The Chinese Qin and Han dynasties ruled the country in 221 BC. e. - 220 AD e. At that time, the state survived several civil wars, adopted Buddhism from India, and regularly repelled the attacks of the aggressive northern nomads of the Huns.
Foundation of Qin
The ancient Qin dynasty unified China in 221 BC. e. Her reign fit in a very short period of 15 years, but even in this short period, a huge number of changes took place in the country that influenced the entire future history of the East Asian region. Qin Shi Huang ended the centuries-old era of the Warring States. In 221 BC. e. he conquered numerous principalities of Inner China and proclaimed himself emperor.
Qin Shihuang created a well-governed centralized state, which in that era had no equal either in Asia or in the Mediterranean. Legalism, a philosophical doctrine, also known as the "school of lawyers", became the dominant ideology of the empire. Its important principle was that state titles and positions began to be distributed according to the real merits and talents of a person. This rule is contrarythe established Chinese order, according to which representatives of aristocratic noble families received high appointments.
The Emperor proclaimed the equality of all the inhabitants of the country before the law. Public and clan self-government was subordinated to a single state system with multi-level administration. Qin Shihuang was very sensitive to the laws. The most severe punishments were provided for their violations. The proclamation of legalism as the dominant ideology led to mass repressions of supporters of the philosophy of Confucianism. For propaganda or possession of prohibited written sources, people were burned at the stake.
Rise of a dynasty
Under Qin Shi Huang, internal internecine wars ceased. The feudal princes had a huge amount of weapons confiscated, and their armies were reassigned directly to the emperor. The authorities divided the entire territory of the Chinese state into 36 provinces. Unification was observed in all spheres of public life. The system of measures and weights was streamlined, a single standard for writing hieroglyphs was introduced. Thanks to this, China for the first time in a long time felt like one country. Provinces have become easier to interact with each other. An extensive network of roads was built to revive economic and trade ties in the empire. Society has become more mobile and communicative.
Most of the population participated in the renewal of the country. A huge number of peasants and workers were involved in the construction of important infrastructure. The most significant project of the Qin era was the constructionThe Great Wall of China, the length of which reached almost 9 thousand kilometers. The “construction of the century” turned out to be necessary to protect the country from northern nomads. Prior to that, they freely attacked the scattered Chinese principalities, which, due to their political enmity, could not give a significant rebuff to the enemy. Now not only a wall appeared on the way of the steppes, but also a lot of garrisons quickly interacting with each other. Another important symbol of the Qin dynasty was the Terracotta Army - the burial of 8 thousand statues of warriors with horses in the emperor's mausoleum.
Shihuang's death
Qin Shi Huang died in 210 BC. e. He died during another trip to China. The whole effective state system, which ensured the prosperity of the country, was created thanks to the emperor. Now that he is gone, China is on the brink of an abyss. The emperor's entourage tried to smooth the blow - they hid the news of the death of the ruler for some time and fabricated a new will, according to which the youngest son of the deceased became the heir.
The new Emperor Ershi Huang was a weak-willed man. He quickly became a puppet of his adviser Zhao Gao. This official under Qin Shi Huang was the head of his office and had great ambitions. The country shook with discontent with this gray eminence and his behind-the-scenes intrigues. Several uprisings broke out. The reason for the rebellion was also the disobedience of the workers involved in the construction of the Great Wall of China. 900 people did not have time to arrive at their site due to mud and bad roads. By law theywere to be executed. The workers, not wanting to part with their lives, organized themselves into an insurgent detachment. Soon they were joined by numerous dissatisfied with the new regime. The protest turned from social to political. Soon this army grew to 300 thousand people. It was led by a peasant named Liu Bang.
Ershi Huang in 207 B. C. e. committed suicide. This led to more anarchy in China. A dozen pretenders to the throne appeared. In 206 BC. e. Liu Bang's army overthrew the last emperor of the Qin Dynasty Ziying. He was executed.
The coming to power of the Han Dynasty
Liu Bang became the founder of the new Han Dynasty, which eventually ruled the country until 220 AD. e. (with a short break). She managed to survive longer than all other Chinese empires. Such success became possible thanks to the creation of an effective bureaucratic system of government. Many of her traits were adopted from Shihuang. The Qin and Han dynasties are political relatives. The only difference between them is that one ruled the country for 15 years, and the other for 4 centuries.
