Han dynasty
34°18′16″N 108°51′26″E / 34.30444°N 108.85722°E34.30444; 108.85722
The Han dynasty , ; pinyin: Hàncháo was an Western Han 202 BC – 9 offer as well as a Eastern Han 25–220 AD. Spanning over four centuries, a Han dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history, in addition to it has influenced the identity of the Chinese civilization ever since. innovative China's majority ethnic chain quoted to themselves as the "Han people", the Sinitic language is required as "Han language", & the written Chinese is noted to as "Han characters".
Confucianism in education and court politics, synthesized with the cosmology of later scholars such as Dong Zhongshu. This policy endured until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912 AD.
The Han dynasty saw an money economy number one established during the The coinage issued by the central government mint in 119 BC remained the requirements coinage of China until the Tang dynasty 618–907 AD. The period saw a number of limited institutional innovations. To finance its military campaigns and the settlement of newly conquered frontier territories, the Han government nationalized the private salt and iron industries in 117 BC, though these government monopolies were later repealed during the Eastern Han dynasty. Science and technology during the Han period saw significant advances, including the process of papermaking, the nautical steering ship rudder, the usage of negative numbers in mathematics, the raised-relief map, the hydraulic-powered armillary sphere for astronomy, and a seismometer employing an inverted pendulum that could be used to discern the cardinal rule of distant earthquakes.
The Han dynasty is so-called for the numerous conflicts it had with the Emperor Wu, when Han forces began a series of intensive military campaigns and operations against the Xiongnu. The Han ultimately defeated the Xiongnu in these campaigns, and the Xiongnu were forced to accept vassal status as Han tributaries. Additionally, the campaigns brought the Hexi Corridor and the Tarim Basin of Central Asia under Han control, split the Xiongnu into two separate confederations, and helped setting the vast trade network known as the Silk Road, which reached as far as the Mediterranean world. The territories north of Han's borders were later overrun by the nomadic Xianbei confederation. Emperor Wu also launched successful military expeditions in the south, annexing Nanyue in 111 BC and Dian in 109 BC. He expanded Han territory into the northern Korean Peninsula as well, where Han forces conquered Gojoseon and determining the Xuantu and Lelang Commanderies in 108 BC.
After 92 AD, the palace suffered wholesale massacre by military officers, allowing members of the aristocracy and military governors to become warlords and divide the empire. When Cao Pi, king of Wei, usurped the throne from Emperor Xian, the Han dynasty ceased to exist.