History 191A

CLASSICAL CHINA STUDY QUESTIONS FOR FINAL QUIZ

This 1-hour and 20 min. quiz will be in two parts. In Part I, which will count for , you will be asked to identify the source or author, and briefly explain the significance in historical context of 5 out of 7 distinctive and representative quotations taken from the following authors or texts in Sources of Chinese Tradition: Confucius Evoked a commitment to learning, refinement, cultural accomplishments, and the practice of rites and music- came to be applied to persons whose notion of virtue had more to do with decorous conduct than with martial prowess. perspective of the ru- his purpose having been to promote the style and manners of the noble person (junzi) and the efficacy of moral force or virtue (de), rather than violence and coercion, as a strategy for rulers. Analects focus on the practicalities of relationships, personal cultivation in the context of those relationships, relationship of personal cultivation on the part of rulers and ministers to the conduct of government. Confucius associated with three conducts: filial devotion (xiao), humaneness (ren), and ritual decorum (Li) He understood the practice of filial devotion to have bearing on the stability of society as a whole The most important capacity that a ruler can have is the capacity for recognizing that he must treat the people as he himself would want to be treated in their position. Ritual which affords an ideal means for ordering ones personal life, also represents the ideal mode of governance because the rites are the vehicle through which the ruler expreses his own virtue or moral power an also encourages a sense of dignity and responsiveness among the people Main Points: Confucius focused on learning, ritual, music, and filial piety. Laozi Daoism opposes a flight from respectability and the conventional duties of society; it holds out a vision of transcendental worlds of the spirits. Daoism represents the same scholar in a private chamber or mountain retreat, often seeking surcease from the cares of official life. Daoist-school or family of the dao Proposes a philosophy of government and a way of life for the ruling class, probably the only people who were capable of reading it

 The teaching of laozi is based on a great underlying principle, the way, or Dao, which is the source of all being, the governor of all life, human and natural The way of life that accords with this basic dao is marked by an impulse toward acceptance and yieldin, an absence of strife and coercion, and a manner of action that is completely spontaneous, effortless, and inexhaustible. Perfect individual, the sage, who comprehends the dao and whose life and actions are ordered in accordance with it. It is clear that the sage is conceived of as the ideal ruler, for the laozi give definite instructions as to how the sages government is to be conducted. The sage is to refrain from meddling in the lives of the people, give up warfare and luxurious living, and guide the people back to a state of innocence, simplicity, and harmony with the dao. This is a state thought to existed in the most ancient times, before civilization appeared to arouse the material desires of the people and impel them to strife and warfare, and before motality was invented to divert their minds from simple goodness and beguiled them with vain distinctions Lazoi may also be understood as the philosophy of the recluse The text appears to be a combination of very old adages or cryptic sayings, often in rhyme, extended passages of poetry, and section so of prose interpretation and commentary. Among the prominent images are those of water, the female, and the mother Poetic style that is kind of inconclusive talks about the way and mentions it being a mother Talks about the sage accomplishing things by doing nothing Likes to talk about the sage a lot Mentions the mysterious female Mencius His style is through argument to prove a point Mencius traveled from one feudal state to another, speaking to rulers about government, deploring the effects of warfare on the people, and pleading the case for the practicality of humanness He reaffirmed a profound Confucian confidence in the efficacy of morality but was resigned to the possibility that he himself might not figure into or even personally witness the restoration of a moral order Many of these exchanges take the form of arguments He is compelled to dispute with rulers and scholars who fail to understand the legacy of civilization and, underlying it, the human potential for goodness Is the idea that what ultimately matters in human interactions is the motivation of the actors and their capacity for mutual respect and regard based on recognition of a common humanity Complementary principle of yi, or rightness, a complex idea of what is right in particular situations as individuals perform their distinct roles and confront the different circumstance of their lives

 Mencius appeals to rulers to draw on humaneness in their conduct of affairs of state rather than doubting their own capacity for compassion and to recognize the claims of rightness rather than succumbing to the expedient Criticizing the rulers for their role in instigating warfare devout in deploring wars pernicious effects on the lives of the common people He displays a keen awareness that human beings have certain basic needsfood , clothing, shelter, and education and that these must be met if their very existence as human beings is to be possible. He seems to reclaim, in memory, the moral aura of a time before the beginning of the dynastic system, when rulers were selected on morally compelling basis of merit rather than the less reliable basis of heredity. Mencius maintains that heaven oversees a kind of overarching moral order in which it is given to rulers to rule for the sake of the common people, with the object of achieving their well-being and prosperity Cultivation of the vast, flowing qi- a psychophysical energy or vitality within the individual that he seems to find directly related to moral effort. Most famous are his discussions of the four beginnings - natural tendencies within all human beings that, he believes, can be cultivated and developed into the capacities for humaneness, rightness, propriety, and wisdom Rulers risk being deposed for crimes against humanity Mencius says that before the situation in a state reaches the point at which the ruler must be deposed, his ministers should remonstrate with him, quit his court if not listened to, and then have ministers of the royal blood depose him as a last resort. WELL FIELD SYSTEM o Well field system mencius harks back to a time in the past when, according to tradition, landholding among the common people had been generally equal and village life had been cooperative o Humane government must begin with the setting of boundaries. If the boundaries are not set correctly, the division on the land into well-fields will not be equal and the grain allowances for official emoluments will not be equitable o Please allow that in the countryside one square of land out of nine should be used for mutual aid. o Neither at the occasion of a death nor of a change of residence should people leave the village o Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi) Likes to talk of imaginary characters like mystical animals, vegetables, people Uses stories of animals or creatures to setup an argument for mans actions His views are practicle Likes to ask riddles Opening with a dazzling flight of the spirit and closing with a comprehensive and remarkabley sober survey of the world of through in the later in the late warring states period

 The characters that inhabit the pges include craftsmen, cripples, a slyly reconstructed Confucius, and a talking tree Issues of universality and particularity, meditation on the diversity of the human world as well as the world of nature as a whole, ifs reflection on how, amid the diversity of life, the universality of the way may be perceived Zhuangzi is also concerned with the nature of knowledge, the possibilities and limitations of language, the metaphysical implications of moral values, and the understanding of the self. For him self understanding is gained through an awareness that life involves both infinite variety and inexorable change and that death is both inevitable and unfathomable A man who has wisdom enough to fill one office effectively, good Dealing as it does with matters of knowledge and language, life and death, dream and reality. In general, Zhuangzi's philosophy is mildly skeptical, arguing that our life is limited and the amount of things to know is unlimited. To use the limited to pursue the unlimited, he said, was foolish. Our language and cognition in general presuppose a dao to which each of us is committed by our separate pastour paths. Consequently, we should be aware that our most carefully considered conclusions might seem misguided had we experienced a different past. "Our heart-minds are completed along with our bodies." Natural dispositions to behavior combine with acquired onesincluding dispositions to use names of things, to approve/disapprove based on those names and to act in accordance to the embodied standards. Thinking about and choosing our next step down our dao or path is conditioned by this unique set of natural acquisitions. Zhuangzi's thought can also be considered a precursor of relativism in systems of value. His relativism even leads him to doubt the basis of pragmatic arguments (that a course of action preserves our lives) since this presupposes that life is good and death bad. In the fourth section of "The Great Happiness" ( zhl, chapter 18), Zhuangzi expresses pity to a skull he sees lying at the side of the road. Zhuangzi laments that the skull is now dead, but the skull retorts, "How do you know it's bad to be dead?" Another example about two famous courtesans points out that there is no universally objective standard for beauty. This is taken from Chapter 2 ( q w ln) "On Arranging Things", or "Discussion of Setting Things Right" or, in Burton Watson's translation, "Discussion on Making All Things Equal".
Men claim that Mao [Qiang] and Lady Li were beautiful, but if fish saw them they would dive to the bottom of the stream; if birds saw them they would fly away, and if deer saw them they would break into a run. Of these four, who knows how to fix the standard of beauty in the world? (2, tr. Watson 1968:46)

