The Han Dynasty

You need to know about the Han Dynasty because they had a huge impact on you. Anyone else thinking of Han Solo and the Empire? Oh, sorry, let's focus. The Han Dynasty came into power after the Qin Dynasty. The people of China were fed up with the harsh legalist rule of Qin Shi Hengdi and welcomed a change. The Han rulers mixed legalism and Confucianism and came up with a solid government that ruled China for over 400 years. During this long period of stability and wealth, or Golden Age, people had time to be creative and come up with new inventions and discoveries that improved people's lives. For example, the Han Dynasty excelled at warfare and expanded their empire. All men served two years in the army and advances in ironwork improved armor and made longer, better swords. They invented the crossbow and used kites, yes kites, to measure distances, send messages, and scare enemies. I already mentioned the new and improved Han government. They used the centralized government of the Qin but added Confucian ideas of leading by example and a moral, honest government. The Han set up a bureaucracy. It's a pyramid-shaped government with a few at the top and many at the bottom. Each level directs the people below them. The best thing the Han did was make their officials earn their jobs by taking a civil service exam. This ensured qualified people ran the government. Several farming inventions developed under the Han rulers. The chain pump moved water from low irrigation ditches and canals up to the fields. They made iron plows and the wheelbarrow, simple inventions that made farming easier. In industry, the Han invented a foot-powered machine that wound silk fibers onto a large reel. Silk was the number one trade export of China and the faster they could make it, the better. Under the Han, the Chinese learned how to mine salt from underground. They invented iron-tipped bamboo drills that reached as deep as 1,000 feet. They used the bamboo to bring the salt water up, boil off the water, and use the salt to preserve their meat and vegetables. You can thank the Han for inventing paper and the art of calligraphy. Before paper, they wrote on silk, very expensive. Paper was cheap so people could afford to write and it made great books. New medical practices started under the Han dynasty. The Chinese believed that illnesses were caused when the yin and the yang forces of the body were out of balance. Healers had to restore balance. They used acupuncture or needles for curing illnesses like headaches. Another medical technique is moxibustion where powdered moxa is placed on skin and lit on fire. The heat reduces pain and diseases like arthritis. Hey, Michael Phelps used it before swimming in the Olympics. They also used wine as an anesthetic to take away pain. The Chinese knew how the human body worked. They used the heartbeat and pulse to judge a person's health, just like your doctor. They also knew that blood circulates from the heart and back again. The Han dynasty rocked the science world. Their astronomers recorded comets, solar eclipses, and discovered that the moon shines by reflecting the sun's light. They invented the seismograph to detect the direction of earthquakes and the magnetic compass with a lodestone to tell direction. So when you're watching Han Solo saving the galaxy, remember the Han dynasty and all of their amazing inventions and ideas that changed your world.