Jingzhao ( Chinese : 京兆 ) was a historical region centered on the ancient Chinese capital of Chang'an .
190-615: In early Han dynasty , the governor of the capital Chang'an and its vicinities was known as You Neishi ( 右內史 ), and the region was also known by the same name. In 104 BC, the eastern half of You Neishi was changed to Jingzhao Yin (京兆尹, "Intendant of the Capital"), while the western half became You Fufeng . The region included 12 counties: Chang'an ( 長安 ), Xinfeng ( 新豐 ), Chuansikong ( 船司空 ), Lantian ( 藍田 ), Huayin ( 華陰 ), Zheng ( 鄭 ), Hu ( 湖 ), Xiagui ( 下邽 ), Nanling ( 南陵 ), Fengming ( 奉明 ), Baling ( 霸陵 ) and Duling ( 杜陵 ). In 2 AD,
380-697: A brewery business to help pay for his father's costly funeral, an act which was heavily criticized by his fellow gentrymen who considered this sideline occupation a shameful one for any scholar. Cinnabar mining was also a very lucrative industry. Commoners known as guests and retainers ( binke 賓客) who lived on the property of a host in exchange for services had existed since the Warring States period. Retainers often originally belonged to other social groups, and sometimes they were fugitives seeking shelter from authorities. Hosts were often wealthy nobles and officials, yet they were sometimes wealthy commoners. In
570-628: A limited engagement at Mayi involving the assassination of the Chanyu would throw the Xiongnu realm into chaos and benefit the Han. When this plot failed in 133 BC, Emperor Wu launched a series of massive military invasions into Xiongnu territory. The assault culminated in 119 BC at the Battle of Mobei , when Han commanders Huo Qubing ( d. 117 BC ) and Wei Qing ( d. 106 BC ) forced
760-426: A nuclear family with an average of four to five members, unlike in later dynasties when multiple generations and extended family members commonly lived in the same household. Families were patrilineal , which made the father the supreme head of the house. Arranged marriages were the norm, while a new wife was expected to join the clan of her husband. Having sons over daughters was considered extremely important for
950-595: A Greek sailor had visited. Emperor Zhang 's ( r. 75–88 AD ) reign came to be viewed by later Eastern Han scholars as the high point of the dynastic house. Subsequent reigns were increasingly marked by eunuch intervention in court politics and their involvement in the violent power struggles of the imperial consort clans . In 92 AD, with the aid of the eunuch Zheng Zhong ( d. 107 AD ), Emperor He ( r. 88–105 AD ) had Empress Dowager Dou ( d. 97 AD ) put under house arrest and her clan stripped of power. This
1140-563: A Recluse ( Qian fu lun ) who argued that the evils accumulated by mankind over time could be rectified by direct engagement of the body-politic (the Legalist approach), but that the individual had to cultivate personal virtue in the meantime as a long-term solution (the Daoist approach). In order to secure a position as a teacher, erudite in the capital, or government official, a student could choose one of several paths to become well educated. Perhaps
1330-608: A chance to commit suicide as a dignified alternative. The most senior posts were the Three Excellencies —excluding the Grand Tutor, a post that was irregularly occupied. The individual titles and functions of the Three Excellencies changed from Western to Eastern Han. However, their annual salaries remained at 10,000 dan (石) of grain, largely commuted to payments in coin cash and luxury items like silk . Below them were
1520-457: A change which debased the value of coinage. Although these reforms provoked considerable opposition, Wang's regime met its ultimate downfall with the massive floods of c. 3 AD and 11 AD. Gradual silt build-up in the Yellow River had raised its water level and overwhelmed the flood control works . The Yellow River split into two new branches: one emptying to the north and
1710-445: A coalition of former officials and officers against Dong, who burned Luoyang to the ground and resettled the court at Chang'an in May 191 AD. Dong Zhuo later poisoned Emperor Shao. Dong was killed by his adopted son Lü Bu ( d. 198 AD ) in a plot hatched by Wang Yun ( d. 192 AD ). Emperor Xian fled from Chang'an in 195 AD to the ruins of Luoyang. Xian
1900-510: A common ancestor (however, this excluded the royal family, who sometimes married distant relatives for political reasons). Officials often married into families with officials of equal status and sometimes married royal princesses or had their daughters marry kings and even the emperor. By custom there were seven conditions where a man could divorce his wife. These were: (1) disobedience to parents-in-law, (2) barrenness (unable to continue family line), (3) adultery (mixing another clan's blood into
2090-486: A commuting tax could be paid by peasants if they wanted to avoid the one-month labor obligation, since hired labor became more popular in construction and other projects. The military service obligation could even be avoided if a peasant paid a commuting tax, since the Eastern Han military became largely a volunteer force . Other commoners such as merchants were also able to join the army. Artisans and craftsmen during
SECTION 10
#17328545373442280-416: A coup against the eunuchs Hou Lan ( d. 172 AD ), Cao Jie ( d. 181 AD ), and Wang Fu ( 王甫 ). When the plot was uncovered, the eunuchs arrested Empress Dowager Dou ( d. 172 AD ) and Chen Fan. General Zhang Huan ( 張奐 ) favoured the eunuchs. He and his troops confronted Dou Wu and his retainers at the palace gate where each side shouted accusations of treason against
2470-506: A court edict of 94 CE stipulated that farming peasants who had been reduced to selling wares as street peddlers were not to be taxed as registered merchants, since the latter were heavily taxed by the state. Registered merchants, the majority being small urban shopkeepers , were obligated to pay commercial taxes in addition to the poll tax . Registered merchants were forced by law to wear white-colored clothes, an indication of their low status, and could be singled out for conscription into
2660-451: A decent living. People of all social classes believed in various deities, spirits, immortals, and demons . While Han Daoists were organized into small groups chiefly concerned with achieving immortality through various means, by the mid 2nd century CE they formed large hierarchical religious societies that challenged imperial authority and viewed Laozi (fl. 6th century BCE) as a holy prophet . The typical Han-era Chinese household contained
2850-516: A descendant of Emperor Jing ( r. 157–141 BC ), attempted to restore the Han dynasty and occupied Chang'an as his capital. However, he was overwhelmed by the Red Eyebrow rebels who deposed, assassinated, and replaced him with the puppet monarch Liu Penzi . Gengshi's distant cousin Liu Xiu, known posthumously as Emperor Guangwu ( r. 25–57 AD ), after distinguishing himself at
3040-409: A great deal of ad hoc influence, especially if a member served as a government official. Wealthy scholars or officials often shared the same kinship group with poor commoners. Since clan members were expected to defend fellow members (even to the point of murder), government authorities constantly struggled to suppress powerful kinship groups. Local lineage groups formed the backbone of rebel forces in
3230-473: A husband died, sometimes the widow became the sole supporter of her children, and thus had to make a living weaving silk cloths or making straw sandals to sell in the market. Some women also turned to the humble profession of sorcery for income. Other more fortunate women could become renowned medical physicians who provided services to the families of high officials and nobility. Some wealthy women engaged in luxury trade, such as one who frequently sold pearls to
3420-494: A local deity ) where festivities could be staged. Each district and county also had an official religious altar. The official reach of government extended no further than the district level, where county-appointed officials included the chief of police who maintained law and order and the district tax collector. However, the government was able to control local society at the hamlet level with their bestowal of twenty ranks. The government funded flood control projects involving
3610-426: A longer lifespan meant more opportunities to become promoted. In addition to an increase in salary (see table to the right), newly promoted men were granted wine and ox-meat for a celebratory banquet. The 19th and 20th ranks were both marquess ranks, yet only a 20th rank allowed one to have a marquessate fief. Promotions in rank were decided by the emperor and could occur on special occasions, such as installation of
3800-414: A male to marry at age sixteen and a female at age fourteen. To encourage families to marry off their daughters, a law was introduced in 189 BCE that increased the poll tax rate fivefold for unmarried women between the ages of fifteen and thirty. People of the Han practiced a strict form of exogamy where one could not marry a person who had the same surname, even if both partners could not be traced back to
3990-446: A marquess who collected taxes from a thousand households. Some merchant families made fortunes worth over a hundred million cash, which was equivalent to the wealth acquired by the highest officials in government. Merchants engaged in a multitude of private trades and industries. A single merchant often combined several trades to make greater profits, such as animal breeding , farming, manufacturing, trade, and money-lending . Some of
SECTION 20
#17328545373444180-409: A new emperor, inauguration of a new reign title , the wedding of a new empress, or the selection of a royal heir apparent . The central government sometimes sold ranks to collect more revenues for the state. The official Chao Cuo (d. 154 BCE) once wrote that anyone who presented a substantial amount of agricultural grain to the government would also be promoted in rank. During the Han, the empire