However, this subjectivism is balanced by a kind of sensitive holism in the conclusion of the section called "The Happiness of Fish" (, yzhl). The names have been changed to pinyin romanization for consistency:

Zhuangzi and Huizi were strolling along the dam of the Hao Waterfall when Zhuangzi said, "See how the minnows come out and dart around where they please! That's what fish really enjoy!" Huizi said, "You're not a fish how do you know what fish enjoy?" Zhuangzi said, "You're not I, so how do you know I don't know what fish enjoy?" Huizi said, "I'm not you, so I certainly don't know what you know. On the other hand, you're certainly not a fish so that still proves you don't know what fish enjoy!" Zhuangzi said, "Let's go back to your original question, please. You asked me how I know what fish enjoy so you already knew I knew it when you asked the question. I know it by standing here beside the Hao." (17, tr. Watson 1968:188-9)

[edit] The butterfly dream

Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly (or a butterfly dreaming of Zhuangzi) Another well-known part of the book, which is also found in Chapter 2, is usually called "Zhuangzi dreamed he was a butterfly" ( Zhung Zhu mng di). Again, the names have been changed to pinyin romanization for consistency:
Once Zhuangzi dreamt he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know he was Zhuangzi. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuangzi. But he didn't know if he was Zhuangzi who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuangzi. Between Zhuangzi and a butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the Transformation of Things. (2, tr. Burton Watson 1968:49)

This hints at many questions in the philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and epistemology. The name of the passage has become a common Chinese idiom, and has spread into Western languages as well. It appears, inter alia, as an illustration in Jorge Luis Borges' famous essay "A New Refutation of Time", and may have inspired H. P. Lovecraft's 1918 short story "Polaris". Zhuangzi's philosophy was very influential in the development of Chinese Buddhism, especially Chn (also known as Zen).

[edit] Anarchy
According to Murray Rothbard, Zhuangzi was "perhaps the world's first anarchist"; Zhuangzi said, the world "does not need governing; in fact it should not be governed," and, "Good order results spontaneously when things are let alone." Rothbard claims that Zhuangzi was the first to work out the idea of spontaneous order, before Proudhon and Hayek.[1] Alan Watts, who in his mature and later years was sympathetic to minarchical libertarianism, declared that Zhuangzi was a libertarian[citation needed].

[edit] Evolution
In Chapter 18, Zhuangzi also mentions life forms have an innate ability or power () to transform and adapt to their surroundings. While his ideas don't give any solid proof or

mechanism of change such as Alfred Wallace and Charles Darwin, his idea about the transformation of life from simple to more complex forms is along the same line of thought. Zhuangzi further mentioned that humans are also subject to this process as humans are a part of nature.[2]

[edit] Points that Zhuangzi makes

Everything is everything. There is no good or bad, only thinking makes it so. The world around us may be perceived as an illusion from our senses our experiences and our interpretations, thus illusions are irrelevant to conclude a definite right or wrong way. Death is just a passage of the illusion of life.

Hsn Tzu (Xunzi) His view of the world was darker than that of mencius, and the remedies he advocated for its troubles were more cautions and complex He explicitly challenged menciuss positive conception of human nature as fundamentally good Devotion to learning, culture, and the possibility of human perfectibility He involved himself with great intellectual fervor and evidently without temperamental reluctance, in contemporary intellectual debates His work is composed primarily of essays unlike mencius and Confucius work which is comprised of conversations Concerned with learning, self cultivation, government, military affairs, heaven or nature, ritual, language and human nature Makes a strong case for the value of personal association with a teacher and of personal involvement in ritual practice as against a bookish or antiquarian absorption in the past Dwells on the contrast between the openness and seriousness of the noble person and the shallowness and defensiveness of the inferior person, emphasizing the need to be receptive to constructive criticism. Self cultivation for him is part of a social process, something one works on in the course of interactions with others. He makes a similar point in the passage in which he defends the importance of following the guidance of a teacher Believes that the humaneness and rightness of the true king give him an unassailable authority and an ability to compel the allegiance of others. Xunzi represents tian as a natural order, operating according to unchanging principles, not intervening in extraordinary ways in human affairs but, rather, providing the context within which all living things exist

 affairs. Li Si

Heaven, earth, and human beings exist in a relationship Human beings must recognize that they themselves are in control of their own Human nature is evil

199, 206-b207

Mo Tzu (Mozi) Warring states period Against Confucianism He condemned what he viewed as the skepticism of many Confucians in regard to heave and spiritual beings, their tendency toward fatalism, and their preoccupation with ritual. Honoring of the worthy- mozi argues that government positions should be filled by the most qualified individuals Identifying with ones superior- in which he insists on the need for uniformity of thought, based on an elaborate form of thought control, to achieve social order. Believing in heaven as an active power manifesting love for all, he urged that all people follow heaven in this by practicing universal love. Love for all human beings is demonstrated by satifying their immediate material needs and by abandoning all forms of activity and expense that do not contribute to the feeding, clothing, and housing of the people. Condemned ritual and music, extravagant entertainment, and, above all, offensive warfare. Dong Zhongshu 546, 594, 292, 293, 294, 295, 308-309, 311, 314, 312-313, 357-358

Han Fei Tzu (Feizi) 191-192, 211-212, 199-206, Sima Qian 278, 349, 367, 369, 663, 664, 371-373

Example: It is true that water is neither disposed to flow east nor west, but is it neither disposed to flowing upward nor downward? The tendency of human nature to do good is like

that of water to flow downward. There is no man who does not tend to do good; there is no water that does not flow downward. Now you may strike water and make it splash over your forehead, or you may even force it up the hills. But is this the nature of water? It is of course due to the force of circumstances. Similarly, man may be brought to do evil, and this is because the same is done to his nature. In Part II, which will count for , you will be asked to define or identify and explain the significance in historical context of 10 out of 12 of the following persons or things. Wang Mang Wang Mang founded the Xin (new) dynasty, calling for a return to the golden age of the same anciet Zhou dynasty about which confucius had written. Took measures against large estate holders. Claiming that he wanted to help thepoor, he forbade the sale and purchase of all land, and he limited the size of individual holdings, ordering those with excess land to cede property to the landless. Free slaves Massive flood of yellow river The resulting flood displaced thousands of peasants who rose against the central government Because the rebels painted their foreheads red in hopes of gaining the increased energy of red blood, they were called the red eyebrows. A loose coalition of powerful landowning families defeated both the rebels and imperial troops was a Han Dynasty official who seized the throne from the Liu family and founded the Xin (or Hsin, meaning "new") Dynasty ( ), ruling AD 923. The Han dynasty was restored after his overthrow, and some historians have traditionally viewed Wang as a usurper, while others have portrayed him as a visionary and selfless social reformer. Though a learned Confucian scholar who sought to implement the harmonious society he saw in the classics, his efforts ended in chaos. As regent, Wang had gained a reputation as a competent administrator and his accession was at first seen in a good light. He sought to refill the imperial coffers by instituting government monopolies and restoring the well-field system. His decision to nationalize gold and keep issuing new currencies caused hardship and discontent among merchants. In AD 9 he decreed that all large estates, which had gradually grown larger and threatened imperial power, be dissolved and their lands distributed among tax-paying peasants. This did not sit well with the aristocracy, which forced Wang to rescind his decree in AD 12. Another major reason for the deterioration of Wang's reign was that in the diplomatic arena he was prone to extreme arrogance and faux pas when dealing with allies and tributary states. In particular, with the Xiongnu, he denigrated their Chanyu (king) and tried to interfere in their internal affairs. This led to the breakdown of diplomatic relations and prolonged wars with Xiong-Nu and many other tributary states, further adding to the tax and human costs of his administration.

Between AD 2 and AD 5 and again in AD 11, the Yellow River changed course to flow south (instead of north) of the Shandong Peninsula, causing famine, epidemics, and migration among the peasants. Peasants banded together and led larger and larger rebellions. In October of AD 23, the capital Chang'an was attacked and the imperial palace ransacked. Wang Mang and his 1,000 courtiers made their last stand and fought until they were completely obliterated. Wang Mang died in the battle.

