1. Chapter 23/24: The Han Dynasty and the Silk Road
A Presentation by: Mr. Tsolomitis

2. The End of the Qin
The Chinese people were unhappy with the Legalist government of the Qin.
After Qin Shihuangdi’s death in 210 B.C.E., the people rebelled against the Qin rulers.
Liu Bang, a rebel who gained control of the Han kingdom, conquered his enemies and established his own empire.

3. How the Han did things…
Believed emperors should not rule their people with force.
Began to incorporate Confucian ideals of moral behavior into the government.
This led to a golden age (long period of stability and wealth)
Expanded empire all the way to present-day Korea and Vietnam, and established trade with the West.

4. Warfare Military tactics and new weapons helped expand the empire.
Well-organized army: all men from ages had to serve two years in the army, making the army between 130,000 and 300,000 at all times.

5. Warfare continued
Technology: new armor designed like fish scales helped movement, iron swords that were longer than before, and the crossbow
Even kites were used to scare away enemy soldiers by using bamboo to make ghostly noises.

6. Government
Kept strong central government of Qin, but softened the harsh ruling style and brought Confucian ideas back into government.
Bureaucracy: a form of government that is structured like a pyramid, with a few people at the top and many at the bottom.

7. Government continued
Emperor used officials to help run the empire using the form of bureaucracy.
Top officials lived in the capital and gave advice to the emperor
Lower-level officials lived throughout the empire and oversaw roads/canals, grain production and storage, and other important duties

8. Government continued
One key improvement was the way civil servants were hired.
Used to be based on your social class
Now they were chosen on ability and knowledge.
To become officials, young men had to pass a long and difficult test, based on five classic writings, which the students had to learn by heart.

9. Government continued
Once a civil servant was hired, they were not allowed to serve in their home district.
Intended to prevent them from giving special favors to family and friends.
They were evaluated every three years and could be either promoted or demoted.

10. Agriculture
Farmers were expected to grow enough food to feed their own families and help stock the shared granaries.
Also expected to make their own clothing, build their homes, and give one month of unpaid labor to the government for building projects (canals, roads, etc.)
Chain pump: an invention that moved water from low irrigation ditches/canals up to the fields.
Workers used pedals to turn a wheels, which pulled a series of wooden planks, which in turn moved the water uphill to the fields.

11. Modern Chain Pump

12. Agriculture continued
Poured iron into molds, which allowed mass production of goods, especially iron plows (pushes dirt away from a spot, makes it easier to plant).
Also invented the wheelbarrow.

13. Industry Two most important industries in China: silk and salt.
Government controlled both
Both industries would lead to new inventions

14. Silk A material made from the fibers of a silkworm cocoon.
Silk
A material made from the fibers of a silkworm cocoon.
Difficult and time-consuming to make, and thus very valuable.
Developed a foot-powered machine that wound fibers onto a large reel, ready to used.
Made production more efficient, so they could make more to trade.

15. Salt Preserves meat and vegetables.
At first, only way to get it was from the sea, but the Han discovered a way to mine it.
Salt water, or brine, exists deep beneath the surface of the earth.
Dug deep wells using iron-tipped bamboo drills
When they reached brine (sometimes 1,000 ft. below the surface), a hollow bamboo pole was dropped down.
The pole had a valve that allowed water in, and when the pole was full, the valve shut and it was pulled up.
Water was placed in iron pots and were heated until the water evaporated, leaving just the salt.

16. Art in the Han Dynasty Invention of paper and calligraphy.
Calligraphy: a style of writing that flows naturally, or the art of fine handwriting.
Paper absorbed ink very well, was ideal for scribes and artists.
Made of fibers from silk, hemp, bamboo, straw and seaweed. Dip a screen into a soupy pulp of these ingredients, flatten it out, and when it dried, it was paper.

17. Art continued
Before paper, the Chinese wrote on silk, because it could roll up easily, or bamboo, which was plentiful but difficult to work with.
Paper was cheaper to make than silk and easier to use than bamboo, making it ideal for art and books.

18. Medicine
Believed that illness happened when the forces of yin and yang were out of balance in your body.
Healers tried to restore the natural balance using two particular methods: acupuncture and moxibustion.
Discovered more about how the human body works.

19. Acupuncture
Tiny, thin needles inserted into particular parts of the body
Thought to rebalance the forces of yin and yang
Thought to be useful for curing illnesses that strike quickly, like headaches.

20. Moxhibustion
A small cone of powdered leaves or sticks (called a moxa) is placed on the skin and set on fire.
The heat is believed to reduce pain and promote healing
Used to treat long-term illnesses, like arthritis.

21. How the human body works
Learned to judge a persons health by listening to the heartbeat or feeling the pulse.
Discovered that blood circulates from the heart through the body and back.
This same discovery was not made in the West until the 1600’s C.E.
Anesthetic: something that takes away the feeling of pain

22. Science
Numerous scientific discoveries were made in the areas of astronomy and geography.
Astronomy
Recorded appearance of comets
Discovered that the moon shines because it reflects the light of the sun
A solar eclipse is brought on when the moon blocks our view of the sun

23. Science continued Seismograph: an instrument for detecting eathquakes
First one was a circular device made of bronze, which had a pendulum in the centerand was surrounded by sculpted animal heads.
During an earthquake, the pendulum vibrated, which would release one of eight balls.
The ball would then fall in the direction of the earthquake, telling them which direction the quake came from.
Could detect earthquakes from over 100 miles away.

