The Han Dynasty is dived into two parts; The Former Han, or Western Han with the capital city of Ch’ang-an and the Later Han or Eastern Han with its’ capital at Loyang. The Former Han lasted from 202 B.C. - 9 A.D., while the Later Han lasted from 23 - 220 A.D. Their was a brief interlude between 9 and 23 A.D. when the reformer, Wang Mang, succeeded in capturing the throne in what is known as the Hsin Dynasty.

The Han Dynasty formerly began with the ascension of a commoner to the throne, Liu Pang. Liu Pang was an able ruler wha spent most of his time battling the incursions of Barbarian marauders from the north known as the H

It is against this backdrop of Chinese expansion and unification during the Han dynasty, cultural, economic, social, military, and technological advances as well as the significant rise in population that most Chinese people take great pride in being descendants of the Han.

The next notable ruler in the Han line was Han Wu-Ti who ruled from 141 - 87 B.C. Emperor Wu continued the policy of strong centralization of government power coupled with defeudalization. The result was a transformation of feudal lords losing wealth and status and the land being turned into commanderies and districts. He also continued the military campaigns in the north against the Hsiung-nu with the large army he had amassed. He further sent Chang Ch’ien westward to seek anti-Hsiung allies. Military conquest was also plentiful resulting in the expansion of Han territory westward to Russian Turkestan, eastward to Korea, and southward to Vietnam. A series of vassal states were also created in the process with a

Some topics in this essay:
Liu Pang, Russian Turkestan, China Finally, Emperor Wu, , University Confucius’, Former Han, Chang Ch’ien, Culturally Han, AD Han, han dynasty, former han, liu pang, north hsiung-nu, eastern han, feudal lords, han lasted,