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The Silk Road: Connecting the ancient world through trade - Shannon Harris Castelo

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The Han dynasty came to power in 202 BCE, bringing an end to the chaos that raged throughout China after the fall of the Qin dynasty. The Han emperors ruled China for more than 400 years, except for a brief period between 9 and 23 CE, when a powerful minister, Wang Mang, seized the throne.

The four hundred years of unity which the Han brought China gave the Chinese people a strong identity as a single nation (to this day they call themselves the "Han"). Moreover, during the Han period the Chinese civil service was developed into an organization which could govern the entire country effectively and weld it together into a single state. Connected to this, Confucianisn became the ruling ideology of China under the Han, and would remain so until the 20th century.We have seen that the Qin dynasty united China under its rule, but within a generation had been engulfed in rebellion and chaos. By 206, when the last Qin emperor surrendered his capital to one of the rebel leaders and abdicated the throne, many different rebel groups had seized control of their own areas of China. Their leaders had declared themselves kings, and had fallen to fighting each other. After its all too brief period of unity, China was sliding again into being a collection of different states.

The rise of Liu Bang

One of these rebel leaders was Liu Bang. Like the others he had taken a royal title and now called himself the king of Han (Han had been one of the former states which the Qin had conquered).

Liu Bang was a man of peasant origin, with little if any education. He had risen to be a junior official under the Qin, and the story goes that in c. 210 he had been put in charge of some convicts, marching them to where the First Emperor's mausoleum was being built. They were to join the labour force on the huge project. Some of these convicts escaped, and Liu Bang knew that he would himself be executed for allowing this to happen. So, rather than turn himself in, he became a rebel himself, like many others at this time.

Liu Bang proved to be a first rate rebel leader, and an extremely shrewd judge of men. During the rebellions against the Qin and in the civil wars that followed, he surrounded himself with good generals, who were responsible for winning many battles for him. Later, as emperor, he was to surround himself with very able ministers.His rebel group was the one that first seized the Qin capital. This gave him great prestige, and he further augmented his reputation by formally abolishing the much-hated Qin law code. He ruled his area well, unlike other rebel leaders, who all too often plundered the people over whom they had set themselves. His fame spread throughout China, which greatly helped him in his campaigns.

Emperor Gaozu (Liu Bang) Founder of Han Dynasty

As the different rebel groups, under their new "kings", started fighting amongst themselves, he was able to play off one against the other. The groups rapidly coalesced into two alliances, with Liu Bang as the head of one of them. This alliance was victorious, and Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor. As he had previously taken the title of "King of Han", his dynasty was called the Han dynasty.

Establishing a dynasty

Although he now had the title of emperor, Liu Bang was at this point far from in complete control of the country: he had only won his position through the powerful aid of his allies. These were other rebel "kings" who still had their followers at their beck and call. So he faced a dilemma: if he made a move to take complete control for himself, his allies would turn against him and the civil war would start again. If on the other hand he recognised his allies as kings in their own territories, he would be left with very little real power himself, even if he did retain the title of emperor.

So, recognising these realities, he compromised. Liu Bang - or Gaozu, which is the reign-name by which he is known to Chinese history - allocated kingdoms to his leading supporters. These were all located in rich eastern parts of China. He himself kept control over the poorer western regions, dividing them into provinces and prefects under his own officials, following the practices of the Qin. Poor though these provinces were, it was here where the most dangerous frontiers were located, and thus where the bulk of the armies were based. This meant that Gaozu kept most of military power under his own control.

This arrangement prevented a new round of civil war breaking out. However, it was not a comfortable position for the new emperor to be in - while they were under the control of many different kings he could not benefit from the immense tax revenues produced by the wealthiest parts of his empire. One way or another, therefore, he quickly found reasons to depose all but one of these kings. He give their kingdoms to members of his own family. Not only were the new kings his own relatives, bound to him by ties of blood, but they had more limited powers than their predecessors had had.

On becoming emperor, Gaozu took over the old Qin administration. Many officials who had served the Qin now served Gaozu. This enabled him to govern the empire effectively from the start of his reign. However, he was careful to distance himself from many of the Qin ways of doing things. Having abolished the Qin law code, he promulgated a new, milder code, with less cruel punishments. He lightened the tax and labour services burden.

These carefully balanced policies enabled Gaozu to present himself to the people as a ruler who looked after their welfare, and set the Han regime on a much sounder footing than the Qin had had.

The Western Han dynasty

The 400 years of Chinese history under the Han is divided into two. The first two hundred years are called the Western Han (206 BCE - 2 CE), as its capital was the western city of Xian; the last two centuries are called the Eastern Han period (25-220 CE), as the capital was situated in Loyang, further to the east. These two periods are divided by the rule of the non-Han emperor, Wang Mang, which ended in a time of great chaos and suffering.

Subordinate kingdoms within the Han empire

Gaozu, the founder of the Han empire, had been obliged to leave the provinces divided between his own governors in the west, and various kings in the east (see above) - all but one of whom were members of his own family.

After some of the kings were involved in a dangerous rebellion, in 154 BCE, the size and number of kingdoms was reduced, and the power of the kings was greatly restricted even within their kingdoms. As time went by, more and more kingdoms were abolished, and provinces under appointed governors came to cover most of the empire.

The founder of the Han empire, Gaozu, had not followed any particular school of thought; he had simply acted according to what seemed best at any particular time. In succeeding generations, however, things changed. The Han crown princes were given the best education possible, under the best teachers - who happened to be Confucian scholars. It was natural that when the princes became emperors themselves, they should favour Confucianism, and soon it was the official philosophy of government.

A dual heritage

The Han empire thus came to have its roots in two conflicting schools of thought, Legalism and Confucianism. In practical matters, the Han ruled according to Legalist principles. They kept most of the Qin law code, which was based on Legalist principles. Even the Qin idea of group responsibility for crimes was kept. The people were required to obey the law without question, and, they had to pay taxes, work on state projects, and serve in the imperial army.

A Western-Han painted ceramic mounted cavalryman
from the tomb of a military general

All these obligations had been imposed on the Chinese people by the Legalist regime of the Qin dynasty.
The civil service
Above all, the Han emperors governed their empire through a huge civil service, which had first been created by the Legalist Qin ministers, and had then been taken over and expanded by the Han. This great bureaucracy was staffed by officials who were appointed and promoted on merit (a Legalist idea), regardless of their family backgrounds (although most came from the gentry class, since those lower down the social ladder could not afford the long years of education required to enter an official career).
Confucian rulers
On the other hand, the Han presented themselves as Confucian rulers, and urged the people to live according to Confucian principles. This was useful, as these stressed the virtue of respect for elders and obedience to rulers. For their part, the Han claimed that, following Confucian precepts, they were governing in the interest of the people as a whole.

And this was no idle claim. Following the Han founders lead, the Han law code, though based on that of the Qin, was milder, and the punishments less severe. Although they did not remove the peoples' duties to do labour service, or pay taxes, or serve in the army, the Han made these obligations easier for them to bear than they had been under the Qin. Han officials, while appointed for their efficiency, were trained in the Confucian way, with the underlying idea that governors were there to serve the people. Even most of the Han emperors themselves sincerely followed the Confucian precept of seeking the welfare of the people first.

One concrete fruit of this attitude to ruling was the creation of a network of " ever-normal granaries " throughout China to help the peasants survive times of poor harvest and famine.

