Social:
Emperor, nobility, scholars, , farmers, artisans, peasants and slaves; social mobility could occur if one could afford education and pass civil service exam; merchants are looked down upon due to Confucian beliefs as seeing them as parasitic
Political:
Wudi was the most famous ruler.
Made bureaucracy more sophisticated by starting civil service examination using Confucian ideology; those who passed the test were known as scholar gentry- merit based although some aristocrats got into court without exam
Interaction:
Moved beyond Yellow and Yangtze River; extended westward along Silk road during Emperor Wudi's reign.
Cultural:
RELIGION - Legalism faded; Confucianism was brought back and Daoism continued to be practiced
Buddhism enters China during decline and becomes an influential religion during the era of division between Han and Sui since people wanted to end suffering
ARTS - Ceramic figures.
Bronze, silk, jade, and ivory used to carve and for palaces.
INTELLECTUAL - Astronomy, herbal remedies, paper, ship building, compass, zoology and fishing reels, boat rudders, seismograph, paper
GOLDEN AGE
Economic:
Silk road- cultural diffusion.
Trading posts, improved canals and roads. China was the source of the world's largest overland trade network; the Silk Roads. It established global trading patterns.
Iron and station granaries.
Overseas trade developed in southeast Asia