Historians divide the period of the Han Dynasty into two parts. The first came in 206 BC. e. - 9 g. e. This is the Early Han or Western Han with Chang'an as its capital. This was followed by a short period of the Xin Empire, when another dynasty held power. A. D. 25 to 220 e. The Han ruled China again. The capital was moved to Luoyang. This period is also called Late Han or Eastern Han.
Liu Bang's reign
With coming to powerthe Han dynasty initiated significant changes in the life of the country, which allowed society to consolidate and calm down. The former ideology of legalism was left in the past. The authorities proclaimed the leading role of Confucianism, popular among the people. In addition, the legislative acts of the early Han Dynasty stimulated the development of agriculture. Peasants (the vast majority of the population of China) received a noticeable relief in taxes collected by the states. Instead of the old source of replenishment of the treasury, Liu Bang went to increase fees from the merchants. He introduced many trade duties.
Also, the legislative acts of the beginning of the Han Dynasty regulated relations between the political center and the provinces in a new way. A new administrative division of the country was adopted. Liu Bang throughout his life fought against the rebellious governors in the provinces (wans). The emperor replaced many of them with his own relatives and devoted supporters, which gave additional stability to the power.
At the same time, the Han dynasty faced a serious problem in the face of the Xiongnu (or Huns). These wild nomads of the northern steppes have been a danger since the time of Qin. In 209 BC. e. they had their own emperor named Mode. He united the nomads under his rule and was now going to war against China. In 200 BC. e. Xiongnu captured the large city of Shanxi. Liu Bang personally led the army in order to expel the savages. The size of the army was colossal. It included about 320 thousand soldiers. However, even such forces could not frighten Mode. During the decisiveclashes, he carried out a deceptive maneuver and surrounded Liu Bang's squad, representing the vanguard of the imperial army.
A few days later, the parties agreed to begin negotiations. So in 198 BC. e. the Chinese and the Huns concluded the Treaty of Peace and Kinship. The nomads agreed to leave the Han Empire. In return, Liu Bang recognized himself as a tributary of the northern neighbors. In addition, he married his daughter to Mode. Tribute was an annual gift sent to the court of the ruler of the Huns. It was gold, jewelry and other valuables that a civilized country was famous for. In the future, the Chinese and the Xiongnu fought for several more centuries. The Great Wall, designed to protect against nomads and begun during the Qin Dynasty, was completed under the Han. The first emperor of this kind, Liu Bang, died in 195 BC. e.
Xin Empire
In subsequent years, China lost the stability that characterized the early Han Dynasty. The emperors spent most of their money on the fight against the Huns, unsuccessful intervention in the west and palace intrigues. Each new generation of rulers paid less and less attention to the economy, the rule of law and the well-being of their own subjects.
The Western Han Dynasty died out by itself. In 9 A. D. e. after the death of Emperor Pingdi, power, due to the lack of a direct heir, passed to the father-in-law of the late Wang Mang. He created a new Xin dynasty, but it did not last long. Wang Mang attempted to carry out drastic reforms. In particular, he wanted to curb the slave owners andbig magnates. His policy was aimed at helping the poorest sections of the population. It was a bold and risky course, given that the new emperor did not belong to the previous ruling family and was in fact a usurper.
Time has shown that Wang Mang was wrong. First, he turned the powerful aristocracy against him. Secondly, his transformations led to chaos in the provinces. Local riots began. Peasant unrest soon received the name of the red-browed uprising. The cause for discontent was the flood of the great Yellow River. A natural disaster has left a huge number of the poor without shelter and livelihood.
Soon, these rebels allied themselves with other rebels who were supporters of the former Han Dynasty. In addition, they were supported by the Huns, who were glad of any opportunity for war and robbery in China. In the end, Wang Mang was defeated. He was deposed and executed in 23.
Eastern Han
Finally, in the 25th year after the end of the war and the red-browed uprising, the second era of the Han Dynasty began. It lasted until 220. This period is also known as the Eastern Han. On the throne was a distant relative of the former emperors Guan Wudi. The old capital during the war was completely destroyed by the peasants. The new ruler decided to move his residence to Luoyang. Soon this city, among other things, became the main Chinese center of Buddhism. In 68, the temple of Baimasa (or the temple of the White Horse) was founded in it. This religious building was erected with the support and patronage ofMing-di descendant and successor of Guan Wu-di.
The then history of the Han Dynasty was an example of political calm and stability. Palace intrigues are a thing of the past. The emperors managed to defeat the Huns and drive them into their empty northern steppes for a long time. Centralization and strengthening of power allowed the rulers to extend their power far to the west up to the borders of Central Asia.
