But he placed at the head of his government individuals who would employ this new form of government to pursue the goals of the Legalist state. Confucianism was, for him, a tool in the pursuit of Legalist ends. Nevertheless, the apparent contradiction of a Confucian government pursuing Legalist goals on behalf of an autocrat became the standard structure of imperial Chinese governments for two thousand years.
He has noted that all significant features of the emperor's reign could be attributed to his ministers' initiative, since the historical accounts portray most policy discussion through ministerial memorials.
The empress dowager was an active patron of Huang-Lao and a commanding personality. Under Jing-di, Huang-Lao and Legalist ministers enjoyed a near monopoly of power. Jing-di died young and Wu-di came to the throne when he was only about sixteen. His grandmother continued to exert great influence at court, but certain ministers who were not part of her closest group of advisors began to look towards the new emperor as a possible counter-weight to the empress.
It must have been difficult for a person so convinced of his own abilities to contemplate the power of his grandmother. After the Empress Dou died in , Wu-di acted swiftly.
The procedures developed for this recruitment drive specifically linked the requirements for candidates to virtues praised by Confucians and, more importantly, to training in Confucian classical studies. Shortly thereafter, the emperor adopted a further set of policies which banned from court service all those devoted to the teachings of Huang-Lao or Legalism, and made Confucianism the exclusive ideology of the bureaucracy.
In so doing, the emperor completely freed himself from the influence of those whose true loyalties lay with his grandmother and brought to power a group of outsiders who owed their power, prestige, and wealth exclusively to Wu-di. In many cases the Han expanded to head off threats and to create a buffer zone around the Han heartland. After lands were conquered settlers were encouraged to move there to firm up China's claim on the land. Today "Han" Chinese make up 92 percent of China's 1.
The Chinese empire was expanded to an area more or less the same as present-day China by establishing command districts in Korea and much of Central Asia. Expansion to the south and west helped establish land and sea trade routes to India, southeast Asia and the Middle East. To defend their vast territories in present-day western China the Han built chains of earthen watchtowers that were used to send signals of approaching invaders. The tallest of these towers was 15 meters high.
The greatest challenge to the Han dynasty came from the Xiongu, a Mongol-like nomadic people in the northwest of the Han empire.
The Chinese beefed up the Great Wall to keep them out; presented them with Han princesses as gifts to appease thembut to no avail. In B. While Confucian scholars were entrusted with the efficient administration of the empire, the men who shaped the basic policies of the state were active militarists. Zhang journeyed for many years deep into Central Asia, increasing Chinese awareness of distant lands many fold. This policy naturally entailed the pacification of the Xiongnu confederacy as well.
To support these campaigns, garrisons were established in the northwestern corridor beyond the boundaries of early Han China which today constitutes western Gansu 4 Province, as far as Dunhuang. The Great Wall was extended westward and a series of watchtowers was constructed out into the desert. The Han armies marched through these regions and out into the Tarim Basin and the Tianshan Mountains. The petty kingdoms encountered by the armies were usually conquered without much difficulty, although a few were able to mount a resistance firm enough to lead the Han generals to bypass them.
Ultimately, Han armies executed successful operations as far west as modern Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan go to Tajikistan and turn right. The success of these was not uniform, and some of the greatest of Han generals found themselves unable to prevail against large armies of nomads so far from their own bases of supply. Its military function gave way to a stream of merchant caravans that brought silk to the West and Western goods and peoples to China.
In the southwest, Zhang Qian again played an important role, setting forth on a second set of expeditions. The result was the colonization of lands stretching from the Sichuan Basin to the middle reaches of the Mekong River Valley, along the eastern edge of the Himalayas.
In the south, Chinese forces pushed through the jungles of Vietnam well below present-day Hanoi. In the northeast, the greater portion of Korea was turned into a Han military colony, where recruits and their families were stationed as soldier-farmers to maintain a stable Chinese presence. In the southeast, the mountain fastnesses of the southeast coast were explored with the exception of the area of modern Fujian Province and outposts established in the river valleys.