4370-469: A princess. Some even aided in their husband's business decisions. Female merchants dressed in silk clothes which rivaled even female nobles' attire were considered immoral compared to the ideal woman weaver. The historian Sima Tan (d. 110 BCE) wrote that the Legalist tradition inherited by Han from the previous Qin dynasty taught that imposing severe man-made laws which were short of kindness would produce
4560-572: A regular commandery , and it governor was known as "grand administrator" ( 太守 ). In 583, the commandery was abolished. In 607, however, the commandery system was restored and Yong Prefecture ( 雍州 ) was renamed Jingzhao Commandery. In Tang dynasty , Jingzhao was a superior prefecture ( 府 ) created in 713 AD by converting Yong Prefecture ( 雍州 ). It lay north of the Qin Mountains in Shaanxi with Chang'an as its core. A census taken in 742 AD reported
4750-561: A request by Kushan ruler Vima Kadphises ( r. c. 90 – c. 100 AD – ) for a marriage alliance with the Han was rejected in AD ;90, he sent his forces to Wakhan (modern-day Afghanistan) to attack Ban Chao. The conflict ended with the Kushans withdrawing because of lack of supplies. In AD 91, the office of Protector General of the Western Regions
4940-428: A series of reforms that limited the power of these kingdoms in 145, dividing their former territories into new commanderies under central control. Kings were no longer able to appoint their own staff; this duty was assumed by the imperial court. Kings became nominal heads of their fiefs and collected a portion of tax revenues as their personal incomes. The kingdoms were never entirely abolished and existed throughout
5130-420: A son designated to be heir apparent, while his other sons and brothers were given the rank of marquess and ruled over small marquessates where a portion of the taxes went to their private purse. Although kings and marquesses enjoyed many privileges, the imperial court was at times aggressive towards them to check their power. Starting with Emperor Gaozu's reign, thousands of noble families, including those from
5320-406: A state pension and a territorial fiefdom . Holders of the rank immediately below, that of ordinary marquess, received a pension, but had no territorial rule. Scholar-bureaucrats who served in government belonged to the wider commoner social class and were ranked just below nobles in social prestige. The highest government officials could be enfeoffed as marquesses. Society and culture of
5510-545: A successful overthrow of her regime to enthrone Emperor Shun of Han ( r. 125–144 AD ). Yan was placed under house arrest, her relatives were either killed or exiled, and her eunuch allies were slaughtered. The regent Liang Ji ( d. 159 AD ), brother of Empress Liang Na ( d. 150 AD ), had the brother-in-law of Consort Deng Mengnü ( d. 165 AD ) killed after Deng Mengnü resisted Liang Ji's attempts to control her. Afterward, Emperor Huan employed eunuchs to depose Liang Ji, who
5700-405: A sword scabbard decorated with jade and pearls, while others were given items like shoes decorated with pearls. However, not all retainers shared the same status, as those showered with gifts often provided highly skilled work or greater services; retainers who were not as skilled were given lesser gifts and seated in less honorable positions when meeting the host. Regardless of status, any retainer
5890-425: A third time by the following rulers. In contrast to Dong's certainty about innate goodness, the contemporary writer Jia Yi (201–169 BCE) synthesized the opposing perspectives of Mengzi and Xunzi (c. 312 – c. 230 BCE) in the chapter "Protecting and Tutoring" (Baofu 保傅) of his book New Recommendations ( Xinshu 新書) to argue that human nature was malleable and thus neither originally good or evil. Han Confucianism
Jingzhao - Misplaced Pages Continue
6080-606: A total of 362,921 households (population: 1,960,188), while a census taken ca. 813 AD reported only 241,202 households. Chang'an was destroyed during the fall of Tang dynasty. However, the name "Jingzhao" was restored in the Later Tang dynasty. In Song dynasty, the prefecture administered 13 counties: Chang'an ( 長安 ), Fanchuan ( 樊川 ), Hu ( 鄠 ), Lantian ( 藍田 ), Xianyang ( 咸陽 ), Jingyang ( 涇陽 ), Yueyang ( 櫟陽 ), Gaoyang ( 高陽 ), Xingping ( 興平 ), Lintong ( 臨潼 ), Liquan ( 醴泉 ), Wugong ( 武功 ), and Qianyou ( 乾祐 ). The name
6270-612: A typical relationship, a host provided lodging, food, clothing, and carriage transport for his retainers in return for occasional and non-routine work or services such as an advisory role, a post as bodyguard, menial physical labor around the house, and sometimes more dangerous missions such as committing assassinations, fighting off roving bandits, or riding into battle to defend the host. Others could work as spies, scholarly protégés, or astrologers . A host treated his retainers very well and showered them with luxury gifts if he wanted to boast his wealth and status. One retainer even received
6460-474: A war to determine who would have hegemony over China, which had fissured into Eighteen Kingdoms , each claiming allegiance to either Xiang Yu or Liu Bang. Although Xiang Yu proved to be an effective commander, Liu Bang defeated him at the Battle of Gaixia (202 BC) in modern-day Anhui . Liu Bang assumed the title of Emperor at the urging of his followers and is known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu ( r. 202–195 BC ). Chang'an (modern Xi'an)
6650-479: A well-ordered society, given that human nature was innately immoral and had to be checked. 'Legalism' was the label created by Han scholars to describe the socio-political philosophy formulated largely by Shen Buhai (d. 340 BCE), Shang Yang (d. 338 BCE), and Han Fei (c. 280 – c. 233 BCE), a philosophy which stressed that government had to rely on a strict system of punishments and rewards to maintain law and order. Some early Western Han officials were influenced by
6840-557: A widespread student protest broke out where Imperial University students took to the streets and chanted the names of the eunuchs they opposed. At the instigation of the eunuchs, Emperor Huan (r. 146–168 CE) initiated the Partisan Prohibitions in 166 CE, a wide-scale proscription against Li Ying (李膺) and his associates in the Imperial University and in the provinces from holding office (branded as partisans : 黨人). With
7030-473: Is in stark contrast to unregistered itinerant merchants who Chao Cuo (d. 154 BCE) states wore fine silks, rode in carriages pulled by fat horses, and whose wealth allowed them to associate with government officials. Although these laws were relaxed over time, Emperor Wu renewed the state's persecution of merchants when in 119 BCE he made it illegal for registered merchants to purchase land. If they violated this law, their land and slaves would be confiscated by
7220-486: Is now northern Sichuan and southern Shaanxi , was not quelled until 215 AD. Zhang Jue's massive rebellion across eight provinces was annihilated by Han forces within a year; however, the following decades saw much smaller recurrent uprisings. Although the Yellow Turbans were defeated, many generals appointed during the crisis never disbanded their assembled militias and used these troops to amass power outside of
7410-405: Is perhaps largely because scholars and officials could not survive without the farmer's product and taxes paid in grain. The government relied on taxed grain to fund its military campaigns and stored surplus grain to mitigate widespread famine during times of poor harvest. Despite the prominence given to farmers, Confucian scholars did accept that artisans performed a vital economic role. This view
7600-589: Is recorded in the Weilüe and Book of Later Han to have reached the court of Emperor Huan of Han ( r. 146–168 AD ) in AD 166, yet Rafe de Crespigny asserts that this was most likely a group of Roman merchants . In addition to Roman glasswares and coins found in China, Roman medallions from the reign of Antoninus Pius and his adopted son Marcus Aurelius have been found at Óc Eo in Vietnam. This
7790-475: The Spring and Autumn Annals . Expanding on the position of Mengzi (c. 372 – 289 BCE) that human nature was innately good, Dong wrote that people needed external nourishment of education to become 'awakened' and develop morality. To produce morally sound officials, Emperor Wu further sponsored Confucian education when he established the Imperial University in 124 BCE. Despite mainstream acceptance of Confucianism for
Jingzhao - Misplaced Pages Continue
7980-526: The Battle of Kunyang in 23 AD, was urged to succeed Gengshi as emperor. Under Guangwu's rule, the Han Empire was restored. Guangwu made Luoyang his capital in 25 AD, and by 27 his officers Deng Yu and Feng Yi had forced the Red Eyebrows to surrender and executed their leaders for treason . From 26 until 36 AD, Emperor Guangwu had to wage war against other regional warlords who claimed
8170-517: The Battle of Zhizhi , in modern Taraz , Kazakhstan. In 121 BC, Han forces expelled the Xiongnu from a vast territory spanning the Hexi Corridor to Lop Nur . They repelled a joint Xiongnu- Qiang invasion of this northwestern territory in 111 BC. In that same year, the Han court established four new frontier commanderies in this region to consolidate their control: Jiuquan , Zhangyi , Dunhuang , and Wuwei . The majority of people on
8360-715: The Buyeo Kingdom in Manchuria to the Ili River of the Wusun people. The Xianbei reached their apogee under Tanshihuai ( d. AD 181 ), who consistently defeated Chinese armies. However, Tanshihuai's confederation disintegrated after his death. Ban Chao ( d. AD 102 ) enlisted the aid of the Kushan Empire , which controlled territory across South and Central Asia, to subdue Kashgar and its ally Sogdiana. When
8550-793: The Chu–Han Contention , the resulting Han dynasty was named after the Hanzhong fief. China's first imperial dynasty was the Qin dynasty (221–207 BC). The Qin united the Chinese Warring States by conquest, but their regime became unstable after the death of the first emperor Qin Shi Huang . Within four years, the dynasty's authority had collapsed in a rebellion. Two former rebel leaders, Xiang Yu ( d. 202 BC ) of Chu and Liu Bang ( d. 195 BC ) of Han , engaged in
8740-486: 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. 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 ". The Han emperor