This may seem to us an odd situation - two conflicting philosophies at work in the same regime; but it worked. The Former Han empire was almost certainly the best-governed state in the world at its time. The government machine worked well, bringing a high standard of justice and order to the lands which it controlled. Its officials were capable, well-educated and, for the time, honest. They were appointed for their intelligence, and promoted on the basis of their experience and performance.

Agriculture, industry and commerce under the Han

Han administrators placed great emphasis on agriculture, as they knew it was this that provided the empire with its primary economic base, and a flourishing agriculture made for a contented peasantry. The officials were intent on alleviating hardship and improving productivity. During Han times there was a marked concentration of the population in the central plains of the Yellow River region, and the general peace and stability of the period saw a sharp rise in numbers. Such was population pressure near the capital that land was a hundred times more expensive there than in border province.

From the very earliest years of the Han empire there were calls for the resettlement of farmers to the northern border regions as bulwark against incursions. A policy took shape in which land was provided, houses constructed, medical facilities put in place and tax remitted. In 119 BCE, the policy was intensified following serious flooding of the Yellow River. A total of 700,000 people moved north.

At the same time there was a steady drift southward, into areas where rice replaced millet as the staple crop.

Provincial governments often took the initiative in devising and implementing irrigation schemes. The spread of the use of iron tools - ploughs, sickles, scythes, spades and hoes - was officially encouraged, and this significantly improved productivity.

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A pair of Eastern-Han iron scissors
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Industry and technology
The iron industry was nationalised in 119 BCE, and forty-nine state-owned foundries, with enormous blast furnaces built of heat-resistant bricks, provided an industrial base upon which the requirements of the agricultural sector could be met. New techniques for creating higher smelting temperatures improved production, enabling more resilient weapons and a greater variety of agricultural items to be manufactured; ploughshares were redesigned and improved.

In 85 BCE an official introduced a seed drill (1800 years before one was developed in the west), so that ploughing and seeding could be undertaken simultaneously.

A manual on field techniques compiled in c. 30 BCE, covering the cultivation of a wide range of plants, including wheat, millet, soya beans, hemp, and mulberry trees, reveals the rapid advances of farming methods under the Western Han.

Dykes and canals were built to irrigate farmland and prevent flooding. One canal was 125 km long, and linked the Yellow River to the capital, Changan; it was used to transport food to the huge urban population.

The Han period also witnessed other vital innovations in productivity, such as water-powered bellows used in the production of iron, and the application of waterpower to milling grain. Above all, paper was invented in the 1st century BCE, bamboo having proved not ideal as a material for making documents and books with.

The centuries of peace which the Han period brought stimulated trade. Internal trade within the empire flourished, and exports became a major factor for the first time. The expansion of agriculture and trade led to the further proliferation of towns and cities within China.

The main Chinese export item during the period was silk, traded overland through Central Asia along the Silk Road (see below, Central Asia). Silk reached as far afield as Rome in the 1st century BCE.

The capital

The Han capital, Xian, was probably largest city in the world at this time - and would be until the coming of the Roman Empire, when the city of Rome reached its maximum extent. Interestingly, in some ways Xian was more like the Shang and early Zhou cities than those of the later phases of ancient Chinese history, in that it was primarily an administrative centre. This, however, was due to the sheer scale of the administrative task required to keep the huge empire governed. The palace complexes housed an enormous imperial court, and covered two-thirds of the city area inside the great walls. There were also two markets, as well as residential areas, and the streets were laid out in a grid pattern. Outside the walls were parks, pavilions, hunting grounds and further housing.

The Han army

The Han maintained a strong army. Military forces were deployed to take new territory, especially in the north-west, where huge tracts were occupied. To the south, the empire was extended as far as rich the Red River basin in northern Vietnam, and into the modern province of Yunnan; and to the east, parts of the Korean peninsula were occupied. The Han extended the Great Wall, which became the central element in the frontier defence system against the Xiongnu, who remained a constant threat. The army was also used to deal with problems of security within the empire itself.The ranks of the army were filled by an empire-wide system of conscription, which was compulsory for the bulk of population. There was also the so-called Northern Army, made up of some 3500 full-time, professional soldiers, under the command of five colonels. The role of this formation was to guard the capital.

An Eastern-Han pottery soldier, with a now-faded
coating of paint, is missing a weapon.

Expanding the Han empire

The Han dynasty gave the people of China peace. With peace came prosperity. In due course, this prosperity gave the state the power to expand its borders in all directions. The reign of the emperor Wudi (140-87 BCE ) is especially noted for its conquests.

Growing tensions between the Han empire and some powerful chieftains in Korea led to emperor Wudi invading the peninsula and setting up four provinces there. The Han presence here would be of great importance in the rise of Koran civilization, which would ever after look to China as its main inspiration.

The Han empire took up the task of conquering the south from the Qin, and Wudi completed it by a joint land and sea campaign involving four armies.

This huge region of China was never really fully absorbed into Han society, remaining very much a colonial area in which Han troops and administrators lived in some Chinese fortified towns, whilst the general population continued their lives much as before.

By 100 BCE, the Han empire was the largest (in terms of population, at least) and wealthiest state that the world had seen up to that point.

Central Asia

In 209 BCE, with the Qin were beginning their dramatic slide into oblivion and China falling into chaos, the various Xiongnu tribes had become united under the leadership of a dynamic leader called Modon. This new unity greatly increased their strength, and they had soon regained the territory lost to them under the Qin. The Xiongnu confederation expanded in all directions (and in doing so dislodged a powerful tribe called the Yuezhi, to their west, who then migrated south-westward, where they were to later play a major role in Indian and Afghan history as the Kushans).

The Xiongnu confederacy now posed a dangerous threat to the Chinese. The founder of the Han dynasty, the Gaozu emperor, tried to deal with this threat by going to war against them. In 200 BCE, however, his armies were heavily defeated. Ever the realist, Gaozu then changed tack and negotiated with them. The Great Wall was decided upon as the border between the two powers, and the relationship was cemented by marriage alliances between the Chinese and Xiongnu ruling families. The Chinese also agreed to give the Xiongnu periodic gifts in the form of silks and rice.

As time went by this treaty was violated by the Xiongnu on a number of occasions. In any case, it was seen as humiliating by the Chinese, who had to pay a regular tribute in silks and rice. Finally, under the emperor Wudi, the Chinese decided to return to a military policy, and this time launched a series of successful campaigns which took their armies far into central Asia. The Xiongu were defeated repeatedly. Some Xiongu therefore submitted to the Han. Others migrated west towards western Asia. In due course, they would reappear in history as the fearsome Huns who helped bring about the fall of the Roman empire.

The peace which the Han imposed on the wild tribes of the region encouraged trade with the west, and it was at this time that the famous Silk Road became established, along which flowed trade between China, the Middle East and Europe.

The Han imperial court

Within the imperial court, the emperor was surrounded by ministers and bureaucrats. However, during the reigns of child emperors (and there were a succession of these in the later 1st century BCE), dowager empresses wielded much power. Behind these stood their relatives, who often came to dominate the senior positions in court and administration. Some of these families attracting such envy that, on their inevitable fall from power they suffered virtual extermination.The emperor's personal needs were catered for by eunuchs, and by a royal harem. Some of these eunuchs became very powerful, playing a full role in the increasingly violent power-struggles at court. Lacking strong leadership, the Western Han regime became weak and ineffective.

Wang Mang was a well-respected official who, because of disgust at the factionalism at court, was prevailed upon to seize the throne in 9 CE.

