Han dynasty

Han Dynasty (漢 202 BC - ─ 220 AD) followed Qin Dynasty and preceeded Three Kingdoms in China.

Summary

During the Han Dynasty, China officially became a Confucian state and prospered domestically: extending its political and cultural influence over Vietnam, Central Asia, Mongolia, and Korea before it finally collapsed under a mixture of domestic and external pressures. First of the two periods of the dynasty, namely the Former Han Dynasty (Qian Han 前漢) or the Western Han Dynasty (Xi Han 西漢) 206 B.C. - 9 AD seated at Changan. The Later Han Dynasty (Hou Han 後漢) or the Eastern Han Dynasty (Dong Han 東漢) 25 AD- 220 AD seated at Luoyang. The western-eastern Han convention is used contemparily to avoid confusion with the Later Han Kingdom of the Period of the Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms though the former-later nomenclature was used in traditional historical texts like Si-ma Guang's Zi Zhi Tung Jian. The royal family was the Liu's.

The Emergence

Endless labor in the later years of reign of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (Qin Shi Huangdi) (including the linking up of the Great Wall of China and constructing the fist canal in today GuangDong Province (Lingqu), inconclusive campaign against Xiongnu (sometimes identified with the Huns), widening and paving of countless roads all over China) started to provocate widespread discontentment. The emperor was still able to barely maintain the stability by tight grip on every aspect of the living of the Chinese. He also travelled frequently to large cities in Northern China to inspect the effciency of bureaucarcy and symbolize the presence of Qin's prestige. Nevertheless his trip provided chances for assasins, the most famous of whom was Zhang Liang. Within the first 3 months of the emperor's death at Shaqiu, widespread revolts by peaseants, prisoners, soldiers and descendants of the nobles of the Six Warring States were all over China. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, two in a group of about 30 soldiers assigned to defend against the Xiongnu, were the leaders of the first rebellion. Continuous insurgence toppled the Qin dynasty in 206 BC. Leader of all insurgents at the time was Xiang yu, an outstanding army commander without political expertise, who divided the country into 26 feudal states to his own satisfaction. Ensuring war among those states signified the 5 years of Chu Han Contention with Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, as the eventual winner. Establishment of the Han Dynasty could be dated 206 B.C. when the Qin dynasty crumbled or 202 B.C. when Liu Bang exterminated Xiang yu.

Tables of Chinese Sovereigns

the Han Dynasty Emperors

Posthumous Name ( Shi Hao 諡號)	Personal Name	Period of Reign	Era Name (Nian Hao 年號)
the Western Han Dynasty 206 B.C.-9
Guo Zu	Liu Bang	206 B.C.-195 B.C.	Did not exist
Hui Di	Liu Ying	194 B.C.-188 B.C.	Did not exist
Guo Hou	Lu Zhi	187 B.C.-180 B.C.	Did not exist
Wen Di	Liu Heng	179 B.C.-157 B.C.	Houyuan (後元) 163 B.C.-156 B.C.
Jing Di	Liu Qi	156 B.C.-141 B.C.	Chngyuan (中元) 149 B.C.-143 B.C. Houyuan (後元) 143 B.C.-141 B.C.
Wu Di	Liu Che	140 B.C.- 87 B.C.	Jianyuan (建元) 140 B.C.-135 B.C. Yuanguang(元光) 134 B.C.-129 B.C. Yuanshuo (元朔) 128 B.C.-123 B.C. Yuanshou (元狩) 122 B.C.-117 B.C. Yuanding (元鼎) 116 B.C.-111 B.C. Yuanfeng (元封) 110 B.C.-105 B.C. Taichu (太初) 104 B.C.-101 B.C. Tianhan (天漢) 100 B.C.-97 B.C. Taishi (太始) 96 B.C.-93 B.C. Zhenghe (征和) 92 B.C.-89 B.C. Houyuan (後元) 88 B.C.-87 B.C.
Zhao Di	Liu Fu Ling	86 B.C.- 74 B.C.	Shiyuan (始元) 86 B.C.-81 B.C. Yuanfen (元鳳) 80 B.C.-75 B.C. Yuanping(元平) 74 B.C.
Xuan Di	Liu Xun	73 B.C.- 49 B.C.	Benshi (本始) 73 B.C.-70 B.C. Dijie (地節) 69 B.C.-66 B.C. Yuankang (元康) 65 B.C.-62 B.C. Shenjue (神爵) 61 B.C.-58 B.C. Wufeng (五鳳) 57 B.C.-54 B.C. Ganlu (甘露) 53 B.C.-50 B.C. Huanglong (黃龍) 49 B.C.
Yuan Di	Liu Shi	48 B.C.- 33 B.C.	Chuyuan (初元) 48 B.C.-44 B.C. Yongguang (永光) 43 B.C.-39 B.C. Jianzhao (建昭) 38 B.C.-34 B.C. Jingning (竟寧) 33 B.C.
Cheng Di	Liu Ao	32 B.C.-7 B.C.	Jianshi (建始) 32 B.C.-29 B.C. Heping (河平) 28 B.C.-25 B.C. Yangshuo(陽朔) 24 B.C.-21 B.C. Hongjia (鴻嘉) 20 B.C.-17 B.C. Yongshi (永始) 16 B.C.-13 B.C. Yuanyan (元延) 12 B.C.-9 B.C. Suihe (綏和) 9 B.C.-7 B.C.
Ai Di	Liu Xin	6 B.C.-1 B.C.	Jianping (建平) 6 B.C.-3 B.C. Yuanshou (元壽) 2 B.C.-1 B.C.
Ping Di	Liu Kan	1-5	Yuanshi (元始) 1-5
Ru Zi Ying	Liu Ying	6-8	Jushe (居攝) 6- October 8 Chushi (初始) November 8-December 8
the Xin Dynasty by Wang Mang		9-23	Shijianguo (始建國) 9- 13 Tianfeng (天鳳) 14-19 Dihuang (地皇) 20-23
Geng Shi Di	Liu Xuan	23-25	Gengshi (更始) 23-25
the Eastern Han Dynasty 25 AD - 220 AD
Guang Wu Di	Liu Xiu	32 B.C.-7 B.C.	Jianshi (建始) 32 B.C.-29 B.C. Heping (河平) 28 B.C.-25 B.C. Yangshuo(陽朔) 24 B.C.-21 B.C. Hongjia (鴻嘉) 20 B.C.-17 B.C. Yongshi (永始) 16 B.C.-13 B.C. Yuanyan (元延) 12 B.C.-9 B.C. Suihe (綏和) 9 B.C.-7 B.C.

the Western Han Dynasty

Right after the unification