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[6th Melissa]

Han Emperors in China

• The Qin Dynasty were very harsh on taxes, labor quotas, and strict punishment
• The people of the Qin Dynasty rebelled and a war of rival kings started throughout all of China
• Two powerful people emerged: Xiang Yu and Liu Bang

Han Dynasty

• These two leaders ended up hating each other and fought their last battle in 202 B.C. –Liu Bang won and declared himself the first emperor of the Han Dynasty
• The Han Dynasty ruled China for more than 400 years. However their rule was broken up into 2 parts because there was a time where they lost their power for a short period of time
• Very influential, even today people from China often refer to themselves as “people of the Han”

Bangs steps to unified China

• First goal was to destroy the rival kings’ power
• He was going to do this by establishing centralized government
• This is where the central authority controls the running of the state
• He also lowered taxes and softened the harsh legal punishments of the people

Empress Lu

• When Bang died his son became emperor, but not really
• The real ruler was the son’s mother. One of the wives of Bang (He supposedly had many)
• When Lu died, the people that supported Bang were upset, and they executed the people who Lu had put into power

Wudi

• After 30-40 years of turmoil and poor leadership, Bang’s great-grandson took control of the Hans and his name was Wudi
• He is known throughout history as the “Martial Emperor” because his idea of expanding China was through war
• The first set of people that he had to deal with were the Xiongnu

Xiongnu

• Were fierce nomads known for their deadly archery from horseback
• Usually attacked China’s farms and would take people hostage and steal goods
• Early Han emperors would try to send them gifts to stop but they usually would not quit
• Wudi had other ideas and sent 100,000 men to fight them
• Wudi usually owned

Pyramid

• Top tier- Emperor
• 2^nd tier- King, Governor
• 3^rd tier- State officials, nobles, and scholars
• 4^th tier- Peasants
• 5^th tier- artisans, merchants
• 6^th tier- soldiers
• 7^th tier- slaves

Han Technology

• Advancements including paper. Paper was invented in 105 A.D. Before this, books were written in silk
• Silk is very expensive compared to paper
• So this allowed for many more people to get an education

The Great Wall of China

• When was it built?
• Which dynasty built it?
• Why was it built?
• Was it effective?
• Interesting Facts