Transformative Dynasty

The Han dynasty is one of the great dynasties in Chinese history, lasting nearly 400 years. A dynasty is, essentially, a period of rule of a kingdom or empire by a single family. In China, though, the size and makeup of an imperial “family” can be quite flexible. In Chinese history, there have been nine major dynasties. Most were created by royal families who emerged from within China.

The Han dynasty was created by leaders from Han, one of the regions of China. It lined up with the period of the Roman Republic and Empire in western Afro-Eurasia. Politically, it established the imperial system that many later dynasties used. Technically, though, it was not the first Chinese dynasty. Philosophically, it fostered the development of communal ideas and beliefs. Together, these changes had the effect of creating a widespread sense of a shared Chinese culture and identity for the first time.

The period is usually broken down into three stages:

• Western Han (206 BCE–9 CE), with its capital at Chang’an
• Wang Mang (9–23 CE), also called Xin dynasty or Wang interregnum (pause between wars)
• Eastern Han (25–220 CE), with its capital at Luoyang

Qin Origins of the Han Imperial System

Prior to the third century, the region of China was broken into many smaller states. At the core was a set of small kingdoms, including Han. They shared their language, values, and form of political organization. Farther away, the states were more rural and spoke languages associated more with the people of central Asia. The most significant of these people on the outside were the Xiongnu, a pastoral, or farming, community who felt threatened by the growing populations of Central China. In turn, those living in the Chinese communities or eastern states also found the Xiongnu to be threatening.

Around the middle of the third century, the northwest kingdom of Qin briefly dominated the other states. It created a single administrative structure under Qin Shi Huangdi (ruled 221 to 210 BCE), literally meaning “First Emperor of Qin.” He created a military structure of administration and appointed people to govern the different states. The Qin state also adopted and spread philosophies that helped it to rule. One of these was Legalism, which emphasized obedience to the state. As a result, Qin’s rule extended beyond the core Chinese states to some neighboring societies, threatening the Xiongnu and other neighbors.

Following the death of its founder, the Qin dynasty crumbled. Opposition to the leadership arose from people unwilling to be ruled in such an authoritarian manner. Two Qin officials then fought to take control. One was Liu Bang, who later became known as the Emperor Gaozu. Gaozu came to power in the Han state after 206 BCE, marking the start of the Han dynasty. Liu Bang fought and won a civil war. Four years later, he created a single empire with all the central kingdoms of China.

Consolidation

How did this new dynasty eventually come to be so influential in Chinese history?

Beginning with Emperor Gaozu, the Han rulers mixed the harsh and effective Legalism with the softer community-first philosophy of Confucianism. Obedience was still demanded, but Confucianism also recognized that rulers and the state had an obligation to provide for their people. Outside ways of thought, like Daoism, also crept into this philosophy. For example, the Han emperors embraced the idea that humans were part of the natural world and that agriculture and nature thrived only under good rulers. This all came together in the central idea of Han rule—the Mandate of Heaven.

It said that the emperors ruled because they had fulfilled their ren, meaning “benevolent duty,” to the community. But it also said that heaven would punish bad rulers with crop failures or natural disasters. Under the Mandate of Heaven, disasters were seen as the result of poor governance. Poor rulers then could and should be replaced.

The Mandate of Heaven philosophy was supported by a government led by Confucian scholars who were literate and effective. They put in place systems to communicate with each other, collect data, and report on problems. The result was a period of peaceful conditions and relative wealth. Peasants could safely work the land, producing more food. Trade within the state expanded. The millet-growing regions of the north and rice-growing regions of the south supported each other by trading crops. Han emperors, in many cases, expanded the state, and there is evidence that some people outside of central China welcomed their rule. Populations exploded due to this stability and reliable food production.

Various economic measures were taken to expand state control, including a state monopoly of iron and silk production in 119 BCE. Forty-nine foundries, or metal factories, produced large numbers of agricultural tools. Experimentation with metals and irons of different carbon contents led to the production of steel. Many farms were involved in silk production, a valuable fabric that could be used to pay taxes and buy horses. The Silk Road trade developed partly to reach Roman customers, who were 7,000 miles away. During the Eastern Han, a form of paper made from boiled remnants of fabric, bark, and hemp, was produced and used widely. The first Chinese dictionary (Shuowen jiezi) was gathered around 100 CE. It listed more than 9,000 characters and their meanings.

The Xiongnu and the Zhang Qiang mission

The main problem facing the Han for much of this period was the nomadic, or roaming, people of the central Asian interior, the Xiongnu. Likewise, the Xiongnu saw the expansion of China into their territory as a problem. At first, the Han emperors tried to be friendly, even sending a princess to marry the Xiongnu leader and calling him an equal to the emperor. Making nice with these dangerous enemies seemed to be smarter than fighting them. The Xiongnu were important partners in the Silk Road trading route. However, the two states just had interests that were too different. Their leaders argued about territory, trade, and border raids.

Emperor Wudi ruled from 141 to 87 BCE. In 138 BCE, Wudi sent a diplomat named Zhang Qiang to the Greek-ruled central Asian state of Bactria to get horses and allies for fighting the Xiongnu. Zhang Qiang was captured by the Xiongnu and eventually escaped. Meanwhile, Wudi warred against the Xiongnu effectively enough to capture much territory, then went back to using diplomacy. Wudi also helped to expand Chinese influence (and to some degree territory) into parts of Korea and Southeast Asia.

Mang and Eastern Han

However, Wudi’s expansion basically emptied the state’s banks. That created many problems for the government, which had to raise taxes. This, in turn, created problems for many of the people of China, who could not pay those taxes and still feed their families. At the same time, Wudi’s reign saw the growing power of court eunuchs over the professional Confucian-trained scholars. The eunuchs were men who were thought to be specifically loyal to the emperor. They took control of the imperial court, isolating the emperor from the increasingly unhappy people.

A Confucian-trained imperial minister named Wang Mang saw that this was the time to play the “Mandate of Heaven” card and took the throne in 9 CE. He took power partly with the support of large numbers of angry, hungry peasants. As emperor, he wanted to address the problems of the people.

Mang tried to reform the state but had little success. As a result, a Han successor to Wudi named Liu Xiu, later Emperor Guang Wudi, managed to retake the throne in 23 CE. He established his capital in Luoyang, east of the old capital. That’s why the second period of Han history, about two centuries long, is called the Eastern Han. It was culturally a very rich period, but it suffered from various political challenges. In particular, the dynasty faced conflicts within the imperial court. Often, these were fights between the long-standing administrators, the court eunuchs, and the families of empresses. Empresses were usually the daughters of powerful lords who married into the imperial family. These women brought their own people to the imperial court, and these people clashed with the eunuchs for power. Sometimes this led to actual fighting. More often, it fostered schemes and corruption.

The corruption angered the trained Confucian administrators in the provinces. They soon found it impossible to govern with an imperial court obsessed with in-fighting. It got harder to address local problems, so peasants suffered. Ultimately, the Han dynasty simply could not serve its people effectively. The imperial court’s chaos also prevented effective responses to natural disasters like floods and droughts that came along. And that was a fairly big no-no if your dynasty was trying to prove it held the Mandate of Heaven. The Han could no longer claim to be good rulers.

Despite its problems–the results of which we’ll see in a later era–the Han dynasty had an enormous legacy. It created an economic powerhouse that played a key role in the growth of trade across Afro-Eurasia. It established the larger borders of China and created a shared, but somewhat limited, sense of Chinese identity for tens of millions of people.

Equally, even today, many Chinese refer to themselves as Han rem, or Han people. In terms of legacy, that’s not bad for a dynasty that ended 1,800 years ago.