His reign was a disaster. A Confucian idealist, he tried to turn the clock back to pre-imperial days, for example by vesting a new nobility with feudal powers. His policies antagonised both the bureaucrats and the peasantry, and a series of poor harvests and destructive flooding only made things worse. A massive peasant revolt gathered force, ending in the sacking of the capital and the murder of Yang Mang. Order was eventually reestablished by a member of Han imperial family, and the Han dynasty was reestablished in power in 25 CE.

The Eastern Han dynasty

The capital was moved to Loyang, to the east of Chang'an (hence the designation Eastern Han). Peace was reestablished, and the economy of China soon revived under the firm leadership of the new regime. Chinese dominance over the Xiongnu was also reimposed.

Under the later (or Eastern) Han, there were marked moves towards decentralisation. The state monopolies in iron and salt were relaxed and ownership passed into private hands; this was a period in which some merchants grew enormously wealthy and became landowners on a large scale. They joined a new class of big landowners which had been forming before Wang Mang's time, made up of the families of top officials and rich merchants. This class had greatly aided the founder of the Eastern Han gain the throne and restore order in the empire. As a result the later Han government became increasingly subservient to the interests of the upper classes, and less concerned than in former times about alleviating the condition of the peasants. Indeed, the upper classes as a whole grew increasingly rich and powerful. Many peasants were forced back into tenancy or even serfdom.

The rise of great estates was one feature of the period, and this affected the heartlands of the empire in the Yellow River region more than elsewhere. As a result, the movement of peasants towards the south continued under the later Han, but peasant discontent was a rising phenomenon throughout the later Han empire. Peasant uprisings became increasingly common.Trade along the Silk Road resumed its former volume. Western influences were brought in to China along this great trade route by merchants from Persians, India and the Roman empire; most notably, Buddhism spread along the Silk Road, from India into Central Asia and China. In their turn, Chinese merchants and travellers influenced the art styles of countries in Central Asia and northern India.

Modern Woven Carpet illustrating camel caravan on Silk Road.

At this time, the volume of sea-borne trade from southern China also expanded. Han-period shipyards found at Canton show that it was an important port. Goods arriving here by ship were then transported to the north by river and canal.

The Fall of the Han dynasty

The court factionalism noted above for the Western Han period continued under the Eastern Han, and became more intense. Power struggles between the families of imperial wives and mothers reached a new peak, and eunuch power and influence grew. From 180 CE a succession of child emperors sat on the Han throne, which made the situation even worse. It allowed violent factionalism to go unchecked at court. Stable government was utterly undermined, the administration became increasingly corrupt and oppressive.

These problems at court had their effect on the empire at large. Weak government allowed the power of rich landowners to grow to such a level that they were able to raise private armies from amongst their retainers. The poor rural population fell increasingly under their control. Natural disasters added to the people's woes. In 175 floods devastated northern China, and in 173 and 179 major epidemics swept the empire (perhaps an eastern spread of the plague - possibly smallpox - affecting the Roman empire at about the same time).

Unsurprisingly, peasant unrest grew. In 184 a movement known as the Yellow Turbans rose in revolt. The generals ordered to suppress it turned themselves into regional warlords. One of them seized the capital (190) and gained control of the emperor's person. This was the signal for the other warlords to establish their power on a more permanent basis, and the Han empire was dead in all but name. The Han dynasty came to an official end when the last emperor was forced to abdicate (220). The regional warlords now proclaimed themselves to be independent regimes, and China was fragmented between three kingdoms.

Further study
Civilization of Ancient China The evolution of state institutions in Ancient China The economy of Ancient China Society in Ancient China Thought and culture in Ancient China
To view maps charting the rise and fall of Ancient Chinese dynasties, go to our TimeMap of World History pages on Ancient China
Sources and further reading on Ancient China Back to Civilization of Ancient China

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The Han Dynasty of Ancient China - TimeMaps

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The Han dynasty came to power in 202 BCE, bringing an end to the chaos that raged throughout China after the fall of the Qin dynasty. The Han emperors ruled China for more than 400 years, except for a brief period between 9 and 23 CE, when a powerful minister, Wang Mang, seized the throne.

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* britannica.com

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When discussing earthquake study and the innovations built around it, there are multiple ways to look at it. There is the seismograph, used to detect earthquakes and record information about them, such as force and duration. There is also a number of instruments created to analyze and record other earthquake details like intensity and magnitude. These are some of the tools that shape the way we study earthquakes.

Seismic waves are the vibrations from earthquakes that travel through the earth. They are recorded on instruments called seismographs, which follow a zigzag trace that shows the varying amplitude of ground oscillations beneath the instrument. The sensor part of a seismograph is referred to as the seismometer, while the graphing capability was added as a later invention.

Sensitive seismographs, which greatly magnify these ground motions, can detect strong earthquakes from sources anywhere in the world. The time, location, and magnitude of an earthquake can be determined from the data recorded by seismograph stations.

Around 132 CE, Chinese scientist Chang Heng invented the first seismoscope, an instrument that could register the occurrence of an earthquake called a dragon jar. The dragon jar was a cylindrical jar with eight dragon heads arranged around its brim, each holding a ball in its mouth. Around the foot of the jar were eight frogs, each directly under a dragonhead. When an earthquake occurred, a ball dropped from a dragon's mouth and was caught by the frog's mouth.

A few centuries later, devices using water movement and later, mercury were developed in Italy. More specifically, Luigi Palmieri designed a mercury seismometer in 1855. Palmieri's seismometer had U-shaped tubes arranged along compass points and filled with mercury. When an earthquake hit, the mercury would move and make electrical contact that stopped a clock and started a recording drum on which the motion of a float on the surface of mercury was recorded. This was the first device that recorded the time of the earthquake and the intensity and duration of movements.

John Milne was the English seismologist and geologist who invented the first modern seismograph and promoted the building of seismological stations. In 1880, Sir James Alfred Ewing, Thomas Gray, and John Milne-all British scientists working in Japan-began to study earthquakes. They founded the Seismological Society of Japan, which funded the invention of seismographs. Milne invented the horizontal pendulum seismograph in the same year.

After World War II, the horizontal pendulum seismograph was improved with the Press-Ewing seismograph, developed in the United States for recording long-period waves. This seismograph uses a Milne pendulum, but the pivot supporting the pendulum is replaced by an elastic wire to avoid friction.

Intensity and magnitude are other important areas in the study of earthquakes. Magnitude measures the energy released at the source of the earthquake. It is determined from the logarithm of the amplitude of waves recorded on a seismogram at a certain period. Meanwhile, intensity measures the strength of shaking produced by the earthquake at a certain location. This is determined by effects on people, human structures, and the natural environment. Intensity does not have a mathematical basis-determining intensity is based on observed effects.

Credit for the first modern intensity scales goes jointly to Michele de Rossi of Italy and Francois Forel of Switzerland, who both independently published similar intensity scales in 1874 and 1881, respectively. Rossi and Forel later collaborated and produced the Rossi-Forel Scale in 1883, which became the first scale to be widely used internationally.

The Rossi-Forel Scale used 10 degrees of intensity. In 1902, Italian volcanologist Giuseppe Mercalli created a 12-degree scale.

Though there have been numerous intensity scales created to measure the effects of earthquakes, the one currently employed by the United States is the Modified Mercalli (MM) Intensity Scale. It was developed in 1931 by American seismologists Harry Wood and Frank Neumann. This scale is composed of 12 increasing levels of intensity that range from imperceptible shaking to catastrophic destruction. It does not have a mathematical basis; instead, it is an arbitrary ranking based on observed effects.

