1,800 year-old Han Dynasty jade artifact depicts a Dragon Rider

Han Dynasty 206 B.C.- 220 A.D. .....A great civil war tore apart the Qin Dynasty after the death of the first Emperor Sui Huangdi . Only a few years did his son Emperor Tzu-ying rule until his murder at the capital Hsienyang. Shortly after the death of Tzu-ying  a great adventurous prince of Han  Liu Pang defeated the Qin army in the valley of Wei. A new dynasty, called Han (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), emerged from the ashes and chaos of the Qin civil war. The new HAN Empire retained much of the Qin administrative infrastructure but with less of a centralized rule by establishing vassal states. The Han rulers were wise and bent to the will of the people by adhering to Confucian ideals of government and acknowledging the mandate from heaven. Confucian scholars gained prominent status again as they had been before the Qin and they served at the core of the civil service. A civil service examination system was also initiated. Intellectual, literary, and artistic endeavors of Calligraphy, Bronze and Jade works revived and flourished. 

During the four centuries of its history the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) prepared the ideological soil of China for the main political, economic, social and cultural structures that were to characterize the Chinese world for next two millennia. The Han Empire was China's Imperial Rome and like the Roman Empire there was an initial period of consolidation and then expansionism. The Han rulers inheriting the unified territory of the Qin laid the foundations of a social organization and promoted intellectual inquiries that were to serve as casting molds for all future dynasties to come. Not only was the Han Empire a die stamp for the Chinese Civilization but it also greatly influenced the entire Far East (Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and Japan). The Han period was an intellectual renaissance that produced some China's most incredible Bronze and Jade treasures.

The Han social and economic system was ruled by the emperor who was the supreme ruler, all authority resided ultimately in the emperor. Below the emperor were court officials who had attained their position through merit; heritage, and education. Besides advising the emperor, their central role was to run the bureaucracy of the day to day government which was the true authority. The court of the Emperor was governed by the laws of Ch'in that instituted powerful rules and roles for court eunuchs. These eunuchs almost always came from common families; as boys, they were castrated and were made servants in the emperor's harem to care for the Emperors many wives and children. Because of this, they had close friendships and great influence with the emperors from their early boyhood, and often served as advisors to the emperor. At various times in Chinese Han history, these eunuchs were more powerful than the highest court officials.

Under the reign of Emperor Wudi (141–86 B.C.) Poetry, literature, and philosophy flourished. The monumental Shiji (Historical Records) that was written by Sima Qian (145–80 B.C.) set the standard for later government sponsored histories of the Empire. Emperor Wudi also established Confucianism as the basis for correct official and individual conduct and the Empires educational curriculum. Education became the center stone for a new class of Han gentry who explored the ancient and the present Chinese universe. This great cultural and educational phase in Han history resulted in great literary works that have survived to this day. The best known is the Book of the Mountains and Seas, which contained everything known at the time about geography, natural philosophy, the animal and plant world, and popular myths

The rule of Wudi led China to regain control of territories, first conquered by the Qin Empire, in southern China and the northern part of Vietnam. New commentaries were established in Korea, and contacts were made with the western regions of Central Asia. The conquest of Ferghana and neighboring regions in 101 B.C., allowed the Han to seize a large number of "heavenly" long-legged horses that were greatly valued for cavalry maneuvers. This expansion also gave China control of a most important geographical area of the ancient Silk Road that ran north and south of the Taklamakan Desert. In return for its silk and gold, China received many agricultural and cultural treasures that were not available in China.

The Han Dynasty was actually two separate dynasties (Western Han and Eastern Han). The fall of the first great Han Empire inevitable came with disputes among vassal states that included the families of imperial consorts. The nephew of the last Empress of the Western Han, Wang Mang declared himself emperor of a new dynasty, the Hsing (New). His rise to Emperor gained tremendous public support and he adopted the ancient ways with a ceremony in which a precious stone Jade seal representing the Mandate from Heaven was passed to the emperor. Anyone who carried this Jade seal from Heaven would rule the empire of China. Wang Mang was an Emperor who taxed his people heavily and gave tremendous tax burdens to the peasantry of his kingdom. A secret society of peasants known as the Red Eyebrows (painted their eyebrows red) grew from the tyrant’s unfair taxes and lack of social justice that defied the principles of the Mandate of Heaven. An enormous peasant uprising split the Kingdom into a civil war causing some of the rulers of the vassal states to join the uprising.  The armies of these nobles under the leadership of Liu Hsiu destroyed the Imperial guards and killed Wang Mang in 22A.D. internal war continued until 25 A.D., Liu Hsiu declared himself Emperor by virtue of owning the Jade seal from Heaven. As emperor he was called Kuang-wu Ti. Millions of peasants had died during the uprisings against Wang Mang’s rule and many vassal states were destroyed leading the way to a very popular redistribution of land for the peasants and a release from debt from their vassal lords.