8930-729: The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom ); he also gathered information on Shendu (the Indus River valley) and Anxi (the Parthian Empire ). All of these countries eventually received Han embassies. These connections marked the beginning of the Silk Road trade network that extended to the Roman Empire , bringing goods like Chinese silk and Roman glasswares between the two. From c. 115 BC until c. 60 BC , Han forces fought
9120-465: The Nine Ministers , each of whom headed a major government bureau and earned 2,000 bushels a year. The lowest-paid government employees made Equivalent to 100 bushels annually. It was thought that wealthy officials would be less tempted by bribes. Therefore, in the beginning of the dynasty, having a total assessed taxable wealth of one hundred thousand coins was a prerequisite for holding office. This
9310-528: The Qin book burning of 213 BCE, and the latter was newly discovered texts alleged by Kong Anguo , Liu Xin, and others to have been excavated from the walls of Kongzi's home, displayed archaic written characters , and thus were more authentic versions. Although initially rejected, the Old Texts found acceptance at the courts of Emperor Ping (r. 1 BCE – 5 CE) and Wang Mang, were rejected by Emperor Guangwu, and accepted once more by Emperor Zhang only to be rejected
9500-526: 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
9690-585: The Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), a son who moved away and lived separately from his living parents would be considered a criminal. Larger families appeared during the Eastern Han when some married brothers chose to live with each other's families. However, a household with three generations living under its roof was incredibly rare. This is in contrast to the Jin dynasty (266–420) , when having three or more generations under one roof
SECTION 50
#17328545373449880-462: The Xiongnu , a nomadic confederation centred in the eastern Eurasian steppe . 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
10070-564: The Xiongnu , who were estranged from Han until their leader Bi ( 比 ), a rival claimant to the throne against his cousin Punu ( 蒲奴 ), submitted to Han as a tributary vassal in AD 50. This created two rival Xiongnu states: the Southern Xiongnu led by Bi, an ally of Han, and the Northern Xiongnu led by Punu, an enemy of Han. During the turbulent reign of Wang Mang, China lost control over
10260-565: The Yellow Turban Rebellion and Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion in 184 AD, largely because the court did not want to continue to alienate a significant portion of the gentry class who might otherwise join the rebellions. The Yellow Turbans and Five-Pecks-of-Rice adherents belonged to two different hierarchical Taoist religious societies led by faith healers Zhang Jue ( d. 184 AD ) and Zhang Lu ( d. 216 AD ), respectively. Zhang Lu's rebellion, in what
10450-480: The Yellow Turban Rebellion ), the partisant prohibitions created a large independent, disaffected portion of the gentry who did not simply return to a reclusive life in their hometowns, but maintained contacts with other gentry throughout China and actively engaged in the protest movement. Acknowledging that the gentry class was able to recruit and certify itself, the Chancellor Cao Cao (155–220 CE) established
10640-553: 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 nationalised private salt and iron industries in 117 BC, creating government monopolies that were later repealed during
10830-618: The harem of the palace could also gain a similar level of power. They often came from the middle class and had links to trade. In the Western Han, there are only a handful of examples where eunuchs rose to power since the official bureaucracy was strong enough to suppress them. After the eunuch Shi Xian (石顯) became the Prefect of the Palace Masters of Writing (中尚書), Emperor Yuan (r. 48–33 BCE) relinquished much of his authority to him, so that he
11020-417: The heir apparent —were made kings. The emperor's sisters and daughters were made princesses with fiefs. Although the central government eventually stripped away the political power of the kings and appointed their administrative staffs, kings still had a right to collect a portion of the taxes in their territory as personal income and enjoyed a social status that ranked just below the emperor. Each king had
11210-427: The master craftsman was paid a significant income for his work in producing luxury items such as bronze mirrors and lacquerwares . With the exception of the bookseller and apothecary , the scholarly gentry class did not engage in trade professions, since scholars and government officials viewed the merchant class as lowly and contemptible. Sympathetic to the plight of farming peasants who had lost their land,
11400-544: The nine-rank system where a distinguished gentry figure in each county and commandery would assign local gentlemen a rank that the government would use to evaluate nominees for office. Many scholars who needed additional funds for education or vied for political office found farming as a decent profession which, although humble, was not looked down upon by fellow gentrymen. Wealthy nobles, officials, and merchants could own land, but they often did not cultivate it themselves and merely acted as absentee landlords while living in
11590-568: The scholarly-gentry class who aspired to hold public office were required to receive a Confucian-based education. A new synthetic ideology of Han Confucianism was created when the scholar Dong Zhongshu (179–104 BCE) united the Confucian canon allegedly edited by Kongzi, or Confucius (551–479 BCE), with cosmological cycles of yin and yang and the Chinese five elements . Although the social status of nobles, officials, farmers, and artisan-craftsmen
SECTION 60
#173285453734411780-519: The 1st-century-CE Book of Han . Since his model incorporated and justified the imperial government into the natural order of the universe, it appealed to Emperor Wu, who in 136 BCE abolished non-Confucian academic chairs or erudites (博士) not dealing with the Confucian Five Classics : the Classic of Poetry , the Classic of Changes , the Classic of Rites , the Classic of History , and
11970-458: The East Market and West Market. Both the East Market and West Market had a two-story government office with a flag and drum placed on the roof. A market chief and deputy were headquartered in each of these buildings, yet not much is known about their involvement in the marketplace. In the Eastern Han capital of Luoyang , the market chief's office employed thirty-six sub-officers who ventured into
12160-638: The Eastern Han—consisted of unemployed scholars, teachers, students, and government officials. These men, although geographically separated and mired in local activities, started to view themselves as participants in wider national affairs of politics and scholarship. They recognized shared values of filial piety , deference, and emphasizing study in the Five Classics over holding public office. Emperors Yuan and Cheng were forced to abandon their resettlement schemes for officials and their families around
12350-494: 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
12540-448: The Han as equal partners in a royal marriage alliance, but the Han were forced to send large amounts of tribute items such as silk clothes, food, and wine to the Xiongnu. Despite the tribute and negotiation between Laoshang Chanyu ( r. 174–160 BC ) and Emperor Wen ( r. 180–157 BC ) to reopen border markets, many of the Chanyu 's subordinates chose not to obey
12730-426: The Han dynasty The Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) was a period of Imperial China divided into the Western Han (206 BCE – 9 CE) and Eastern Han (25–220 CE) periods, when the capital cities were located at Chang'an and Luoyang , respectively. It was founded by Emperor Gaozu of Han and briefly interrupted by the regime of Wang Mang (r. 9–23 CE) who usurped the throne from a child Han emperor. The Han dynasty
12920-532: The Han had a socio-economic status between that of farmers and merchants. Yet some were able to obtain a valuable income, such as one craftsman who made knives and swords and was able to eat food fit for nobles and officials. Artisans and craftsmen also enjoyed a legal status that was superior to merchants. Unlike lowly merchants, artisans were allowed by law to wear fancy silks, ride on horseback, and ride in carriages. There were also no laws which barred artisans from becoming officials. An artisan painter who worked at
13110-431: The Han were influenced by Confucian mores and involved both immediate nuclear family and extended family members. The Chinese family was patrilineal , since a father's sons did not consider a mother's kin to be part of their clan; instead, they were considered 'outside relatives'. The Han dynasty law code inherited the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE) law that any family with more than two sons had to pay extra taxes. This
13300-492: The Imperial Academy turned down many offers to become nominated for public office. In contrast, a bureaucrat who appointed a merchant as an official could suffer impeachment from office, while some even avoided nominations by claiming they were merchants. Despite their legal privileges over that of merchants, the work of artisans was considered by Han Confucian scholars to be of secondary importance to that of farmers. This
13490-564: The Imperial University on a dubious charge of treason. In 167 AD, the Grand Commandant Dou Wu ( d. 168 AD ) convinced his son-in-law, Emperor Huan, to release them. However, the emperor permanently barred Li Ying and his associates from serving in office, marking the beginning of the Partisan Prohibitions . Following Huan's death, Dou Wu and the Grand Tutor Chen Fan ( d. 168 AD ) attempted
13680-666: The Tarim Basin, which was conquered by the Northern Xiongnu in AD 63 and used as a base to invade the Hexi Corridor in Gansu . Dou Gu ( d. 88 AD ) defeated the Northern Xiongnu at the Battle of Yiwulu in AD 73, evicting them from Turpan and chasing them as far as Lake Barkol before establishing a garrison at Hami. After the new Protector General of the Western Regions Chen Mu ( d. AD 75 )
