|
RISE OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE |
| |
|
“One Hundred
Schools” (cont.): the Legalists |
| |
|
Xunzi (300-237
BCE) ·
Confucian thinker that
differed greatly with Mencius regarding his understanding of human
nature ·
Little innate goodness
in people ·
Li (ritual) refers to
external standards imposed on the common people by sage
kings |
Han
Feizi (d. 233 BCE) ·
Founder
of the Legalist School ·
Ruler as semi-divine
figure ·
All social activity
focused on strengthening the economy and military of the
state |
|
China’s First Empire: the Qin (221-206 BCE) |
| |
|
Qin Shi Huang Di (d.
210 BCE) ·
Final
ruler of the Qin Kingdom and first emperor of China. ·
Erased
the boundaries of the warring kingdoms and reorganized China into a system
of jun (commandaries). ·
Chose
for himself a new political title “emperor” with the following elements:
huang: “great one,” di: “emperor” (title once used for the
Shang diety), shi: “number one” ·
Xiongnu:
the nomadic peoples living to the north and northwest of “settled”
China. ·
Jing
Ke: the failed assassin of the Qin emperor. |
| |
|
THE CHINESE HAN EMPIRE
(202 BCE- AD
220) | ||
|
Topics: ·
Shaping the powers of
the Son of Heaven & his court ·
Emergence of the Han
Meritocracy & Statecraft Confucianism ·
Women in Early Han
society | ||
|
Dynastic Periods
(China)- ·
Former (Western) Han:
206 BCE- AD 9 ·
Wang Mang’s Xin “New”
Dynasty (9-25) ·
Later (Eastern) Han:
25-220. | ||
|
Liu
Bang (r. 202-195
BCE):
the first Han Emperor, also
known as Han Gaozu ("High Ancestor"). Han
Wudi (r. 141-87
BCE): the
“Martial Emperor," who both brought Confucianism into the court and
greatly expanded territorial boundaries. Statecraft
Confucianism: a syncretic school of
Han Confucian thought developed by Dong
Zhongshu (c. 179-c. 104
BCE)
that reinforced the interactive moral relationship of Man and
Heaven. System of Noble
Rank-
a 20-level status ranking system, through which the Han court was trying
to create its own social
structure. | ||