Xiang Y o Xiang Yu (traditional Chinese: ; simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: Xing Y; Wade-Giles: Hsiang Y; 232 BC 202 BC) was a prominent general during the fall of the Qin Dynasty. His name was Ji (), Yu was his courtesy name. He was a descendant of Xiang Yan (), a general of Chu nobility. A great general, it took him only several years to put a giant empire effectively at his whim but he was poor at diplomacy, management and administrative affairs. He is traditionally viewed as having an impetuous nature by Chinese historians, and that further inability to realize his shortcomings doomed him to failure during his struggle with Liu Bang over supremacy of China Xiang then prepared an invasion against the heart of Qin, to wipe Qin out. He was unaware that, by this point, Liu Bng had already proceeded deep into Qin and was near its capital Xianyang (near modern Xi'an, Shaanxi). Xinyng and Qin's final ruler, Zi Ying, surrendered to Liu's forces in winter 207 BC, ending the Qin Dynasty. When Xiang arrived at Hangu Pass, the gateway into Qin proper, he found the pass guarded by Liu's forces, and in anger, he sieged it, even though Liu was a fellow Chu general. He then approached Liu's forces, which he outnumbered three to one. At a famous event later known as the Feast at Hong Gate, Xiang required Liu, under duress, to attend a feast he put on and considered executing Liu at the feast. His advisor Fan Zeng () strongly encouraged him to do so. However, Xiang listened to his uncle Xiang Bo (), a friend of Liu's strategist Zhang Liang and spared Liu, although he would continued to bear grudge against Liu for robbing him of the glory of destroying Qin. Under a promise issued by Prince Xin of Chu earlier, Liu Bang had assumed that he, as the one who entered Xianyang first, would be created the Prince of Guanzhong (which includes the capital Xianyang and most of Qin proper). He had also planned to make Ying Ying, whose wisdom and knowledge he admired, his prime minister. Xiang paid no attention to Liu's presumptive title to Qin, and he, in another act of deliberate cruelty, killed Ying Ying. It is also generally believed that he burned down the Qin palace, which contained a large royal library commissioned by Qin Shi Huang. The unique copies of many "forbidden books" were then lost forever. However, recent reports from historians said that Xiang Yu did not burn down the Qin Palace.[citation needed] Despite advice from one of his advisors to set his own capital at Xianyang, Xiang was intent on returning to his home region of Chu. Xiang said "To not return home when one has made his fortune is like walking in the night with rich robes, who will notice?" ( ?). In which one of the advisors muttered "Those men of Chu are nothing but apes

wearing robes", when Xiang Yu heard that insult he made sure that advisor was executed by being boiled alive slowly. o Xing, jealous of Liu, suggested to Prince Xin of Chu that while Liu should be made a prince, he should not be given Guanzhong. Instead, Qin proper were separated into three and divided amongst Zhang Han and his two deputies. Their territories were to be known as the Three Qins. Prince Xin responded that he was inclined to carry out his promise. Xiang, now firmly in control, in response, deposed Prince Xin. While ostensibly offering Prince Xin the even more honorable title of "Emperor Yi," he in fact put Emperor Yi's "empire" in the then-uncivilized region around Chencheng (, in modern Chenzhou, Hunan) and exiled him there. In spring 206 BC, Xiang divided the former Qin empire into 18 principalities (in addition to Emperor Yi's "empire"): The five year power struggle between Xiang and Liu became known as the Chu Han Contention. Initially, Xiang had all the advantages -- he had the much larger territory, the larger army, and the greater number of allies. He was also a far superior military commander than Liu. However, his lack of political skills, the inability to accept criticism, and his inability to trust and to listen to his advisors would eventually lead to his downfall. He also paid little attention to supplies for his army -- a fatal error, as Liu set up an efficient army supply system to keep his army well-fed and well-clothed with food and clothing shipped to the front from his heartland, while Xiang's army eventually fell apart from hunger and lack of weaponry. As he got bogged down in various wars on different fronts, Liu, along with his very able general Han Xin, was able to gradually absorb many of the principalities into his territories or alliance. By 203 BC, the balance had shifted against Xiang. Xiang Yu, however, managed to capture Liu Bang's father after a year-long siege. Outside the city walls, Xiang Yu threaten to boil Liu Bang's father alive if Liu Bang did not surrender. Liu Bang remarked, "We were sworn brothers, and my father would be your father" and then responded, "When you are done with our father, let me have a taste of the soup." Xiang Yu instead sued for peace, and Liu entered into a treaty with Xiang. However, as soon as Liu received the hostages that Xiang returned to him as part of the treaty, Liu discarded the treaty and attacked Xiang's army which were completely unprepared for the attack. In 202 BC, his forces, under Han Xin's command, had Xiang trapped at the Battle of Gaixia. Liu ordered his army to sing songs from Xiang's native country of Chu to give Xiang's soldiers an impression that they were fighting against their own countrymen, which demoralized Xiang's army. Xiang Yu, sensing his first defeat in his military career, became distraught and sang to his beloved concubine Yuji () who was with him in the camp: Early next morning, Xiang Yu organized his troops for a last desperate charge to escape the encircling Han troops. Xiang still enjoyed support in his homeland in the Wu region, south of the Yangtze River. He, with a handful of his personal cavalry, finally managed to break out, and headed for the river, intending to cross it at Wujiang (, in modern Chaohu, Anhui). The fordsman at the river encouraged him to cross, telling him that the people of Wu were still intent on supporting him as their prince. Xiang laughed and said "Heaven wants me dead, why should I go back?". He then committed suicide. According to legend, he cut his throat open with his own sword.

o Well-field system o Well field system mencius harks back to a time in the past when, according to tradition, landholding among the common people had been generally equal and village life had been cooperative o Humane government must begin with the setting of boundaries. If the boundaries are not set correctly, the division on the land into well-fields will not be equal and the grain allowances for official emoluments will not be equitable o Please allow that in the countryside one square of land out of nine should be used for mutual aid. o Neither at the occasion of a death nor of a change of residence should people leave the village The well-field system (Chinese: ; pinyin: jngtin zhd) was a Chinese land distribution method since at least 9th century BC (late Western Zhou Dynasty). It is named after the Chinese character for well ( jng), which looks like the # symbol and represents the theoretical appearance for a piece of land under such an organization: the eight surrounding outer blocks being private (; stin), and the central one block being communal or public (; gngtin). The entire fields are aristocrat-owned, but the private fields' produce is entirely the farmers'. The communal farms are worked on by all eight families, and the produce goes to the aristocrats. The system was first suspended by Shang Yang in the state of Qin; other states followed suit. It was practically eclipsed by land privatisation during the Warring States Period. As part of the "turning the clock back" reformations by Wang Mang during the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the system was restored temporarily and renamed to the King's Fields (; wngtin). The practice was more or less ended by the Song Dynasty, but scholars like Zhang Zai and Su Xun were enthusiastic about its restoration and spoke of it in a perhaps oversimplifying admiration, invoking Mencius' frequent praise of the system. Whether a pure well-field system ever existed is controversial. o Consort families The hundred surnames Prior to the Warring States Period (5th century BC), only the royal family and the aristocratic elite could generally take surnames. Historically there was also difference between xing and shi. Xing were surnames held by the immediate royal family. They generally are composed of a n (, meaning "female") radical which

suggests that they originated from matriarchal societies based on maternal lineages. Another hypothesis has been proposed by sinologist Lon Vandermeersch upon observation of the evolution of characters in oracular scripture from the Shang dynasty through the Zhou. The "female" radical seems to appear at the Zhou period next to Shang sinograms indicating an ethnic group or a tribe. This combination seems to designate specifically a female and could mean "lady of such or such clan". The structure of the xing sinogram could reflect the fact that in the royal court of Zhou, at least in the beginning, only females (wives married into the Zhou family from other clans) were called by their birth clan name, while the men were usually designated by their title or fief. Prior to the Qin Dynasty (3rd century BC) China was largely a feudal society. As fiefdoms were divided and subdivided among descendants, so additional sub-surnames known as shi were created to distinguish between different seniority of lineages among the nobles though in theory they shared the same ancestor. In this way, a nobleman would hold a shi and a xing. After the states of China were unified by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC, surnames gradually devolved to the lower classes and the difference between xing and shi blurred.
The Hundred Surnames is a document written during in the tenth century. It lists all of the known Chinese surnames in use at the time, which amounted to 438. (The word hundred in the title is used to mean many or all. Thus many old books use the term "hundred surnames" to mean the whole population.) The surnames are given in a prescribed order and arranged in the form of a poem to facilitate memorization by school children. The surnames are in no particular order but there are two exceptions. The surname leading the pack is Zhao, which happens to be be the surname of the Song dynasty, the ruling dynasty of the time. The next several surnames also appear to be related to other important personages of the era. The second exception is that all double-character surnames are grouped near the end of the document. (They are highlighted in violet below).

