Han dynasty

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The Han dynasty, ; |s=汉朝|p=Hàncháo}}}} (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) was an imperial dynasty of China established by Liu Bang, and preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and interregnum known as the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BC). It was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD) and also briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) established by the usurping regent Wang Mang. It is thus separated into two periods—the Western Han (202 BC9 AD) and the Eastern Han (25–220 AD). The Han dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history, impacting Chinese identity in later periods. The majority ethnic group of modern China refer to themselves as the "Han people", while spoken Chinese and written Chinese are referred to respectively as the "Han language" and "Han characters".

The Han emperor was at the pinnacle of Han society and culture. He presided over the Han government but shared power with both the nobility and the appointed ministers who came largely from the scholarly gentry class. The Han Empire was divided into commanderies directly controlled by the central government and also semi-autonomous kingdoms. These kingdoms gradually lost their autonomy, particularly following the Rebellion of the Seven States. From the reign of Emperor Wu () onward, the Chinese court officially sponsored Confucianism in education and court politics, synthesizing it with the cosmology of Dong Zhongshu. The Han dynasty experienced periods of economic prosperity as well as significant growth in the money economy, which had first been established during the Zhou dynasty (–256 BC). The coinage minted by the central government in 119 BC remained the standard in China until the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD). To finance its military campaigns and settlement of newly conquered frontier territories, the Han government nationalized private salt and iron industries in 117 BC, creating government monopolies that were later repealed during the Eastern Han period. There were significant advances in science and technology during the Han period, including the invention of papermaking, rudders for steering ships, negative numbers in mathematics, raised-relief maps, hydraulic-powered armillary spheres for astronomy, and seismometers that discerned the cardinal direction of distant earthquakes by use of inverted pendulums.

The Han dynasty had many conflicts with the Xiongnu, a nomadic confederation centered in the eastern Eurasian steppe. The Xiongnu defeated the Han in 200 BC, prompting the Han to appease the Xiongnu with a policy of marriage alliance and payments of tribute, though the Xiongnu continued to raid Han China's northern borders. Han policy changed in 133 BC when Emperor Wu began a series of military campaigns to quell the Xiongnu. Han forces cleaved the Hexi Corridor and Inner Asian territory of the Tarim Basin away from the Xiongnu, helping to establish the Silk Road trade route. The Xiongnu were eventually defeated and forced to accept a status as Han vassals, though the lands north of the Han's borders were later overrun by the nomadic Xianbei confederation. Emperor Wu also launched successful conquests in the south, annexing Nanyue in 111 BC and Dian in 109 BC. He further expanded Han territory into the northern Korean Peninsula, where Han forces conquered Gojoseon and established the Xuantu and Lelang commanderies in 108 BC.

After 92 AD, palace eunuchs increasingly involved themselves in the dynasty's court politics, engaging in violent power struggles between various consort clans of the empresses and empresses dowager. Imperial authority was also seriously challenged by large Taoist religious societies which instigated the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion. Following the death of Emperor Ling (), the palace eunuchs were massacred by military officers, allowing members of the aristocracy and military governors to become warlords and divide the empire. The Han dynasty came to an end in 220 AD when Cao Pi, king of Wei, usurped the throne from Emperor Xian. Provided by Wikipedia