24. Science continued
Compass: an instrument designed and used for determining direction
Chinese used a magnetic version, which points out either north or south.
Important to place temples, graves and homes in the correct position for luck.
Achieved this by using a lodestone (lodestone: a type of iron ore), which tends to align itself in a north-south direction naturally.
Carved into the shape of a spoon with a handle that would always point south.

25. The Silk Road
A network of roads that stretched more than 4,000 miles across Asia.
Reached from Luoyang and the Han capital of Chang’an to Mediterranean ports like Antioch, a major port for the Greeks and Romans.
Goods and ideas flowed along the Silk Road
Silk and jade were most common Chinese goods, often exchanged for spices from India and glassware from Rome
Buddhism was introduced to China via the Silk Road

26. The Father of the Silk Road
Made possible by military expansion of the Han Dynasty
An explorer named Zhang Qian went west in 138 B.C.E. with 100 men.
Mission was to form an alliance with the western people’s against the Hun’s, China’s enemy to the north.
Unable to form an alliance, but his trip was beneficial in other ways.

27. Zhang Qian continued
Brought back word of places like Persia, Syria, India and Rome.
Went on a second journey some years later.
Discovered a more powerful type of horse than the Chinese currently had, which were better suited for the type of warfare the Chinese used.
Discovered grapes and established trade relationships with several central Asian peoples.
More explorers would continue to travel further west.

28. What’s so special about silk?
Silk is a strong material, but is also light, warm and soft.
Only the Chinese at this time knew how to make it, which made the value of it skyrocket.
Kept the process a secret so no one else could get in on the market.
Revealing the process was a crime punishable by death.

29. Roman Glassware for Silk
The Romans prized silk and traded eagerly for it.
First encountered silk in Mesopotamia in a battle.
Even the richest of Romans could only afford to wear a strip or a patch of silk stitched to their togas (a toga is a loose robe worn by Roman men)
In return, the Romans traded glassware, which the Chinese were unfamiliar with.
Romans were able to blow the glass into wonderful, delicate shapes.

30. The Silk Road is not just one road…
The Silk Road is not one continuous route, but rather a network of shorter trade routes between various stops.
The Eastern Silk Road connected Luoyang to Kashgar (a city in the western part of the Taklimakan Desert)
The Western Silk Road connected Kashgar to Antioch and other ports in the Mediterranean.

31. Eastern Silk Road
This route led west along the Gobi Desert to Dunhuang, in northwestern China.
Protected by the desert and the Great Wall to the north.
From Dunhuang, traders could go by a northerly or southerly route to Kashgar.
Most chose the northern route because the distances between the oases were much shorter.

33. Eastern Silk Road continued
Dangers include bandits, sandstorms, and mirages (an image of something that isn’t really there, like water) pulling them off the path.
Before entering the desert, many traders chose to form caravans (a group of people travelling together) for protection.
Used bactrian camels (have double eyelids and nostrils that they can close to keep the blowing sand out. This let them carry enough food and water for a traveler to make it to the next oasis.

34. Eastern Silk Road continued
Very expensive to carry goods over the Silk Road. In order to make a profit, the items would need to be of good quality, valuable, and easy to carry.
Silk was great because it was light, valuable and didn’t take up much room.

35. Eastern Silk Road continued
Also sold fine dishware (we call it today china), ornaments, jewelry, cast-iron products and decorative boxes.
Received a variety of goods in return:
Horses, jade, furs and gold from Central Asia.
Cotton, spices, pearls and ivory from India.

36. Western Silk Road
From Kashgar, goods went west on yaks instead of camels (better suited for Central Asian climate instead of desert climate).
Crossed the Pamir Mountains (peaks often are over 20,000 ft.) through the narrow and dangerous mountain passes.
Then travelled through a valley, across the Iranian Plateau, across the Syrian Desert, and finally reached Antioch.

38. Western Silk Road continued
A major stop along the route was Ctesiphon, located on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, a new miles north of Ancient Babylon.
Traders from Egypt, Arabia and Persian brought perfumes, cosmetics and carpets, as well as metal items and dies.
Sometimes even slaves.

39. Western Silk Road continued
Romans brought glass trays, cases, necklaces and small bottles, as well as coral and asbestos (used for making fireproof cloth).
Chinese doctors used coral to help them locate illness (it was said that coral lost it’s color when placed on the skin of someone who was sick).
Romans sent so much gold in exchange for silk that in the first century C.E., a Roman emperor named Tiberius outlawed silk because he thought it made Romans soft and weak because of all the expensive fabric they wore.

40. Cultural Exchanges
Diets, gardening techniques and agriculture changed as new plants were introduced to other areas.
China imported many new foods and spices, such as grapes, cucumbers, figs, pomegranates, walnuts, chives, sesame, and coriander.
Meanwhile, the West imported many decorative plants like roses, peonies, azaleas, chrysanthemums, and camellias, as well as oranges, peaches and pears.
Also eventually learned to make the major products they traded for, around 500 C.E.

41. Cultural Exchanges continued
The Silk Road also helped spread Buddhism, which began in India.
Because the Silk Road passed through many different nations, religious travelers use the route to spread their beliefs.
Buddhism was introduced to China around the middle of the first century C.E.
Some Chinese Buddhists journeyed through Central Asia to learn more about their new religion and brought back sacred Buddhist texts.
Buddhism would soon become a major religion in China

42. The End!
Up next…
GREECE!!!