Huo Guang (d. 68 BC) (Traditional Chinese: ), courtesy name Zimeng () was a Western Han statesman who was a rare example in Chinese history of a powerful official who deposed an emperor for the good of the state rather than to usurp the throne. He was the half-brother of renowned Han general Huo Qubing. Huo's early career in Han government was not well-documented, but it is known that as of 88 BC -- near the end of Emperor Liu Che (Emperor Wu)'s reign, he was already a fairly highly ranked official with dual titles of fengche duwei () and guanglu dafu ( ). When Emperor Wu, near the end of his life, chose his youngest son Liu Fuling (later Emperor Zhao) as heir, he commissioned Huo, ethnically-Xiongnu official Jin Midi, and imperial guard commander Shangguan Jie () as coregents, but with Huo effectively in command of the government, with the titles of dasima () and dajiangjun (). When Emperor Wu died in 87 BC, Emperor Zhao, then eight-yearsold, was left in the tutelage of Huo, Jin, and Shangguan. Emperor Wu's will created the three of them as marquesses, but all three declined. Emperor Zhao, as the youngest son of Emperor Wu, drew jealousy from his older brothers, and in his reign there were multiple conspiracies. In 86 BC, a conspiracy involving Liu

Dan (), the Prince of Yan () and an elder son of Emperor Wu, was discovered, but the prince was not punished, presumably under Huo's decision, even though the other conspirators were executed. In 85 BC, Huo was created the Marquess of Bowang (). In the same year, Jin, a moderating influence in the coregency, died. After Jin's death, Shangguan became increasingly jealous of Huo's powers, even though the two had been great friends, and Huo had given his daughter in marriage to Shangguan's son Shangguan An (). In 84 BC, as a ploy to further strengthen his powers, Shangguan Jie gave his granddaughter (also Huo's granddaughter), then age five, in marriage to the emperor, then age 11, and she was made empress in 83 BC. In 80 BC, the dormant conflict between Huo and Shangguan came to a head. Shangguan formed a conspiracy with Liu Dan the Prince of Yan, the Princess Eyi () (who, as the emperor's sister, had served as his guardian), and another important official Sang Hongyang () to make false allegations of treason against Huo. However, Emperor Zhao, who trusted Huo, did not act on the allegations. The conspirators then planned a coup d'etat, but were discovered. Most of the conspirators, including Shangguan, were executed, and Liu Dan and the Princess of Eyi were forced to commit suicide. Huo was treated somewhat paradoxically by posterity. On one hand, he was greatly admired for his skillful administration of the empire and his selflessness in putting himself in great danger in deposing an unfit emperor. On the other hand, he was also criticized for his dictatorial governing style and alleged nepotism -- traits that some historians claim eventually led to his clan's destruction. Many later conspirators in Chinese history would often claim that they were acting in the empire's best interest, like Huo, even though few actually did. (One example -- perhaps the only one -- was the conspiracy against Emperor Shao of the Liu Song Dynasty.) Conversely, when emperors wanted to accuse (and execute) officials of treason, they often euphemistically refer to them as "wanting to act like Huo Guang." Effectively, Huo set a standard of decisiveness and strength that was rarely matched and even more rarely used for the benefit of the state. Tian Xunzi

Tian (Chinese: ; pinyin: tin; Wade-Giles: t'ien; literally "heaven, heavens; god, gods") is one of the oldest Chinese terms for the cosmos and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang Dynasty (17th11th centuries BCE) the Chinese called god Shangdi ( "lord on high") or Di ("lord"), and during the Zhou Dynasty (11th3rd centuries BCE) Tian "heaven; god" became synonymous with Shangdi. Tian is often translated as "Heaven" and is mentioned in relationship to its complementary aspect of Di (), which is most often translated as "Earth".

 Xunzi represents tian as a natural order, operating according to unchanging principles, not intervening in extraordinary ways in human affairs but, rather, providing the context within which all living things exist Heaven, earth, and human beings exist in a relationship

Mandate of Heaven The Mandate of Heaven ( Pnyn: Tinmng) is a traditional Chinese philosophical concept concerning the legitimacy of rulers. Heaven would bless the authority of a just ruler, but would be displeased with a despotic ruler and would withdraw its mandate. The Mandate of Heaven would then transfer to those who would rule best. The Mandate of Heaven was used in China, helping to keep the power of the rulers under control. The Mandate of Heaven was very popular among the people of China, as it "kicks out" inappropriate rulers, or rulers who were not doing the right thing for China. The Mandate of Heaven was hereditary between father and son, but never mother and daughter. The Mandate of Heaven had no time limitations, but instead depended on the just performance of the ruler. The Mandate does not require that a legitimate emperor be of noble birth, and in fact, dynasties were often founded by people of modest birth (such as the Han dynasty and Ming dynasty). The concept of the Mandate of Heaven was first used to support the rule of the kings of the Zhou Dynasty and later the Emperors of China. "Mandate of Heaven" was also the first era name of the Qing Dynasty. The concept is first found in the written records of the words of the Duke of Zhou, younger brother of King Wu of Zhou and regent for King Wu's infant baby boy King Cheng of Zhou. He is considered by many to have been the originator of the idea. The notion of the Mandate of Heaven was later invoked by Mencius, a very influential Chinese philosopher sage, considered as the second greatest philosopher sage next to Confucius[1]. The Mandate of Heaven was first used by the Zhou Dynasty to justify their overthrow of the Shang Dynasty and would be used by many succeeding dynasties to come. The Duke of Zhou explained to the people of Shang, that if their king had not misused his power, his Mandate would not have been taken away. Eventually, as Chinese political ideas developed further, the Mandate was linked to the notion of the dynastic cycle. Severe floods or famines were considered evidence of divine repeal of the Mandate of Heaven. The Shang had legitimized their rule by family connections to divine power. The Shang believed that their founders were deities, and their descendants went to join them in Heaven. As shown by the divination texts preserved on oracle bones from the later Shang, Heaven was thought to be very active and interfered in mysterious ways with earthly rule. The Mandate of Heaven changed the right to rule from divine legitimization to one based on just rule.

