Rise And Fall Of The Han Dynasty

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Classical Asian Civilizations: Rise and Fall of the Han Dynasty

The Han dynasty was often regarded as the greatest Chinese dynasty both in terms of power and prestige. The period of Han dynasty was coined with the term the ‘golden age’ largely due to its historical advances in arts, politics and technology.
The Han dynasty was preceded by the Qin dynasty of China and was first established in 202 BCE by Emperor Gaozu of Han (Liu Bang); Emperor Gaozu of Han was his posthumous name (Zhou, 2003). Ancient Chinese civilizations were largely dominated by monarchy control. The Han dynasty was in rule of China for nearly four centuries starting form 206 BCE to 220 AD; the formal beginning of the Han dynasty can be traced to 206 BCE where it was still under the rule of Emperor Gaozu. The formal beginning of the Han dynasty occurred after Qin Dynasty that ruled over China during the period 221 -206 BCE; the end of the Qin Dynasty was largely unstable following the death of its first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (Ebrey, 1999). The battle of Giaxia (202 BCE) between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu would determine the next emperor of China; Liu Bang proved victorious and this marked the foundation of the western Han Dynasty (Loewe, 1986). The Western Han dynasty was established in the imperial capital of Chang’an and was specifically chosen due to its strategic importance; all major roads converged into Chang’an and was essentially the heart of the city. The era of Han dynasty rule can be broken down into two episodes: the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 9 AD) and the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 – 220 AD); interrupted with an era of Xin Dynasty (9 – 23 AD) command (Zhou, 2003). The Han dynasty had many successes during its period of rule over China and one of ...

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...tant is the Confucianism philosophy.

The powerful and prestigious Han Dynasty owes its great success to the suicide of Xiang Yu, strong centralized governments, advanced technologies and the reign of Emperor Wu that adapted Confucianism philosophies, government monopolies and military expansion that enabled the Han Dynasty to stay in power for nearly 400 years. The Han Dynasty collapsed due to many internal and external factors; the internal factors that lead to the Han Dynasty collapse include administrative weaknesses, financial corruption and heavy taxation. The External forces of the Han Dynasty collapse can be attributed to climate and desertification that played a role in the overall weakening of the Han Empire. Although the Han Empire is no longer in existence today, the legacy of the Han Dynasty will continue to be the roots of modern Chinese culture.

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