Then China achieved economic prosperity. Private entrepreneurs who were engaged in s alt production and mining of metals got rich. A huge number of peasants worked for them. These people, leaving for the enterprises of magnates, stopped paying taxes to the treasury, which is why the state suffered significant losses. Economic interest forced Emperor Wu in 117 to nationalize metallurgy and s alt production. Another profitable state monopoly was the production of alcohol.
External contacts
It was in the I-II c. every emperor of the Han Dynasty was known far abroad. At this time, on the other side of the ancient world, another civilization was flourishing - Roman. During the period of greatest hegemony, only the Kushan kingdom and Parthia were between the two states.
Inhabitants of the Mediterranean were primarily interested in China as the birthplace of silk. The secret of the production of this fabric has not left the East for many centuries. Thanks to this, the Chinese emperors earned untold we alth through the trade in valuable material. It was in Han times that the Great Silkthe path along which unique goods went west from the east. The first embassy from China arrived in Rome during the reign of Octavian Augustus at the beginning of the 1st century AD. e. The travelers spent nearly four years on the road. In Europe, they were amazed at the yellow color of their skin. Because of this, the Romans believed that in China there was “another sky.”
In 97, the Eastern Emperor's army, led by the talented commander Ban Chao, set out to raid the west in order to punish nomads who robbed merchants who transported their goods along the Great Silk Road. The army overcame the inaccessible Tien Shan and ravaged Central Asia. After this campaign, ambassadors went far to the west, leaving their own descriptions of the Roman Empire, which in China was called "Daqin". Mediterranean travelers also reached the eastern countries. In 161, an embassy sent by Anthony Pius arrived in Luoyang. Interestingly, the delegation traveled to China by sea through the Indian Ocean.
During the Han Dynasty, a convenient route to India was discovered, which ran through Bactria on the territory of modern Uzbekistan. The emperors were attentive to the southern country. In India, there were many outlandish goods that interested the Chinese (from metals to rhinoceros horns and giant tortoise shells). However, the religious connection between the two regions has become much more important. It was from India that Buddhism entered China. The more intense the contacts of the inhabitants of these countries became, the more religious and philosophical teachings spread among the subjects of the Han Empire. The authorities even sent expeditions that were supposed tofind a land route to India through modern Indochina, but these attempts were never successful.
Yellow Turban Rebellion
The late Eastern Han Dynasty was distinguished by the fact that almost all of its rulers were on the throne in childhood. This led to the dominance of all kinds of regents, advisers and relatives. Monarchs were appointed and deprived of power by eunuchs and the newly-minted gray cardinals. Thus, at the beginning of the 2nd century, the Han dynasty entered a period of gradual decline.
The absence of a single centralized authority in the person of an adult and strong-willed monarch did not bode well for the state. In 184, a Yellow Turban rebellion broke out across China. It was organized by members of the popular Taipingdao sect. Its supporters preached among the poor peasantry, dissatisfied with their position and the dominance of the rich. The teachings of the sect claimed that the Han dynasty should be overthrown, after which the era of prosperity would begin. The peasants believed that the Messiah Lao Tzu would come and help build an ideal and just society. An open armed rebellion occurred when the sect already had several million members, and its army numbered in the tens of thousands, and this figure was steadily growing. The fall of the Han Dynasty was largely due to this popular uprising.
End of the Han Dynasty
The Peasant War lasted two decades. The rebels were defeated only in 204. The paralyzed imperial power was unable to organize andfinance your own army to defeat the fanatical poor. And this is not surprising, because the Eastern Han dynasty was weakened by regular capital intrigues. Aristocrats and magnates came to her rescue, giving money for the army.
The commanders who controlled these troops quickly became independent political figures. Among them, the commanders Cao Cao and Dong Zhuo were especially prominent. They helped the empire to defeat the peasants, but after the onset of peace they stopped following the orders of the authorities and did not want to disarm. The Chinese Han Dynasty lost its leverage over the armies, which in two decades felt like independent forces. The warlords began continuous wars with each other for influence and resources.
In the north of the country, Cao Cao established himself, who in the year 200 was able to defeat all his opponents in this region. In the south, two more newly-minted rulers appeared. They were Liu Bei and Sun Quan. The confrontation between the three generals led to the division of the once united China into three parts.
The last ruler of the Han Dynasty, Xian-di, formally abdicated in 220. So the split of the country into several parts was already legally fixed, although in fact such a political system developed at the end of the 2nd century. The Han Dynasty ended and the Three Kingdoms began. This era lasted 60 years and led to the decline of the economy and even more bloodshed.