13870-473: The Western Han, access to public office and promotion through social mobility were open to a larger segment of the populace than in Eastern Han. A third of the two hundred and fifty-two Eastern Han government officials who had biographies in the Book of Later Han were sons or grandsons of officials, while a fifth came from prominent provincial families or had ancestors who had served as officials. For forty-six of
14060-508: The Xiongnu court to flee north of the Gobi Desert , and Han forces reached as far north as Lake Baikal . After Wu's reign, Han forces continued to fight the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu leader Huhanye ( r. 58–31 BC ) finally submitted to the Han as a tributary vassal in 51 BC. Huhanye's rival claimant to the throne, Zhizhi Chanyu ( r. 56–36 BC ), was killed by Han forces under Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou ( 甘延壽 ) at
14250-476: The Xiongnu over control of the oasis city-states in the Tarim Basin. The Han was eventually victorious and established the Protectorate of the Western Regions in 60 BC, which dealt with the region's defence and foreign affairs. The Han also expanded southward . The naval conquest of Nanyue in 111 BC expanded the Han realm into what are now modern Guangdong , Guangxi , and northern Vietnam. Yunnan
14440-481: 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
14630-536: The Yuan brothers, Zhang committed suicide by jumping into the Yellow River. General Dong Zhuo ( d. 192 AD ) found the young emperor and his brother wandering in the countryside. He escorted them safely back to the capital and was made Minister of Works , taking control of Luoyang and forcing Yuan Shao to flee. After Dong Zhuo demoted Emperor Shao and promoted his brother Liu Xie as Emperor Xian, Yuan Shao led
14820-415: The age of 15 (excluding slaves) could be promoted in rank up to level eight. When a commoner was promoted in rank, he was granted a more honorable place in the seating arrangements of hamlet banquets, was given a greater portion of hunted game at the table, was punished less severely for certain crimes, and could become exempt from labor service obligations to the state. This system favored the elderly, since
15010-421: The armed forces and forced to resettle in lands to the deep south where malaria was known to be prevalent. In contrast, itinerant merchants were often richer due to their trade between a network of towns and cities and their ability to avoid registering as merchants. Starting with Emperor Gaozu's reign, registered merchants were banned from wearing silk clothes, riding on horseback, or holding public office. This
15200-701: The building of new canals , thus aiding the speed of waterborne transport and allowing undeveloped areas to become irrigated farmlands . These conscription labor projects allowed for the building of new hamlets which were dependent on the government for their livelihoods. When the authority of the central government declined in the late Eastern Han period, many commoners living in such hamlets were forced to flee their lands and work as tenants on large estates of wealthy landowners. The people of older hamlets which never had to rely on central government projects for their wellbeing or existence often sought support from powerful local families. The Western Han capital at Chang'an
15390-463: The capital was moved eastward to Luoyang. The era from his reign until the fall of Han is known as the Eastern Han or Later Han (25–220 AD). The Eastern Han ( traditional Chinese : 東漢 ; simplified Chinese : 东汉 ; pinyin : Dōnghàn ), also known as the Later Han ( 後漢 ; 后汉 ; Hòuhàn ), formally began on 5 August AD 25, when Liu Xiu became Emperor Guangwu of Han . During
15580-414: The city. They mostly relied on poor tenant farmers ( diannong 佃農) who paid rent in the form of roughly fifty percent of their produce in exchange for land, tools, draft animals, and a small house. Wage laborers ( gunong 雇農) and slaves were also employed on the estates of the wealthy, although they were not as numerous as tenants. During Western Han, the small independent owner-cultivator represented
15770-434: The collapsing imperial authority. General-in-chief He Jin ( d. 189 AD ), half-brother to Empress He ( d. 189 AD ), plotted with Yuan Shao ( d. 202 AD ) to overthrow the eunuchs by having several generals march to the outskirts of the capital. There, in a written petition to Empress He, they demanded the eunuchs' execution. After a period of hesitation, Empress He consented. When
15960-422: The common inheritance of property from the deceased, which all social groups (except for slaves) participated in, and the inheritance of titles, which only the people of twenty ranks, nobility, and royalty could enjoy. In the first form, officials and commoners bequeathed an equal share of property to each of their sons in their will. This excluded daughters, who married into other families and thus did not carry on
16150-402: The continuation of ancestor worship, it was important to have at least one son, even if he was adopted from another family (although it was considered imperative that he share the same surname , otherwise his ancestral sacrifices could be considered null and void). The majority of clan or lineage groups were not very influential in local society. However, prominent kinship groups could enjoy
16340-434: The cosmos which undercut the message of Huang-Lao thought. Scholars such as Shusun Tong (叔孫通) began to express greater emphasis for ethical ideas espoused in 'Classicist' philosophical works such as those of Kongzi (i.e. Confucius, 551–479 BCE), an ideology anachronistically known as Confucianism . Emperor Gaozu found Shusun Tong's Confucian reforms of court rituals useful so long as they further exalted his status, yet it
16530-686: The court by foreign states, families of criminals who committed treason against the state, and former private slaves who were either donated to authorities (since this would exempt the former slaveholder from labor obligations) or confiscated by the state if their master had broken a law. In both Western and Eastern Han, arrested criminals became convicts and it was only during the reign of Wang Mang that counterfeiting criminals were made into slaves. State-owned slaves were put to work in palaces, offices, workshops, stables, and sometimes state-owned agricultural fields, while privately owned slaves were employed in domestic services and sometimes farming. However,
16720-438: The elevation of their sons over the empress's at their own peril. In the early Western Han, imperial relatives and some military officers who had served Emperor Gaozu were made kings who ruled over large semi-autonomous fiefs, but once the non-related kings had died off, an imperial edict outlawed all non-Liu family members from becoming kings. The emperor's brothers, paternal cousins, brother's sons, and emperor's sons—excluding
16910-482: The emperor if they were deemed too elderly, if the emperor pitied them, or if they committed a meritous act worthy of a manumission . In one exceptional case, the former slave Jin Midi (d. 86 BCE) became one of the regents over the government. Private slaves could buy their freedom from their master, while some masters chose to free their slaves. Although slaves were subject to beatings if they did not obey their masters, it
17100-413: The emperor to various government posts according to their examination grades. Despite a decline in social mobility for those of less prominent clans, the local elites became far more integrated into a nationwide upper class social structure during the Eastern Han period, thus expanding the classification of who belonged to the upper class. The emerging gentry class —which became fully consolidated during
17290-490: The emperor was often a minor, ruled over by a regent such as the empress dowager or one of her male relatives. Ranked immediately below the emperor were the kings who were of the same Liu family clan. The rest of society, including nobles lower than kings and all commoners excluding slaves, belonged to one of twenty ranks ( ershi gongcheng 二十公乘 ). Each successive rank gave its holder greater pensions and legal privileges. The highest rank, of full marquess , came with
17480-576: The empire . The Han dynasty came to an end in 220 AD when Cao Pi , king of Wei , usurped the throne from Emperor Xian . According to the Records of the Grand Historian , after the collapse of the Qin dynasty the hegemon Xiang Yu appointed Liu Bang as prince of the small fief of Hanzhong , named after its location on the Han River (in modern southwest Shaanxi ). Following Liu Bang's victory in
17670-483: The empresses and empresses dowager . Imperial authority was also seriously challenged by large Taoist 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
17860-407: The enhanced prestige of the consort clan under Empress Dowager Dou (d. 97 CE), a succession of regents from her clan and others amassed a large number of clients whose chances of promotion hinged on the political survival of the empress dowager's clan, which was often short-lived. Aside from patron-client relationships, one could use family connections to secure office. Patricia Ebrey writes that in
18050-633: The eunuchs discovered this, however, they had her brother He Miao ( 何苗 ) rescind the order. The eunuchs assassinated He Jin on 22 September 189. Yuan Shao then besieged Luoyang's Northern Palace while his brother Yuan Shu ( d. 199 AD ) besieged the Southern Palace. On September 25 both palaces were breached and approximately two thousand eunuchs were killed. Zhang Rang had previously fled with Emperor Shao ( r. 189 AD ) and his brother Liu Xie—the future Emperor Xian of Han ( r. 189–220 AD ). While being pursued by
18240-427: The family inheritance. His brothers Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi were killed in 207 AD by Gongsun Kang ( d. 221 AD ), who sent their heads to Cao Cao. After Cao's defeat at the naval Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD, China was divided into three spheres of influence, with Cao Cao dominating the north, Sun Quan (182–252 AD) dominating the south, and Liu Bei (161–223 AD) dominating
