China’s Han Dynasty206 b.c.e.-220 c.e.

The New Dynasty

China’s long-lasting Han Dynasty set the pattern, customs, and political trends still evident in China today:

Centralized administration, with representatives given nearly full control over people in their region,

Rule by scholar-bureaucrats, A Confucian education system, Landlords controlling peasants and agriculture, High taxes on peasants, Tension between rulers and those being ruled, Wars, expansion, and high defense spending, Government control over major industries, Technological innovation, Poor treatment of women, A bureaucracy becoming increasingly corrupt, Collapse after losing the “Mandate of Heaven”

Centralized Administration

Liu Bang, the Han’s first emperor made sure all of China was following his decisions, so he put family members in positions of great power, granting them huge estates of land to buy their loyalty.

When they proved useless during an invasion by the nomadic Xiongnu , he replaced them with scholar-bureaucrats.

Scholar-BureaucratsIn the Confucian tradition, the Han wanted to create “Junzi” who could morally and effectively govern a growing China and who would not use their positions to gain wealth or power.

These Scholar-Bureaucrats were given near-total power in the regions they governed.

The Confucian Education System

To create these “Scholar-Bureaucrats”, the Han rediscovered Confucianism and opened a network of schools to teach only Confucian thought. This system was open to any promising student, regardless of social class.

Only those passing the dreaded three-day “eight-legged essay” could become Scholar-Bureaucrats.

The idea that only Confucian philosophy and ancient texts would be studied continued well into the 1900s. This was a major reason for China losing its technological advantages over time.

Landlords Controlling Peasants and Agriculture

Needing the support of the rich in obeying the Scholar-Bureaucrats, landlords generally were allowed to treat peasants as poorly as they saw fit.

These landlords held most of China’s limited farmable land and became incredibly wealthy while peasants remained poor.

High taxes on peasants

In good times, taxes on peasants were low—just as Confucius advised. But when trouble arose or landlords were allowed to get greedy, the combination of high rent prices of land by the landlords and high taxes by the state left peasants desperately poor.

The Scholar-Bureaucrats tended to side with the landlords, as keeping order was seen as more important than fairness.

In cases where the landlord and the Scholar-Bureaucrat were both corrupt, peasants sometimes had little choice except to rebel.

Tension

Throughout Chinese history, when peasants are angry enough at their landlord, the government or both, they would take up arms and fight for justice.

The government usually controlled these and took horrible vengeance on the rebels, but every so often these rebellions could grow out of control and take down a dynasty—or at least damage it and hasten its decline.

War and Expansion

Most Chinese Dynasties (including the Han) tried to extend Chinese control to the south and protect itself from nomadic raiders from the west.

The Han grew tired of frequent attacks by the nomads called the Xiongnu, so it expanded its rule beyond the Great Wall to protect itself.

Peasants often resented both the high taxes needed for war and the number of men drafted into the army.

Government Control over Industries

The Chinese Dynasties including the Han encouraged technological innovation, and kept strict control over (and high taxes on) important resources such as salt, metals, porcelain and silk.

The dynasties also kept control over the Silk Road—the trade route for caravans between China and West Asia.

Technological Innovation

The Han, like later dynasties, encouraged the development and spread of technologies to aid in trade, farming and war.

For instance, under the Han silk-making was perfected, stronger iron was produced, and paper was invented.

The following link provides a good overview of how much China has given to the world and how early the Chinese produced it. http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/dtrowbridge/files/chinese%20inventions1.pdf

Poor Treatment of Women

Following Confucian tradition, women were not treated well in China. A widely-read Han booklet required women to follow the virtues of “humility, obedience, subservience, and devotion” to their fathers, brothers, husband and mother-in-law.

By the 10th Century, long after the Han, upper-class women had their feet bound in childhood so they would be delicate and could barely walk. Foot binding continued into the 20th Century.

Increasingly Corrupt Bureaucracy

As bureaucrats grew richer and richer, they tended to forget their roles as “Junzi” and become corrupt. Financing the increasingly-high costs of luxury meant tax hikes for the peasants, which caused them to sell their lands to already-rich landlords.

When government stopped serving the people and started serving itself, the dynasty would lose the “Mandate of Heaven”. Peasant revolts would increase, infrastructure would decay, and the defense of the country would become lax.

This happened to the Han, as over its final 200 years taxes rose, the gap between rich and poor became wider, investments in trade and manufacturing slowed, factions of bureaucrats fought each other for power, and large-scale peasant rebellions arose. The end was near.

Collapse

The Han’s collapse was a slow one. A large peasant revolt known as the Yellow Turban Uprising created chaos in the countryside. Desperate peasants became gangs of bandits causing trade to all but stop, and bureaucrats fought each other instead of fixing China’s problems.

In the 200s, the Han was no longer capable of governing the countryside, and China devolved back into warring states run by cruel warlords until a new dynasty—the Sui—was able to reunite the country…and start the dynastic cycle again.

Click here for a document summarizing the accomplishments of all of China’s major dynasties.