Early China
The Qin Dynasty were very harsh on taxes, labor quotas, and strict punishments
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 2 leaders ended up hating each other and fought their last battle in 202 BC
Liu Bang won and declared himself the first emperor of the Han Dynasty -The Han Dynasty ruled China for more than 400 years.
rule was broken up into 2 parts because there was a time where they lost 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’ powers -he was going to do this by establishing a CENTRALIZED DYNASTY -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 the real ruler was the son’s mother.
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, Bangs 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 though war
the first set of people that he had to deal with were the XIONGNU
XIONGNU were fierce nomads known or their deadly archery from horseback
early Han emperors would try to send them gifts to stop but they wouldn’t quit
Wudi sent 100,000 men to fight them
top tier- Emperor
2nd tier – king, governor
3rd tier – state officials, nobles, and scholars
4th tear – peasants
5th tier – artisans, merchants
6th tier – soldiers
7th tier – slaves
Han Technology
advancement included paper. Paper was invented in 105 AD. Before this, books were written in silk
silk is very expensive
so this allowed for many more people to go to school
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