Download Classical China: The Han Dynasty

Classical China: The Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty, which ruled over China for more than four
centuries from 206 BC to AD 220, not only administered a great
empire, but also created an environment in which art, literature,
education, and scientific innovation flourished.
The Collapse of the Qin, the Rise of the Han
In 206 BC, a rebellion ended the short-lived Qin dynasty.
Supported by the concept of Legalism—the idea that to maintain
order, the law must be mercilessly enforced—the Qin had unified
the many small kingdoms of China. They created a strong
centralized government; standardized weights, measures, and
money; and built roads so that the imperial government could communicate
with outlying areas. However, to preserve their tight control over a unified
China, the Qin were harsh and repressive rulers. They also drafted laborers,
forcing them to construct the Great Wall of China and to serve as soldiers to
defend the new China against barbarian invaders in the north and northwest.
Gao Zu, a Chinese peasant and one of the rebel leaders who succeeded in
deposing the Qin emperor, founded the Han dynasty. Keeping the centralized
form of government of the Qin, Gao Zu and his successors expanded it into a
bureaucracy founded on education and accountability. That bureaucratic
administration set the stage for expanding the imperial territory and influence.
Bureaucracy and Belief
Gao Zu realized that managing a large empire required a loyal work force, so
he appointed military leaders, men who had helped him during the rebellion,
to positions of authority in the provinces of China. He also relaxed the
repressive application of the law. Gao Zu remained in power until his death in
195, in part because of those measures, and in part because of the Chinese
concept of the "mandate of heaven"—the belief that heaven endorsed a virtuous
ruler by keeping him in power but ousted the nonvirtuous by allowing him to
be overthrown or otherwise lose his power.
Jing, the fifth Han emperor, developed the bureaucracy further and undid more of the Qin
customs. His son, Wudi, succeeded Jing in 141 BC, believed that the most talented and learned
men were the best people to help him administer the empire. Since most of the best-educated
men in the realm were trained in Confucianism, Wudi made Confucianism the official philosophy
of the empire. He established an academy and scholarships so that more men could be educated
in Confucian classic literature. He also ordered that the Confucian classics, which had been
destroyed or hidden under the Qin, be revived and documented.
Confucianism had a tremendous impact on the character of Wudi's reign, and long thereafter.
According to Confucian philosophy, the preeminent values are love, respect, and obligation to
one's parents. All other virtuous relationships stem from filial obedience, including the
relationship between emperor and subjects. In the Confucian system, honor is found in duty,
which together with a strong education results in moral behavior.
Finally, Wudi established a system whereby government workers had to prove their merit in
order to be placed in positions and retain their jobs. The first civil service examination the world
has known was the brainchild of Wudi. The exams stressed Confucian teachings and thus
ensured that all members of the administration were steeped in that philosophy. In Wudi's
administration, civil servants had to be worthy, committed to one's obligation of respect and
loyalty to the emperor, focused on ensuring the general good of the people, and accountable to
one's superiors. Even the provincial governors were supervised by inspectors sent from the
emperor.
Expanding the Empire
Expansion began under Wudi as part of his defense program. In prior periods, the Chinese faced
continual threats from nomadic neighbors in the north and west. Wudi began a systematic
campaign to eliminate threats all along China's borders by increasing security on the northern
and western frontiers, which facilitated state-sponsored trade along such routes as the Silk Road
and extended the empire into Central Asia.
Han expansion extended in other directions as well. Wudi's policies brought portions of the
Korean Peninsula and territory as far as the northern region of present-day Vietnam into the
empire. During the 54-year reign of Wudi, the empire nearly doubled. That expansion not only
enlarged China politically and geographically, but it also enriched it economically and culturally
by creating opportunities for exchange between China and other Asian cultures. The
development of the Silk Road would eventually bring the empire into contact with
Mediterranean culture as well.
A Shining Period
Every great civilization has its high point, but China has had several periods of cultural
achievement, including the Han dynasty. Not the least of the Han's accomplishments was the
revival of the Confucian classics and the priority placed on education. Local schools were founded
in addition to the national university, and academic pursuits soon expanded into literary ones.
Richly detailed histories were written during the 400-plus years of Han
rule, as were poems, prose, and textbooks on math and medicine.
Strides were also made in artistic endeavors, including dance, drama,
painting, bronze work, silk weaving, and ceramics. Scientific progress
was accomplished in the fields of astronomy and mathematics, and such
inventions as paper, water clocks, and a rudimentary seismograph were
developed during the Han period. Han emperors even had a music bureau, which gathered
musical works from all over the empire.
Like the Qin before them, the Han drafted male citizens into military or public works service.
Requiring farmers and craftsmen to leave their land put them under great financial hardship,
but it also resulted in the construction of roads, bridges, canals, dikes and other structures that
facilitated defense, trade, and communication throughout one of the great empires of the ancient
world.
The Decline of the Han (Overview)
The Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) has traditionally been viewed as a cultural high point in
Chinese civilization. The sophistication of the Han period has remained an important part of
Chinese culture into the modern era, and even now many Chinese refer to themselves as the
"Han people." After the breakup of the Qin dynasty, China was plunged into civil war until only
a few strong candidates to rule the fragmented country remained. One man, Liu Bang (later
called Gao Zu), emerged from the chaos victorious and founded the Former or Western Han
dynasty, so named because the dynasty was refounded in AD 25 and the capital moved from
Changan in the west to Loyang in the east.
