The Qin

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The Qin Han Dynasties 221BC 220 AD

• The unification and consolidation the emerging
  Chinese political culture

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Chinese Dynasties
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The Qin Legalist reform Expansion

• The general concerns of kings in the warring
  states
• Economic growth political central control for
  large military undertakings
• The needs for grain, tax, manpower
• The need for learned men (shi) as ministers and
  the beginning of the Way of ruler-subject

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Shang Yang His Reforms

• Lord Shang (to 338 BC), a legalist philosopher in
  action, highly efficient and deadly effective
• Reform measures
• Moving from feudalism to centralism replacing
  lords hereditary domains with 36 xian (county,
  local administrative district)
• A strict and transparent reward-punishment law
  code system military deeds food production as
  criteria for title and land grants punishing
  those who failed to meet the government demands

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• Promoting agriculture, disparaging commerce
• Everyone is equal in front of law punishing the
  crown prince
• Totalitarian state control the bao-jia system
• Military expansion and conquer aided by diplomacy
• Tragic death in 338 BC, while his reform measures
  and political culture continued
• Li Shi, Han Fei Zi, Qin Shihuang legalist
  politicians of a kind

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Qin Unification 221 BC

• Huang-di (emperor) legitimizing a central
  control instead of feudalism
• Measures of central control
• Dividing the nation into 36 jun
• A highway network pony express postal system
  (highway width two chariots axles)
• Standardizing measurements, money, writing system
• Ideological control fengshu kanglu (burning
  books, burying scholars
• The Great Wall, the symbol of tyranny the grand
  tomb, excessiveness and obsession
• Overthrown in 206 BC, Why?

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Han Dynasty 202 BC 220 AD

• The legends of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu
• The first 60 years of recuperation
• Adopting Daoist principle in governance due to
  the war-torn economy society
• Making compromise to feudalism and the pursuit of
  gradual elimination of local kingdoms

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The Golden Age of Emperor Wu140-96 BC

• Economic recovery political consolidation
• Adopting Confucianism as state-sponsored ideology
  of governance, while keeping the Qing legal codes
  
• a combination that laid the foundation of Chinese
  political culture
• A result of lesson learned from Qins fall

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• Emphasis on morality filial piety and loyalty
  came first, evolving into a cult
• At the same time, legalist mechanism kept
  unlawful behavior in check
• Daoist principle a place to retreat when
  necessary
• A dynamic bureaucratic empire come into being

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Territorial expansion and state activism

• Wars with Xiongnu tribes in the north and west, a
  long standing threat for centuries
• Expansion into Korean peninsular and toward the
  south
• The beginning of the Silk Road
• State monopoly of salt iron as a tax form, and
  its impact on actual attitude toward commerce
• State-sponsored history writing Sima Qian his
  Shi-ji

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The decline and end of Former Han

• Local aristocratic dominance farmers seeking tax
  shelter turned themselves into serf-like people
  of local strong family with ties in the court
• Power struggle and succession crisis in the court
• Wang Mang a reformer? Usurper?
• The question of legitimacy and the cult of filial
  piety/loyalty
• Xin Dynasty and its quick fall
• Civil war and the rise of the Later Han

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Later Han Dynasty25-220 AD

• The Liu family as an heir by default
• Continuity of political system and socio-economic
  policy
• A short golden age of first three emperors
• Ban Gu and Ban Zhao, second official history
• The old problems of consorts and local
  aristocratic families dominance
• eunuch power become a phenomenon
• The Yellow Turban rebellion and the dynastic
  circle had begun