18430-404: The family name. However, daughters did receive a portion of the family property in the form of their marriage dowries , which were sometimes equal to a brother's share of wealth in the will. The second type of inheritance involved the practice of primogeniture , where the official title was inherited by only one son. This was as true of the emperor as it was for any king, marquess, or commoner of
18620-419: The family), (4) jealousy (of concubines), (5) incurable disease (unable to continue family line), (6) loquacity (not getting along with brothers-in-law or sisters-in-law), and (7) theft. However, a husband was not allowed to divorce his wife if she had completed three years of mourning for one of his deceased parents, if there were no living relatives in her father's family to return to, or if the husband's family
18810-495: The fields and daughters who weaved clothes and engaged in sericulture to produce silk for the home or sale at market. During the Western Han, farming peasants formed the majority of those who were conscripted by the government to perform corvée labor or military duties. For the labor service ( gengzu 更卒), males aged fifteen to fifty-six would be drafted for one month out of the year to work on construction projects and perform other duties in their commanderies and counties. For
19000-410: The fighting forces amassed by the future Emperor Guangwu (r. 25–57 CE) during the civil war against Wang Mang's failing regime. The military role of retainers became much more pronounced by the late 2nd century CE during the political turmoil that would eventually split the empire into three competing states . By then, hosts began to treat retainers as their personal troops ( buqu 部曲), which undercut
19190-420: The freedoms of mobility and independence that earlier retainers had enjoyed. Whereas individual retainers had earlier joined a host by their own personal decision, by the late 2nd century CE the lives of the retainers' entire families became heavily controlled by the host. Slaves ( nuli 奴隸) comprised roughly 1% of the population, a proportion far less than the contemporary Greco-Roman world which relied on
19380-601: The frontier were soldiers. On occasion, the court forcibly moved peasant farmers to new frontier settlements, along with government-owned slaves and convicts who performed hard labour. The court also encouraged commoners, such as farmers, merchants, landowners, and hired labourers, to voluntarily migrate to the frontier. Even before the Han's expansion into Central Asia, diplomat Zhang Qian 's travels from 139 to 125 BC had established Chinese contacts with many surrounding civilizations. Zhang encountered Dayuan ( Fergana ), Kangju ( Sogdiana ), and Daxia ( Bactria , formerly
19570-509: The government salt and iron agencies, since an edict of 7 BCE restated the ban on merchants entering the bureaucracy. However, the usurper Wang Mang (r. 9–23 CE) did employ some merchants as low-level officials with a salary-rank of 600 bushels. Another profitable industry was brewing wine and liquor , which the state briefly monopolized from 98 to 81 BCE, yet relinquished its production to private merchants once again (with alcohol taxes reinstalled). The official Cui Shi (催寔) (d. 170 CE) started
19760-434: The government's monopolized industries over iron and salt (which lasted from Emperor Wu's reign until the beginning of Eastern Han). Privately owned slaves were usually assigned to kitchen duty while others fulfilled roles as armed bodyguards, mounted escorts, acrobats, jugglers, dancers, singers, and musicians. The children of both government and private slaves were born slaves. Government slaves could be granted freedom by
19950-405: The husband's clan and be properly worshipped by her descendants after death. However, she retained her natal surname. The vast majority of people during Han practiced monogamy , although wealthy officials and nobles could afford to support one or many concubines in addition to their legal wife. Although the ideal ages for marriage were thirty for a man and twenty for a woman, it was common for
20140-519: The husband), wrote essays and letters for husbands serving as government officials, and sometimes husbands turned to their wives for advice on political affairs of the court. When a father died, the eldest son was theoretically the senior member of the family, yet as hinted in various works of Han literature, they still had to obey the will of their mother and she could even force them to kowtow to her when apologizing for an offense. Deviations from common customs regarding gender were especially pronounced in
20330-421: The imperial family. The empress was able to give orders to her male relatives (even her father) and if they disobeyed her, she could publicly reprimand and humiliate them. Certain occupations were traditionally reserved for women, while they were also exempted from corvée labor duties. Women were expected to rear children, weave clothes for the family, and perform domestic duties such as cooking; although farming
20520-436: The influence of such wealthy industrialists, Emperor Wu nationalized these industries by 117 BCE and for the first time drafted former merchants with technical know-how such as Sang Hongyang (d. 80 BCE) to head these government monopolies. However, by the Eastern Han period the central government abolished the state monopolies on salt and iron. Even before this, the state must have halted its employment of former merchants in
20710-506: The labor of a large slave population. Slaves were classified into two categories: those who were privately owned, and those who were owned by the state. Privately owned slaves were often former peasants who fell into debt and sold themselves into slavery, while others were former government slaves bestowed to nobles and high officials as rewards for their services. State-owned slaves were sometimes prisoners of war (yet not all were made slaves). However, most slaves were tributary gifts given to
20900-458: The level of central government. Even if one secured an office by these means, an official was still expected to be competent, thus a formal education became the hallmark of those aspiring to fill public office. In addition to private tutoring, the Imperial University was established in 124 BCE which then accommodated only fifty pupils, but by the 2nd century CE the student body had reached about thirty thousand. These students could be appointed by
21090-552: The majority of farming peasants , yet their economic struggle to remain independent during times of war, natural disaster and crisis drove many into debt, banditry, slavery, and dramatically increased the number of landless tenants by late Eastern Han. The social status of poor independent owner-cultivators was above tenants and wage laborers, yet below that of wealthy landowners. While wealthy landowners employed tenants and wage laborers, landowners who managed small to medium-sized estates often acted as managers over their sons who tilled
21280-730: The market and in slum areas was conducted by constables ; Han officials sometimes argued for increasing their salaries which they assumed would encourage them to reject bribes from criminals. There were many amusements in the cities which could attract audiences rich and poor, such as trained animals performing tricks, cockfighting and caged animal fights between tigers, horse racing , puppet shows , musical performances with dancing, acrobatic feats , and juggling . Wealthy families could afford their own house choirs and five-piece orchestras with bells, drums, flutes, and stringed instruments. Gambling and board games such as liubo also provided entertainment. Chinese kinship relations during
21470-460: The marketplace and fought commoners, forced the Imperial Secretary to kowtow and apologize (after a scuffle with his slaves over the right-of-way on the street), and were provided services by some officials who sought a promotion through Huo Guang's influence. In addition to officials, teachers, merchants, farmers, artisans, and retainers, there were many other occupations. The pig-breeder
21660-458: The marketplace daily to maintain law and order. They also collected taxes on commercial goods, assigned standard prices for specific commodities on the basis of monthly reviews, and authorized contracts between merchants and their customers or clients. Besides merchants engaging in marketplace violations, other crimes were committed by adolescent street gangs who often wore clothes distinguishing their gang. The maintenance of law and order outside
21850-421: The military obligation ( zhengzu 正卒), all males aged twenty-three were to train for one year in one of three branches of the military: infantry, cavalry, or navy . Until they reached age fifty-six, they were liable to perform one year of active service as troops sent to guard the frontiers from hostile nomads or to act as guards in the capital city. Significant changes were made to this system during Eastern Han;
22040-470: The most prestigious path was enrollment in the Imperial University. Students had to be above the age of eighteen to enroll, and were selected by the Minister of Ceremonies from those recommended by local authorities. Other students could choose to enroll in a school sponsored by the local commandery government. A professional teacher who opened a private school in a small town or village could sometimes gather
22230-436: The most profitable commodities sold during the Han were salt and iron, since a wealthy salt or iron distributor could own properties worth as much as ten million cash. In the early Western Han period, powerful merchants could muster a workforce of over a thousand peasants to work in salt mines and marshes to evaporate brine to make salt, or at ironworks sites where they operated bellows and cast iron implements . To curb
22420-470: The mother of the emperor—the empress dowager had the authority to override his decisions and choose his successor (if one had not been appointed before his death). At the apex of Han society was the emperor , a member of the Liu family and thus a descendant of the founder Emperor Gaozu (r. 202 –195 BCE). His subjects were not allowed to address him by name; instead they used indirect references such as "under