Although the Mandate had no time limitation, it held rulers to a clear standard. Over the passage of time, there would inevitably arise a ruler that would cause Heaven to withdraw its Mandate. As the Mandate of Heaven emphasized the performance of the ruler, the social background of the ruler became less important. Historical documents found in ancient China stated that a legitimate ruler could come from any spectrum of the society. The Zhou said that the Xia Dynasty had existed long before the Shang, and that they too were overthrown by the Mandate. This would have given the Zhou the same right to overthrow the Shang. However, there is no concrete evidence for the existence of the Xia, and it is believed by many that the concept of the Mandate of Heaven was created by the Zhou. The corruption in this dynasty mandated the need for a new ruler. This inevitably gave rise to the Zhou Dynasty. Led by Zhou Wu, as the will of heaven, they believed that the Shang were morally implacable because of their degenerated moral standards, therefore, entitling them to overthrow the Shang Dynasty because it was a mandate given by Heaven. After the Zhou gained control of the dynasty, they instituted mostly their own officials. However, in order to appease some of the citizens, they allowed some of the Shang beneficiaries to continue governing the small Kingdoms in which they had been governing but in compliance with the Zhou rules and regulations. As the empire continued to expand, much intermarriage became eminent. This was done because the rulers believed that it was a method of forming strong allies that enabled them to absorb more countries into the dynasty. Finally, after the Zhou dynasty became less powerful, it was then wiped out by the Qin because they believed that the Zhou became unfit in ruling. This transition emphasizes the customary trend of Mandate of Heaven which provided leeway for the rise of new power. The Qin initially attempted to capitalize on the mistakes/errors made by the Zhou, by either eliminating the source of error or reforming it. During this reformation, administrative changes were made and a system of legalism was developed which stated that the law is supreme over every individual, including the rulers. Although significant progress was made during the Qin Dynasty, however, the persecution of scholars and ordinary citizens led to an unstable state. For the zhou people, heaven, and not the shang god di, represented the supreme divine force. The zhou concept of heaven did not refer to the home of virtuous dead. For the zhou, heaven was a more generalized force, similar to the western sense of the cosmos, whose suppport was essential for a given king to reign. The mandate of heaven was a check on evil. If an emperor could not govern, they believed, heaven would show that it had withdrawn support for the dynasty by sending natural disasters in the form of earthquakes, unusual celestial events, excessive rain or drought, and man-made disasters.

The Duke of Zhou The Duke of Zhou (Chinese: ; pinyin: Zhu Gng; Wade-Giles: Chou Kung) was the brother of King Wu of Zhou in ancient China. Only three years after defeating the Shang Dynasty King Wu died, leaving the task of consolidating the dynasty's power to the Duke of Zhou. Instead of assuming the throne himself, however, he served as regent for King Wu's son, taking care of him until he was old enough to rule. The Duke of Zhou fought with the rulers of eastern states who joined with the remnants of the Shang to oppose the Zhou. The east was conquered in five years.
His uncle, the Duke of Zhou, a man of large ability, aprofound statesman and a most conscientious an upright prince, was appointed regent by Wu Wang before his death. Soon a serious rebellion took place in the east part of the Empire. This regent took it upon him self to suppress it and succeeded in doing so in two years. The enemies circulated rumors that the Duke of Zhou was not loyal to the Emperor. These got to the ears of Cheng Wang and temporarily estranged him from his uncle. But soon everything cleared up. The Emperor, reassured of his uncle's loyalty, reinstated him in all his honors. The Duke proved himself worthy of the confidence and turned out to be an excellent organizer of the state machinery. When Cheng Wang was seventeen, the Duke of Zhou resigned his office as regent and handed over the government to him. In his reign,Cheng Wang made a visitation to different parts of his empire.

The concept is first found in the written records of the words of the Duke of Zhou, younger brother of King Wu of Zhou and regent for King Wu's infant baby boy King Cheng of Zhou. He is considered by many to have been the originator of the idea. The notion of the Mandate of Heaven was later invoked by Mencius, a very influential Chinese philosopher sage, considered as the second greatest philosopher sage next to Confucius[1]. The Mandate of Heaven was first used by the Zhou Dynasty to justify their overthrow of the Shang Dynasty and would be used by many succeeding dynasties to come. The Duke of Zhou explained to the people of Shang, that if their king had not misused his power, his Mandate would not have been taken away. Shangdi Di: the shang supreme god and ruler over the divine pantheon. Di stood at the peak of the ultra-human, ultra-natural hierarchy, giving orders, which no ancestor could do, to the various natural phenomena and responding to the intercessions of the Shang ancestors who were acting on behalf of their living descendants below. Di had control over the rain, thunder, winds. Sky god of the shang pantheon, foreshadowing the role of heavin. Di was accessible to many groups shang and non-shang. Shangdi (, pinyin: Shngd, Wade-Giles Shang Ti) is the Supreme God in the original religious system of the Han Chinese people (see traditional Chinese religion), a term used from the second millennium BC to the present day, as pronounced according the modern

Mandarin dialect. Literally the term means "Above Emperor" or "Above Sovereign", which is taken to mean "Lord On High", "Highest Lord", "the God above", "the Supreme God", "Above ", or "Celestial Lord". The earliest references to Shangdi are found in Oracle Bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty (ca. 1600 BC ca. 1046 BC). Shangdi is first mentioned in Chinese Literature in the Five Classics, (, pinyin: Wujing) allegedly compiled by Confucius in the 6th century BC Uniquely, Chinese traditions do not appear to have a narrative for Shangdi in the earliest texts; nor are there physical representations of him. However, the many references to Shangdi do assign attributes to his character, including: maleness, emotion, compassion, intellect, judgement, mastery, and greatness. A few examples follow below; please note quoted references vary (usually by verse number) due to the variety of compilations: From the earliest eras of Chinese history, Shangdi was officially worshipped through sacrificial rituals. Shangdi is believed to rule over natural and ancestral spirits, who act as His ministers. Shangdi is thought to be the Supreme Guide of both the natural order and the human order. The ruler of China in every Chinese dynasty would perform annual sacrificial rituals to Shangdi at the great Temple of Heaven in the imperial capital. Neolithic culture Neolithic cultures are distinguished from earlier Paleolithic and Mesolithic structures by the domestication of plants and animals, and extensive making and use of stone tools. Neolithic cultures have been shown to have existed in southwest Asia as early as 8000 b.c. to 6000 b.c., and Neolithic cultures had existed around the globe by 1500 b.c. By 3500 b.c., Neolithic cultures in the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys in the Middle East had developed into Bronze Age urban civilizations. Evidence from bone fragments shows that humans or proto-humans lived in the area of present-day China as far back as 200,000 to 500,000 years ago. Well defined neolithic cultures in this region began roughly 12,000 years ago. The presence of ceramics, most commonly vessels for food storage, and settled or semi-settled agriculture are the defining characteristics of neolithic cultures.
During the early Neolithic period vessels were made using the coil technique where ropes of clay are circled on top of each other, pressed together and the surface smoothed over. To obtain the elegant shape, two halves were made then joined together while the clay was still damp. A mix of fine clay and natural pigments was painted onto the vessels and the entire surface was gently burnished to shine the surface. This is the earliest form of glazing.

The Neolithic period, which began in China around 10,000 B.C. and concluded with the introduction of metallurgy about 8,000 years later, was characterized by the development of settled communities that relied primarily on farming and domesticated animals rather than hunting and gathering. In China, as in other areas of the world, Neolithic settlements grew up along the main river systems. Those that dominate the geography of China are the Yellow (central and

northern China) and the Yangzi (southern and eastern China). A distinctly Chinese artistic tradition can be traced to the middle of the Neolithic period, about 4000 B.C. Two groups of artifacts provide the earliest surviving evidence of this tradition. It is now thought that these cultures developed their own traditions for the most part independently, creating distinctive kinds of architecture and types of burial customs, but with some communication and cultural exchange between them.

The second group of Neolithic artifacts consists of pottery and jade carvings from the eastern seaboard and the lower reaches of the Yangzi River in the south, representing the Hemudu (near Hangzhou), the Dawenkou and later the Longshan (in Shandong Province), and the Liangzhu (1986.112) (Hangzhou and Shanghai region). The gray and black pottery of eastern China is notable for its distinctive shapes, which differed from those made in the central regions and included the tripod, which was to remain a prominent vessel form in the subsequent Bronze Age. While some pottery items made in the east were painted (possibly in response to examples imported from central China), potters along the coast also used the techniques of burnishing and incising. These same craftsmen are credited with developing the potter's wheel in China.

