Thematic Essays

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By Geographical Region & Time Period

• 

  Female Dancer, Western Han dynasty (206 B.C.–9 A.D.), 2nd century B.C.
  China
  Earthenware with slip and pigments; H. 21 in. (53.3 cm)
  Charlotte C. and John C. Weber Collection, Gift of Charlotte C. and John C. Weber, 1992 (1992.165.19)

• 
  Covered jar (hu), Western Han dynasty (206 B.C.–9 A.D.), 2nd–1st century B.C.
  Probably from Luoyang area, China
  Earthenware with painted decoration; 8 3/16 x 13 3/4 in. (20.8 x 35 cm)
  Charlotte C. and John C. Weber Collection, Gift of Charlotte C. and John C. Weber, 1992 (1992.165.20ab)
  
• 

  Liubo board and pieces, Han dynasty (206 B.C.–220 A.D.), 1st century B.C.–1st century A.D.
  China, probably Luoyang, Henan Province
  Earthenware with pigment, bone; L. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)
  Purchase, Eileen W. Bamberger Bequest, in memory of her husband, Max Bamberger, 1994 (1994.285a–m)

• 

  Se player, Han dynasty (206 B.C.–220 A.D.), 1st century B.C.–1st century A.D.
  China
  Pottery; H. 6 in. (15.2 cm)
  Charlotte C. and John C. Weber Collection, Gift of Charlotte C. and John C. Weber, 1994 (1994.605.85a–c)

• 

  Animal pen with figures, Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 A.D.), 1st–early 3rd century A.D.
  China
  Earthenware with green lead glaze; H. 9 1/4 in. (23.5 cm)
  Charlotte C. and John C. Weber Collection, Gift of Charlotte C. and John C. Weber, 1994 (1994.605.21)

• 
  Tomb panel with relief of figures in a pavilion, Eastern Han dynasty (25–220), early 2nd century
  Shandong Province, China
  Limestone; H. 31 1/4 in. (79.4 cm), W. 50 in. (127 cm)
  Rogers Fund, 1920 (20.99)
  
• 
  Central watchtower, architectural model, Eastern Han dynasty (25–220), 1st–early 3rd century
  China
  Earthenware with green lead glaze; H. 41 in. (104.1 cm)
  Purchase, Dr. and Mrs. John C. Weber Gift, 1984 (1984.397ab)
  

After the civil war that followed the death of Qin Shihuangdi in 210 B.C., China was reunited under the rule of the Han dynasty, which is divided into two major periods: the Western or Former Han (206 B.C.–9 A.D.) and the Eastern or Later Han (25–220 A.D.). The boundaries established by the Qin and maintained by the Han have more or less defined the nation of China up to the present day. The Western Han capital, Chang'an in present-day Shaanxi Province—a monumental urban center laid out on a north-south axis with palaces, residential wards, and two bustling market areas—was one of the two largest cities in the ancient world (Rome was the other).

China was reunited under the rule of the Han dynasty.

Related

Timelines (9)

• Central and North Asia, 1–500 a.d.
• Central and North Asia, 1000 b.c.
• China, 1
• China, 1000 b.c.
• China, 500–1000 a.d.
• Japan, 1–500 a.d.
• Korea, 1–500 a.d.
• Korea, 1000–1 b.c.
• Southeast Asia, 1000 b.c.–1 a.d.

Primary Thematic Essays (4)

• List of Rulers of China
• Qin Dynasty (221–206 B.C.)
• The Year One
• Trade Routes between Europe and Asia during Antiquity

Other Thematic Essays (31)

• Astronomy and Astrology in the Medieval Islamic World
• Chinese Buddhist Sculpture
• Chinese Calligraphy
• Chinese Gardens and Collectors' Rocks
• Chinese Painting
• Japanese Illustrated Handscrolls
• Jiahu (ca. 7000–5700 B.C.)
• Lacquerware of East Asia
• Landscape Painting in Chinese Art
• Life of the Buddha
• Longevity in Chinese Art
• Ming Dynasty (1368–1644)
• Music and Art of China
• Nabataean Kingdom and Petra
• Nature in Chinese Culture
• Neolithic Period in China
• Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127)
• Painting Formats in East Asian Art
• Period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386–589)
• Scholar-Officials of China
• Shang and Zhou Dynasties: The Bronze Age of China
• Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279)
• Tang Dynasty (618–906)
• The Japanese Tea Ceremony
• The Pipa
• The Qin
• The Rag-dung (Cloisonne Trumpets)
• The Vibrant Role of Mingqi in Early Chinese Burials
• Trade Between the Empires of Asia and Rome
• Yayoi Culture (ca. 4th century B.C.–3rd century A.D.)
• Yuan Dynasty (1271

