Han Dynasty

The Han dynasty came to power in 202 BC. They followed the philosophies of Confucianism and legalism. This was called ‘the Han synthesis’.

Under this dynasty, China made progress in arts and science. The empire also became larger and larger. China started trading with a number of other countries. They started the Silk Road. Merchants used the Silk Road to reach China. During this dynasty Buddhism was introduced in China. Today, the dominant ethnic group of China calls themselves the Han Chinese since this was the dynasty where many of the norms of Chinese culture found a firm foundation in the culture, including Confucianism and Traditional Chinese characters. The first emperor of the han dynasty is Liu Bang, known in Chinese as Han Gaozu.

  • The Han dynasty ruled China from 206 b.c.e. to 220 b.c.e. The new emperor maintained a legalist ideology, just like the Qin dynasty, but also had ideas of Confucianism to have a centralized system showing benevolence. After eighty years, emperor Wu launched a period of military expansion. The Han armies controlled many territories, including Silk Road in Mongolia and Xinjiang. The Silk Road  helped turn the city into a political, economic, military, and culture center of the city, but it was very expensive to manage and further expansion was cut off.  Several factors contributed to the fall of the Han dynasty, including uprisings of desperate and hungry people, the spread of attacks by nomadic groups, and official corruption.

Coins

  • A spade-shaped bronze coin issued during Wang Mang’s (r. 9–23 AD) reign

  • Flying Horse

    The Gansu Flying Horse, depicted in full gallop, bronze sculpture, h 34,5 cm. Wuwei, Gansu, China, AD 25–220

  • Chinese Stone Classics

    A fragment of the ‘Stone Classics’ (熹平石經); these stone-carved Five Classics installed during Emperor Ling’s reign along the roadside of the Imperial University (right outside Luoyang) were made at the instigation of Cai Yong (132–192 AD), who feared the Classics housed in the imperial library were being interpolated by University Academicians.

  • A Bronze Chimera

    An Eastern-Han bronze statuette of a mythical chimera (qilin), 1st century AD

  • A rubbing of a Han pictorial stone showing an ancestral worship hall

    A rubbing of a Han pictorial stone showing an ancestral worship hall (citang 祠堂)

  • Paintings on a basket

    A scene of historic paragons of filial piety conversing with one another, Chinese painted artwork on a lacquered basketwork box, excavated from an Eastern-Han tomb of what was the Chinese Lelang Commandery in modern North Korea

  • A Pottery Figurine

    An Eastern-Han pottery soldier, with a now-faded coating of paint, is missing a weapon.

  • A Chinese Coin

    A wuzhu (五銖) coin issued during the reign of Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 BC), 25.5 mm in diameter

  • A Halberd and a Dagger

    A Han-dynasty iron Ji (halberd) and iron dagger

 

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