(Han) Emperor Wu (Wudi) Emperor Wu of Han (simplified Chinese: ; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: hnwd; Wade-Giles: Wu Ti), (156 BC[1]March 29, 87 BC), personal name Liu Che (), was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty in modern day mainland China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized. He is cited in Chinese history as one of the greatest emperors of the Han dynasty. Emperor Wu's effective governance made the Han Dynasty one of the, if not the most powerful nation in the world.[2] As a military campaigner, Emperor Wu led Han China through its greatest expansion at its height, the Empire's borders spanned from the modern Kyrgyzstan in the west, to the northern Korea in the northeast, and to northern Vietnam in the south. Emperor Wu successfully repelled the nomadic Xiongnu from systematically raiding northern China and dispatched his envoy Zhang Qian in 139 BC to seek an alliance with the Yuezhi of modern Uzbekistan He ordered the first census in recorded history of China to take place in his reign. While establishing an autocratic and centralized state, Emperor Wu adopted the principles of Confucianism as the state philosophy and code of ethics for his empire and started a school to teach future administrators the Confucian classics. These reforms would have an enduring effect throughout the existence of imperial China and an enormous influence on neighboring civilizations. Emperor Wu's reign lasted 54 years In 140 BC, Emperor Wu of Han conducted an imperial examination of over 100 young scholars recommended by officials, most of them commoners with no noble background. This event would prove to have a major impact on Chinese history, as it was the official start of the establishment of Confucianism as official imperial doctrine. This came about

because a young Confucian scholar, Dong Zhongshu, was evaluated to have submitted the best essay, in which he advocated the establishment of Confucianism. It is unclear whether Emperor Wu, in his young age, actually determined this, or whether this was the result of machinations of the prime minister Wei Wan (), who was himself a Confucian. However, the fact that several other young scholars who scored highly on the examination (but interestingly enough, not Dong) later became trusted advisors for Emperor Wu would appear to suggest that Emperor Wu himself at least had some actual participation.[3] The first few years of Emperor Wu's reign saw the administration dominated by three figures his grandmother Grand Empress Dowager Dou, his mother Empress Dowager Wang, and her half-brother Tian Fen (), who was created Marquess of Wu'an and made the commander of the armed forces after Emperor Wu became emperor. He was constantly on the look out for young, capable officials around his age, whose suggestions for governing the state that he agreed with, and he took them into a close circle and promoted them out of normal seniority rotations. Unlike some other emperors in history who carried out these techniques, he was also not hesitant to remind these advisors that he was their overlord including punishing them severely or even executing them if they were found to have been corrupt or have hidden petty, ugly secrets from him. On the other hand, he respected those officials who did not flatter him and would honestly rebuke him when they saw fit, Historians generally treated Emperor Wu with ambivalence. On the one hand, he is recognized for neutralizing the Xiongnu threat and expanding the Chinese territory. During his reign, China roughly doubled her size, and most of the territories he annexed became part of China proper permanently. The empire that Emperor Wu created surpassed in size the contemporaneous Roman Empire, and was the greatest in the world, both militarily and economically. His other, perhaps greater, legacy was the promotion of Confucianism. For the first time in history, Confucianism became the dominant thought in the Chinese government, and it remained so until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1911. On the other hand, many historians criticize Emperor Wu for his extravagance, superstition, and the burdens his policies forced on the population. As such he is often compared to Qin Shi Huang.[9] Just like Qin Shi Huang he used a legalist system of rewards and punishments to govern his empire. The punishment for perceived failures and disloyalty was often exceedingly harsh. Out of the twelve prime ministers appointed by Emperor Wu, three were executed and two committed suicide while holding the post; another was executed in retirement. Castration as a way of punishment was also applied relatively frequently during Emperor Wu's reign. Emperor Wu's political reform resulted in the strengthening of the Emperor's power at expense of the prime minister's authority. Also, the post of Shangshu (court secretaries) was elevated from merely managing documents to that of the Emperor's close advisor, and it stayed this way until the end of monarchy era.

 Luoyang ? The original city of Luoyang was constructed by the Duke of Zhou in the 11th century BC as a settlement for the remnants of the captured Shang nobility and was named Chengzhou. It became the capital of the Zhou Dynasty in 770 BC. The city was destroyed in a civil war in 510 BC and rebuilt the next year at the request of the king. In AD 25, Luoyang became the capital of Eastern Han Dynasty. For several centuries, Luoyang was the focal point of China Oracle bones Shang Dynasty were the first to use written inscriptions on oracle bones and bronze vessels, first Chinese historical dynasty Earliest Chinese writing was found on oracle bones These inscriptions record the pyromantic divinations performed at the court of the last nine shang kings. The king or his diviners would address an oral charge to a prepared turtle platron or cattle scapula in the shell or bone. They then interpreted these cracks as auspicious or inauspicious and the king would deliver a prognostication. Many of the divination charges were about what the king should do he sought the guidance of the cracks in making up his mind. Served as a form of royal prayer, spiritual meaning of events and dreams. Circuit inspectors ? Han dynasty Censor Check and report on the performance of the commandery governors in his jurisdiction Wudi divided the realm into 13 circuits, each with a circuit inspector sent by the consort to report to the center, The socio-political structure of the Song Dynasty remained essentially the same as
that of the Tang, with two structural levels of, Region and County. The rule of Emperor Tai Zong during this period, resulted in the whole country being divided into "Circuits", which were similar in principal to that of the "Regions" in the Tang Dynasty and the "Provinces" of the Yuan Dynasty. The introduction of "Circuits" meant that administration was conducted locally at three levels, i.e. Circuit, Prefecture, and County. The chief official or County Magistrate was known as "Xianling".

The 6 arts Six Arts refer to the six practices in ancient Chinese culture. During the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC - 256 BC), students were required to master the "li y" () (Six Arts, English). They are: Rites, Music, Archery, Charioteering, Calligraphy,

and Mathematics. Men who excelled in these six arts were thought to have reached the state of perfection, a perfect gentleman. Six Arts have their roots in the Confucian philosophy. The emphasis on the six arts also bred Confucian gentlemen who knew more than just the four books and the Analects. The requirement for a gentleman to know mathematics gave vigor to Chinese mathematics, astronomy, and science up to the Song dynasty. There were sporadic emergence of great mathematicians, astronomers, and scientists during the pre-Yuan era. Ren ? Humanness Confucian principle

The principle of rn is tied directly to the principle of li. Li is the outward expression of Confucian ideals, while rn is the inward expression of those same ideals. Li, according to Hopfe and Woodward: "Basically, li seems to mean 'the course of life as it is intended to go'. Li also has religious and social connotations. When a society lives by li, it moves smoothly: men and women respect their elders and superiors; the proper rituals and ceremonies are performed; everything and everyone is in its proper place." (Hopfe 180181) Life is subdivided into Five Relationships. Confucius believed that if Ii were present in all of these relationships throughout society, the social order would be ideal. (Hopfe 181) In Chinese, Rn is composed of 2 parts representing "persons" and "two", respectively. Rn relied heavily on the relationships between two people, but at the same time encompassed so much more than that. It represented an inner development towards an altruistic goal, while simultaneously realizing that one was never alone, and that everyone had these relationships to fall back on, being a member of a family, the state, and the world. (ChiYun 34) The Five Relationships are:

Father to Son - There should be kindness in the father, and filial piety in the son. Elder Brother to Younger Brother - There should be gentility (politeness) in the elder brother, and humility in the younger. Husband to Wife - There should be righteous behavior in the husband and obedience in the wife. Elder to Junior - There should be consideration among the elders and deference among the juniors. Ruler to Subject - There should be benevolence among the rulers and loyalty among the subjects.