22610-456: The nobility, Wang Mang claimed on 10 January that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the Han dynasty and the beginning of his own: the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD). Wang Mang initiated a series of major reforms that were ultimately unsuccessful. These reforms included outlawing slavery, nationalizing and equally distributing land between households, and introducing new currencies,
22800-470: The occult arts of divination and Chinese astrology , career diviners were of a lower status and earned only a modest income. Other humble occultist professions included sorcery and physiognomy ; like merchants, those who practiced sorcery were banned from holding public office. Being a butcher was another lowly occupation, yet there is one case where a butcher became an official during Emperor Gaozu's reign, while Empress He (d. 189 CE) and her brother,
22990-451: The one hundred and ten years between 86 and 196 CE, at least one post of the Three Excellencies was occupied by a member of either the Yuan or Yang clan. Many central government officials also began their careers as subordinate officers for commandery -level administrations. There are only rare cases (i.e. involving military merit during rebellions of late Eastern Han ) when subordinate officers of county -level administrations advanced to
23180-514: The opposite and complementary forces of yin and yang , men's great virtues were strength and rigidity, while a woman's great virtues were respect and compliance. Throughout her life, a Han woman was to bend to the will of first her father, then her husband, and then her adult son (三從四德). However, there are many recorded deviations from this rule, as some Han women are written to have engaged in heated arguments with their husbands over concubines (sometimes beating concubines out of jealousy and to punish
23370-666: The other to the south of the Shandong Peninsula , though Han engineers managed to dam the southern branch by 70 AD. The flood dislodged thousands of peasant farmers, many of whom joined roving bandit and rebel groups such as the Red Eyebrows to survive. Wang Mang's armies were incapable of quelling these enlarged rebel groups. Eventually, an insurgent mob forced their way into the Weiyang Palace and killed Wang Mang. The Gengshi Emperor ( r. 23–25 AD ),
23560-560: The other. When the retainers gradually deserted Dou Wu, he was forced to commit suicide. Under Emperor Ling ( r. 168–189 AD ) the eunuchs had the partisan prohibitions renewed and expanded, while also auctioning off top government offices. Many affairs of state were entrusted to the eunuchs Zhao Zhong ( d. 189 AD ) and Zhang Rang ( d. 189 AD ) while Emperor Ling spent much of his time roleplaying with concubines and participating in military parades. The Partisan Prohibitions were repealed during
23750-456: The patronage of Empress Dowager Dou (d. 135 BCE). Its followers believed that the originator of ordered civilization was the mythical Yellow Emperor , a view that contradicted later Confucian scholars' views that the mythological Yao and Shun were responsible for bringing man out of a state of anarchy. Works such as the Huainanzi (presented in 139 BCE) introduced new systematic ideas about
23940-457: The popular uprising against Wang Mang in the early 1st century CE. When central government authority broke down in the late Eastern Han, less-developed areas of the country remained relatively stable due to entrenched kinship groups, while in heavily developed areas (where kinship groups had been effectively broken down by the state) there were many more peasants willing to turn to rebel movements for protection and survival. Although romantic love
24130-452: The population was 682,468, in 195,702 households. By the end of the Han dynasty, Nanling, Fengming and Chuansikong counties were abolished and Hu and Huayin became part of Hongnong Commandery , while 5 new counties – Changling ( 長陵 ), Yangling ( 陽陵 ), Shangluo ( 上雒 ), Shang ( 商縣 ), and Yinpan ( 陰盤 ) – were added from other commanderies. In the Cao Wei dynasty, Jingzhao became
24320-438: The previous emperor and usually the natural mother of the emperor. If the grandmother of an emperor—the grand empress dowager —was still alive during his reign, she enjoyed a superior position over the empress dowager. Emperors often sought the approval of the empress dowager for their decisions. If an emperor was only a child, he acted merely as a figurehead while the empress dowager dominated court politics. She not only had
24510-472: The regent He Jin (d. 189 CE), came from a family of butchers. Runners and messengers who worked for the government were also considered to have a lowly status, yet some later became government officials. The Han court upheld a socio-economic ranking system for commoners and nobles, which was based on the twenty-ranks system installed by the statesman Shang Yang (d. 338 BCE) of the State of Qin . All males above
24700-584: The remainder of Western and Eastern Han. To the north of China proper , the nomadic Xiongnu chieftain Modu Chanyu ( r. 209–174 BC ) conquered various tribes inhabiting the eastern portion of the Eurasian Steppe . By the end of his reign, he controlled the Inner Asian regions of Manchuria , Mongolia , and the Tarim Basin , subjugating over twenty states east of Samarkand . Emperor Gaozu
24890-554: The rest of Han (and until the end of the Qing dynasty in 1911), philosophers still defended some Legalist ideas while the state's laws and policies reflect a compromise reached between Legalism and Han Confucianism. There were varying regional traditions or 'schools' within Confucianism assigned to certain texts. The two which caused most debate were New Texts and Old Texts traditions. The former represented works transmitted orally after
25080-438: The right to issue edicts and pardons, but if the emperor died without a designated heir, she had the sole right to appoint a new emperor. Below the empress dowager were the empress and imperial concubines . Although she was the wife of the emperor, the empress's position at court was not secure and she could be removed by the emperor. However, the empress did enjoy the submission of concubines as her subordinates, who advocated
25270-466: The royal houses of Qi , Chu , Yan , Zhao , Han , and Wei from the Warring States period , were forcibly moved to the vicinity of the capital Chang'an . In the first half of Western Han, resettlement could also be imposed on powerful and wealthy officials as well as individuals who owned property worth more than a million cash. The position of regent (officially known as General-in-Chief 大將軍)
25460-418: The royal tombs settlement in 40 BCE and 15 BCE, respectively; unlike the days of Emperor Wu, historian Cho-Yun Hsu asserts that at this point officials and scholars had so much influence in both local and national-level politics that to forcibly relocate them became unthinkable. In a show of solidarity against the eunuchs' interference in court politics with the coup against the regent Liang Ji (d. 159 CE),
25650-427: The sake of carrying on ancestor worship . Although girls and women were expected by custom and Confucian tradition to behave passively towards their male relatives, mothers were given a familial status above that of their sons. Women also engaged in various professions in and outside of the home and were given protection under the law. The empress was superior in status to the male relatives of her consort clan , while
25840-599: The salt and iron monopolies were eventually abolished in the early Eastern Han. The issuing of coinage remained a central government monopoly throughout the rest of the Han dynasty. The government monopolies were eventually repealed when a political faction known as the Reformists gained greater influence in the court. The Reformists opposed the Modernist faction that had dominated court politics in Emperor Wu's reign and during
26030-419: The sole ability to draft new laws or repeal old ones. An emperor could pardon anyone and grant general amnesties . Although the emperor often obeyed the majority consensus of his ministers in court conferences ( tingyi 廷議), his approval was still needed for any state policy decision and he sometimes even rejected the majority opinion. The emperor's most powerful relative was the empress dowager , widow to
26220-475: 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
26410-430: The state. The effectiveness of this law is questionable, since contemporary Han writers mention merchants owning huge tracts of land. A merchant who owned property worth a thousand catties of gold—equivalent to ten million cash coins—was considered a great merchant. Such a fortune was one hundred times larger than the average income of a middle class landowner-cultivator and dwarfed the annual 200,000 cash-coin income of
26600-475: The steps to the throne" ( bixia 陛下) or "superior one" ( shang 上). If a commoner, government minister, or noble entered the palace without official permission, the punishment was execution. Although the Commandant of Justice—one of the central government's Nine Ministers —was in charge of meting out sentences in court cases, the emperor not only had the ability to override the Commandant's decision, but also had
26790-479: The subsequent regency of Huo Guang ( d. 68 BC ). The Modernists argued for an aggressive and expansionary foreign policy supported by revenues from heavy government intervention in the private economy. The Reformists, however, overturned these policies, favouring a cautious, non-expansionary approach to foreign policy, frugal budget reform, and lower tax-rates imposed on private entrepreneurs. Wang Zhengjun (71 BC – 13 AD)
26980-503: The suicide of regent Dou Wu (d. 168 CE) in his confrontation with the eunuchs shortly after Emperor Ling (r. 168–189 CE) was placed on the throne, the eunuchs banned hundreds more from holding office while selling offices at the highest bidder. Repulsed by what they viewed as a corrupted government, many gentrymen considered a moral, scholarly life superior to holding office, and thus rejected nominations to serve at court. Until they were repealed in 184 CE (to garner gentry support against
