On the silk road
Around 130 BC, the Han dynasty witnessed the first formal trade with western culture. Everything from food to manufactured goods is traded, and nothing can represent ancient China better than silk. Because of this commodity, the trade route is called the Silk Road or the Four Ugly Roads. "Road" is actually a complete land camel caravan route network connecting China and the Middle East, so it is now usually called the Silk Road by historians. Goods are imported and exported through middlemen, because no businessmen take these routes. In the end, this network will spread not only to neighboring countries such as South Korea and Japan, but also to major empires. India, Persia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Apart from physical goods, one of the main influences of the Silk Road is the exchange of ideas between cultures, not only through businessmen, but also through diplomats, scholars and monks all over Asia. Language (especially writing), religion (especially Buddhism), food, science and technology, and artistic ideas spread, allowing Asian and European cultures to help each other develop.
A sign of the thought in this period is to openly investigate any ideology that can fully explain the position of human beings in the universe.
Philosophy and education
Confucianism was formally adopted as the national ideology of the Han Dynasty, but it also followed the principle of legalism in practice, which created a philosophical fusion aimed at ensuring the welfare of all people based on strong legal principles. Taoism is another influential political philosophy. The symbol of this period is the open exploration of any ideology, which can fully explain the position of human beings in the universe and establish the relationship among * * *, religion and cosmology. Theories involving numbers are particularly popular with intellectuals, who seek an all-encompassing ideology to explain all aspects of the human condition.
A concrete result of the country's promotion of Confucianism and other philosophies is the establishment of schools and colleges to improve the literacy rate, so as to learn the classic texts of China Thought. The Royal Academy was established in 124 BC for scholars to study Confucian and Taoist classics in depth. By the end of the Han Dynasty, the academy had trained more than 30,000 students every year. Generally speaking, the state regards education as a symbol of a civilized society, although the cost of sending young people to school seriously limits the opportunity to receive education in practice. Society is still highly stratified, but at least for those who have the ability to receive education, they now have the opportunity to enter the state bureaucracy.
In addition to propaganda, many books have been destroyed by various forms of Qin Shihuang themes. When the Yellow Emperor (259-2 BC10 BC) had to rewrite the project on a large scale, the accumulated knowledge was preserved from these lost works in memory. Perhaps inevitably, writers in the Han Dynasty will make choices according to their own ideas and patrons' ideas while reconstructing the past, but they also often record contemporary ideas, so Hanshu is one of the most complete historical records in China. History.
literature
The earliest extant documents in ancient China can be traced back to the Han Dynasty, although with the passage of time, the possibility that early works were intentionally destroyed or disappeared cannot be ignored. The most famous Han book is undoubtedly Sima Qian's Historical Records, which is often regarded as the first history of China (BC 135 86). In fact, Qian was a great astrologer in the imperial court, but it also meant that he had to sort out the signs of the past and guide the future decision-making of the imperial court, so he was actually a historian. This century is based on oral and written records, including those in royal archives, which began with Qian's father Sima Tan. This century is much more than recording the stars and the order of emperors. The early legendary emperors began, and Qian Zhongshu's own era further ended. So chapter 130 covers a history of 2,500 years. This book adopted a new systematic method, including the description of technical and cultural development, and biographies of non-royal celebrities and foreigners, which had a great influence on the official history of subsequent dynasties in China.
Another important work of the Han Dynasty, the first Huangdi Medical Code, is a medical record of the Han Dynasty in China. The writer Ban Gu (AD 32-92) not only wrote his famous historical work Hanshu, but also created a new genre, namely Fu, the most famous of which was his Fu on Two Capitals. His works involve a dynamic dialogue between two characters and are valuable records of local customs and events. By the 1 century, the surge of China literature meant that the Royal Library had about 600 kinds of books, including philosophical works, military papers, calendars and scientific works.
art
The wealth accumulated by the stable and luckier citizens provided by the Han dynasty led to the prosperity of art. The rich become patrons and consumers of art. This demand led to artistic innovation and experiments, especially the first glazed pottery and figure painting. The latter is the first attempt of China people to make a realistic portrait of ordinary people. Capturing the natural landscape has become another focus of Han artists. Art used to pay attention to religion and rituals, but now it begins to pay attention to people and daily activities, such as hunting and agriculture. Especially tomb paintings, try to pick out the personal facial features of the characters and describe the narrative scenes.