In less than 20 years under Emperor Kuang-wu Ti the Han again consolidated their rule under the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 A.D.), whose new capital was Luoyang, farther east in Henan Province. The capital was built on the ancient principle of alignment with north-south axis and covered an area of approximately four square miles.  This new Han capital was a marvel of the ancient world as it was the home of two enormous palace complexes (forbidden palace), each 130 acres and linked by a covered guarded pathway.

Trade and trade routes by land and sea that were not emphasized during the first part of the Han Dynasty expanded. There was also an expansion of diplomacy and cultural ties with the ancient world: fifty envoys traveled to Central Asia in the year 57 AD and later in 94 a large contingency of envoys again visited the Central Asian Kingdoms. In the year 107 A.D. a trade and diplomatic contingency visited Japan. Trade with the Western regions of Asia grew and prospered and it is reported in historic records that emissaries from Andun (Roman Empire and Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus) brought ivory, rhinoceros horn, and tortoiseshell giving a direct link trade with Roman in 166 A.D. The development of paper, sundials, water clocks, astronomical instruments, and the invention of the seismograph all attest to the technological and scientific sophistication of this period in Chinese history called the Han Dynasty.

During later Eastern Han, five consortia clans experienced sudden rises and downfalls in struggles to gain court power (Ma, Dou , Liang, Deng  and Yin). These ruthless power struggles led to the extinction of entire royal families. Emperor Huandi one of the last Emperors of Han used the power of his eunuchs to conspire to rid his kingdom of the mighty Liang clan. The royal Han court eunuchs with both influence and control of military power were successful and for their reward Emperor Huandi gave them hereditary marquisates. Dou Wu a prince of the Han rose against the power of the eunuchs and attempted to assassinate the chief Royal eunuchs of Emperor Huandi's court. Dou Wu efforts to cleanse the Han court of what he called "evil influence" failed and he was killed after leading his rebellion in 168 AD. After the defeat of Dou Wu the eunuchs grew evermore powerful and acted as defenders of young, weak and   inexperienced Han rulers thus asserting greater control over the Han court.   During the first Han dynasty, the ruler was always seen as the pivot of cosmic harmony, but disillusionment about the weakness of their rulers and the influence of the power hungry court eunuchs led  scholars, officials, wealthy landowners and even vassal state clans  to conspire against the Han court. Criticizing scholars and Confucian priest were blamed for treason, and were executed during the Great Proscription (cleansing of the Kingdom) that was initiated by emperor Lingdi's eunuchs.

In 189 AD Yuan Shao a Han Royal successfully destroyed the power grip of the Han courts eunuchs leaving a tremendous power vacuum in its wake. This power vacuum was shortly filled by the consort clans and their court eunuchs. Internal power struggles issued by a handful of military leaders that had subdued the rebellion of the "Yellow Turbans" (Huangjin), a messianic movement led by Zhang Jiao. Power struggles continued with uprising of vassals’ states and a ruthless Warlord Cao Cao leading a coalition of warlords succeeded in taking over the Han Court and government. In 220, the emperor abdicated and handed over the throne and the Royal Han Jade Seal to Cao Cao's son Cao Pei who founded the Wei Dynasty. Two other warlords, Sun Quan and Liu Bei, founded their own empire and let the Chinese empire being divided into Three Kingdoms for the next 50 years.

The collapse of the Han dynasty was followed by nearly four centuries of rule by warlords (Six Dynasties period). The age of civil wars and disunity began with the era of the Three Kingdoms (Wei, Shu, and Wu, which had overlapping reigns during the period A.D. 220-80). In later times, fiction and drama greatly romanticized the reputed chivalry of this period but the reality was a time of great blood shed. Unity was restored briefly in the early years of the Jin dynasty (A.D. 265-420), but the Jin could not long contain the invasions of the nomadic peoples that breached the fractured defenses of the great wall.

Wonderful artifacts of Bronze and Jade have been found in the tombs of the rich and powerful Han rulers. Many of these Tombs were opened and the contents taken during the last century with very little archeological documentation. It is obvious by examining the content and treasures of these tombs that the nobility were extremely wealthy due to expanded trade routes with the ancient world. The Han historians of the period wrote of the splendor of the ruling class but very little is know of the great artisans that created such incredible Bronze, Ivory and Jade Treasures. Ironically many of the greatest artists known in China during the Han have left no recognizable marks on their work. The noble class and the wealthy merchants during the time of the Han furnished their tombs with splendid treasures, some made specifically as burial goods to serve the deceased in their afterlife (dishes, bowls, jars, etc.). Some of the greatest Han Bronze and Jade artifacts that survive today were found within the earth by farmers who by sheer accident found these treasures   plowing their fields.

My 33-year private collection of ancient jade has many wonderful and special Han one-of-a-kind Treasures. Today, you can own a Han Treasures and become a curator of artifacts that are fit for the finest museum. Tomorrow, you will discover that this great opportunity to own treasures from the ancient Chinese world of the Han will be gone -ian (Fung Gen Qua)

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