Download What did the Han borrow from Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism?

The Han Dynasty
• Ruled China from 202 BC -220 AD
• Founded by Gao Zu, an illiterate peasant who defeated
rival armies after the official collapse of the Qin
• Most famous Han emperor was Wudi, who ruled from
141 BC – 87 BC
• Lost the Mandate of Heaven due to weak emperors
who did not repair canals and roads and imposed
heavy taxes that led to peasant revolts
• Overthrown by warlords in 220 AD who broke China up
into several kingdoms
How did Han Wudi strengthen the
government and economy of China?
• Set up a civil service system to select
government officials; officials were educated
in Confucianism and proved their merit
through the civil service examination
• Set up government monopolies on the
production and sale of iron and salt
• Followed a policy of expansionism to gain
access to Silk Roads trade routes
Why was the Han Dynasty considered
a Golden Age?
• Scientific advancements: more accurate
calendars, seismographs, acupuncture
• Technological advancements: papermaking,
shipbuilding, bronze/iron stirrups,
wheelbarrows, suspension bridges
• Artistic achievements: Beautiful architecture,
jade and ivory carvings, ceramic figures
Why did Buddhism appeal to many
people in China?
• Promised escape from suffering and hope of
eternal happiness
• Presented Buddha as a compassionate,
merciful god
• Emphasized personal salvation, unlike Daoism
and Confucianism
• Chinese Buddhism emphasized filial piety and
honoring Confucius
What did the Han borrow
from Confucianism, Daoism
and Legalism?
Confucianism
• Ruler’s authority should not be questioned
• Ruler = father of the country
• Ruler must rule justly to hold on to Mandate of
Heaven
• Ruler should live a virtuous life and set a good
example for citizens
• Scholars achieved status through EDUCATION
• Civil service system kept power of aristocracy at
bay; created a MERITOCRACY
Daoism
• People should be “Confucian during the week and Daoist
on the weekends”
• Daoism provided an escape from the strict, self-control of
Confucianism
• Emphasized living in harmony with nature (visiting
countryside, appreciating landscape paintings, poetry
about nature)
• Encouraged leaders to use warfare ONLY for defensive
purposes
• Han used military to protect China and to maintain control
over trade routes (rather than just to conquer territory)
• Leaders should “bend, not break”; be flexible and willing
to compromise
Legalism
• Emperor maintained absolute control over
the country and appointed friends/family to
some government positions
• Kept standardizations of Qin Dynasty
(measurements, currency, language, axle
width of wagons)
• Reduced mandatory work requirement on
public works to ONE month per year
• Built four major highways that radiated from
Chang’an, built canals and controlled floods