The Hans Dynasty:
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Detailed Explanations: |
Warfare:
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The picture on the left are small figures of the Han's army of 130,000 to 300,000 men.
Once a male commoner turns 23, he is forced to be trained as a soldier for a year and another year serving as a nonprofessional soldier. The military forces of the Han Dynasty used the most advance forms of weaponry during that time period. Swords were a commonly used weapon, and there was an improvement in handling/using iron (during the Han period) so stronger swords were produced (iron swords). Improvements were also made to crossbow allowing it more accurate and powerful. Because of the Han Dynasty's military, they were able to annihilate their enemies, influence other larger areas across Asia, and even expand their territory.The Chinese have then maintained strong military forces throughout most of their imperial history. |
Government:
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The Han dynasty government system was more or less effective throughout the history of China, thanks to the improvements they make in the government. They adopted ideas from the Qin Dynasty, so they had a less tyrannical way of ruling (Confucian way of ruling). The Han dynasty government was largely characterized by a combination of military structures and bureaucracy. The emperor was the head of the government: he created laws, leaded the armed forces as the chief commander, and served as the chief executive official.The emperors had full control over all China so powers of the emperor were absolute and unlimited.
Many government officials held some power during the Han Dynasty. The higher class government officials advised the emperor, while the lower class government officials lived throughout the empire to check roads, canals, or make sure than enough grain was produced and stored in case of a famine. |
Agriculture:
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Being a farmer during the Han Dynasty was difficult. They needed to grow crops for their community (while managing their own life), but floods/droughts would destroy the crops leaving the farmers with difficulties. The first Han emperor, Liu Bang, once was a commoner. Although Liu was a commoner he showed no interest in agricultural pursuits, as emperor he soon realized the importance of agriculture. The heirs (of being an emperor) agreed with his opinion. Canals were dug and field were irrigated, thanks to new inventions/achievements made. Some inventions were the chain pump, where it allowed moving water from ditches/canals up to the fields easier, and horse harnesses, where it allowed horses/oxen (shown in the picture to the left) to plow more efficiently were some inventions on managing agriculture easier.
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Industry:
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During the Han Dynasty, inventions were used to help the industries, which were salt and silk (women producing silk on the left). Silk making is a difficult and time-consuming job since silk is made from the fibers of a silkworm cocoon. A foot-powered machine was developed for winding silk fibers onto a large reel, making silk production much faster and more efficient. This was particularly important since silk was so valuable in trade.
Salt was valuable for flavoring as well as food preservation. Instead of getting salt from the sea, the Chinese learned how to mine salt from underground. Salt water (also called brine) was drawn from the ground using hollow bamboo drills with iron at the tips. The salt water was then heated until the water evaporated and only the salt remained. Now the Chinese could get salt even while not at the sea. |
Art:
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Inventions improved the way that art was made. When Chinese scientists invented paper, artists began to paint on paper (paper absorbed ink well and was cheaper than silk and bamboo) instead of using silk (very expensive) and bamboo (too bulky to use) the way they had in the Chao and Chin Dynasties (but they still used silk too). Paper was made of silk fibers, hemp, bamboo, straw, and seaweed which were dried on a screen.
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Medicine:
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Two techniques during the Han Dynasty's rule, were acupuncture and moxibustion were used for curing/treating short-term diseases (headaches), long-term diseases (arthritis), and also pain which are still used today.
Acupuncture (in the image, the man getting an acupuncture is on the right) is where thin needles enter the body and re balance yin and yang (the ancient Chinese believed that illnesses occur when the forces yin and yang in the body were unbalanced). Needles were carefully placed all over the body, like the head, spine, and stomach. Moxibustion (in the image, the man is getting moxibustion is sitting on the right) was developed by Chinese healers. A moxa (a small cone of powdered leaves or sticks) was implanted on or near the skin of the body and was burned. This technique was helpful because the skin was given a greater chance of survival. |
Science:
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During the Han Dynasty, the Chinese were interested in science and developed several instrument/inventions and scientific ideas. The Chinese astronomers discovered"broom stars" (comets), that solar eclipses occur when the moon blocks our view of the sun, and that the moon shines because the sun's light reflects onto the moon. The Chinese created the seismograph (detects earthquakes; picture on the left). It was made of bronze and had a pendulum with 8 animals (similar to the dragons) holding a small ball in its mouth, surrounding it and hanging onto it. When an earthquake occurred, the pendulum would vibrate resulting in allowing one of the eight balls to drop in the direction of the earthquake. The Chinese also invented a magnetic compass (which pointed out which direction was north/south) using a lodestone (a type of iron ore), since it aligned itself to the north/south direction and it was carved into the shape of a spoon with the its handle always pointing south.
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