All of these practices are the physical, or outward, expression of Confucian ideals. These are the observable behaviours of the members of society. Confucius; however, believed that in order for society to truly follow li, one must also adhere to and internalize these practices. The mentality involved in performing these rituals in society must not exist only there, it must be a part of the private life of the person. This is known as rn. Rn is not a concept that is learned; it is innate, that is to say, everyone is born with the sense of rn. Confucius believed that the key to long-lasting integrity was to constantly think, since the world is continually changing at a rapid pace. A very devote follower of Confucius, Mencius, believed that "responsibility", or i, was so critical to Confucianism that he added it to Confucius' concept of rn. The concept of i resembles the duty that an emperor or duke owes to the people of his kingdom, and not to people from other kingdoms. There have been a variety of definitions for the term rn. Rn has been translated as "benevolence", "perfect virtue", "goodness" or even "human-heartedness". (Hopfe 181) When asked, Confucius defined it by the ordinary Chinese word for love, ai, saying that it meant to "love others". (Dubs 1) Rn also has a political dimension. Confucianism says that if the ruler lacks rn, it will be difficult if not impossible for his subjects to behave humanely. Rn is the basis of Confucian political theory; it presupposes an autocratic ruler, exhorted to refrain from acting inhumanely towards his subjects. An inhumane ruler runs the risk of losing the Mandate of Heaven or, in other words, the right to rule. A ruler lacking such a mandate need not be obeyed, but a ruler who reigns humanely and takes care of the people is to be obeyed strictly, for the benevolence of his dominion shows that he has been mandated by heaven. Confucius himself had little to say on the will of the people, but his leading follower, Mencius, did state on one occasion that the peoples' opinion on certain weighty matters should be polled. Liu Bang Emperor Gao (256 BC or 247 BCJune 1, 195 BC), commonly known inside China by his Temple Name, Gaozu (Chinese: ; pinyin: Goz, Wade-Giles: Kao Tsu), personal name Liu Bang (Wade-Giles: Liu Pang), was the first emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty, ruling over China from 202 BC until 195 BC, and one of only a few dynasty founders who emerged from the peasant class (the other major example being Zhu Yuanzhang founder of the Mng Dynasty). Before becoming an emperor, he was also called Duke of Pei () after his birthplace. He was also created the Prince of Hn by Xing Y, the Grand Prince of Western Chu, following the collapse of the Qn Dynasty, and was known by this title before becoming emperor.

From then on, the prisoners respected him and made him their leader, hence Li Bng became the leader of a band of brigands. On one

of his raids, he met a county magistrate who became impressed with his leadership skills and gave his daughter L Zhi to him in marriage. In Hanzhong, Li Bng focused his efforts on developing agriculture methods and training an army, through which he reinforced his resource accumulation and military power. Before long, Li broke out of his principality, deposed the kings of three Qins and occupied Guanzhong, where he launched a war now known as the Chu-Han War, against Xiang Yu. He is quoted in his biography, Establishment of the Great, that "Those who earn their status by war are the most honorable of all." Although Xiang Yu was far superior in military ability to Li Bng, his ruthlessness put him at a political disadvantage. Xiang Yu kept defeating Li in the battlefield, but each of his victories drove more people to support Li. When Xiang Yu was finally defeated in the Battle of Gaixia, he could not recover and committed suicide. The war lasted five years (206202 BC) and ended with Li Bng's victory. Having defeated Xiang Yu, Li proclaimed himself emperor and established the Hn Dynasty in 202 BC, making Chng'n (present-day city of Xi'an) his capital. Li became known historically as Emperor Go of Hn. After Liu Bng came into power, he re-centralised China based on Qn's model. He gradually replaced the original vassals, granting their lands to his relatives. Since the economy had been devastated by the war following the demise of the Qn Dynasty, he reduced taxes and corve, developed agriculture and restricted spending. However, in response to what he saw as the decadence of Qn merchants, he restricted commerce by levying heavy taxes and legal restrictions on merchants. He also made peace with the Xiongnu. Under Goz's reign, Confucian thought gradually replaced Legalist thought; Confucian scholars were welcomed into his government, while the harsh Legalist laws were lessened. Emperor Goz's efforts laid a solid foundation for the over four-hundredyear reign of the Hn Dynasty.[citation needed] Li Bng also devoted to subduing the unruly kings. He soon annexed most of the kingdoms and established principalities, with his sons and relatives as princes. By doing so he consolidated his new-born empire. Red Eyebrows Massive flood of yellow river The resulting flood displaced thousands of peasants who rose against the central government Because the rebels painted their foreheads red in hopes of gaining the increased energy of red blood, they were called the red eyebrows. Jing and Wang led against Fan and other rebel generals were in shambles, and in 22, Fan killed Jing in battle. Wang Mang reacted by sending two of his senior generals, Wang Kuang () and Lian Dan () with a massive (100,000+ men) regular force,

against these rebels. Fan and the other rebel leaders, concerned that during battles it would become impossible to tell friend or foe, ordered that their men color their eyebrows red -- and this is where the name Chimei (which literally means "red eyebrows") came from[4]. Chimei () refers, as an umbrella term, to one of the two major agrarian rebellion movements against Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty, initially active in the modern Shandong and northern Jiangsu region, that eventually led to Wang Mang's downfall by draining his resources, allowing the leader of the other movement (the Llin), Liu Xuan (Emperor Gengshi) to overthrow Wang and temporarily establish an incarnation of the Han Dynasty under him. Eventually, Chimei forces would overthrow Emperor Gengshi and place their own Han descendant puppet, Emperor Liu Penzi[1][2][3], on the throne briefly, before the Chimei leaders' incompetence in ruling the territories under their control, which matched their brilliance on the battlefield, to cause the people to rebel against them, forcing them to try to withdraw home. When their path was blocked off by Liu Xiu (Emperor Guangwu)'s newly established Eastern Han regime, they surrendered to him[4].

Li Si Li Si (Chinese: ; pinyin: L S; Wade-Giles: Li Ssu) (ca. 280 BC September or October 208 BC) was the influential Prime Minister (or Chancellor) of the feudal state and later of the dynasty of Qin, between 246 BC and 208 BC. A famous Legalist, he was also a notable calligrapher. Li Si served under two rulers: Qin Shi Huang, king of Qin and later First Emperor of China -- and his son, Qin Er Shi. A powerful minister, he was central to the state's policies, including those on military conquest, draconian centralization of state control, standardization of weights, measures and the written script, and persecution of Confucianism and opponents of Legalism. His methods of administration of China is seen by some as being an early form of totalitarianism. A staunch believer in a highly bureacratic system, Li Si is considered to have been central to the efficiency of the state of Qin and the success of its military conquest. He was also instrumental in systemizing standard measures and currency in post-unified China. He further helped systemize the written Chinese language by promulgating as the imperial standard the small seal script which had been in use in the state of Qin all along. In this process, variant graphs within the Qin script were proscribed, as were variant scripts from the different regions which had been conquered. Contrary to popular belief, though, Li Si did not "invent" small seal script.[1] Empress L

Empress L Zhi () (died 180 BC), commonly known as Empress Dowager L ( , pinyin: L Tihu) or formally as Empress Gao (, pinyin: Ga Hungho), was the wife of Emperor Gao of the Han Dynasty. They had two known childrenthe eventual Emperor Hui and Princess Luyuan (). After her husband's death, she carried on a lengthy affair with one of his officials, Shen Yiji (), the Marquess of Piyang, which lasted until her death. Empress L is often criticized for being a power-hungry woman. According to traditional historians, she conspired against Han Xin, the Prince of Chu, and Peng Yue, the Prince of Liang; both were prominent generals and major contributors to the founding of the Han dynasty and were awarded principalities for their achievements. Allegedly at Empress L's suggestion, Emperor Gao removed Han from his principality of Chu, and she executed Han in Emperor Gao's absence after accusing him of treason. Similarly, allegedly at her suggestion, he had Peng arrested, charged with treason, and executed. Despite her reputation for ruthlessness and cruelty (which is probably well-deserved), she appeared to be genuinely devoted to her husband and the safety of the empireso much so that long after Emperor Gao's death, she, then firmly in control, continued to carry out his instructions on the succession of ministers. Despite her cruelty, she was also known as an able administrator, and she (other than the instances of nepotism) generally promoted capable officials. During her regency, therefore, the people of the empire enjoyed a measure of rest from the turmoils of the destruction of Qin Dynasty and the wars of Chu Han Contention. However, due to her inexplicable trade embargo against Nanyue, Nanyue made repeated attacks against the Principality of Changsha (modern Hunan) and the Commandery of Nan (modern Hubei). As far as the relations with Xiongnu to the north, there was a famous episode in which the Xiongnu chanyu Modu wrote her a mocking letter proposing marriage. She wrote back a humble letter proposing instead that a princess be given to him as part of the heqin system.[1] After Emperor Gao died in 195 BC, Empress L received the title of Empress Dowager and became immensely powerful. She murdered Concubine Qi's son Liu Ruyi, the Prince of Zhao, and she then tortured Concubine Qi by cutting off her limbs and blinding and deafening her, leading to her death. Her inhumane treatment of Concubine Qi depressed the gentle but weak Emperor Hui. She also starved to death another son of her husband'sLiu You, the Prince of Zhaowhom she felt had slighted his wife, the Princess of Zhao, who was a niece of hers.[2] Emperor Hui's infant sons, Emperor Qianshao and Emperor Houshao, were installed as her puppets on the throne after Emperor Hui's death in 188 BC. Thus, real power rested in her hands for sixteen years. During her regency, members of the L clan gradually took over important posts in the government; however, upon her death, officials that previously served under Emperor Gao, including Chen Ping, Zhou Bo and Guan Ying, eliminated the L clan and placed Emperor Wen on the throne. In this way, Empress Dowager L's devotion to her husband's wishes oddly enough led to her own clan's downfall, as Chen and Zhou were named by her to their posts long after Emperor Gao's death pursuant to his instructions on ministerial succession. Xiong-nu

