Customer Reviews

The Establishment of the Han Empire and Imperial China (Greenwood Guides to Historic Events of the Ancient World)

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China's Han Dynasty created a prosperous empire from 206 BCE to CE 221, promoting a less harsh society than that of their Quin predecessors and developing technological advancements from the water mill to stoneware and paper. From elements of social change in Han times to kingdom problems and issues, its role in world society and politics, and its importance in establishing centralized control in Asia, THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HAN EMPIRE AND IMPERIAL CHINA is essential reading for any college-level scholar who would understand the importance of this developmental period.

This is a very nice summary of materials on Han China. My only concern is that it is too brief.

The first section is an excellent, but brief (50 page), recap of Chinese history from Shang to foundation of the Han dynasty. The material takes something of a western narrative form. Some might argue that pre-Han China history cannot be understood in terms of European feudalism, but I think it will interest most western readers and that is the point of an introductory work.

The next section tries to cover an even grander topic: Han political science. Again, it is nothing if not brief, but does an excellent job of hitting the main points. The chapter makes the point that Han China represented a balance of 3 major philosophic trends: Confucianism, Taoism, and legalism. Though the material on each is entirely too brief, the reader will find the narrative easy to read. One of the interesting themes is a description of the Han government in terms of 3 branches: military, bureaucracy and 'censorate' (a spy agency that watched both for the emperor). A parallel power structure existed in the emperor's harem (inner-court). At times the eunuchs and women there could control the emperor enough to be effective masters of the government. The bibliography has many suggestions for additional reading.

The third section on Chinese industry and technology, with an emphasis comparing the relative states of European and Chinese arts during the Han era.

The rest of the book covers a broad set of topics which I would summarize as an extended and illustrated notes/bibliography. For example, one section is a set of about 50 extended quotes from Han and pre-Han documents.