Han
Dynasty
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Quick Review
What continent is
China located on?
Name the two major
rivers.
What isolated China
from the rest of the
world?
What was the social
order of the Shang?
Name 3 of the
Shang’s advances.
Describe oracle
bones.
What philosophy
believed in going
with the flow of
nature, yin and
yang, and the 3
jewels?
What philosophy
believed in the law
(fa), legitimacy (shi),
and arts of the ruler
(shu), and had
harsh punishments?
What philosophy
believed in the
return to ethics by
fathers and leaders
acting as good role
models?
What were the Terra
Cotta Soldiers?
Who was Shi
Huangdi?
What occurred
under
standardization?
What were the
benefits of the Great
Wall?
What were the costs
of the Great Wall?
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This was not the Golden Age of China, but life
was very good for many of the people because of
the demand for Chinese silk and the creation of
the major trade route, the Silk Road.
East
meets
West
The silk road
connected the East
to the West
for the first time in
history.
This allowed people to trade items, learn about
different customs and cultures and be exposed
to new ideas.
Traded
items on
the Silk Road
Silk cloth, grain, porcelain, rhubarb, herbal
medicines, herds of horses, camels, dates, raisins,
jade, horses, metal works, glass, musical
instruments, glassware, carpets, spices, dyed cloth,
gold, ivory, spices, cotton cloth, pearls, precious
stones, bolts of silk
The
Silk
Road
People who traveled the Silk Road were
constantly exposed to new ideas, sights, sounds
and tastes. Traveling along the Silk Road, meant
encountering unexpected surprises, discoveries
and new knowledge.
Buddhism in
China
As trade flourished,
different people came
together, and their contact
led to cultural exchange
and diffusion.
It was during this period in the 1st century A.D.
that traders and Buddhist missionaries first
brought Buddhism to China.
Han
Tombs
Han writing tells
us very little about
their daily life.
Han tombs, however, tell us quite a lot. The
Hans buried clay models of their homes and
belongings, in their tombs. Models included
details like little clay furniture and little bronze oil
lamps.
Arts
&
Science
New literature
& music
So much was lost
during the book
burnings of the Qin.
The Han people tried
very hard to replace
the literature that was
lost during Qin times,
especially the works of Confucius. They created new
works of literature and music.
Art
Beautiful murals
were painted on
the walls of
palaces. Scroll
painting began.
Craftsmen made
jade jewelry and carvings, gold ornaments and belt
hooks, delicate paintings with wire thin brush strokes.
Iron and
Pottery
Iron was used for
making plows and
other cast iron objects.
Glazed pottery was
brightly painted with lively
hunting scenes mountains,
trees, clouds, dragons, tigers, and bears.
Medicine
Their medicine was advanced.
They invented acupuncture.
Science
Their science was also
advanced. During Han
times, these ancient people
invented paper.
They also invented an
instrument that told them
when an earthquake was happening called the
seismograph.
Public
Schools
One of the Han emperors agreed with Confucius
that education was the key to good government.
He started a system of public schools, for boys
only, taught by Confucian teachers.
Jobs
Jobs were given
to educated people and
nobles.
People were paid for
their work.
City
Life
Only about 10% of
the population lived
in the cities. Cities
were neatly laid out with main streets and
alleyways.
Each city was surrounded by a strong wall, made
of earth and stone.
As cities are today, the ancient Han cities were
centers of government, education, and trade.
Entertainment
Most marketplaces, throughout the city, had
free entertainment. Musicians played bells, drums
and string instruments, and jugglers and
acrobats performed and danced.
The Poor
The poor lived in
houses packed together.
They had very little food,
and little to no sanitation.
Many of the young males
joined street gangs. Gangs wore distinctive clothes and
armor, that identified their gang. Teen gangs roamed the
cities, terrorizing people.
The Rich
The rich rushed to imitate the imperial palace.
They built elaborate homes,
decorated with drapery, and
cashmere carpets. They
furnished family tombs with
stone lions. On the lions, and
on other sculpture, they
added inscriptions
mentioning how much each
item had cost!
Merchants & Craftsmen
As in Shang times, merchants were hardly recognized as
men. Once the canals were built, some merchants and
craftsmen became rich.
Life in
the
Country
Country folk were
farmers. They lived in one
or two story mud houses
with tiled or thatched
roofs. They had curtains
on the windows. Barns and other buildings surrounded
the house. Several families lived in one house to allow
them to work their fields together.
They still did not own their farms, but
farms were larger in size, because families
had learned to
team up. This solved
a major problem.
Together, they were
able to produce
more food, some
years, than they
needed,
which allowed
them to trade food
for other items.