The dynasty of china Essays - Asia, Dynasties In Chinese History

The dynasty of china China was divided for long periods of its history, with different regions being ruled by different groups. In fact there was not a single dynasty ruling an entire China. The Chinese had many dynasties. Most of them did not live very long, but there were a few that did live an extremely long time. To name few of them are the Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty were the strongest and most powerful as compared to the rest. Including also are the Yuan barbarian dynasty which too brought a change to China. China in all is one of the countries that can brag of an ancient civilization because it has a long and mysterious history. Like most other great civilizations throughout the world, China can trace its culture back to intermingle of small original tribes which have expanded in becoming the great country it is today. Each and every dynasty is ruled by an emperor and even as powerful as it were; the rise and fall of the great dynasties seemed to forms a continuous line tha t runs through China history. And this rise and fall has been occurring since the beginning of these dynasties. The Han dynasty The Han dynasty was in power from 206 B.C to 220 A.D. The Han dynasty was established after the fall of the Qin dynasty. The time period in which the Han dynasty was in power is believed to be the altitude of the Chinese culture. The Han dynasty is divided into two time periods. These two sections are divided by an emperor named Wang Mang. The first period is referred to as the Western Han, and the second is referred to as the Eastern Han. The capital of the former Han dynasty was located in Changan in the west, and the latter Han dynasty was centered in Luoyang. Many rebel groups joined together to over through the oppressive Qin dynasty. Following the collapse of the Qin dynasty was decades of constant civil war. During this war, the rebel groups fought for the imperial title. Finally two equally strong groups emerged and was lead by Xiang Yu, the decanted of a formally aristocratic family from Chu; and the other Liu Bang, who had a peasant background and had been a minor village o fficial, but the struggle, was not between different social classes, because both men had supporters from diverse backgrounds. (Brown and Schirokaver). Liu Bang finally defeated Xiang Yu in 202 B.C. Directly after which Xiang Yu committed suicide. Liu Bang, who had taken the title of King of Han, proclaimed himself as the first Emperor of the Han dynasty. The early years of the Han dynasty were characterized as power struggles among the emperors old comrades. Several of his generals had been given large land to rule or govern as vassal states of the Han court but they could not ignore the temptation of the throne. After the first generation the internal disputes were mainly geared around who among the children would be the next successor of the imperial house. It was not until Emperor Jin rule that seem that the Han Court was firmly secure. On the outside, the Han faced serious opposition from a rising nomadic empire, the Xiongun. The Xiongun had headed a group of various ethnic groups along the Eurasian boundary even before the Qin dynasty was founded. By the end of the third century, the Xionguns had become a strong empire that stretched from Central Asia. Han China, which had just emerged from the fall of the oppressive Qin dynasty and their decades of civil war, lacked the resources necessary to defend China from an attack made by the Xiongun, whose cavalry surpassed the Chinese infantry. Still in the first century of the Han rule, Han China was vulnerable both internally and externally. (Brown and Schirokaver). Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty was in power for 290 years starting from 618 A.D to 907 A.D. Within only a few generations, the Tang dynasty exceeded even the Han dynasty in material grandeur and international power. The Tang dynasty succeeded a powerful but short-lived regime that had accomplished the original reunification: the Sui (Brown and Schirokaver). The