Centralised Bureaucracy: The Han Dynasty

Under the rule of Liu Bang, the Han dynasty (202B.C.E. - 220 C.E.) was one of the world’s largest and wealthiest empires. Among its achievements were improvements to the imperial administration, urban culture, technology and commerce. The dynasty was so successful that the people began to call themselves the Han people. Emperor Gaozu formerly known as Liu Bang , changed the bureaucracy and strict laws by lowering taxes, implementing less severe punishments and allowed Confucian scholars to serve as state officials. At first government officials were asked to recommend young men to join the government but eventually the emperor started an imperial university in order to pick better candidates for the job. These candidates

First, the Han Dynasty was more important to the development of China because it created the idea of a Civil Service Exam. The Han Dynasty readopted the idea of having families rulers after the Qin Dynasty strayed from the tradition; however, they kept the idea of bureaucrats from the Qin Dynasty. They used appointed government officials to oversee the day-to-day work of their government. This lead them to implement the Civil Service Exam. The exam was meant to help chose the bureaucrats for the government. It was a test centered around the ideas of Confucius and how to apply them to everyday life. By making this a normal part of Chinese society, the Han Dynasty was able to extend government official job opportunities to people of all social classes. In addition, because the exam gave these opportunities to all people, all people put more emphasis on

Nevertheless, hundreds of years later, when China became a large unified country, its emperor started to promote Confucius’s ideas nationwide and even integrated them into 科举 to select government officials, who were all supposed to master

The Han dynasty rule represented the high point of Chinese culture in the east. The intellectual and cultural foundations were a powerful influence on Korea, Vietnam and Japan.

Although the emperor had absolute power, it was the complex bureaucracy that primarily administered the Han Empire. The three key positions that assisted the emperor in supervising the complex bureaucracy and providing advice were the chancellor, the imperial secretary, and the grand commandant. The grand tutor could also be included among these individuals, but there were only four grand tutors throughout the history of the Han Dynasty. Furthermore, the key ministries of ceremonies, agriculture, imperial household and the lesser treasury carried out the main functions of government such as imperial ritual, the management of the imperial palace, taxation, revenue, the health, safety, and entertainment of the emperor, monetary policy (coinage),

The first dynasty was the Zhou. During this time many different political institutions arose. Confucianism and Daoism formed and the empire developed a focused central government. After some political decay and the Era of Warring States, the Qin dynasty was established. Legalism developed and China was ruled with brutal force. However, because of the harsh environment, he was very unpopular and the next dynasty quickly took over. The third dynasty of Classical China, the Han, greatly influenced science and intellect. The Han dynasty was peaceful and the bureaucracy was strongly connected to Confucianism. After the Han dynasty collapsed, China was left in chaos. But during the era of Classical China, China was extremely advanced in their political structures.

The Han empire helped create a standardized form of Confucism as its teaching became the preferred governmental doctrine (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 264). By second century CE the popularity of Confucian academies led to the state subsidize them, making all state education under the various academies (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 264). The Confucian doctrine had been altered since the original teachings of Confucius, since Confucian ideas were altered during the Warring States period and Qin rule to suit the times, so the Han empire also altered the Confucian teachings that the state approved to reflect the Han dynasty (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 264). Han historians were encouraged to document history by the ideal of the empire

The Han rulers used a system of choosing government officials on the basis of merit by introducing a primitive examination and recommendation system. By the first century B.C. the government employed more than 130,000 bureaucrats, or one for every 400 to 500 people in the empire. Although the examinations were theoretically open to all Chinese except merchants, the bureaucrats were drawn largely from the property-owner class, because affluence was needed to obtain the education to pass the examination. Consequently, the division of Chinese society transformed into a separation between landowner-bureaucrats and peasants. This system for officials influenced Chinese civilization for 2000 years. Students were expected to learn the teachings of Confucius, as well as Chinese history and law. By creating a group of well-trained

Both Mauryan/Gupta India and Han China gained power and control through military conquest and a centralized belief system. Han China’s government was led by Confucian scholars with a mandate from heaven which meant the king was solely in charge, were as, on the other hand Mauryan/Gupta India, influenced by the Hindu belief, imposed a caste system with the priestly caste being at the top, which meant they had possessed the power.

One of the most prosperous periods took place during the reign of the Han dynasty. The Confucius philosophy was widely accepted and practiced throughout the empire. One of the major factors in the spread of practice for this School of Thought was the introduction of the civil service exams. The Han inserted these exams into their societies to extend the knowledge of Confucian philosophies. In order to earn an important role in the government under the Han Dynasty, one must have a great understanding of this philosophy, and have passed the exam. This created a new basis of education in the empire, and led to modernization.The civil service exams existed in China until the 20th century, adding up to over two thousand years. Although the new guidelines had a positive effect in the education system and government, it caused them to look down on other cultures, and made them unwilling to westernize their ideals, and cultures. Ethnocentrism clouded the empire, and paused modernization. Unfortunately this would affect them later on, in the

Another philosophy that is present during the rule of the Han Dynasty is Confucian ideals. We see these represented with the essays of Dong Zhongshu from the readings, who “synthesizing the Daoist ideals that emphasized the quietude and passivity of the ruler with a more active orientation of the Confucian ideal” (pg161). With Confucian ideals focusing on education of ones self and ritual it blends with the other philosophy incorporated in the Han’s form of governing very well. The practice of having well educated rulers that understand the Way only benefits the state in a positive

The unification of China was under the dynasties Qin and Han. There were formed schools of thought called Confucians, Daoists, and Legalists. These school of thoughts worked to bring political and social stability to China during the rule of the late Zhou dynasty which were chaotic years. Legalist principles and imposed centralized imperial rule were adopted by rulers of the Qin and Han dynasties. Political stability was the foundation of economic prosperity for the Han dynasty. There was a search of political and social order, unification of China, and a transition from economic prosperity to social disorder.

The Han dynasty had such influence on later dynasties that Chinese people in our time call themselves ‘Han’ people.

Under Wu-ti China saw a great cultural flowering and produced China's greatest historian Ssu-man Ch'ien the most estemmed Han poet Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju and the most infulential Han philosopher Tung Chung-shu. Confucian ideals were re-adopted , schools were formed for teaching of Confucian ways, and it was the beginning of the civil service exams. With the end of Wu-ti, the dynasty began to decline and he was succeded by a number of inferior Han rulers, who were often seen as crule. It would seem that

Under the rule of Liu Bang, the Han dynasty (202B.C.E. - 220 C.E.) was one of the world’s largest and wealthiest empires. Among its achievements were improvements to the imperial administration, urban culture, technology and commerce. The dynasty was so successful that the people began to call themselves the Han people. Emperor Gaozu formerly known as Liu Bang , changed the bureaucracy and strict laws by lowering taxes, implementing less severe punishments and allowed Confucian scholars to serve as state officials. At first government officials were asked to recommend young men to join the government but eventually the emperor started an imperial university in order to pick better candidates for the job. These candidates eventually had to master Confucian and pass a test to join the government and over time provided a government of scholarly Confucian officials. In addition to the Confucian government, China’s army was massive. Under the rule of Han Martial Emperor (141-87B.C.E), the empire expanded its army 3000 miles east to west and 2000 miles north to south encompassing 60 million people. This expansion included North Vietnam, Northern Korea, southern Manchuria and west into Central Asia. Unfortunately, the amount of taxes needed to keep an army this size supported drained the Chinese resources.