27170-508: The tenet of 'nonaction' apparent in Han Fei's work and the Daoist Laozi . By utilizing this concept, they argued that once laws and administrative systems were set in place, the government functioned smoothly and intervention on behalf of the ruler became unnecessary. This school of thought was known as 'Yellow Emperor and Laozi' ( Huang-Lao 黃老), which gained full acceptance at court under
27360-401: The title of emperor; when these warlords were defeated, China reunified under the Han. The period between the foundation of the Han dynasty and Wang Mang's reign is known as the Western Han ( 西漢 ; 西汉 ; Xīhàn ) or Former Han ( 前漢 ; 前汉 ; Qiánhàn ) (206 BC – 9 AD). During this period the capital was at Chang'an (modern Xi'an ). From the reign of Guangwu
27550-466: The treaty and periodically raided Han territories south of the Great Wall for additional goods. In a court conference assembled by Emperor Wu ( r. 141–87 BC ) in 135 BC, the majority consensus of the ministers was to retain the heqin agreement. Emperor Wu accepted this, despite continuing Xiongnu raids. However, a court conference the following year convinced the majority that
27740-482: The twenty ranks. However, to limit the power of the kings while still upholding primogeniture, an imperial edict of 127 BCE stated that kings had to divide the territories of their kingdoms between the chosen successor (i.e. heir apparent) and the kings' brothers, who were made marquesses, thus establishing new marquessates and effectively reducing the size of every kingdom with each generation. Historian Ban Zhao (45–116 CE) wrote in her Lessons for Women that, like
27930-532: The valuable precepts of many schools of thought (not just Confucianism), yet man had no control over his ultimate fate (命) decided by Heaven. In his New Discussions ( Xinlun 新論), Huan Tan (43 BCE −28 CE) argued that although the Han court sponsored Confucian education, the government had become corrupt and thus undermined Dong Zhongshu's cosmically ordained belief that Confucian education went hand-in-hand with political success. In his Balanced Discourse ( Lunheng ), Wang Chong (27–100 CE) argued that human life
28120-456: The vast majority of non-independent farmers working for wealthy landowners were not hired laborers or slaves, but were landless peasants who paid rent as tenants. It might have been more economically feasible to maintain tenants instead of slaves, since slave masters were obligated to pay an annual poll tax of 240 coins for each slave they owned (the same rate merchants had to pay for their poll tax). Government slaves were not assigned to work in
28310-400: The war with Chu, Emperor Gaozu enfeoffed some of them as kings. By 196, the Han court had replaced all of these kings with royal Liu family members, with the lone exception of Changsha . The loyalty of non-relatives to the emperor was questioned, and after several insurrections by Han kings—with the largest being the Rebellion of the Seven States in 154—the imperial court began enacting
28500-539: The west. Cao Cao died in March 220 AD. By December his son Cao Pi (187–226 AD) had Emperor Xian relinquish the throne to him and is known posthumously as Emperor Wen of Wei . This formally ended the Han dynasty and initiated an age of conflict between the Three Kingdoms : Cao Wei , Eastern Wu , and Shu Han . In the hierarchical social order, the emperor was at the apex of Han society and government. However,
28690-411: The widespread rebellion against Wang Mang , the state of Goguryeo was free to raid Han's Korean commanderies ; Han did not reaffirm its control over the region until AD 30. The Trưng Sisters of Vietnam rebelled against Han in AD 40. Their rebellion was crushed by Han general Ma Yuan ( d. AD 49 ) in a campaign from AD 42 to 43. Wang Mang renewed hostilities against
28880-427: The year 135 CE the eunuchs were given legal authority to pass on fiefs to adopted sons. Although Emperor Ling (r. 168–189 CE) relinquished a great deal of authority to eunuchs Zhao Zhong (d. 189 CE) and Zhang Rang (d. 189 CE), the eunuchs were slaughtered in 189 CE when Yuan Shao (d. 202 CE) besieged and stormed the palaces of Luoyang. Those who served in government had a privileged position in Han society that
29070-616: Was against the law to murder a slave; kings were stripped of their kingdoms after it was found that they had murdered slaves, while Wang Mang even forced one of his sons to commit suicide for murdering a slave. An edict of 35 CE repealed the death penalty for any slave who killed a commoner. Not all slaves had the same social status. Some slaves of wealthy families lived better than commoners since they were allowed to wear luxurious clothes and consume quality food and wine. Slaves of high officials could even be feared and respected. The slaves of regent Huo Guang (d. 68 BCE) sometimes came armed to
29260-410: Was allowed to come and go from his host's residence as he or she pleased, unlike a slave who was the property of his master and permanently attached to the estate. There was no official government policy on how to deal with retainers, but when they broke laws they were arrested, and when their master broke the law, sometimes the retainers were detained alongside him. Retainers formed a large portion of
29450-581: Was allowed to make vital policy decisions and was respected by officials. However, Shi Xian was expelled from office once Emperor Cheng (33–7 BCE) took the throne. No palace eunuch would obtain comparable authority again until after 92 CE, when the eunuchs led by Zheng Zhong (d. 107 CE) sided with Emperor He (r. 88–105 CE) in a coup to overthrow the Dou 竇 clan of the empress dowager. Officials complained when eunuchs like Sun Cheng (d. 132 CE) were awarded by Emperor Shun (r. 125–144 CE) with marquessates, yet after
29640-446: Was an age of great economic , technological , cultural, and social progress in China. Its society was governed by an emperor who shared power with an official bureaucracy and semi-feudal nobility . Its laws , customs , literature , and education were largely guided by the philosophy and ethical system of Confucianism , yet the influence of Legalism and Daoism (from the previous Zhou dynasty ) could still be seen. Members of
29830-438: Was appointed regent as Marshall of State on 16 August under Emperor Ping ( r. 1 BC – 6 AD). When Ping died on 3 February 6 AD, Ruzi Ying ( d. 25 AD ) was chosen as the heir and Wang Mang was appointed to serve as acting emperor for the child. Wang promised to relinquish his control to Liu Ying once he came of age. Despite this promise, and against protest and revolts from
30020-501: 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
30210-889: Was brought into the Han realm with the conquest of the Dian Kingdom in 109 BC, followed by parts of the Korean Peninsula with the Han conquest of Gojoseon and establishment of the Xuantu and Lelang commanderies in 108 BC. The first nationwide census in Chinese history was taken in 2 AD; the Han's total population was registered as comprising 57,671,400 individuals across 12,366,470 households. To pay for his military campaigns and colonial expansion, Emperor Wu nationalised several private industries. He created central government monopolies administered largely by former merchants . These monopolies included salt, iron, and liquor production, as well as bronze coinage . The liquor monopoly lasted only from 98 to 81 BC, and
30400-599: Was chosen as the new capital of the reunified empire under Han. At the beginning of the Western Han ( traditional Chinese : 西漢 ; simplified Chinese : 西汉 ; pinyin : Xīhàn ), also known as the Former Han ( 前漢 ; 前汉 ; Qiánhàn ), thirteen centrally-controlled commanderies —including the capital region—existed in the western third of the empire, while the eastern two-thirds were divided into ten semi-autonomous kingdoms . To placate his prominent commanders from
30590-596: Was commonplace. The Chinese clan or lineage involved men who shared a common patrilineal ancestor, yet were divided into subgroups whose behavior towards each other was regulated according to Confucian mores which dictated what relative should be closer and more intimate. The four different subgroups were: (1) brother, brother's sons, and brother's grandsons; (2) father's brothers, father's brother's sons and grandsons; (3) paternal grandfather's brothers, their sons, and grandsons; and (4) paternal great-grandfather's brothers, their sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons. While one
30780-497: Was considered above the station of the lowly registered merchant , wealthy and successful businessmen acquired huge fortunes which allowed them to rival the social prestige of even the most powerful nobles and highest officials. Slaves were at the bottom of the social order, yet they represented only a tiny portion of the overall population. Retainers attached themselves to the estates of wealthy landowners, while medical physicians and state-employed religious occultists could make
30970-407: Was considered men's work, sometimes women tilled fields alongside their husbands and brothers. Some women formed communal spinning and weaving groups to pool resources together to pay for candles, lamp oil, and heat during night and winter. A successful textile business could employ hundreds of women. Singing and dancing to entertain wealthy patrons were other common professions open for women. When
31160-490: Was convinced by the accusations of the eunuchs Li Run ( 李閏 ) and Jiang Jing ( 江京 ) that Deng and her family had planned to depose him. An dismissed Deng's clan members from office, exiled them, and forced many to commit suicide. After An's death, his wife, Empress Dowager Yan ( d. 126 AD ) placed the child Marquess of Beixiang on the throne in an attempt to retain power within her family. However, palace eunuch Sun Cheng ( d. 132 AD ) masterminded
31350-436: Was created during Emperor Wu's reign (r. 141–87 BCE) when he appointed three officials to form a triumvirate regency over the central government while the child Emperor Zhao (r. 87–74 BCE) sat on the throne. Regents were often relatives-in-law to the emperor through his empress's family, but they could also be men of lowly means who depended on the emperor's favor to advance their position at court. Eunuchs who maintained