Wudi: The Han at their Height
The decline of the Han, like that of most governments, is difficult to reduce
to simple causes. In order to explain how an empire falls, one must define
what it was, then show how it became something else. Though there were
many years in which the Han dynasty prospered, none has defined the
period more than the reign of Wudi, who in so many ways represents the
zenith of Han power and achievement. Wudi took steps to increase central
authority, particularly with regard to the semi-independent landowners
further from the capital. Wudi likewise kept the merchant class in check by
imposing new taxes and making the chief industries, like salt and iron, state
controlled. Under Wudi, China came to incorporate most of modern China and parts of Korea,
Vietnam, Turkistan, and Inner Mongolia. With external and domestic threats under control, the
economy grew stronger, government was stable, and the arts and culture of Han China flowered.
The Problem of Imperial Succession
One problem the Han did not solve was how to ensure that capable men succeeded the emperor.
Weak rulers, often dominated by court officials, allowed corruption to surface. That was one of
the main challenges to Han stability throughout the period. For example, when Emperor Aidi
died in 1 BC, his successor was the nine-year-old Pingdi, who was not only young, but prone to
illness. The man behind Pingdi was Wang Mang, a celebrated Confucian scholar, who in time
became emperor himself. When Pingdi died only five years into his reign (some claim he was
poisoned by Wang), Wang selected an infant as the next emperor, again acting as regent. In AD
9, however, Wang declared himself emperor and announced the formation of the Hsin dynasty.
Wang Mang
While initially popular, Wang's reign proved unhappy due to bad luck and ill-planned policies.
He wished to organize China along stricter Confucian lines. He revamped the bureaucracy and
gave government officials ancient Confucian titles, redistributed land, and declared all slaves
imperial rather than personal property. Wang also took over the wine industry, making it a
government monopoly much as Wudi had done with iron and salt. Several of his programs were
sound, like taxing business profits to provide for the poor, but for the most part the changes were
too drastic and too fast. To make matters worse, floods and famine and internal and external
conflicts exacerbated the growing unrest within China. While largely successful against foreign
raiders, Wang and his armies were less successful handling the various peasant uprisings. One
such group, led by Guang Wu Di, finally defeated and murdered Wang Mang in 23. The
instability of dynastic succession (amply demonstrated in the career of Wang), combined with the
growing power of regional figures, had caused faith in the government to wane. Those
circumstances made it possible for a leading warlord like Guang Wu Di to topple Wang's
government and take over as emperor in 25.
The Later Han: New Problems, Old Problems
The Later Han, or Eastern Han, (AD 25–220), followed a pattern similar to that of the first Han
rulers in that the first few emperors were capable leaders. As before, they were able to restore
peace, correct abuses, and encourage trade, the arts, and secure relations with other peoples.
Land that had been lost in Vietnam and Turkistan was regained. By the turn of the first century,
however, the old problems seemed to plague the empire again. Overburdened peasants were at
the economic mercy of abusive landlords, who all too often avoided taxes by shifting the burden
to the poor. In addition, some of the peasantry were forced into slavery or into war bands by
powerful nobles. Another series of natural disasters further damaged the
quality of life and the economy.
Desperate for help, people began turning to a variety of religious cults.
Skepticism and desperation encouraged elite society toward Buddhism (which
was gaining in popularity), while others followed esoteric varieties of Taoism
and Neo-Taoism. Many people, however, turned to sects that blended Taoism
with mythology and magic. One of these was the Yellow Turbans, a faith-
healing sect that followed what their leader, Zhang Jue, called the Way of Great Peace. While
largely Taoist, they incorporated other elements of Chinese thought and culture. Social
oppression, political instability, and natural disaster brought many desperate people to don the
yellow scarf (thus their name) and follow Zhang Jue. In 184, the Yellow Turbans began a revolt
that challenged government forces until ca. 204.
The End of Han China
In AD 88, a young emperor, Hedi, succeeded to the throne. Once again, ambitious court officials,
powerful dowager empresses, and weak rulers upset political stability. Court intrigue and rivalry
weakened the central government while fanaticism, revolts (there were more than 50 revolts
between AD 1 and 200), and economic crisis weakened the countryside. In 135, court eunuchs
succeeded in obtaining the right to adopt sons. Eunuchs were unable to have children, which
meant that they could not pass their offices down to offspring. With heirs, however, those who
had acquired considerable wealth while in office passed it down to their adopted sons. Scholar
bureaucrats and students battled at court against the power of the eunuchs, which by 170 had
overshadowed that of the emperor. Between those rivalries, earthquake and famine, and the
various revolts, Han China had become fragmented.
Many of the generals who defeated rebels like the Yellow Turbans ended up with independent
power and armies more loyal to them than the emperor. They vied for power in the face of a
weak imperial throne, hoping to install their own emperor. Ultimately, Cao Pi, the son of Cao
Cao, the general who defeated the Yellow Turbans and stabilized China, received the abdication
of the last Han ruler. Cao Pi became the first emperor of the new Wei dynasty. He was not alone,
however, for two other men proclaimed themselves emperor, and the "Three Kingdoms" vied
against each other for 60 years.