Han Dynasty of Ancient China Liu Bang - Founder of the Han Dynasty

started when the peasants killed the Qin emperor in a revolt Liu Bang fought against Xiang Yu for power and won he changed his name to Han Gaozu dynasty ran from 206 B.C. to 220 A.D. sometimes called the Golden Age of China an era of peace and prosperity one of the first things Han did was establish the civil service: * he gathered a bunch of educated men to help him run the empire * he made sure men went to school before they could help run the government

paper was invented, which allowed the government to keep records they invented an instrument that could predict earthquakes acupuncture was invented people painted, made pottery, and created new literature the teachings of Confucius were once again honored later emperors started schools for boys educated people had jobs 10% of the people lived in cities, which had markets and entertainment

 most people lived in the country and were farmers  the poor: * lived in houses packed together * had little food or sanitation * they wore clothes made of scratchy cloth and straw sandals * young males joined street gangs which terrorized people  the rich: * wanted to imitate the palace by building large homes and fancy tombs with the prices listed on the items place in the tomb * children were tutored * they wore fur and silk

 the Silk Road was established, which was a trade route from China to Europe  this brought much wealth to China  merchants were not well-respected, but became rich from trade on the Silk Road  the social class had 20 levels, with merchants toward the bottom and craftsmen, doctors, and farmers toward the top  Buddhism was first introduced to China during this time  punishments used during the Qin dynasty remained in place for the lower classes  people of the higher classes were judged according to Confucius teachings

 the poor were the most heavily taxed  another group of peasants, called the Yellow Turbans, tried to overthrow the Han ruler  the empire was able to defeat them, but not before it was separated into three kingdoms, thus ending the Han Dynasty  there were 26 emperors during the Han Dynasty