Maps (2)

• East Asia, 1000 B.C.-1 A.D.
• World, 1000 B.C.-1 A.D.

Index Terms (13)

Art Movement/Style

• Han Dynasty of China
• Period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties in China
• Northern Wei Dynasty of China
• Sui Dynasty of China

Geography/Place

• China
• Rome (Ancient)

Material and Technique

• Ceramic from China
• Sculpture in the Round from East Asia

Subject Matter/Theme

• Astronomy
• Immortality
• Chinese Poetry
• Trade (1–500 a.d.)
• Trade (1000 b.c.–1 a.d.)

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Poetry, literature, and philosophy flourished during the reign of Emperor Wudi (141–86 B.C.). The monumental Shiji (Historical Records) written by Sima Qian (145–80 B.C.) set the standard for later government-sponsored histories. Among many other things, it recorded information about the various peoples, invariably described as "barbarian," who lived on the empire's borders. Wudi also established Confucianism as the basis for correct official and individual conduct and for the educational curriculum. The reliance of the bureaucracy on members of a highly educated class grounded in Confucian writings and other classics defined China's statecraft for many centuries. 

Under Wudi, China regained control of territories, first conquered by Qin Shihuangdi, in southern China and the northern part of Vietnam. New commanderies were established in Korea, and contacts were made with the western regions of Central Asia. The conquest of Ferghana and neighboring regions in 101 B.C., which allowed the Han to seize a large number of the "heavenly" long-legged horses valued for cavalry maneuvers, also gave China control of the trade routes running north and south of the Taklamakan Desert. In return for its silk and gold, China received wine, spices, woolen fabrics, grapes, pomegranates, sesame, broad beans, and alfafa. 

Disputes among factions, including the families of imperial consorts, contributed to the dissolution of the Western Han empire. A generation later, China flourished again under the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 A.D.), which ruled from Luoyang, a new capital farther east in present-day Henan Province. Organized around a north-south axis and covering an area of approximately four square miles, the city was dominated by two enormous palace complexes, each 125 acres and linked by a covered pathway. Ban Chao (32–102 A.D.), a member of an illustrious literary family, reasserted Chinese control of Central Asia from 73 to 94 A.D. Trade, less rigorously controlled than in the first part of the dynasty, expanded, with caravans reaching Luoyang every month. 

There was also an expansion of diplomacy: fifty envoys from Central Asia were recorded in 94 A.D., and Japanese envoys visited in 57 and 107 A.D. Jugglers from West Asia arrived in 122 A.D., and the reported arrival of an emissary from Andun (the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus) bringing ivory, rhinoceros horn, and tortoiseshell suggests a direct link to Rome in 166 A.D. The development of paper, water clocks, sundials, astronomical instruments, and the invention of a seismograph in 132 A.D. attest to the technological and scientific sophistication that marks this period.

Citation Department of Asian Art. "Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–220 A.D.)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hand/hd_hand.htm (October 2000) Further Reading Milleker, Elizabeth J., ed. The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West. Exhibition catalogue.. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions)

These related Museum Bulletin or Journal articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship. Watt, James C. Y. "The Arts of Ancient China." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 48, no. 1 (Summer, 1990). JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs "Director’s Note" PDF "Introduction" PDF Valenstein, Suzanne G. "Highlights of Chinese Ceramics." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 33, no. 3 (Autumn, 1975). JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs "Director’s Note" PDF Hearn, Maxwell, and Wen Fong "The Arts of Ancient China." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 32, no. 2 (1974). JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs "Director’s Note" PDF Chow, Fong "Accessions from the Florance Waterbury Collection." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 27, no. 9 (May, 1969). JSTOR | PDF