29/06/2021 Han dynasty -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

Han dynasty
Han dynasty, Wade-Giles romanization Han, the second great imperial dynasty of China
(206 BCE–220 CE), after the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BCE). It succeeded the Qin dynasty
(221–207 BCE). So thoroughly did the Han dynasty establish what was thereafter considered
Chinese culture that “Han” became the Chinese word denoting someone who is ethnically
Chinese.

History

The dynasty was founded by Liu Bang, later the

Gaozu emperor (reigned 206–195 BCE), a man of
humble birth who led the revolt against the repressive

zoom_in policies of the preceding short-lived Qin dynasty. The

China: Han dynasty
Han copied the highly centralized Qin administrative
Map showing the extent of the Han
empire c. 100 structure, dividing the country into a series of
BCE administrative areas ruled by centrally appointed
.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. officials and developing a salaried bureaucracy in
which promotion was based primarily on merit.
Unlike the Qin, however, the Han adopted a Confucian ideology that emphasized
moderation, virtue, and filial piety and thereby masked the authoritarian policies of the
regime.

So successful was that policy that the Han lasted

zoom_in
ceramic horse
Figure of a horse, earthenware with
amber lead glaze from China, Eastern
Han dynasty, 25–220
CE
; in the Victoria and Albert Museum,
London.
https://www.britannica.com/print/article/253872
longer than any other Chinese empire, reigning—with
a short interruption when Wang Mang temporarily
usurped the throne and established the Xin dynasty
(9–25 CE)—for more than 400 years. Some scholars
divide the Han into two sections. The period before
Wang Mang’s usurpation—when the capital was in the
western Chinese city of Chang’an (now Xi’an,
Shaanxi province)—is called the Qian (Former), or Xi
(Western) Han (206 BCE–25 CE), and the period after
Wang Mang—when the capital was moved eastward
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29/06/2021 Han dynasty -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

Photograph by Veronika Brazdova.

to Luoyang (in present-day Henan province—is
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Dr
T. T. Tsui Gift, FE.30-2001 named the Hou (Later), or Dong (Eastern), Han (25–
220 CE).

Instances of book burning and repression during the 14-year Qin period that spared only a
writing system for keeping records were intended to stamp out all forms of dissent, and they
took a great toll on cultural expression. However, the brutish Qin regime was too brief to
thoroughly accomplish such a broad goal, and the vestiges of culture were revived by the
successor Han.

zoom_in
Drawing of landscape scenes from a
bronze chariot canopy fitting, from
Dingxian, Hebei province, c. 2nd–1st
century

BCE
, Xi (Western) Han dynasty; in the
Hebei Provincial Museum, Wuhan,
China. Height 26.5 cm.
Zhang Ping/ChinaStock Photo Library

Citation Information
Article Title:
Han dynasty
Website Name:
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher:
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published:
25 November 2019
URL:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Han-dynasty
Access Date:
June 28, 2021

https://www.britannica.com/print/article/253872 2/2