Later Han and Its Aftermath

Later Han and Its Aftermath

Later Han’s capital is Luoyang. China returned to a strong central government and a laissez-faire (businesses operate without government interference). China expanded into inner Asia with more lenient government policies toward merchants which facilitated the camel caravans that carried Chinese silk across the Tarim basin and ultimately, to merchants in Iran, Palestine, and Rome. After 88 CE the emperors of the later Han were ineffectual and short lived.

China was disunited for more than 3 ½ centuries after the fall of the Han. The 2 characteristics of the post-Han centuries were great aristocratic landowning families were beyond control of most governments described as a return to quasi-feudalism of the Zhou and that northern and southern China developed differently. The main developments in the south were 1. continuing economic growth and the emergence of Nanjing as a thriving center of commerce 2. the ongoing absorption of tribal peoples into Chinese society and culture; 3. large-scale immigrations of Chinese fleeing the north, and 4. the spread of Buddhism and its penetration to the heart of Chinese culture. In the north ”Sixteen Kingdoms” short-lived states were formed. Their differences were language and ancestry. Their similarities were 1. all began as steppe nomads with a way of life different from that of agricultural China, 2. after forming states, all became at least partially Sinicized (a move from non-Han Chinese to Han Chinese), Chinese from great families, which had preserved Han traditions, served as their tutors and administrators, 3. all were involved in wars- among themselves, against southern dynasties, or against conservative steppe tribes that resisted Sinicization, 4. Buddhism was as powerful in the north as in the south. Buddhism as a universal religion, it acted as a bridge between barbarians and Chinese.

A major accomplishment of the early Han was the recovery of texts that had been lost during the Qin persecution of scholars. They were retrieved from walls of houses and reproduced from memory by scholars. The 1st dictionary was compiled in about 100 CE. which helped promote a uniform system of writing. Han philosophers also extended Zhou Confucianism by adding to it the teachings of cosmological naturalism. Inventions made in this period were the seismograph (a suspended weight swings in the direction of an earthquake, moving a lever and a dragon drops a ball into the mouth of 1 of 4 waiting ceramic frogs), paper, wheelbarrow, stern-post rudder, and the compass (known as the “south-pointing chariot”).

Chinese historians were the greatest historians of premodern world. History was seen as a lesson book for statesmen. The practice of using actual documents as firsthand accounts began with Sima Qian who wrote a history of the known world from the most ancient times down to the age of the emperor Wudi.

Neo-Daoism is a revival of Daoist-mysterious learning that flourished as a reaction against Confucianism during the Han Dynasty. Confusicanism was abandoned for Neo-Daoism. Daoist texts were handed down from the Zhou. A concern of Neo-Daoism was

immortality. This lead to discoveries in medicines, dyes, glazes, and gunpowder. Popular religious cults arose among the common people. These cults were called Neo-Daoist.

Buddhism spread rapidly as the Han sociopolitical order collapsed. Nirvana in Buddhism is the attainment of release from the wheel of karma.

Buddhism advantages over Daoism are 1. it was a doctrine of personal salvation, offering several routes to that goal, 2. it upheld highs standards of personal ethics, 3. it had systematic philosophies, and during its early centuries in China, it continued to receive inspiration from India, 4. it drew on the Indian tradition of meditative practices and psychologies, which were the most sophisticated in the world.

The Bodhisattva Emperor Wu gave himself to a monastery 3 times and had to be ransomed back by his disgusted advisors. Temples and monasteries abounded for both men and women.

Indian Buddhism began as a reform. Do not rely on speculative philosophies and metaphysics but concentrate on the simples truths: life is sufferings, the cause of suffering is desire, death does not stop the endless cycle of birth and rebirth; only the attainment of nirvana releases one from the wheel of karma.

China Buddhism used the sutras (writings) and meditative practices of early Buddhism and Buddhist devotional sects. It also took in the Mahayana philosophies that depicted a succession of Buddhas. Chinese genius were more syncretic (merging beliefs and traditions).

Socially, Buddhism demanded heirs perform the sacrifices. Therefore, heirs were very important. The 1st son was expected to marry and have children. The 2nd son could become a monk if he desired. Practice of holding Buddhist masses for dead ancestors arose. China regulated Buddhism much more extensively than Indian. Limits were placed on monasteries, nunneries, and monastic lands and state of China had to give their permission before men or women could enter a religious establishment so as not to reduce taxes paid on land.