Invention of paper

Paper is writing material made from wood pulp or other fibrous material.
It is said that Cai Lun of Dong Han dynasty invented paper. Hemp fiber and silk were used to make paper. In its beginning age, paper was used as the tool for recording the important events and data. Before the invention of paper, the turtle shell, animal bone, golden stone, bamboo slips, wood and cloth were used for recording and remembering things.

There were many difficulties in using ancient materials for writing. The animal bones could not be found easily and stones were very heavy. Good cloth was too expensive to use for writing. And bamboo slips and wooden boards took too much space. All of these tools were not easily used and with no convenience. With the development of society, there was a great need for cheap and easy to get writing. After many times of research and practice, paper was invented using twine, broken cloth and the unused net.

The supply of cheap paper meant that great thoughts could be written on the paper and read by people. The invention of paper was a great contribution to the Chinese civilization and to the civilization of the world. It developed the culture and literature of China. More and more great works were produced though invention of paper event in ancient China’s history.

Religion- Daoism

During the Eastern Han period, Daoism was slowly turning from the study of the forming a necessary base of knowledge shared only by scholars to a full scale religion with followers. Daoism appealed to the people because of it's special importance upon their freedom and it's gratefulness of nature.

Daoism borrowed some of the old nature gods and came up with some gods of it's own. Daoists were the participants of Daoism and they sent prayers to the Jade Emperor whom they worshiped sacred, where the sun rises is were they traveled to make offerings to Heaven.

In the second century AD Zhang Dalong combined the elements of the popular Daoists beliefs into a formal religion called "The way of the Celestial Master. He established on order of priests who performed rituals to drive away evil spirits and over years a number of Daoist priests grew throughout China.
The Daoists were also determined to discover the secret of living forever.

Additional Option Daily Life, Geographical features

Han dynasty is divided into two regions, Eastern and Western Han. The capital city of Han is Chang’an. Chang’an was fast becoming a center of trade as well government. The great expansion of the Han Empire took place, first by defeating the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu are nomads of north of Inner China who there as herders of sheep, goats, camels and horses. They migrated with the seasons moving their camps to where the grazing was best, north in summer and south in winter.

Contact was made for in the East and West side, preparing the way for an exchange of ideas as well as products and technology. A few traveled the entire route of the silk road and most products exchanged hands several times the price going up with each transaction. The mighty federation of the Xiongnu was crushed during the end of former Han, and other peoples replaced these warriors of the steppe. But both the Wuhuan and the Xianbei had intensive diplomatic and trade relations with the Han Empire and were partially forced to settle down.

Bibliography

Works Cited

The British Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.ancientchina.co.uk/​menu.html>.

“Han Dynasty.” Dynasties of Early Imperial China. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.mnsu.edu/​emuseum/​prehistory/​china/​early_imperial_china/​han.html>.

“Han dynasty.” Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.encyclopedia.com/>.

“Han Dynasty.” History.com. Encyclopædia Britannica, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.history.com/​topics/​han-dynasty>.

“Han Dynasty.” wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/​wiki/​Han_Dynasty>.

Nicholson, Robert, and Claire Watts. Ancient China. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Steele, Philip. Chinese Empire. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Interview with an Important ruler/Famous person from Han dynasty

I will tell you about Wendi is a son of Liu Bang, Liu Bang was the founder of the Han dynasty.

Question 1:Give me some of the reasons as to why you are a famous and an important leader during the Han dynasty?

Answer 1: Well I am remembered as a model Confucian ruler, I lived frugally and worked hard to strengthen my empire and improve the lives of my subjects, I also organized a system for providing relief to starving peasant(the poor) in times of famine and for giving pension to the elderly. I  governed the dynasty with the general polices of non-interference with the people and relaxed laws. 

Question 2:What was one of your biggest accomplishments you did for your people during the Han dynasty?


Answer 2: I abolished the law on slavery for the wife and children of criminals, despite opposition from officials who felt it had a deterrent effect. My argument was that education was better than deterrence, and that unjust laws would negate any deterrent effect by alienating the people. In my personal life I was marked by thriftiness and general willingness to forgive and attempts to reduce burdens on the people.

Question 3: Did you also reiterate Empress Lu's abolition of "yi san zu" ? 

Answer 3: Yes, but later on he reinstated this punishment for a con-man named Xinyuan Ping who had deceived him by presenting him with a jade bangle with promising success and claiming it came from Heaven (it was actually made by Xinyuan Ping himself). Xinyuan Ping had brought me on a wild goose chase of building five shrines at the Wei River (near Chang'an you can view on the Han dynasty map) and conducting ancient rites there with the promise that Heaven would confer a jade bangle as a sign of favor.

Question 4: Why were you planning a thorough revision of the governmental system and the building of many temples?

Answer 4: I was planning this because I became superstitious and started search for supernatural events

Question 5: What makes you a different from all the other Han dynasty emperor?

Answer 5: I lightened the taxes and paid great importance to production thus promoting the development of society, I also was a famously frugal emperor. 




At Wendi’s death, the throne was passed peacefully to his son, Liu Qi (the Jingdi emperor).

Event- The fall of the Han dynasty.

I it was the beginning of the end. Power struggles plagued the last century of Han dynasty rule. The rulers were weak and families of the imperial concubines fought with one another for power. There were men called eunuchs who had become increasingly involved in high level intrigues.

A traveling magician named Zhang Jue went from city to city preaching about the coming of a new regime of peace and equality that would be led by Daoist god. He successfully amassed about 360,000 followers to rebel against the emperor and because his followers wrapped their heads in yellow cloths they were known as the “Yellow Turbans.”

The cost of fighting these rebels weakened the government. Soon they were fighting among themselves and China was once again in the throes of Civil war. Later, a general named Cao ruled all of China and after his death his son Cao Pei forced and claimed the Mandate of Heaven for himself.
The Han dynasty came to an end.