Empire206 BCE – 220 CE · 426 years
Han Dynasty
China's answer to Rome — and the dynasty whose name the Chinese still call themselves by.
What it was
The Han ruled a unified China from 202 BCE to 220 CE, formalizing Confucian government, opening the Silk Road to Central Asia, and inventing paper. At its peak the empire matched Rome in population and bureaucratic sophistication.
Why it mattered
Modern ethnic Han Chinese take their name from this dynasty; its civil-service exam tradition shaped Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese government for two millennia.
From Wikipedia
The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China established by Liu Bang, and preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and the interregnum known as the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BC). It was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD) and also briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) established by the usurping regent Wang Mang. It is thus separated into two periods—the Western Han and the Eastern Han (25–220 AD). The Han dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history, impacting Chinese identity in later periods. The majority ethnic group of modern China refer to themselves as the "Han people", while spoken Chinese and written Chinese are referred to respectively as the "Han language" and "Han characters".
Wikipedia: Han dynasty·CC BY-SA 4.0
Borders & accuracy
Solid borders are reconstructed from canonical historical-basemap data or hand-crafted from scholarly atlases.
- SOURCEaourednik / historical-basemaps
- DETAILhistorical-basemaps:100:Han
- SNAPSHOT100 CE
- MATCHEDHan
- POLITY TYPEstate
Wars of this empire22
Conflicts whose belligerents name this polity, best-documented first.
- Yellow Turban Rebellion184–205 CEMajor conflict · 2.0M dead
- Xiongnu-Han Wars200 BCE–89 CEMajor conflict · 1.0M dead
- Chu-Han Contention206–202 BCEMajor conflict · 500K dead
- Han-Xiongnu Wars133–89 BCEMajor conflict
- Battle of Mobei119 BCEMajor conflict
- Significant · 500K dead
- Significant · 500K dead
- Han Dynasty Civil Wars195–204 CESignificant · 500K dead
- Trung Sisters' Revolt40–43 CESignificant
- Ma Yuan's Conquest of Vietnam43–58 CERegional · 300K dead
- Zhang Lu's Rebellion184–215 CERegional · 300K dead
- Ban Chao's Western Campaigns73–102 CERegional · 50K dead
- Wars of the Western Han dynasty206 BCE–9 CERegional
- Battle of Pingcheng200 BCERegional
- Battle of Dayuan102 BCERegional
- Wars of the Eastern Han dynasty25–220 CERegional
- Battle of Changlu29 CERegional
- Battle of Chengdu36 CERegional
- Battle of Lang Bac42 CERegional
- Regional
- Battle of Changban208 CERegional
- Qin-Han Baiyue Conflict201 BCEMinor · 50K dead
Open in the atlas →Seeks the timeline to 206 BCE and fits the map to these borders.
Cite as: Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE). War Atlas. https://waratlas.org/e/han-dynasty-china · Sources & methodology