the decline of the ancient china civilization occured during the han dinasty period (206 BC–220 AD) , because of natural disasters outside of their control, such as cattle plagues, locusts, droughts, floods, and earthquakes but mainly because of the Yellow turban rebellion as a proof there is the section of a fresco, with the tribial people there is the handscroll and lastly with the taxation there is the bang liang currency:
Yellow Turban Rebellion
It started in 184 as a rebellion against Emperor Lingdi of the Han Dynasty. It is led by Zhang Jiao, along with his brothers Zhang Bao and Zhang Liao. the rebellion spread throughout the country, but it was in the north where it achieved greater power. The Yellow Turbans started as a sect called The Road to Peace and after gaining followers they became a force capable of conquering the country, and they demonstrated it by rising up against the Han. The yellow turbans were going to win when Huan Gai, Dian Wei and Co. appeared . In the end the rebellion was quelled, but this accentuated the end of the Han dynasty in China and the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period.
A section of a fresco from the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 AD) of 9 chariots, 50 horses, and more than 70 men, from a tomb in Luoyang, China, which was once the capital of the Eastern Han Empire. The image that the fresco is showing (the army attacking during the rebellion) is something that China left in the past, the change was slow because only since 1949 the wars stopped and it’s a change for good, because the lacking of battles brings peace in the civilization and also for it’s history
Tribal People
Tribal groups living along the borders of China had a strained relationship with the Han, the tribal groups would be resettled more deeply into the empire, because the Chinese despised these tribal groups, but failing to integrate these tribal peoples had as a result that in 89 CE, the Han defeated a large tribal group known as the Xiongnu and led them away from China, the Han didn’t know that the Xiongnu was a buffer against other dangerous tribes and by removing the Xiongnu, they caused the invasion, fighting these tribal threats was a waste of resources for the Han.
This handscroll, in the style of the 12th-13th century, is said to depict envoys from the territories around China’s periphery bringing tribute to the Han Dynasty emperor in the 1st century BC. The illustration that is showed represents a change in the new China, people no longer discriminate the same way as in the past and that avoids the conflicts between people, it is a positive change that is still occurring but changing in a slow way because there is still existing people that discriminate you because of your economical position but not as much in the past, that marks history in the way of how the society has been changing for good.
Taxation
Taxation became a problem and the government had a big decline in tax revenue, they couldn’t finance the court and support the armies that protected China, officials exempted themselves from taxes, and farmers had a warning system to alert each other when tax collectors reached a village, the peasants scattered across the surrounding countryside and waited until the tax men were gone causing that the government had a shortage of money.
The Ban Liang was the first unified currency of the Chinese empire, (around 210 BC.) This type of currency helped to increase the Emperors ability to tax the people. It represents continuity because taxes are still being China’s most important source of tax revenue in the present but the difference is that now China went from being a poor country to a global superpower, it took time, was slower but it is a positive continuity and thanks to that China is making history with its great economic power, now they know that without the money earned of taxes the fall of a civilization can happen.
To keep learning watch the video down below:
Bibliography:
“READ: Han Dynasty (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, http://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/whp-origins/era-3-cities-societies-and-empires-6000-bce-to-700-c-e/37-comparing-the-roman-empire-and-t-betaa/a/read-han-dynasty-beta.
Hunter, Margaret. “Chinese History, Taxation and Tithing in Early.” Amazing Bible Timeline with World History. July 20, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2020. https://amazingbibletimeline.com/blog/china-taxes-tithing/
Violatti, Cristian. “Han Dynasty.” Ancient History Encyclopedia. May 27, 2013. Accessed June 5, 2020. http://www.ancient.eu/Han_Dynasty/
“Caída De La Dinastía Han.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Apr. 2020, es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caída_de_la_dinastía_Han
History.com Editors. “Han Dynasty.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 21 Dec. 2017, http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-china/han-dynasty.
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