Reading: The Rise of the Han, The Reigns of the Early Han Emperors (pp. 1-9)
The civil war that followed the Qin collapse offered China a clear alternative -- return as a unified state to the patrician structures of the past, or be led into the future by an upstart, coarse, peasant. Surely, had this alternative been offered in 222 B.C., prior to the revolution of the Qin, the second alternative would have been out of the question. But as your reading will show, during the period 208-202, China turned away from the first alternative, which was represented by the leader Xiang Yu, a scion of a patrician house of Chu who actually succeeded to control upon the Qin collapse, and instead turned to the latter. The new dynasty of the Han was founded by a peasant's son, Liu Bang, whose early career had been that of a minor local functionary under the Qin.
On Thursday, we'll review the contours of this story, but we'll also examine the way the storyteller, Si-ma Qian, author of the Shi-ji, shapes those contours through his portrait of the chief antagonists, Xiang Yu and Liu Bang.
Then we'll begin an overview of the course of the early Han. Your second reading covers the following outline.
Reign of Gao-di (Liu Bang) 202-195
Maintenance of Qin structures
anti-Confucianism
Restoration & attenuation of feudalism
appeasement policy
Era of Empress Lü (reign of Hui-di, 194-188) 194-180
The Lü family
Construction of Chang-an
Wen-di 179-157
austerity policies & laissez faire
further attenuation of feudalism (& under Jing-di)
restoring appeasement policies
the rise of Huang-Lao ideology
Jing-di & Empress Dou 156-141
Your reading for Thursday will carry you through the Era of Empress Lü (pp. 1-9).