Changes

Though the first emperor of the dynasty, [[Emperor Gaozu of Han]], is said to have despised Confucianism, his successors gradually adopted it. Though overall the Han has traditionally been contrasted strongly with the Qin which came before, historians today point out considerable continuities between the two, in terms of legal codes and political structures, at least initially.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, 54.</ref>

Though the first emperor of the dynasty, [[Emperor Gaozu of Han]], is said to have despised Confucianism, his successors gradually adopted it. Though overall the Han has traditionally been contrasted strongly with the Qin which came before, historians today point out considerable continuities between the two, in terms of legal codes and political structures, at least initially.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, 54.</ref>

By 135 BCE, however, the Confucian classics became the foundation for the training and guiding political philosophy of all scholar-bureaucrats, with a bureaucratic system of administration gradually coming into place which would serve as the basis for governmental administration of all later dynasties, down into the early 20th century. Concepts such as the [[Mandate of Heaven]] were also adopted, and incorporated into the cosmological and political philosophical beliefs of the regime.

By 135 BCE, however, the Confucian classics became the foundation for the training and guiding political philosophy of all scholar-bureaucrats, with a bureaucratic system of administration gradually coming into place which would serve as the basis for governmental administration of all later dynasties, down into the early 20th century. Concepts such as the [[Mandate of Heaven]] were also adopted, and incorporated into the cosmological and political philosophical beliefs of the regime. While much 20th century scholarship on the Han characterizes it as a period of particularly strong intellectual conservatism, some scholars today point out that few, if any, schools of thought were truly coordinated at this time, and so suggest the Han was rather a period of coalescing of the classical tradition.<ref>Schirokauer, et al, 57.</ref>

Under the rule of [[Emperor Wu of Han]], also known as Han Wudi (r. 141-87 BCE), the Han expanded militarily into Vietnam, and into parts of [[Manchuria]] and [[Lelang|northern Korea]]. While some parts of these regions eagerly adapted Han agricultural technologies and practices, while resisting to some extent Han political impositions, the nomadic steppe peoples of Manchuria and other northern areas, including most especially the [[Xiongnu]], were not agricultural by tradition, and more powerfully resisted Han control, leading many uprisings, attacks, and raids.

Under the rule of [[Emperor Wu of Han]], also known as Han Wudi (r. 141-87 BCE), the Han expanded militarily into Vietnam, and into parts of [[Manchuria]] and [[Lelang|northern Korea]]. While some parts of these regions eagerly adapted Han agricultural technologies and practices, while resisting to some extent Han political impositions, the nomadic steppe peoples of Manchuria and other northern areas, including most especially the [[Xiongnu]], were not agricultural by tradition, and more powerfully resisted Han control, leading many uprisings, attacks, and raids.