Han Emperors in China
Han Dynasty
· These two leaders ended up hating each other and fought their last nettle in 202 BC – Liu Bang won and declared himself the first emperor of the Han Dynasty
· The Han Dynasty ruled Chine 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”
Bang’s steps to unify 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
Emerors Lu
· When band died, his son became emperor, but not really
· The real ruler was the son’s mother. One of the Bang’s wives
· When Lu died, the people that supported Bang were upset, and they executed the people who Lu had put into power
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Wudi
· After 30-40 years of turmoil and poor leadership, Bang’s great-grandson took control of the Hans an his name was Wudi
· HE is known throughout history as the “Martial Emperor” because his idea of expanding China was throughout 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 arms 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 1000,000 men to fight them
Pyramid
· Top tier- emperor
· 2nd – king, governor
· 3rd – state officials, nobles, and sholars
· 4th – peasants
· 5th – artisans, merchants
· 6th- soldiers
· 7th – slaves
Han Technology
· Advancements included paper. Paper was invented in 105 AD. 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
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