The Richter Magnitude Scale was developed in 1935 by Charles F. Richter of the California Institute of Technology. On the Richter Scale, magnitude is expressed in whole numbers and decimal fractions. For example, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake might be computed as moderate, and a strong earthquake might be rated as magnitude 6.3. Because of the logarithmic basis of the scale, each whole-number increase in magnitude represents a tenfold increase in measured amplitude. As an estimate of energy, each whole-number step in the magnitude scale corresponds to the release of about 31 times more energy than the amount associated with the preceding whole-number value.

When it was first created, the Richter Scale could only be applied to the records from instruments of identical manufacture. Now, instruments are carefully calibrated with respect to each other. Thus, magnitude can be computed using the Richter Scale from the record of any calibrated seismograph.

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The Seismograph and Other Innovations for the Study of Earthquakes

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When discussing earthquake study and the innovations built around it, there are multiple ways to look at it. There is the seismograph, used to detect earthquakes and record information about them, such as force and duration. There is also a number of instruments created to analyze and record other earthquake details like intensity and magnitude.

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In March 1974, a group of peasants digging a well in drought-parched Shaanxi province in northwest China unearthed fragments of a clay figure-the first evidence of what would turn out to be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of modern times. Near the unexcavated tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi-who had proclaimed himself first emperor of China in 221 B.C.-lay an extraordinary underground treasure: an entire army of life-size terra cotta soldiers and horses, interred for more than 2,000 years.

The site, where Qin Shi Huangdi's ancient capital of Xianyang once stood, lies a half-hour drive from traffic-clogged Xi'an (pop. 8.5 million). It is a dry, scrubby land planted in persimmon and pomegranate-bitterly cold in winter and scorching hot in summer-marked by dun-colored hills pocked with caves. But hotels and a roadside souvenir emporium selling five-foot-tall pottery figures suggest that something other than fruit cultivation is going on here.

Over the past 35 years, archaeologists have located some 600 pits, a complex of underground vaults as yet largely unexcavated, across a 22-square-mile area. Some are hard to get to, but three major pits are easily accessible, enclosed inside the four-acre Museum of the Terracotta Army, constructed around the discovery site and opened in 1979. In one pit, long columns of warriors, reassembled from broken pieces, stand in formation.With their topknots or caps, their tunics or armored vests, their goatees or close-cropped beards, the soldiers exhibit an astonishing individuality. A second pit inside the museum demonstrates how they appeared when they were found: some stand upright, buried to their shoulders in soil, while others lie toppled on their backs, alongside fallen and cracked clay horses. The site ranks with the Great Wall and Beijing's Forbidden City as one of the premier tourist attractions within China.

For those unable to make the journey to Xi'an, some of the choicest specimens unearthed there form the centerpiece of two successive traveling exhibitions that survey the reign of Qin Shi Huangdi (221 B.C.-210 B.C.). "The First Emperor," organized by the British Museum, debuted in London before moving to the High Museum in Atlanta. A second show, "Terra Cotta Warriors," then opened at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California. It is now at the Houston Museum of Natural Science through October 18, and then moves to the National Geographic Society Museum in Washington, D.C. for display from November 19 to March 31, 2010.

In addition to showcasing recent finds, the exhibitions feature the largest collection of terra cotta figures ever to leave China. The statuary includes nine soldiers arranged in battle formation (armored officers, infantrymen, and standing and kneeling archers), as well as a terra cotta horse. Another highlight is a pair of intricately detailed, ten-foot-long bronze chariots, each drawn by four bronze horses. (Too fragile to be transported, the chariots are represented by replicas.) The artifacts offer a glimpse of the treasures that attract visitors from around the world to the Xi'an museum site, where 1,900 of an estimated 7,000 warriors have been disinterred so far.

The stupendous find at first seemed to reinforce conventional thinking-that the first emperor had been a relentless warmonger who cared only for military might. As archaeologists have learned during the past decade, however, that assessment was incomplete. Qin Shi Huangdi may have conquered China with his army, but he held it together with a civil administration system that endured for centuries. Among other accomplishments, the emperor standardized weights and measures and introduced a uniform writing script.

Recent digs have revealed that in addition to the clay soldiers, Qin Shi Huangdi's underground realm, presumably a facsimile of the court that surrounded him during his lifetime, is also populated by delightfully realistic waterfowl, crafted from bronze and serenaded by terra cotta musicians. The emperor's clay retinue includes terra cotta officials and even troupes of acrobats, slightly smaller than the soldiers but created with the same methods. "We find the underground pits are an imitation of the real organization in the Qin dynasty," says Duan Qingbo, head of the excavation team at the Shaanxi Provincial Research Institute for Archaeology. "People thought when the emperor died, he took just a lot of pottery army soldiers with him. Now they realize he took a whole political system with him."

Qin Shi Huangdi decreed a mass-production approach; artisans turned out figures almost like cars on an assembly line. Clay, unlike bronze, lends itself to quick and cheap fabrication. Workers built bodies, then customized them with heads, hats, shoes, mustaches, ears and so on, made in small molds. Some of the figures appear so strikingly individual they seem modeled on real people, though that is unlikely. "These probably weren't portraits in the Western sense," says Hiromi Kinoshita, who helped curate the exhibition at the British Museum. Instead, they may have been aggregate portraits: the ceramicists, says Kinoshita, "could have been told that you need to represent all the different types of people who come from different regions of China."

The first emperor's capital, Xianyang, was a large metropolis, where he reportedly erected more than 270 palaces, of which only a single foundation is known to survive. Each time Qin Shi Huangdi conquered a rival state, he is said to have transported its ruling families to Xianyang, housing the vanquished in replicas of palaces they had left behind. At the same time, the emperor directed construction of his tomb complex; some 720,000 workers reportedly labored on these vast projects.

Upon the death of his father, Yiren, in 246 B.C., the future Qin Shi Huangdi-then a prince named Ying Zheng who was around age 13-ascended the throne. The kingdom, celebrated for its horsemen, sat on the margin of civilization, regarded by its easterly rivals as a semi-savage wasteland. Its governing philosophy was as harsh as its terrain. Elsewhere in China, Confucianism held that a well-run state should be administered by the same precepts governing a family: mutual obligation and respect. Qin rulers, however, subscribed to a doctrine known as legalism, which rested on the administration of punitive laws.

In his early 20s, Ying Zheng turned for guidance to a visionary statesman, Li Si, who likely initiated many of his sovereign's accomplishments. Under Li's tutelage, Ying Zheng introduced a uniform script (thereby enabling subjects of vastly different dialects to communicate). Standardization, a hallmark of the Qin state, was applied to weaponry as well: should an arrow shaft snap, or the trigger on a repeating crossbow malfunction, the component could be easily replaced. The young ruler also presided over creation of an advanced agricultural infrastructure that incorporated irrigation canals and storage granaries.

With methodical zeal, Ying Zheng set about conquering the warring states that surrounded him in the late third century B.C. As his armies advanced, principalities fell. No one could thwart consolidation of an empire that eventually stretched from parts of present-day Sichuan in the west to coastal regions along the East China Sea. Having unified the entire civilized world as he knew it, Ying Zheng in 221 B.C. renamed himself Qin Shi Huangdi, translated as First Emperor of Qin.

He then invested in infrastructure and built massive fortifications. His road network likely exceeded 4,000 miles, including 40-foot-wide speedways with a central lane reserved for the imperial family. On the northern frontier, the emperor dispatched his most trusted general to reinforce and connect existing border barriers, creating a bulwark against nomadic marauders. Made of rammed earth and rubble, these fortifications became the basis for the Great Wall, most of which would be rebuilt in stone and brick during the 15th century A.D. under the Ming dynasty.

