Carly's Han Dynasty Blog: 2013

Carly H., student writer

The first goods of the new extended Silk Road have finished their route to the Nomadic tribes in Central Asia. The merchants were headed from Xi'an, a major trading city. They were headed to Dunhuang and then to Khotan. They traded silk, ivory, glass, jade, and gold. The merchants traded every bit of the goods. They got back spices, nuts, and cloth for their goods. The Silk Road is not a new thing. However, the expansion on the Silk Road is new and will help with trade throughout China.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&docid=m6F2-7m-gVDUtM&tbnid=beXQmgZOcdvL6M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fchinatour.net%2Fsilk-road-tour.html&ei=ox55UeCiHIrb0wHHpoA4&bvm=bv.45645796,d.dmQ&psig=AFQjCNG_WZNEOFcVPh48vSgJm50cLd5kpQ&ust=1366978593822416

The Chinese people were trading silk all across China before the silk road was built. The nomadic tribes in Central Asia were attacking the caravans that were trading. They robbed and stole from the caravans and merchants. Around 202 C.E. Chan Ch'ien made contact with the Central Asian tribes and came up with the idea of making peace with them through trade. The trade routes, or Silk Road, were expanded to the Nomadic tribes. The Nomads stopped attacking and started to trade with the rest of China.

http://library.thinkquest.org/13406/sr/

     Many people know Mulan from the movies that were made about her. However many do not know that she was a real person and that the movie was based upon events in her life and her actions. There are many differences between the movie and her life but the basic story is the same. Mulan is an inspiration to many young girls everywhere. She took up a sword to protect her father and fought for many years without being discovered as a woman. Mulan is an inspiration because she stood up for what she believes in. Mulan protects the people she loves and that also makes her an inspiration.

     Mulan's father was a retired war general who was quite old. Her father taught her how to fight. The emperor needed warriors to fight against Mongols and nomadic attacks so he sent out lists to every village telling which men where to fight automatically. Mulan knew that her father would not be able to fight but his name was on the list. There was no male child in her family and women are not expected to fight. However, this did not stop Mulan from dressing as a man and taking her father's place. She signed up at the age of eighteen. This inspires people to stand up for people they love and what they believe in. Mulan did not let anything stand in her way. Even though many people did not believe that women could fight, Mulan still fought because she loved her father and she did not want him to die. She stood up for her father's life. Mulan believed that her father had fought enough because he was a retired general. This also made her fight in her father's place. With her courage to take her father's place she inspires many people.

     Another aspect of her life was that she fought for ten years This inspires many people to continue doing something that she believed in. She believed that if she went home, her father would eventually have to fight again. However, if she stayed she would protect her father's life. This inspires people to stick up for the people they care about because she risked her life for her father. This was an extreme case of sticking up for people others care about but that makes the message more clear and inspires people even more. Mulan is inspiring because she protected the people she loved and stood up for what she believed in.

Here is a short video that I recommend you watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=AARl1cMxS9w

http://ancientstandard.com/2011/06/17/the-real-story-of-mulan/

http://china.mrdonn.org/mulan.html

Map of the Han Dynasty Empire

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=jlkfTWMjl0ZkcM:&imgrefurl=http://cflynnworldhistory.blogspot.com/2010/10/han-dynasty.html&docid=VawAupXMZpKnSM&imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhle1psIEeZHq10jOx6prCP7h3JUbBD_InBGSWYI0vr0hyjND22fhWC8RLyGTrpWgNX576JPDKthE2GctiShwaGBgELmzJ8EjyRGY2mREGfoqSxRv0xlDXOa5gjvMFemaxoKTUqnU3s4j-4/s1600/han%252Bdynasty%252Bmap.jpg&w=640&h=408&ei=3HJxUaqGF4-

There are many geographic features in the empire. There are five rivers. The rivers are the Wei River, Yellow River, Yangzi River, and West River. The major cities of the empire were formed on these major rivers. There is a desert to the north. The desert is the Gobi Desert. The ocean to the east is the Pacific Ocean. The ocean kept the military from going further east and into the islands.The land is higher in the west and lower in the east. The Tibetan Plateau is to the west of the Han Empire. This plateau kept the military from going farther west.

The Religion of the Han Dynasty

Confucianism

http://www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/

The main religion of the Han Dynasty was Confucianism. Confucianism was founded by Confucius. It had five major core values. One core value was respect your ancestors. The elders were considered to know the most because they had lived the longest. The younger generations had to respect them and had to listen to their advice. Another core value was to strive for harmony and balance. No one was completely good or completely bad. This is shown in the Yin Yang, the picture above. The people had to strive to be the better person for their qualities. The people had to be in balance and harmony with other people and themselves. However, this did not mean that everyone was equal but they did have to let things work out the way that was intended. Another core value was always be considerate to others. They had to act according the people around them. They could not do things to another person without considering them. Avoid extremes in behavior and emotion is another core value. The people were not allowed to act out in any way. The final core value was if you live in peace and harmony, then you will be in contact wiht the spirtual forces of the universe.

The religion effected daily life in the Han Dynasty in many ways. One way was that everyone had a role in society. Society was like a family. The family had many roles with a leader. They had to respect their leader at all times and follow under their laws and leadership. There were roles in society. The emperor was the absolute leader and had to be respected at all times. The Filial Piety was there system of organization in life. There were five roles that people were in. They were subject to ruler, father to son, husband to wife, older brother to younger brother, and friend to friend. They were expected to follow these role guide lines. Confucianism was both a religion and government for them. There were five basic virtues, kindness, righteousness, sobreity, wisdom, and trustworthiness. The main focus of the religion was on family and respecting the elder people in the society. Conucius even said "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."All of this effected the daily life of the Han Dynasty.