More than nine out of ten Chinese people today call themselves Han — named not for a race or a region, but for a dynasty. For four centuries the Han ran the largest state on earth, opened the road to the West, invented paper, and set the template of Chinese government so completely that every dynasty after copied it.
Chang'an ★ Luoyang Tarim Basin Korea Vietnam Greatest extent — stylized map 206 Dynasty founded 141 Wu takes throne 105 Paper perfected 184 Yellow Turban revolt 220 Fall of the Han Rise · zenith · fall Han by the numbers Census population 60 million Chang'an and Luoyang (each) a million souls By the numbers The rise The founder was Liu Bang, a peasant turned rebel who took the throne in 202 BCE after the brutal Qin dynasty collapsed. His genius was restraint: he kept the Qin's centralized machinery — the counties, the censuses, the standardized laws — but dropped the brutality that had destroyed it. Empire with a lighter touch, and it held.
