6,000,000 km2 (2,300,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| 100 AD (est. Eastern Han peak)[2] | 6,500,000 km2 (2,500,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||
• 2 AD[3] | 57,671,400 | ||||||||||||||
| Currency | Ban Liang coins and Wu Zhu coins | ||||||||||||||
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| Today part of | |||||||||||||||
| Han dynasty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.svg) "Han" in ancient seal script (top left), Han-era clerical script (top right), modern traditional (bottom left), and simplified (bottom right) Chinese characters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 漢 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 汉 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin | Hàn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Part of a series on the |
| History of China |
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The Han dynasty[a] was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring interregnum known as the Chu–Han contention (206–202 BC), and it was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD). The dynasty was briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) established by the usurping regent Wang Mang, and is thus separated into two periods—the Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD) and the Eastern Han (25–220 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the Han dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history, and had a permanent impact on Chinese identity in later periods.[6] The majority ethnic group of modern China refer to themselves as the "Han people" or "Han Chinese". The spoken Chinese and written Chinese are referred to respectively as the "Han language" and "Han characters".[7]
The Han emperor was at the pinnacle of Han society and culture. He presided over the Han government but shared power with both the nobility and the appointed ministers who came largely from the scholarly gentry class. The Han Empire was divided into areas directly controlled by the central government called commanderies, as well as a number of semi-autonomous kingdoms. These kingdoms gradually lost all vestiges of their independence, particularly following the Rebellion of the Seven States. From the reign of Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 BC) onward, the Chinese court officially sponsored Confucianism in education and court politics, synthesized with the cosmology of later scholars such as Dong Zhongshu.
The Han dynasty oversaw periods of economic prosperity as well as significant growth in the money economy that had first been established during the Zhou dynasty (c. 1050 – 256 BC). The coinage minted by the central government in 119 BC remained the standard in China until the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD). The period saw a number of limited institutional innovations. To finance its military campaigns and the settlement of newly conquered frontier territories, the Han government nationalized private salt and iron industries in 117 BC, creating government monopolies that were later repealed during the Eastern period. There were significant advances in science and technology during the Han period, including the emergence of papermaking, rudders for steering ships, negative numbers in mathematics, raised-relief maps, hydraulic-powered armillary spheres for astronomy, and seismometers that discerned the cardinal direction of distant earthquakes by use of inverted pendulums.
The Han dynasty had many conflicts with the Xiongnu, a nomadic confederation centred in the eastern Eurasian steppe.[8] The Xiongnu defeated the Han in 200 BC, prompting the Han to appease the Xiongnu with a policy of marriage alliance and payments of tribute, though the Xiongnu continued to raid the Han's northern borders. Han policy changed in 133 BC, under Emperor Wu, when Han forces began a series of military campaigns to quell the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu were eventually defeated and forced to accept a status as Han vassals, and the Xiongnu confederation fragmented. The Han conquered the Hexi Corridor and Inner Asian territory of the Tarim Basin from the Xiongnu, helping to establish the Silk Road. The lands north of the Han's borders were later overrun by the nomadic Xianbei confederation. Emperor Wu also launched successful conquests in the south, annexing Nanyue in 111 BC and Dian in 109 BC. He further expanded Han territory into the northern Korean Peninsula, where Han forces conquered Gojoseon and established the Xuantu and Lelang commanderies in 108 BC.
After 92 AD, palace eunuchs increasingly involved themselves in the dynasty's court politics, engaging in violent power struggles between various consort clans of the empresses and empresses dowager. Imperial authority was also seriously challenged by large Daoist religious societies which instigated the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion. Following the death of Emperor Ling (r. 168–189 AD), the palace eunuchs were massacred by military officers, allowing members of the aristocracy and military governors to become warlords and divide the empire. The Han dynasty came to an end in 220 AD when Cao Pi, king of Wei, usurped the throne from Emperor Xian.
- ^ Barnes (2007), p. 63.
- ^ a b Taagepera (1979), p. 128.
- ^ Nishijima (1986), pp. 595–596; Bielenstein (1987), p. 14.
- ^ "Han". Collins English Dictionary (13th ed.). HarperCollins. 2018. ISBN 978-0-008-28437-4.
- ^ "Han". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins.
- ^ Zhou (2003), p. 34.
- ^ Schaefer (2008), p. 279.
- ^ Bailey (1985), pp. 25–26.
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