Notes

Han Dynasty – 202 BCE-220 CE
Kept centralized power of Qin, but reduced repression
Extended borders – opened trade to India, Mediterranean
Wu Ti – period of peace – like Pax Romana
Advancements
Formal training
Supported Confucianism
Shrines built to worship Confucius as god
Invasions – Huns – led to decline
220 – 589 CE China in chaos
Political Institutions
Strong central government
Qin stressed unquestioned central authority
Han – expanded bureaucracy
Political framework
Strong local units remained, but power diminished
Relied on patriarchal families
Ancestor worship linked families
Village leaders helped coordinate farming/harvesting
Single law code
Universal tax system
Central authority appointments – not based on local government nominations
Delegation done to emperor’s ministers
Huge bureaucracy – 130,000 bureaucrats
Civil Service tests
Scholar bureaucrat
Not exclusively upper class rule - occasionally lower class recruited
Rulers often could be controlled by bureaucrats – didn’t do crazy stuff of Rome
Most tightly governed people
Rules administered by trained scholars
Father unquestioned power – passed down from ancestors
Harsh punishments to put down rebellion
Government traditions
Not heavily militaristic – not huge need
Promoted intellectual life – not Qin
Active in economy
Organized production of iron/salt
Han tried storing grain for bad harvests
Sponsored public works – canals/irrigation
Technology made it difficult to control, but…
Torture and execution used to keep obedience
Taxed
Annual labor
Invaders – Huns – couldn’t create better system for governing – kept bureaucrats
Religion and Culture – people not united by religion – no political threat
Religion – relation to politics
earthly life/obedience more important than speculating about God
harmonious earthly life – prevent excess
traditions
Ancestor ceremonies
Special meals
Politeness at meals – tea ceremonies/chopsticks
Confucius - Analects
Political virtue and good government
secular views, not religious
Respect for superiors- even if bad
Respect for tradition
Leaders should behave modestly without excess
Work hard as a leader and lesser people will serve superiors
“When the ruler does right, all men will imitate his self-control”
Rulers not just punish – be humble and sincere
Satisfied upper class distaste for mystery, and interest in learning/manners
Gov’t used to maintain order
7. Careful socialization of children
8. Lacks spiritual side
Legalism – pragmatism
Better gov’t is one that rules by force
Human nature evil – needs restraint
Confucian façade + legalist strong arm tactics
Polytheistic beliefs – appealed to peasants
Spirits of nature
Ancestors
Dragons – fear plus playful respect
Daoism – first to upper class who wanted spirituality
Nature has divine impulse that directs life
Understanding comes from withdrawing and thinking of “way of nature”
Espoused humility and frugal living
Intellectual
Five Classics – speeches, songs, poems, etiquette, political materials
Poetry mark of an educated person
Art form
Calligraphy
Chinese artists, pottery, carved jade
No monumental buildings – except palaces/Great Wall
No singular religion
Confucianism against temples soaring to heaven
Science – practical work – not imaginative theorizing
Calculated motion of planets 1500 years before Copernicus
Medicine – anatomical research – proper hygiene for longer life
Economy and Society
Class – social status passed from one generation to the next
Upper class literate, wealth, culture denied peasants
Mandarins – educated bureaucrats + landowning aristocracy
Land owners 2%, peasantry the rest
“mean” people – lowest status – like India’s untouchables
Property owned communally
Trade
Luxury items – silk, jewelry, leather goods, furniture – Silk Road
Carried by merchants
Merchants not highly important – Confucius prioritized learning/political service
Technological Advance – practical usage – remained agricultural
Ox-drawn plow/collar for animals
Iron mining – pulleys and winding gear
Production methods advanced – water powered mills
Paper invented – needed for bureaucracy
Family life – father unquestioned leader
“There are no wrongdoing parents”
law courts don’t punish parents
Strict control of emotions
Home training ground for personality
Women gained power through sons/mother-in-laws to women brought in
Power to oldest son, boys over girls
How Chinese Civilization Fits Together – Chinese wholeness – not a divided society
“China’s politics and culture meshed readily, especially around the emergence of a Confucian bureaucracy.”
Theme of isolation – surrounded by barbarians – can’t learn anything from outsiders
Buddhism – rare foreign concept embraced by population
Common culture provided unity
Elaborate bureaucracy
Confucianism – trained group w/ common ideals
Appreciation of distinctive art, poetry and literature
Relative political stability
Stable family – clear hierarchy
Private and public not separated – extensions
Views on etiquette
Language
Daoists and Confucianists tolerated
But…Confucianists saw Daoists as superstitious
Sometimes divine attacks on gov’t
Justice – tight control - Arrested – presumed guilty – tortured
Mixed torture w/ benevolence – good cop/bad coop
Precarious balance – sometimes violent
Global connections – Heavy influence on the world
1/5 of population supported by peasants
Created technologies shared w/ world
Power – water mill, porcelain (China), paper, compass
Views affected region “Middle Kingdom” basis for most of Asia
2000 year reign