The Han Dynasty
The Rise of the Han Dynasty
● The Qin Dynasty only lasted 14 years
● The Chinese people rebelled because of Legalist
rule
● Liu Bang established the Han Dynasty
● Under the rule of the Han, China had a “golden
age”
What Would The Experts Say?
Each of the following slides contain essential facts that the experts think are
MOST important about the Han Dynasty. Your task…
Read each section about the Han (groups complete together!)
Anticipate the essential facts the experts chose
Record your anticipated facts in your Notes section
Whichever group matches the MOST for each slide get SWORD
cards (I will make the judgement if several groups are close!)
● Record what you missed
●
●
●
●
Warfare
Anticipate the FOUR facts that the experts think are MOST important!
● The Han had a very large and well-organized army
● New technologies included fish-scale armor/iron
swords
● New technologies included crossbow
● New technologies included war-kites
Can you think of any dominant civilization that has NOT had
a strong military? If not, why not?
Government
Anticipate the FOUR facts that the experts think are MOST important!
● The Han Dynasty created
their empire
● High-level officials advised
capital
● Lower-level officials lived
had many responsibilities
● Civil servants had to pass
hired by the government
a bureaucracy to help run
the emperor and lived in the
throughout the empire and
a civil service exam to be
Which philosophy seems to have influenced the Han? Explain.
Agriculture
Anticipate the FOUR facts that the experts think are MOST important!
● Farmers supplied food for their families and
communities
● Farmers gave one month of labor for government
building projects
● The chain pump made irrigation easier
● The Han developed technologies such as the iron plow
and wheelbarrow
Industry
Anticipate the TWO facts that the experts think are MOST important!
● The Han Dynasty began to manufacture and trade silk,
which was very valuable
● Chinese learned how to mine salt from the ground
using a bamboo-drill
Art
Anticipate the THREE facts that the experts think are MOST important!
● Chinese scribes used a style of writing called
Calligraphy
● Scribes wrote on silk and bamboo strips
● The Chinese invented paper in the first century C.E.
Medicine
Anticipate the FOUR facts that the experts think are MOST important!
● Acupuncture used to rebalance the forces of yin and
yang, cure headaches
● Moxibustion used to reduce pain like arthritis
● Chinese used a person’s heartbeat or pulse to judge
health
● Chinese also discovered circulation of blood through
the heart/body
Science
Anticipate the THREE facts that the experts think are MOST important!
● Chinese astronomers made many discoveries
● The Chinese invented the seismograph for detecting
earthquakes
● Also the magnetic compass to determine north and
south
Tell Me What You Think...
Why was the Han Dynasty considered the
“Golden Age” of Ancient China? Provide
reasoning and evidence.