As the grandeur of his tomb complex suggests, Qin Shi Huangdi kept an eye on posterity. But he also longed to extend his life on earth-perhaps indefinitely. Alchemists informed the emperor that magical herbs were to be found on what they claimed were three Islands of the Immortals in the East China Sea. The emissaries most likely to gain entry to this mystical realm, they asserted, were uncorrupted children; in 219 B.C., Qin Shi Huangdi reportedly dispatched several thousand youngsters to search for the islands. They never returned. Four years later, the emperor sent three alchemists to retrieve the herbs. One of them made it back, recounting a tale of a giant fish guarding the islands. Legend has it that the first emperor resolved to lead the next search party himself; on the expedition, the story goes, he used a repeating crossbow to kill a huge fish. But instead of discovering life-preserving elixirs, the emperor contracted a fatal illness.

As he lay dying in 210 B.C., 49-year-old Qin Shi Huangdi decreed that his estranged eldest son, Ying Fusu, should inherit the empire. The choice undercut the ambitions of a powerful royal counselor, Zhao Gao, who believed he could govern the country behind the scenes if a more malleable successor were installed. To conceal Qin Shi Huangdi's death-and disguise the stench of a decomposing corpse-until the travelers returned to the capital, Zhao Gao took on a cargo of salted fish. The delaying tactic worked. Once Zhao Gao managed to return to Xianyang, he was able to operate on his home turf. He managed to transfer power to Ying Huhai, a younger, weaker son.

Ultimately, however, the scheme failed. Zhao Gao could not maintain order and the country descended into civil war. The Qin dynasty outlived Qin Shi Huangdi by only four years. The second emperor committed suicide; Zhao Gao eventually was killed. Various rebel forces coalesced into a new dynasty, the Western Han.

For archaeologists, one indicator that Qin rule had collapsed suddenly was the extensive damage to the terra cotta army. As order broke down, marauding forces raided the pits where clay soldiers stood guard and plundered their real weapons. Raging fires, possibly set deliberately, followed the ransacking, weakening support pillars for wooden ceilings, which crashed down and smashed the figures. Some 2,000 years later, archaeologists discovered charring on the walls of one pit.

Throughout recorded Chinese history, the first emperor's Ebang Palace-its site on the Wei River, south of ancient Xianyang, was not investigated until 2003- was synonymous with ostentation. The structure was said to have been the most lavish dwelling ever constructed, with an upper-floor gallery that could seat 10,000 and a network of covered walkways that led to distant mountains to the south.

"All Chinese people who can read, including middle- school students, believed that the Qin dynasty collapsed because it put so much money into the Ebang Palace," says archaeologist Duan. "According to excavation work from 2003, we found it was actually never built-only the base. Above it was nothing." Duan says that if the palace had been erected and demolished, as historians thought, there would be potsherds and telltale changes in soil color. "But tests found nothing," says Duan. "It is so famous a symbol of Chinese culture for so long a time, showing how cruel and greedy the first emperor was-and archaeologists found it was a lie." Duan also doubts accounts of Qin Shi Huangdi's expedition for life-prolonging herbs. His version is more prosaic: "I believe that the first emperor did not want to die. When he was sick, he sent people to find special medicines."

The emperor's tomb lies beneath a forested hill, surrounded by cultivated fields about a half-mile from the museum. Out of reverence for an imperial resting place and concerns about preserving what might be unearthed there, the site has not been excavated. According to a description written a century after the emperor's death, the tomb contains a wealth of wonders, including man-made streambeds contoured to resemble the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, flowing with shimmering, quicksilver mercury that mimics coursing water. (Analysis of soil in the mound has indeed revealed a high level of mercury.)

Yet answers about the tomb are not likely to emerge anytime soon. "I have a dream that one day science can develop so that we can tell what is here without disturbing the emperor, who has slept here for 2,000 years," says Wu Yongqi, director of the Museum of the Terracotta Army. "I don't think we have good scientific techniques to protect what we find in the underground palace. Especially if we find paper, silk or textiles from plants or animals; it would be very bad if they have been kept in a balanced condition for 2,000 years, but suddenly they would vanish in a very short time." He cites another consideration: "For all Chinese people, he is our ancestor, and for what he did for China, we cannot unearth his tomb just because archaeologists or people doing tourism want to know what is buried there."

Whatever future excavations reveal about Qin Shi Huangdi's enigmatic nature, some things seem unlikely to change. The emperor's importance as a seminal figure of history won't be diminished. And the mysteries that surround his life will likely never be completely resolved.

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A traveling exhibition of China's terra cotta warriors sheds new light on the ruler whose tomb they guarded

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* Video of Great Wall

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Early building

About the 7th century bce the state of Chu started to construct a permanent defensive system. Known as the "Square Wall," this fortification was situated in the northern part of the kingdom's capital province. From the 6th to the 4th century other states followed Chu's example. In the southern part of the Qi state an extensive perimeter wall was gradually created using existing river dikes, newly constructed bulwarks, and areas of impassable mountain terrain. The Qi wall was made mainly of earth and stone and terminated at the shores of the Yellow Sea. In the Zhongshan state a wall system was built to thwart invasion from the states of Zhao and Qin in the southwest. There were two defensive lines in the Wei state: the Hexi ("West of the [ Yellow] River") and Henan ("South of the River") walls. The Hexi Wall was a fortification against the Qin state and western nomads. Built during the reign of King Hui (370-335 bce), it was expanded from the dikes on the Luo River on the western border. It started in the south near Xiangyuan Cave, east of Mount Hua, and ended at Guyang in what is now the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Henan Wall, built to protect Daliang (the capital, now Kaifeng), was repaired and extended in King Hui's later years. The Zheng state also built a wall system, which was rebuilt by the Han state after it conquered Zheng. The state of Zhao completed a southern wall and a northern wall; the southern wall was built mainly as a defense against the Wei state.

After administrative reorganization was carried out by Shang Yang (died 338 bce), the Qin state grew politically and militarily to become the strongest among the seven states, but it was frequently raided by the Donghu and Loufan, two nomadic peoples from the north. Therefore, the Qin erected a wall that started from Lintiao, went north along the Liupan Mountains, and ended at the Huang He (Yellow River).

In the Yan state two separate defensive lines were prepared-the Northern Wall and the Yishui Wall-in an effort to defend the kingdom from attacks by northern groups such as the Donghu, Linhu, and Loufan, as well as by the Qi state in the south. The Yishui Wall was expanded from the dike of the Yi River as a defense line against Qi and Zhao, its two main rival states. It began southwest of Yi City, the capital, and ended south of Wen'an. In 290 bce the Yan state built the Northern Wall along the Yan Mountains, starting from the northeast in the area of Zhangjiakou in Hebei, passing over the Liao River, and extending to the ancient city of Xiangping (modern Liaoyang). This was the last segment of the Great Wall to be erected during the Zhanguo ( Warring States) period.

In 221 bce Shihuangdi, the first Qin emperor, completed his annexation of Qi and thus unified China. He ordered removal of the fortifications set up between the previous states because they served only as obstacles to internal movements and administration. In addition, he sent Gen. Meng Tian to garrison the northern border against incursions of the nomadic Xiongnu and to link the existing wall segments in Qin, Yan, and Zhao into the so-called "10,000- Li Long Wall" (2 li equal approximately 0.6 mile [1 km]). This period of construction began about 214 bce and lasted a decade. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and conscripted workers laboured on the project. With the fall of the Qin dynasty after Shihuangdi's death, however, the wall was left largely ungarrisoned and fell into disrepair.