31540-398: Was divided into large administrative units of kingdoms and commanderies ; within a commandery there were counties , and within counties there were districts that contained at least several hamlets . An average hamlet contained about a hundred families and usually was enclosed by a wall with two gates. At the center of social life in the hamlet was the religious altar (built in honor of
31730-478: Was divided into one hundred and sixty walled residential wards . Affairs of each ward were overseen by a low-ranking official. Influential families within the wards usually maintained social order. Historians are still unsure as to how many government-controlled marketplaces existed in Chang'an. Although there are claims of nine markets, it is possible that seven of them were actually divisible parts of two main markets:
31920-423: Was expected to mourn for an entire year over the death of any relative in the first subgroup, one was expected to mourn for only five months when a relative in the second subgroup had died. No ritual mourning was expected at all for relatives in the third and fourth subgroups. While a son mourned three years for a father's death, he only mourned one year for his mother's. Since carrying on the patrilineal line meant
32110-480: Was first empress, then empress dowager , and finally grand empress dowager during the reigns of the Emperors Yuan ( r. 49–33 BC ), Cheng ( r. 33–7 BC ), and Ai ( r. 7–1 BC ), respectively. During this time, a succession of her male relatives held the title of regent. Following the death of Ai, Wang Zhengjun's nephew Wang Mang (45 BC – 23 AD)
32300-519: Was first pioneered by the official Dong Zhongshu (179–104 BCE). Although full authenticity of Dong's authorship of the Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals comes into question with hints that parts were rewritten around the time of Liu Xiang (79–8 BCE) or Liu Xin (d. 23 CE), three of his original memorials sent to the throne discussing his syncretic version of Confucianism were preserved in
32490-446: Was in revenge for Dou's purging of the clan of his natural mother— Consort Liang —and then concealing her identity from him. After Emperor He's death, his wife Empress Deng Sui ( d. 121 AD ) managed state affairs as the regent empress dowager during a turbulent financial crisis and widespread Qiang rebellion that lasted from 107 to 118 AD. When Empress Dowager Deng died, Emperor An ( r. 106–125 AD )
32680-414: Was just one tier below the nobles (yet some high officials were also ennobled and had fiefs). They could not be arrested for crimes unless permission was granted by the emperor. However, when officials were arrested, they were imprisoned and fettered like commoners. Their punishments in court also had to gain the approval of the emperor. Officials were not exempt from execution, yet they were often given
32870-625: Was killed by allies of the Xiongnu in Karasahr and Kucha , the garrison at Hami was withdrawn. At the Battle of Ikh Bayan in AD 89, Dou Xian ( d. AD 92 ) defeated the Northern Xiongnu chanyu who then retreated into the Altai Mountains . After the Northern Xiongnu fled into the Ili River valley in AD 91, the nomadic Xianbei occupied the area from the borders of
33060-642: Was near the commandery of Rinan where Chinese sources claim the Romans first landed, as well as embassies from Tianzhu in northern India in 159 and 161. Óc Eo is also thought to be the port city " Cattigara " described by Ptolemy in his Geography ( c. 150 AD ) as lying east of the Golden Chersonese ( Malay Peninsula ) along the Magnus Sinus (i.e. the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea ), where
33250-532: Was nominated for office while another became Prefect of the Gentlemen of the Palace (郎中令). Those who practiced occult arts of Chinese alchemy and mediumship were often employed by the government to conduct religious sacrifices, while on rare occasions—such as with Luan Da (d. 112 BCE)—an occultist might marry a princesses or be enfeoffed as a marquess. While it was socially acceptable for gentry scholars to engage in
33440-488: Was not a coherent whole dictated by a unitary will of Heaven as in Dong's synthesis, but rather was broken down into three planes: biological (mental and physical), sociopolitical, and moral, elements which interacted with each other to produce different results and random fate. Eastern Han Confucians incorporated ideas of Legalism and Daoism to explain how society could be salvaged, such as Wang Fu (78–163 CE) in his Comments of
33630-433: Was not discouraged, marriages were arranged as agreements and bonds formed between two clans (with property as the chief concern), not necessarily two individuals. A father's input on who his sons and daughters should marry carried more weight than the mother, although a grandfather could override a father's decision. Once a couple had married, the new wife was obligated to visit the family temple so she could become part of
33820-407: Was not repealed until the Cao Wei period (220–265 CE). The average Han family under one household typically had about four or five immediate family members, which was unlike the large extended families under one household in later dynasties. It was common during Han to send adult married sons away with a portion of the family fortune and visit them occasionally, yet in all dynasties during and after
34010-481: Was not seen as a lowly profession if it was merely utilized by a poor scholar to pay for a formal education. For example, the first chancellor in Han to lack either a military background or a title as marquess was the pig-breeder Gongsun Hong (公孫弘) of Emperor Wu's reign. Physicians who practiced medicine and studied medical classics could not only make a decent income, but were also able to gain an education and become officials. The physician Hua Tuo (d. 208 CE)
34200-431: Was not until Emperor Wu's reign that Confucianism gained exclusive patronage at court. At the core of Confucian ethics were the selected virtues of filial piety , harmonious relationships , ritual , and righteousness. The amalgamation of these ideas into a theological system involving earlier cosmological theories of yin and yang as well as the five phases (i.e. natural cycles which governed Heaven, Earth, and Man)
34390-458: Was only rejected by a small minority of Legalists , who advocated a society of only soldiers and farmers, and certain Daoists who wanted everyone to live in self-sufficient villages and without commercial interests. Artisans could be privately employed or they could work for the government. While government workshops employed convicts, corvée laborers, and state-owned slaves to perform menial tasks,
34580-475: Was originally poor but became rich after marriage. Sometimes women were also able to initiate the divorce and remarry if the husband's family was in poverty, he was diseased, or his in-laws were too abusive. Although remarriage was frowned upon (especially since divorce meant a wife took away her dowry wealth from her ex-husband's family), it was nonetheless common amongst divorcees and widowers in all social groups. The two types of inheritance during Han included
34770-450: Was persuaded by Cao Cao (155–220 AD), then Governor of Yan Province in modern western Shandong and eastern Henan , to move the capital to Xuchang in 196 AD. Yuan Shao challenged Cao Cao for control over the emperor. Yuan's power was greatly diminished after Cao defeated him at the Battle of Guandu in 200 AD. After Yuan died, Cao killed Yuan Shao's son Yuan Tan (173–205 AD), who had fought with his brothers over
34960-437: 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
35150-427: Was reduced to forty thousand coins in 142 BCE, yet from Emperor Wu's reign onwards this policy was no longer enforced. Starting in Western Han was a system of recommendation where local officials submitted proposals to the capital on which of their subordinates were worthy candidates for holding office; this created a patron-client relationship between former superiors and successful nominees to higher office. With
35340-595: Was reinstated when it was bestowed on Ban Chao. Foreign travellers to the Eastern Han empire included Buddhist monks who translated works into Chinese , such as An Shigao from Parthia, and Lokaksema from Kushan-era Gandhara . In addition to tributary relations with the Kushans, the Han empire received gifts from sovereigns in the Parthian Empire , as well as from kings in modern Burma and Japan . He also initiated an unsuccessful mission to Rome in AD 97 with Gan Ying as emissary. A Roman embassy of Emperor Marcus Aurelius ( r. 161–180 AD )
35530-413: Was then forced to commit suicide. Students from the imperial university organized a widespread student protest against the eunuchs of Emperor Huan's court. Huan further alienated the bureaucracy when he initiated grandiose construction projects and hosted thousands of concubines in his harem at a time of economic crisis. Palace eunuchs imprisoned the official Li Ying ( 李膺 ) and his associates from
35720-516: Was transformed in the Eastern Han period when scholars struggled to understand how Wang Mang's regime had failed despite its great sponsorship of Confucian reform . The transition from Western Han idealism to Eastern Han skepticism can be represented in part by the Exemplary Sayings ( Fayan 法言) of Yang Xiong (53 BCE – 18 CE), who argued that human nature was indeterminate, that one could cultivate good and escape negative situations by learning
35910-399: Was troubled about the abundant Han-manufactured iron weapons traded to the Xiongnu along the northern borders, and he established a trade embargo against the group. In retaliation, the Xiongnu invaded what is now Shanxi , where they defeated the Han forces at Baideng in 200 BC. After negotiations, the heqin agreement in 198 BC nominally held the leaders of the Xiongnu and
36100-470: Was used until Yuan dynasty when the prefecture became Anxi Circuit ( 安西路 ) and later Fengyuan Circuit ( 奉元路 ). In Ming dynasty , it adopted the current name Xi'an . Han dynasty This is an accepted version of this page The Han dynasty 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
#343656