The combination of pen, ink, paper and inkstone will make calligraphy and painting the most important art field in China.
paper
Refined paper was invented in 105, which greatly helped the spread of literature and literacy. This discovery was attributed to Cai Lun, director of Luoyang Yufang, who used squeezed plant fibers and then dried them into pieces. Thick bamboo or wood strips and expensive silk have long been used as writing surfaces, but after centuries of efforts, a lighter and cheaper substitute-paper roll has finally been found. The combination of pen, ink, paper and inkstone will make calligraphy and painting the most important art field in China in the next two thousand years. Another innovation of Han nationality is making topographic and military maps with paper. Draw to a fairly accurate scale, including color coding, local characteristic symbols and enlarged specific areas.
science and technology
The Han Dynasty witnessed many important technological inventions and improvements, which contributed to the development of agriculture, and agriculture was much more efficient than before. Better metalworking techniques and the widespread use of iron mean that tools are more effective. In particular, the plow has been greatly improved, and now there are two blades instead of one. It is also easier to guide by adding two handles. The appearance of trolleys helps farmers to transfer goods more effectively. Fans are used to separate grains from chaff, and hand mills are used to grind flour. Mechanized water pumps greatly improve irrigation-by treading or using poles with weighted barrels-and make wells more efficient reservoirs by laying bricks in them. At the same time, crop management becomes more complicated, and people pay more attention to planting time and continuous planting of alternative crops in order to maximize yield.
Another area benefiting from Korean investment is the construction of a wider road and waterway network and better port construction. The weaving methods in Han dynasty have been greatly improved, especially silk. Using the new pedal loom, there can be as many as 220 warp threads per cm of cloth. There are also scientific innovations, such as the use of sundials and primitive seismographs. In medicine, a popular development is the use of acupuncture.
In the war, crossbows and cavalry were more widely used.
In the war, crossbows were used more widely, and now there are more sizes, from heavy artillery to light hand-held versions. * * * also use cavalry more than their predecessors, making the battlefield a more dynamic and deadly arena. Han Dao, Ji and Jia are good at craftsmanship, benefiting from the use of iron and low-grade steel.
social change
Although this is not necessarily an "achievement", the Han dynasty did pass laws, which led to some major changes in the daily life of its citizens. Universal conscription has been a feature of turbulent China for centuries, but it was abolished by * * * in 3 1 year. Finally, I realized that forcing farmers to fight is not the best way to get disciplined and skilled combat troops, but (more or less) to create a professional army. The size of the Han empire required a large number of soldiers to defend the border, but now these soldiers were recruited from available mercenaries, conquered tribes and released prisoners, not full-time farmers. In addition, the Han Dynasty spent about 10% of its income on giving extravagant gifts to the enemy. In return, many countries have established strong diplomatic relations to ensure that the investment required for military defense is reduced.
A significant change in the family's dealings with the state is that * * * decided that each family unit should nominate and handle only one representative. Usually, this role is played by the oldest man, but if her son is underage, a woman can temporarily play this role. By making everyone responsible for the actions of other members of the unit, family relations have been strengthened. For example, if one family member is convicted of a serious crime, other family members may be enslaved as a broader punishment. Another change is inheritance. In the past, the elders inherited everything, and * * * changed the rules and distributed the inheritance rights equally to all male brothers and sisters. However, the daughters still got nothing,
An unfortunate consequence of the change in inheritance rights is that as time goes by, the farm becomes smaller and smaller, and it becomes more and more difficult to support the family on a piece of land because it is given to brothers. This, in turn, led small farmers to sell their land, preferring to work for big landlords, and finally concentrated land ownership in fewer and fewer hands. In the end, the resulting loss of tax revenue, widespread dissatisfaction of farmers and the increase of wealth and power of nobles eventually led to the overthrow of the Han Dynasty and the division of China into the Three Kingdoms.