How Did The Migration Contribute To The Decline Of The Han Dynasty

The Decline of the Han Dynasty

Digvijay Naruka

History 131

Dr. Peifer

November 23, 2014

Han Empire was certainly one of the biggest empires, easily comparable to the Roman Empire. It was China’s longest lasting empire that reigned for over four centuries. They had a strong military, improved the Great Wall of China, and introduced an examination system to join government. Moreover, Han’s achieved success in politics, trade, and technology became the base of many modern inventions. The fall of the Han Empire was a result of long lasting damage that happened over time. It became politically unstable. Another reason for their fall was migration. Finally, the revolts severely weakened the empire. Therefore one can see that the Han Empire

As Sophia mentions in her article that “… the migration, due to a variety of causes, of the ethnic Han population of northern China towards the south: created a general disorder that had not been experienced during the Western Han…” (Psarras, p-22). The causes of this migration were not instantaneous, and eventually led to the fall of Han. For example, some of the Emperors of the Han dynasty wanted nothing but luxurious lifestyle, and spent a huge amount of empire’s treasury during the economic crisis. Moreover, the court and the huge army that was defending the empire against nomadic tribes on the borders put a huge strain on the empire’s economy. In order to fund these armies and construction of fortresses, the government imposed high taxes. Because of these changes, peasants suffered the most as they were forced to work on constructing these fortresses, and were required to do forced labor for a month. Moreover, the high taxes imposed on them further increased their suffering. While the peasants were suffering, the aristocratic families had attained the hold of the large estates of the country, bought government positions, and used bribery to gain special influence with the eunuchs. They paid insignificant taxes, and easily protected their wealth by using the influence of their position as government officials. With the increasing power of the aristocratic family, the central government found it extremely difficult to maintain an effective defense against nomadic raids, which forced them to impose ever increasing taxes on the peasants. These unbearable tax burdens, along with the compulsory labor, forced the peasants to migrate towards the south. The result of this was very low tax revenue, which created a disorder in the empire, and crumbled the empire economically. Besides the migration of peasants to south, high number of revolts also led to the decline of