Eastern Han (25 - 220 A.D.)

After the fall of Wang Mang, the house of Han was restored and immediately began to rebuild. The capital was moved east to Luoyang and Eastern Han was created. Relations were re-established in central Asia and Tonkin and even reached as far as Japan for the first time. By the end of the first century the prestige of the Han dynasty was such that even the Kushan dynasty in Afghanistan and northwest India sent embassies to Louyang. Through these contacts with the Kushan, Buddhism was introduced into China although Confucianism remained the supreme philosophy in China.

While in the Western Han the placing of clay figures in a tomb did not spread beyond the imperial family, by the Eastern Han it had spread to all who could afford it. The placing of mingqi ('bright or spirit, utensils') included servants, guards, musicians and jugglers as well as a myriad of farm animals including dogs, goats, pigs and cows. Vessels include granary urns of cylindrical shapes as well as an inverted conical shape. Hill censers have a plate bottom, round bowl center and a top representing mountains and trees, sometimes with people and animals represented in the mountains. The style and decoration of these hill tops represent the Happy Isles of the Taoists, where souls lived in happy bliss.

Han ceramics vary enormously in quality from unglazed and roughly modeled grat earthenware to a high-fired glazed stoneware. Most tomb pottery was made of a coarse pottery glazed in a lead glaze that oxidizes in contact with damp soil. This oxidation results in a silvery-green iridescence that is highly prized in this type of ware.

The fall of the Han dynasty was brought about by a repeat of the usual formula - a weakening of the central government through infighting, intrigue and usurpation of power coupled with the strengthening of local and regional power which eventually eclipsed that of the central government. The final collapse occurred in 220 A.D. after a revolt of the nomadic aristocratic families of North China who had settled inside the Wall yet had retained their propensity for warfare. The result of this revolt led to a split between North and South China which lasted for hundreds of years.

Next dynasty -> Jin