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Great Wall of China | Definition, History, Length, Map, Location, & Facts

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Great Wall of China, an extensive bulwark erected in ancient China, one of the largest building-construction projects ever undertaken. It actually consists of numerous walls-many of them parallel to each other-built over some two millennia across northern China and southern Mongolia.

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* Lots of info on this site.

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Main Idea: Chinese society had three main social classes: landowning aristocrats, farmers, and merchants.

A social class includes individuals who share a similar position in society. Early Chinese society had three main social classes:
* landowning aristocrats
* peasant farmers
* merchants

gave part of their crop to the landowners. Classes in Chinese Society China's aristocratic families owned large estates in early China. They lived in large houses with tile roofs, courtyards, and gardens. Fine furniture and silk hangings filled their rooms, and their houses were surrounded by walls to keep out bandits.

Aristocrats relied on farmers to grow the crops that made them rich. About nine out of ten Chinese were farmers. They lived in simple houses inside village walls. The aristocrats owned the fields outside the village walls. In these fields, farmers in northern China grew wheat and a grain called millet. In the south, where the climate was warmer and wetter, they were able to grow rice. To pay for the use of the land, the farmers
The aristocratic families did not own large estates for long. Each aristocrat divided his land among his sons. As a result, sons and grandsons owned much less property than their fathers and grandfathers had owned.

Most farmers also owned a small piece of land where they grew food for their family. A typical family ate fish, turnips, beans,
wheat or rice, and millet. The farmers had to pay taxes and work one month each year building roads and helping on other big government projects. In wartime, the farmers also served as soldiers.

In Chinese society, farmers ranked above merchants. The merchant social class included shopkeepers, traders, and bankers.
The merchants lived in towns and provided goods and services to the landowners.

Many merchants became quite rich, but landowners and farmers still looked down on them. Chinese leaders believed that government officials should not be concerned with money. As a result, merchants were not allowed to have government jobs.

What Was Life Like in a Chinese Family? The family was the basic building block of Chinese society. Because farming in ancient China required many workers, people had big families to help them produce more and become wealthier. Even the young children of a family worked in the fields. Older sons raised their own crops and provided food for their parents. Chinese families also took care of people in need-the aged, the young, and the sick.

Chinese families practiced filial piety (FIH * lee * uhl PY * uh * tee). This meant that children had to respect their parents and
older relatives. Family members placed the needs and desires of the head of the family before their own. The head of the family was the oldest male, usually the father. However, a son could take on this role, and then even his mother had to obey him.

Men and women had very different roles in early China. Men were respected because they grew the crops. They went to
school, ran the government, and fought wars. The Chinese considered these jobs more important than the work that
women did.

Chinese women could not hold government posts. However, women in the royal court could influence government decisions.
Wives of rulers or women in the royal family often convinced men in power to see things their way. Although their role was
limited, women also had an important influence in the home. Most women raised children and saw to their education. Many
women also managed the family finances.

Main Idea: Three Chinese philosophies-Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism-grew out of a need for order.

As the Zhou kingdom weakened in the 500s B.C., violence became common. During the Period of the Warring States, rulers sent armies to destroy enemy states. Whole villages of men, women, and children were beheaded. Many Chinese began looking for ways to restore order to society.

Between 500 B.C. and 200 B.C., Chinese thinkers developed three major theories about how to create a peaceful society.
These theories are called Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism.

Who Was Confucius? Confucius (kuhn * FYOO * shuhs) was ancient China's first great thinker and teacher. He wanted to end the problems in China and bring peace to society.

Confucius believed that people needed to have a sense of duty. Duty meant that a person must put the needs of family and
community before his or her own needs. Each person owed a duty to another person. Parents owed their children love, and
children owed their parents honor. Husbands owed their wives support, and wives owed their husbands obedience. Above all, rulers had to set good examples. If a king ruled for the common good, his subjects would respect him and society would prosper.

Confucius believed that if each person did his or her duty, society as a whole would do well. He also urged people to be
good and to seek knowledge: "There are those who act without knowing; I will have none of this. To hear a lot, choose the good, and follow it, to see a lot and learn to recognize it: this is next to knowledge." -Confucius, Analects

To Confucius, the best way to behave was similar to an idea known as the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have
others do unto you." Confucius urged people to "measure the feelings of others by one's own," for "within the four seas all
men are brothers."

Confucius traveled through China trying to persuade government leaders to follow his ideas. Confucianism (kuhn* FYOO* shuh* NIH * zuhm) taught that all men with a talent for governing should take part in government. Of course, this idea was not popular with aristocrats, and few leaders listened.

Over time, Confucius won many followers who honored him as a great teacher. They wrote down his sayings and carried his message. After Confucius died in 479 B.C., his sayings spread throughout China.

What Is Daoism? Daoism (DOW* IH * zuhm) is another Chinese philosophy that promotes a peaceful society. Daoism (also
called Taoism) is based on the teachings of Laozi (LOWD* ZOO). Laozi, or the Old Master, lived around the same time as
Confucius. Scholars do not know if Laozi was a real person. However, the ideas credited to him became popular between
500 B.C. and 300 B.C.

The ideas of Daoism are written in Dao De Jing (The Way of the Dao). Like Confucianism, Daoism tells people how to
behave. Daoists believed that people should give up worldly desires. They should turn to nature and the Dao-the force that guides all things. To show how to follow the Dao, Daoists used examples from nature: " Higher good is like water: the good in water benefits all, and does so without contention. It rests where people dislike to be, so it is close to the Way. Where it dwells becomes good ground; profound is the good in its heart, Benevolent the good it bestows." -Laozi, Tao Te Ching

In some ways, Daoism is the opposite of Confucianism. Confucius taught that people should work hard to improve the world.
Daoism told people to give up their concerns about the world. It said they should seek inner peace and live in harmony with
nature. Many Chinese followed both Confucianism and Daoism.

What Is Legalism? A third group of thinkers disagreed with the idea that honorable men in government could bring peace to society. Instead, they argued for a system of laws. People called their thinking Legalism (LEE * guh* LIH * zuhm), or the "School of Law."

A scholar named Hanfeizi (HAN * fay * DZOO) developed the teachings of Legalism during the 200s B.C. Unlike Confucius or
Laozi, Hanfeizi taught that humans were naturally evil. He believed that the government needed to issue harsh laws and stiff
punishments to force them to do their duty. His followers believed that a strong ruler was needed to maintain order in society. Many aristocrats liked Legalism because it favored force and power, and did not require rulers to show kindness or understanding. Its ideas led to cruel laws and punishments for Chinese farmers.

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Main Idea: Chinese society had three main social classes: landowning aristocrats, farmers, and merchants. A social class includes individuals who share a similar position in society. Early Chinese society had three main social classes:* landowning aristocrats* peasant farmers* merchants gave part of their crop to the landowners.

