Achievements of the Han Dynasty

Are some of your days more productive than others? I'm going to get so much work done today tomorrow. Following Shi Huangdi's death, the Qin Dynasty fell into a short civil war. After a handful of years of fighting, a peasant leader named Liu Bang emerged as the first emperor of the Han Dynasty. This dynasty, named after the Han River in central China, lasted 400 years and is often noted for being the high mark of Chinese achievement. So what did they accomplish? Liu Bang was originally a peasant and was the first commoner to become emperor of China. Like the Zhou Dynasty, he was able to explain the reason for him to become emperor because the Qin had lost their mandate at heaven. Well, that shouldn't have been a hard sell. Liu Bang may have been a bandit early in his life. As a sheriff, he was overseeing a work party of criminals and one got away. He knew that his punishment was death for his mistake, so he let the rest of his captives go and together they formed a band of marauders with Liu Bang at the helm. When the Qin Dynasty began to splinter, his group of bandits were one of the many groups to revolt. Liu Bang was able to take control and the Han Dynasty began in 202 BCE. Liu Bang earned people's trust and loyalty. He was known to be merciful to those he defeated and was well liked by soldiers. The peasants even saw him as one of their own. Liu Bang immediately struck a much different tone with his citizens than Shi Huangdi did. He lowered taxes on farmers and he made punishments less severe. He gave land to his supporters, similar to the Zhou, but he also continued to build upon the Qin's strong centralized government. Emperor Wudi took over in 140 BCE and he wanted to create a stronger central government than the one originally set up by Liu Bang. He took away lands that were given to the nobles by Liu Bang and put government in control of the country's grain supply. Imagine how mad the peasants were. I'm going to take that. He also raised taxes to help pay for his wars of expansion. Most important, he made Confucianism China's official state philosophy. Chosen for many reasons, chief among them being the importance of obeying authority, as well as the educational system that was inherently built into the philosophy. Wudi even went further to establish a university that taught Confucianism. Paired with this adoption of Confucianism, Wudi created civil service exams to award government positions to the best and brightest citizens. This was one of the most arguably influential policies, as this system of examination for government jobs lasted until 1905 CE. While these exams were technically open to everyone, so long as they were a boy, only those wealthy enough to afford an education, or exceptionally gifted enough to get a wealthy sponsor to pay for their education, were actually able to take the test. The exam required you to all but memorize and understand the books of Confucius. These books were not written in the common language of the time, so just being literate wasn't enough. What was required would be like today's Westerners memorizing Beowulf or Shakespeare's works, and being able to recall minute details about them. Class structure also became more rigid during this time. People were divided into social classes that shook up the norm of what we typically see. Of course, emperors and other government officials made up the upper class, but the second class were peasants, then followed by artisans, and at the very bottom of society were the merchants. The military was technically outside of these social rankings, but was still a very valued part in society. A person's ranking was based on their benefit to society. So kings made laws and established order, peasants grew food for the empire, and also built the empire's great projects. Artisans created products like bread or furniture. Merchants, however, only bought and sold things that others produced. Most of China's population, like 90% most of China's population, didn't live so opulently. These were the peasants, who lived mostly in the countryside in meager dwellings, often made from dirt. They put in long, tiring days in the fields during the summer and spent the winter working on government building projects. By the end of the Han Dynasty, many were taxed so heavily that they sold their land and just farmed for the rich instead. The adoption of Confucianism as a state philosophy meant families were honored. Disobeying one's parents was a crime, even for the emperor. The Han government believed that if families were used to obeying their fathers, they would obey the emperor too. Boys tended to be more valued than girls within the family. Sons were able to carry on the family name, and they took care of their parents when they were older. Daughters, however, became part of their husband's family. There's an old Chinese proverb that says raising daughters is like raising children for other families. This isn't to say that women never had power. They often could influence their son's family and could eventually become head of their household. The Han Dynasty, like mentioned earlier, was a time of great achievement. Inventions that increased production and advancements in art and literature have led many to call this dynasty the Golden Age of China. Artists became better at painting, specifically figure painting. Not finger painting, figure painting. Most of these paintings consisted of famous Confucian scholars or realistic scenes from everyday life. These paintings often covered palace walls and tombs. Literature-wise, the Fu and Shi styles of poetry were developed, and Sima Qian wrote the records of a grand historian. This book was a general history of China spanning 2,000 years. It became the model that future historical Chinese books were based on. Many new inventions were created too. Paper, like the type we use today made from wood pulp, was invented. Initially it was just used to wrap fish, but eventually it began to get glued together to form scrolls. The Chinese also invented sundials, keep track of time, and a water-powered trip hammer to crush grain and metal ore. One of the most interesting inventions was a seismograph. Han rulers were really interested in earthquakes because they saw them as a sign of some sort of coming evil event. Zhang Heng, an astronomer, mathematician, engineer, and painter, developed the seismograph that could not only detect an earthquake, but also what direction the epicenter was in. Zhang Heng also had several other great discoveries, such as an accurate explanation for lunar eclipses, he developed a device that could accurately measure a Chinese mile, and he estimated pi. The Chinese continued to master ironworking. Their swords and armor became well known, and they even developed an iron plow to help farmers. Iron plows allowed a farmer to till more ground in a day, increasing grain production. And another invention, the wheelbarrow, allowed workers to haul way more weight than they otherwise could, up to 300 pounds more. China had long been well known for silk. The light fabric was used for everything from material to write on to clothing. There is a video in the description about how silk was made. But essentially, silkworms make their cocoons out of a single strand of silk. The Chinese would gather these cocoons, boil them, unwind the long strands, and then several of these could be twisted together to form a thread that could be woven into fabric. During the Han dynasty, a foot-powered loom was introduced that increased the production of silk. This was important because silk was a very valuable trade good. So valuable that sharing how silk was produced was punishable by death. The Silk Road, a trade network that spanned Asia and extended into Europe, began during this time. We'll talk more about that in an upcoming video. During much of the Han dynasty, leaders were very benevolent towards peasants. When natural disasters struck, like floods or drought or locusts, the government would do things to help, like lowering taxes or granting peasants the right to hunt on royal lands to avoid famine. During the late 2nd century CE, however, a series of puppet emperors started raising taxes in these circumstances. This caused peasants to revolt. The weak Han rulers turned to warlords to help them put down these rebellions and granted them unprecedented privileges. These warlords were able to put down rebellions, but they didn't stop fighting. Eventually, only three of the warlords remained. Finally, in 220 CE, the last Han emperor was deposed by these three warlords and given the title Duke of Shen Yun. He then lived out the rest of his life in comfort, so I'm sure that much was okay. But this ends the Han dynasty and beginning the period known as the Three Kingdoms Period. The Han dynasty is often referred to as a classical civilization. Classical civilization is a somewhat arbitrary term to denote a period in which enormous achievements were made and the impact the period has on a culture. Because of the emphasis on Confucian ideals, this dynasty is generally known for its benevolence displayed towards its citizenry. The merit-based civil service exam system provided a better means for qualified individuals to get into government, as well as had the unintended consequence of creating a large group of educated individuals who did not go into government service and instead did things like write poetry or became doctors. The Han dynasty influenced the East like Rome influenced the West. Art, architecture, and innovations made during this time deeply impacted Chinese culture and history. In fact, the majority of Chinese today consider themselves ethnic Han. But they didn't just influence Chinese history, but our own as well, through the trade of goods and technology along the Silk Road. Anyways, I hope you're having a wonderful week, and until next time, I will miss you all terribly.