Wu-di had the satisfaction of receiving as ambassadors and submissive tributaries representatives from all of North, East, and Central Asia. Chinese culture was much enriched by these contacts with non-Chinese civilizations. In the following poem — included here with absolutely no historiographic justification — Du Fu gave the common people of the Han a voice which goes unheard in the historical texts.
Rattling carts and Whinnying steeds, Marching, bows slung by their sides; Their fathers and mothers and children and wives run by their ranks — The Bridge of Xianyang all lost in the dust — And catch at their clothes and clutch at their feet, and stand in the roadway and cry. Their cries rise up and strike the clouds. Han Wudi was not only a statesman but also of great talent.
Yuefu poems had a great influence on later periods. In order to pay his military cost, Han Wudi raised taxes, nationalized many private businesses and confiscated property of the nobility. He also advocated statism in the fields of finance and commerce. For example, he announced that only the coins minted by the central government could be in circulation; metallurgy and salt processing were also forbidden among the people.
Business run by the government enjoyed an exclusive right and the government imposed heavy property tax on industrialists and businessmen to enhance the income of the court. The Western Han Dynasty became unprecedented rich and powerful, centralization strengthened and its feudal economy flourished.
At the end of the Western Hah Dynasty BC-AD 24 , the Red Eyebrows Army because their brows were painted red as a mark of identification occupied Chang'an and took away gold and silver and numerous other treasures from the tomb. However, vandalization had already taken place before the Red Eyebrows opened the tomb. With high walls packed with earth, Maoling was a large mausoleum surrounded by a park. According to surveys, the walls of the tomb formed a square, meters along each side.
The tomb mound narrowed to a flat top from a larger base in a trapezoidal form symbolizing solemnity and stability. Buildings were erected both inside and outside the mausoleum.
Residences of high officials formed the innermost ring around the tomb of Emperor Wu Di while large numbers of rich and powerful people were located outside. Out palaces, bed-halls and residential structures for maids and tomb guards packed the mausoleum. Tomb magistrate, attendant official, bed-temple magistrate, tomb chief, entrance guard and other official titles were bestowed. Service to the mausoleum required some 5, gardeners and cleaners who also lived on the grounds.
Construction material remains from the time of the Western Han Dynasty can still be found in the ruins of the Maoling complex and in nearby rural areas. Since , hollow bricks engraved or painted with unique geometric patterns and "four deities" designs namely, green dragon, white tiger, rose finch and spirit of water and tiles with cloud and character patterns have often been found, as have pottery water pipelines, construction ruins and rock-covered passages.
Common bricks and tiles made in the Han Dynasty can be found nearly everywhere around the mausoleum. Moreover, small pottery figurines have been unearthed in the area, all of which are lifelike sculptures from the Western Han Dynasty. Learning Chinese. Learn to Cook Chinese Dishes. He ruled the empire from to 87 BC. Emperor Wu inherited the Han empire when he was He was famous for many far-reaching accomplishments.
He set up Confucian academies throughout the country and made Confucianism the state philosophy. His campaigns usually succeeded in expanding the empire. During his long reign, he consolidated power in terms of territory; the empire stretched to Central Asia, Korea, and Vietnam. Almost as soon as he began his reign, he presided over an examination of Confucian scholars , and the court put some of those who were successful in the exam in official positions.
Then the ruling court started a Confucian academy. In this way, he presided over the establishment of the Confucian Imperial Examination to select people for government positions. Those who passed the examination were guaranteed to be literate and knowledgeable about Confucian political philosophy. This was the main way that people were selected for government positions in most of the big regional dynasties during the next 2, years. The previous emperors of the Han Dynasty were hard-pressed by the Xiongnu's threat from the north.
During Emperor Wu's reign, between and BC, the Han ruling court and the army started winning major battles.
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