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- [Narrator] Now I'm going to talk about one of the greatest philosophers and teachers in human history, and that is Confucius, known to the Chinese as Kongzi, which means Master Kong, or Kong Fuzi, which means Grand Master Kong. And once again, my apologies for my pronunciation. The word Confucius is a Latinization of Kong Fuzi. So you can imagine Kong Fuzicius, Confucius. Now what's interesting about Confucius is he grew up in a time when China was getting more and more divided. In other videos we talked about the Zhou dynasty, which begins at the very end of the second millennium. But in the time of Confucius we're in what's known as the end of the Spring and Autumn period. Confucius lived from 551 to 479 BCE. And we're ending the Spring and Autumn period and we're getting into the period of the Warring States. So even in the time of Confucius there was more and more tension between states. People felt less confident in the central government, and as we'll see, in this late Spring and Autumn period, and especially as we get into this really violent period known as the Warring States period, a lot of philosophers started to arise and philosophies began to arise because people were struggling with these questions of, what is the role of the state? What does it mean to be a good person? How does humanity fit in with the cosmic order? Now, what's interesting about Confucius is by his own account he says that he doesn't come up with anything new. It's more of him trying to resuscitate or rejuvenate some of the traditions of the past. Most historians would give him more credit. Even though Confucius does look to the early Zhou dynasty for a lot of his inspiration, and he looked to a lot of the traditions of the ancestors, he definitely puts a spin on it which makes it a very powerful philosophy and arguably religion as we get into this Warring States period, and especially as we get into a more unified China under the Qin and Han dynasties. And as we'll see under the Han dynasty in particular, Confucianism becomes essentially the state religion. Now to get a sense of what Confucius preached, and his life, he spent most of his life both teaching and preaching. A lot of people compare him to Socrates even though he predates Socrates. And simultaneously he was also building a career as a civil servant, but his legacy is definitely around his preachings, and most of his life was here in the state of Lu in eastern China. So there's three general themes that you could talk about Confucius's teachings. I encourage you to go look at his Analects, they're quite interesting, to get many many more of them. But a lot of it is around respecting traditions and respecting elders. Here's a quote from the Analects. "A young man should serve his parents at home "and be respectful to elders outside his home. "He should be earnest and truthful, loving all, "but becoming intimate with his innate good-heartedness. "After doing this, if he has energy to spare, "he can study literature and the arts." And there's a lot of talk of, if someone is to be a good citizen they need to be a good child first. They need to be a good son. Now he also talks about, what does it mean to be a just ruler? "If you control people by punishment, "they will avoid crime, but have no personal sense of shame. "If you govern them by means of virtue and control them "with propriety, they will gain their own sense of shame, "and thus correct themselves." And as we'll see, morality and ethics plays a huge role at a personal level and also at a state level to Confucius, and we'll talk about other philosophies where that might not be as strong of a sense. Now another very big theme to Confucius was looking to yourself. Through self-improvement you can be a better citizen, a better child, a better ruler. "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance. "Learning without thought is labor lost; "thought without learning is perilous. "When you see someone of worth, "think of how you may emulate. "When you see someone unworthy, examine your own character." I like that one in particular. "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire." So a very close statement to the Golden Rule. Now as I mentioned, Confucius and Confucianism was not alone in this period of the Spring and Autumn period and especially as you get into the Warring States period. During that time we have what's known as the Hundred Schools of Thought, which, this time period starts around the time of Confucius and goes until Qin dynasty ends the Warring States period, and in a very strong way unifies China. Now we already talked about Confucianism, which talks a lot about ethics, but its goal, remember Confucius himself was a civil servant. He was an administrator. He thought a lot about, what does it mean to be a just ruler? So it definitely touches on the practical to a good bit. Now, many people say it's an ethical system, but many would also consider it a religion because it does touch on the metaphysical, the notions of heaven, and it borrows a lot from China's past. Now, other samples of the Hundred Schools of Thought, especially ones that have had a significant role on China's history, and even modern China, include the Legalists. The Legalists have a strong pragmatism. They are dismissive of the Confucian notion of strong internal ethics and that will guide people and rulers. Legalists are much more about, look, we need a strong, orderly central state. We need to do whatever it takes, and it might be clamping down on people hard, in order to have stability, in order to have rule. And you can imagine the context in which this Legalism is coming about. This is during the Warring States period, this incredibly violent period where the states in China are fragmented, and so you can imagine these people who are very realistic. They're like, "Look, we've had this Confucianism. "We have these other philosophies. "But we need strong, super centralized rulers." And it ends up being that Legalist philosophy that wins the day as you have the emergence of the Qin dynasty in 221, and the Qin dynasty is what modern China is named after and it's considered the first dynasty to really unify China in a very strong way and create its administrative and bureaucratic systems, and it really is based on Legalism and it was able to put an end to this Warring States period by putting so much power, central power, in strong rulers who were willing to be quite violent in repressing other people in order to bring that stability. And it's notable that the emergence of the Qin is also considered the end of the Hundred Schools of Thought, 'cause the Qin as part of that order started persecuting many of the other forms of philosophy, including many of those that followed Confucius. Now other forms of philosophy, and this is just a sample, that have strongly influenced China. You have Taoism. Taoism is, according to Taoist belief, comes from Laozi, and the historical record of Laozi isn't as clear as we have for Confucius, but it's believed that he lived around the same time. Some people view him as more of a legendary figure. But Taoism is much more concerned with the spiritual than Confucianism. You see quotes, the Tao is really The Way. It's all about harmony with the universe. "Free from desire, you realize the mystery. "Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations." The Tao Te Ching. Now later on, Buddhism. It's interesting, Buddha lives at around the same time, once again, his birth and date are under a little bit more in contention, as Confucius, and he lives in northeast India, Nepal area, and Buddhism really comes about in Indian, but it eventually makes its way into China, especially as we get into the first millennium CE. And in modern day China a lot of the culture and the philosophy and the religion is a combination in particular of Confucianism most strongly, but also Taoism and Buddhism. But there were other philosophies. For example Mohism is a quite interesting one. I encourage you to look at it. But it's all about this notion of impartial love. It actually has a lot of similarities, parallels, with the teachings of Jesus as told by the gospels. But that notion was viewed somewhat impractical by many of the followers of Confucius and especially the Legalists, and Mohism really didn't last much beyond the Qin dynasty. But one way to think about it is, Legalism allowed the Qin dynasty to really end the Warring States period and centralize China. But then that short-lived dynasty as a transition to the Han, the Han took over the administrative structure and the stability of the Qin to a large degree, but then they made Confucianism really the state philosophy and you could even say the state religion. And to appreciate the importance of Confucianism to Chinese culture, I'll leave you with this last quote by the historian Huston Smith. "For though Confucius did not author Chinese culture," as we talked about, even Confucius says, "I didn't invent anything," "he was its supreme editor."

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Confucius and the Hundred Schools of Thought (video) | Khan Academy

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Narrator] Now I'm going to talk about one of the greatest philosophers and teachers in human history, and that is Confucius, known to the Chinese as Kongzi, which means Master Kong, or Kong Fuzi, which means Grand Master Kong. And once again, my apologies for my pronunciation.

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* A period of many civil wars

Credit: By Philg88 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11900403

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Shang Dynasty

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Oracle Bone, Shang Dynasty (video) | China | Khan Academy

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

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Did it really exist? Are the stories true?

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The Xia Dynasty (2070-1600 BC) was the first recorded dynasty in China, however the records and its existence are disputed. However, most Chinese people would say that their ancestors originated in an area near the east coast of China around Beijing and Tianjin and the Yellow River.

This empire was said to have existed for about 400 years until the Shang Dynasty conquered it in 1600. Based on historical writings or myths 2,000 or more years old, we get a picture of what the early civilization was like.

Xia Dynasty Key Facts

Chinese: 夏朝 Xiàcháo /sshyaa-chaoww/ 'Summer Dynasty'

Established: 2070 BC

Capitals: First in the Beijing area, and later someplace in today's Henan and Shanxi provinces.

Features: Clans were united as a small empire and ruled according to the dynastic imperial system.

