Classical China

Qin and Han Dynasties

Before the Qin…

• Legalism – The doctrine of practical and efficient

statecraft • No concern with ethics and morality• No concern with the principles governing nature

– Legalist doctrine • The state's strength was in agriculture and military

force• Discouraged commerce, education, and the arts• Harnessing self-interest of the people for the needs

of the state• Called for harsh penalties even for minor infractions• Advocated collective responsibility before the law

Before the Qin…• The social order

– The ruling elites • Hereditary aristocrats with

extensive landholding• Administrative and military

offices• Manuals of etiquette

– Free artisans and craftsmen mostly worked for elites

– Merchants and trade were important

• Trade networks linked China with west and south

– Peasants, the majority of population

• Landless peasants provided labor

• Women's work: wine making, weaving, silkworm raising

• Wood, bone, stone tools before iron was spread in the sixth century B.C.E.

– Slaves, mostly war prisoners

• Family and patriarchy – Early dynasties ruled through

family and kinship groups– Veneration of ancestors

• Belief in ancestors' presence and their continuing influence

• Burial of material goods with the dead

• Offering sacrifices at the graves• Family heads presided over rites of

honoring ancestors' spirits– Patriarchal society evolved out

of matrilineal one • The rise of large states brought

focus on men's contribution• After the Shang Dynasty (1766-

1122 BCE), females devalued

The Unification of China

• The Qin dynasty – Qin, Located in west China, adopted

Legalist policies • Encouraged agriculture, resulted in strong

economy• Organized a powerful army equipped with

iron weapons• Conquered other states and unified China

in 221 B.C.E.

The Unification of China• The Qin dynasty

– The first emperor was Qin Shihuangdi (221 B.C.E.)

• Established centralized imperial rule

• Project of connecting and extending the Great Wall

• Buried 460 scholars alive because of their criticism against the Qin

• Burned all books except some with utilitarian value

The Unification of China

• The Qin dynasty– Policies of centralization

• Standardization of laws, currencies, weights, measures

• Standardization of scripts

– Tomb of the First Emperor (Qin Shi Huang), who died 210 B.C.E.

• Tomb was underground palace with army of life-size terra-cotta figures

The Unification of China

• The Qin dynasty– The collapse of the Qin dynasty

• Massive public works generated tremendous ill will among the people

• Waves of rebels overwhelmed the Qin court in 207 B.C.E.

• Short-lived dynasty, but left deep marks in Chinese history

The Qin Dynasty

The Unification of China

• The early Han dynasty– Liu Bang; persistent and methodical;

by 206 B.C.E. restored order – Early Han policies

• Sought a middle way between Zhou decentralization and Qin overcentralization

• Han Wudi, the Martial Emperor (reigned 141-87 B.C.E.), emphasized centralization and expansion

The Unification of China

• The early Han dynasty– Han centralization; adopted Legalist policies

• Built an enormous bureaucracy to rule the empire• Continued to build roads and canals• Levied taxes on agriculture, trade, and craft

industries• Imperial monopolies on production of iron and salt• Established Confucian educational system for training

bureaucrats

The Unification of China

• The early Han dynasty– Han imperial expansion

• Invaded and colonized northern Vietnam and Korea

• Han organized vast armies to invade Xiongnu territory (nomads from steppes)

• Han enjoyed uncontested hegemony in east and central Asia

The Han Dynasty

From economic prosperity to social disorder

• Productivity and prosperity during the Former Han

– Patriarchal social structure • Women's subordination; Ban Zhao's Admonitions for

Women• Children obey and honor parents

– Vast majority of population were cultivators – Iron metallurgy: farming tools, utensils, and weapons – Silk textiles; sericulture spread all over China during

the Han – Paper production; replaced silk and bamboo as writing

material – Population growth: twenty million to sixty million from

220 B.C.E. to 9 C.E.

From economic prosperity to social disorder

• Economic and social difficulties – Expeditions consumed the empire's surplus

• Raised taxes and confiscated land of some wealthy individuals

• Taxes and land confiscations discouraged investment in manufacture and trade

– Social tensions, caused by stratification between the poor and rich

– Problems of land distribution – The reign of Wang Mang (9-23 C.E.)

• Land reforms by the "socialist emperor"• Overthrown by revolts, 23 C.E.

From economic prosperity to social disorder

• The later Han dynasty (25-220 C.E.)

– Yellow Turban Uprising: revolt due to problems of land distribution

– Collapse of the Han • Factions at court

paralyzed the central government

• Han empire dissolved; China was divided into regional kingdoms