The Xiongnu (Chinese: ; pinyin: Xingn; Wade-Giles: Hsiung-nu;) were a confederation of nomadic tribes from Central Asia with a ruling class of unknown origin and other subjugated tribes. They lived on the steppes north of China. They appear in Chinese sources from the 3rd century BC as controlling an empire ("Asian Hun Empire" under Modu Shanyu) stretching beyond the borders of modern day Mongolia. They were active in the areas of southern Siberia, western Manchuria and the modern Chinese provinces of Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Xinjiang. These nomadic people were considered so dangerous and disruptive that the Qin Dynasty ordered the construction of the Great Wall to protect China from Xiongnu attacks. Relations between early Chinese dynasties and the Xiongnu were complicated and included military conflict, exchanges of tribute and trade, and marriage treaties. Li (ritual) Ritual decorum Confucian principle

Within Confucian texts, three works comprise the primary teachings of rites. These works include the Yi Li, the Li `Ji and Zhou Li. Confucius stated his large textual coverage of li as including ``300 major and 3000 minor rules of ritual`` (the Li Ji 10:22). In Confucian thinking, the rites work in two principle ways. The first is the performative aspect of li, wherein the body is schooled by practicing choreographed physical movements. The second aspect is attained through literary scholarship, wherein the mind is schooled through mastery of the Confucian canon on Li (Michael Nylan`s ``Li``). Li is a principle of Confucian ideas. Contrary to the inward expression of Jen, Li was considered an outward practice, wherein one acts with propriety in society. Acting with Li and Jen led to what Confucius called the "superior human" or "the sage". Such a human would use li to act with propriety in every social matter. Confucius advocated a genteel manner, where one is aware of their superiors and inferiors. Confucius felt that knowing ones rank in a feudalistic society would lead to the greatest social order. 'Li' as described in Confucian classics (The Book of Rites and The Analects) gave clear instruction on the proper behaviours expected of individuals based on their roles and placement in feudalistic society. Confucius regarded the disorder of his era as the society's neglect of Li and it's principles. In the Analects Confucius states "Unless a man has the spirit of the rites, in being respectful he will wear himself out, in being careful he will become timid, in having courage he will become unruly, and in being forthright he will become unrelenting." (Book VIII Chapter 2). Yellow Turbans Daoist insurrectionists, named for the yellow cloths they tied around their heads. The yellow turbans shared many practices with the five peck daoists

 Both groups considered illness a sign of wrongdoing, and both encouraged the confession of sins. The yellow turbans gave patients holy water as a cure The yellow turbans established their own religious hierarchy with a leader, a second tier of theirty-six adepets, and further divisions. They claimed to inaugurate a new age, which they called the era of great peace The yellow turbans found support at different social levels, spanning the peasants in the countryside, whose crops had been damaged by recent flooding of rivers, and eunuchs within the palace. The yellow turbans planned their rebellions for the third month of 184, but were discovered by government officials, so they went into action ahead of schedual. They were eventually put down by imperial forces. The Yellow Turban Rebellion, sometimes also translated as the Yellow Scarves Rebellion, (traditional Chinese: ; simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: Hung Jn Zh Lun) was a AD 184 peasant rebellion against Emperor Ling of Han. It is named for the color of the scarves which the rebels wore around their heads. The rebels were associated with secret Taiping Taoist societies and the rebellion marked an important point in the history of Taoism. The rebellion is the opening event in the Chinese literary classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms. A major cause of the Yellow Turban Rebellion was an agrarian crisis, in which famine forced many farmers and former military settlers in the north to seek employment in the south, where large landowners took advantage of the labor surplus and amassed large fortunes. The situation was further aggravated by smaller floods along the lower course of the Yellow River. Further pressure was added on the peasants by high taxes imposed on them in order to build fortifications along the Silk Road and garrisons against foreign infiltrations and invasions. In this situation, landowners and landless peasants formed armed bands (around AD 170), setting the stage for an armed conflict. At the same time, the Han was weakening internally. The power of the landowners had been a problem for a long time already (s. Wang Mang), but in the run-up to the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the court eunuchs in particular gained considerably in influence on the emperor, which they abused to enrich themselves. Ten of the most powerful eunuchs formed a group known as The Ten Regular Attendants and the emperor referred to one of them (Zhang Rang) as his "foster father". Consequently, the government was widely regarded as corrupt and incapable and against this backdrop, the famines and floods were seen as an indication that a decadent emperor had lost his mandate of heaven. Because of its plan for a new beginning, the Yellow Turban sect of Zhang Jiao was to prove the most dangerous enemy of Han. In preparation for his revolt, Zhang sent disciples out to gain support and organize followers throughout North China. They were encouraged in their recruitment by local political discontent, and by droughts and plague among the people. The rebels even had allies in the imperial court, and they were able to make their preparations while government officials were either ignorant of their intentions or intimidated by their power.[1] Zhang Jiao planned that his followers should rise together throughout the empire, but before the call to arms had been issued the plan was betrayed, the rebel sympathizers in

Luoyang were arrested and executed, and the revolt in the provinces had to begin ahead of time, in the second month of 184. Despite the premature call and an inevitable lack of coordination, tens of thousands of men rose in rebellion, government offices were plundered and destroyed and the imperial armies were immediately forced onto the defensive.[1] The Han armies had gained a glorious victory, and it was a remarkable achievement that they removed so quickly the threat of Zhang Jiao's rebellion. The cost, however, was very high. Over wide areas the offices of the government had been destroyed, magistrates had been killed, and whole districts were cut off from the writ of the central government. The enemy had been slaughtered in the hundreds and thousands, many innocent people had been left homeless or destitute by the wars, and the economy and society over great parts of this most populous region of the empire were left in ruins and without resources. Unrest remained and bandits appeared in every district; the government, in no position to put down all the lesser disturbances, was forced to patch up the situation as best it could. A long period of consolidation was needed to restore some measure of peace and prosperity, but that breathing space was not given.[1] While the Yellow Turban rebellion was eventually defeated, the military leaders and local administrators gained self-governing powers in the process. This hastened the collapse of the Han Dynasty in AD 220. After Emperor Ling of Han died in AD 189, a power struggle between He Jin and the eunuchs ensued in which He Jin was assassinated on September 22, 189. He Jin's chief ally Yuan Shao retaliated by setting the emperor's palace on fire and slaughtering the eunuchs. Finally, the warlord Dong Zhuo was able to gain control over the underage heir to the throne which he used as a legitimation for occupying the capital, which was ransacked on the occasion. Because of his cruelty, Dong Zhuo was murdered in 192, setting the stage for Cao Cao's rise to power. Despite the negativity portrayed in the Romance of Three Kingdoms, being a large scale rebellion against corrupted authority, several peasant uprisings in China were patterned after the Yellow Turban Rebellion or claimed to be its spiritual successors.