Succeeded by: the Shang Dynasty in 1600 BC

Did the Xia Dynasty Exist or Not?

This question is still debatable since no conclusive evidence has been discovered that link several archeological sites evidencing advanced early bronze-age cultures with the Xia as described in the Han people's written history. Their oldest historical documents were written between 0 BC and 1000 BC.

Sima Qian's account, Records of the Grand Historian, were written between about 109 and 91 BC. He tells about the origins and the history of the the Xia Dynasty of the Huaxia tribe along the Yellow River.

Based mainly on the ancient historical traditions, most Han Chinese generally identify themselves as descendants of the Huaxia tribe of the Xia dynastic clan.

What's the Evidence of Their Existence?

What we know about the Xia Dynasty era comes both from their own written histories and modern archeological discoveries.

The Archeological Evidence

Archeologists know that around the time that the Xia Kingdom is said to have existed, between 2070 and 1600 BC, there were several cultures in the Yellow River Basin. Archeologists generally think that the Han ethnic group and their culture emerged in the region about 4,000 years ago. Exact details about their origins are lost in the myths of history, but scholars try to decipher archeological discoveries for clues to uncover their origins.

Neolithic Peoples in the Yellow River Basin

Though archeologists think they know the general region where the Han originated, scholars debate about the exact area and time of the emergence of their civilization in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. In particular, it isn't clear archeologically about which tribes became the Han. Archeologists have discovered evidence of several tribes or small kingdoms in the river basin area more than 3,500 years ago, but they have not proved which of these people were the ancestors of the Han.

Archeologists have identified the Jiahu people (7000 to 6600 BC) and the Yangshao people (5000 to 3000 BC) who lived in the middle reaches of the Yellow River Valley. In the lower reaches of the river valley, the Qingliangang people (5400 to 4000 BC) lived nearer the coast. No written records of these people have been found, so it isn't clear whether these people were the ancestors of the Han people.

The Longshan culture (3000 to 2000) lived in the middle reaches, and the culturally different Dawenkou people (4300 to 2500) lived in the lower reaches contemporaneously. However, since no written records have been found among their remains and artifacts, it isn't clear whether these people were the ancestors of the Han either.

Archaeological Evidence? - Xia Era Relics Found

A site (called Erlitou) was discovered in the central Yellow River basin where the Xia Dynasty is said to have ruled. It is between Luoyang and Zhengzhou, in western Henan Province.

Radiocarbon dating places these discoveries between 2000 and 1500 BC. But it is unknown whether the Erlitou people were the people who were called the Xia.

Bronze tools and artifacts were dug out. But no written records have been found except for some markings on pottery and shells.

Erlitou Artifacts

Many stone tools, pottery, jade ware, bronze ware, horn implements, and mussels were unearthed. A Chinese dragon-shaped object decorated with beautiful turquoise was believed to be the original image of a Chinese dragon.

As more Erlitou culture evidence is unearthed, we will see what evidence there is to prove that the Xia Dynasty existed.

Historical Records of the Xia Dynasty

Records of the Grand Historian.

Some ancient accounts tell about the rise and fall of a small kingdom along the Yellow River in the northern part of the country over a 500-year period. But the accounts were all written later than the Xia Dynasty.

The main ancient accounts are in the Records of the Grand Historian (written between about 109 and 91 BC by Sima Qian), and the Bamboo Annals. The Bamboo Annals was written by official historians of Jin and Wei during the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC).

Xia Dynasty Origin Stories in Detail

The Origins of Xia - Descendants of a Great Emperor

Recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian, there were battles between clans before Xia was established. Xia was one of Zhuanxu's descendant clans. Zhuanxu was one of the five great emperors in ancient times.

Yu the Great Established the Xia Dynasty (Reign: 2029-1978 BC)

Yu the Great was appreciated by Shun, the Xia clan's king at that time. Because the Xia tribe grew stronger, they were able to defeat a rival tribe. Shun sent Yu to suppress the Sanmiao tribe and he succeeded, which helped to make the Xia clan a strong one. Shun passed his throne to Yu the Great, and the Xia Dynasty began.

Before the Xia Dynasty, the clans passed their kingship to a reputable person. But Yu the Great passed his kingship to his son, Qi. Then the dynastic system began.

There was another story that Yu the Great planned to pass the throne to Gaotao, but Gaotao died before Yu the Great. And then he planned to pass it to Boyi, but his son Qi gained a higher reputation than Boyi. So Qi killed Boyi and succeeded the throne.

Stories of Yu the Great Taming Yellow River Floods

In the written stories, there was once a great flood that lasted many years, in about 2215 BC. A man named Yu the Great was given the task to control the flooding on the Yellow River by a sagely king named Yao (2358-2258 BC).

As you can see, the dates of these supposed events don't even match. It is said that Yao told Gun, who was Yu's father, to control the flood.

But the dikes that he built against the flooding didn't work. They collapsed, and the area was flooded. So Yao executed Gun and recruited Yu. Instead of relying on dikes, Yu had canals dug to divert the water. Digging the canals meant removing a mountain. The place where the mountain was removed was called Yu's Doorway (禹门口).

The flood works united the people along the Yellow River together. Yu the Great tamed the flood with other clans, gaining him a good reputation. Because of greater harvests, the Xia tribe grew stronger. People respected Yu highly for successfully controlling the flood, and he later became the ruler of the Xia clan.

The Story of the Demise of the Xia Dynasty (1559 BC)

The Xia Dynasty is said to have continued for hundreds of years. The kingdom had ups and downs, and it expanded during the reigns of another 17 emperors.

The Xia Empire Lost Prestige and Broke Up with Other Clans

One of the emperors, named Kongjia, changed the custom of worshiping ancestors to worshiping supernatural beings. Some clans were dissatisfied with Xia's rule. And when Jie inherited the throne, the good relationship between Xia and other clans had been broken.

The Last Xia Emperor, Jie (Reign: 1590-1559 BC)

The last emperor, named Jie, was very extravagant and fell into dissipation. Jie constructed a palace for his favorite concubine and drank all night long. He killed his loyal ministers who criticized him.

Emperor Jie was fond of women and every time he suppressed a clan, he took away the women that he wanted. The Shang clan grew stronger when Xia lost favor with the other clans. Jie then suppressed Shang and imprisoned Tang their leader, but he was later released.

It is said that Emperor Jie's wanton rule led to the dynasty falling out of favor with Heaven, i.e. Xia lost the Mandate of Heaven, meaning that it was fated to be replaced.

The Shang Clan Led Other Clans to Supplant Xia

Around 1559 BC, Tang of Shang united the other clans to suppress Jie and succeeded. Jie was banished, and Tang became the first leader of the Shang Dynasty.

See Evidence of China's Earliest Civilization for Yourself

Luoyang

The bronze implements and weapons, and fine jade jewelry and figurines show high craftsmanship. Some artifacts can be seen in the National Museum in Beijing. Customize a tour of Beijing to visit the museum.

The Erlitou exhibit in Yanshi is off the beaten path. It would be best to visit it in conjunction with a Luoyang tour or a Zhengzhou tour.

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Xia Dynasty History (2070-1600 BC), China's First Dynasty?

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The Xia Dynasty (2070-1600 BC) was the first recorded dynasty in China, however evidence for it is not conclusive. Find out more here.

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founder of Xia Dynasty

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* Longest river in Asia

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About 4 mil sq miles, comparable in size to the US.

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Kids History: Geography of Ancient China

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Kids learn about the Geography of Ancient China. How the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, mountains, and deserts impacted the early Chinese culture.