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Western Han dynasty: A Visual History

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Visual history of an empire

The dynasty that gave the Chinese their name: two centuries of Confucian government, Xiongnu wars and the opening of the Silk Road.

Existed
202 BC to 9
Duration
211 years
Existed
202 BC to 9 AD
Peak area
About 6 million km2 (50 BC)
Peak population
About 58 million (2 AD census)
Capital
Chang'an
Longest reign
Emperor Wu, 54 years (141 to 87 BC)

The Western (or Former) Han dynasty was founded in 202 BC by Liu Bang, a village official turned rebel, after the collapse of the Qin. From Chang'an it consolidated the unified empire, made Confucianism the state ideology under Emperor Wu, expanded into Central Asia, Korea and Vietnam, and traded silk to the West. Land concentration, court intrigue and the regency of Wang Mang ended it in 9 AD; a restored Eastern Han followed from 25.

When it existed: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Western Han dynasty. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

500 BC400 BC300 BC200 BC100 BC0100200300Western Han dynasty (202 BC to 9)Open: Warring States period and Qin's wars of unificationWarring States period and Qin's wars of unification (475 BC to 221 BC)Open: Greco-Bactrian KingdomGreco-Bactrian Kingdom (256 BC to 125 BC)Open: Parthian EmpireParthian Empire (247 BC to 224)Open: Qin dynastyQin dynasty (221 BC to 206 BC)Open: Xiongnu EmpireXiongnu Empire (209 BC to 93)Open: Western XiongnuWestern Xiongnu (56 BC to 36 BC)Open: Xin dynastyXin dynasty (9 to 23)Open: Eastern Han dynastyEastern Han dynasty (25 to 220)

Registered population

The 2 AD census is China's oldest surviving; earlier figures are estimates.

015304560202 BC: 18141 BC: 3687 BC: 322: 58200 BC175 BC150 BC125 BC100 BC75 BC50 BC25 BC0millions

Timeline of the Western Han dynasty

  1. 206 BC
    Qin fallsLiu Bang enters the capital.
  2. 202 BC
    Han foundedXiang Yu defeated at Gaixia.
  3. 200 BC
    BaidengThe Xiongnu besiege the emperor.
  4. 154 BC
    Rebellion of the Seven StatesCrushed in three months.
  5. 141 BC
    Emperor WuThe Han's greatest reign begins.
  6. 119 BC
    Battle of MobeiXiongnu driven north of the Gobi.
  7. 108 BC
    Korea conqueredFour commanderies established.
  8. 91 BC
    Witchcraft affairThe crown prince destroyed.
  9. 51 BC
    Xiongnu chanyu submits
  10. 9
    Wang Mang takes the throneThe Xin dynasty.

Liu Bang and consolidation

Liu Bang defeated his rival Xiang Yu in 202 BC and, as Emperor Gaozu, softened Qin's harsh laws while keeping its administration. He was humiliated by the Xiongnu at Baideng in 200 BC and adopted a policy of tribute and marriage alliances. His widow Empress Lu ran the state for 15 years. Emperors Wen and Jing cut taxes and suppressed the great feudatories in the Rebellion of the Seven States (154 BC).

Emperor Wu

Wu (141-87 BC) transformed the empire. He established Confucian classics as the basis of official education, monopolised salt and iron, sent Zhang Qian to Central Asia and Wei Qing and Huo Qubing against the Xiongnu, and annexed Nanyue (Vietnam), Korea and the Hexi corridor. His wars nearly bankrupted the state, and his last years were marred by witchcraft trials that destroyed his heir.

Decline and Wang Mang

Later emperors were dominated by their empresses' families and by eunuchs. Emperor Xuan (74-49 BC) restored strong rule and received the Xiongnu's submission, but landholding concentrated, peasants fell into slavery and the court weakened. Wang Mang, nephew of an empress dowager, became regent, then in 9 AD took the throne himself and proclaimed the Xin dynasty.

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

Wars of the same era and region

8 surprising things about the Western Han dynasty

  1. The Han founder Liu Bang was one of only two Chinese emperors of peasant origin (the other was the Ming founder).
  2. The name of the Han Chinese ethnic group, the Chinese script (hanzi) and the word for Chinese language all derive from this dynasty.
  3. The 2 AD census counted 57,671,400 people in 12,366,470 households, the oldest surviving census in the world.
  4. Zhang Qian was held prisoner by the Xiongnu for ten years, escaped, and still completed his mission to the west.
  5. Sima Qian, author of the Records of the Grand Historian, was castrated for defending a general who surrendered to the Xiongnu, and finished the book anyway.
  6. Emperor Wu sent an army 4,000 km to Ferghana to seize its 'heavenly horses'.
  7. The Han imported so much Xiongnu-style cavalry warfare that emperors' tombs are filled with model horsemen.
  8. The Han salt and iron monopolies of 119 BC were debated in a famous court conference whose record survives.

Sources

  • Han dynasty Encyclopaedia Britannica
  • Han dynasty Wikipedia
  • Han Dynasty World History Encyclopedia
  • Michael Loewe, The Government of the Qin and Han Empires (2006) Hackett

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