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Verlag GmbH & Co. kg, Berlin, 2005. Print.
"Han Dynasty." History-of-china.com. 2007. Web. 25 Apr 2013. http://www.history-of-china.com/han-dynasty/.
"Paper." Sacu.org. Sep 1986. Web. 25 Apr 2013. http://www.sacu.org/paper.html.
"The Imperial Era." Chaos.umd.edu. Web. 24,25 Apr 2013. http://www.chaos.umd.edu/history/time_line.html.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Opinion/ Editorial
Western Expansion, is it really Good?
by Steven C., Cheif writer
Recently China has obtained land to the west surrounding the Silk Road in order to protect it. People are now thinking that it is a good thing and it is now safer to travel on. Yet people are not aware that this western expansion is going to make our lives worse. The western expansion is a huge amount of land conquered by China, and people do not ralize that our taxes will go up because the military will need to put there to protect it. People do not realize how unsafe this new land actually is. Right now our taxes are bad as it is, and now we will have to pay more in order to pay for the new soldiers that will protect this new land. "I am shocked that many people have not really thought about how this will affect our taxes!" (Sima Qian, famous historian). Mr. Qian is someone who is normaly not questioned, and not one to argue with, because he is almost always right and he says, based on historical records, that taxes will most certainly go up substantially. This is proof that our taxes will go up in months to come.
Another intriguing fact is people do not know how unsafe this new land actually is. It was conquered only a couple of months ago and most of the land still has to be taken by Chinese settlers. This allows our enemies and other foreign peoples to claim the land before us because it is so far away. If an enemy military takes the new land then China will be in big trouble. "We do have the military to protect this new land, however it will take months before we can march west and truly defend it," (General Tianjxiao Jo). General Tianjxiao Jo's statement even confirms that the west is unsafe. Even though this is supposed to help out China and increase trade, it will not help if those people trading can't be protected in western China. It is unbelievable how oblivious people are to the fact that the new land to the west will actually make our lives worse.
An interview with Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty in Ancient China
Today I have been lucky ennough to have been able to have an interview with Ancient China's emperor Wudi. I was unfortunately only able to ask him five questions because of his busy schedule. He said that "I would love to stay and answer more of your questions but, unfortunately, my schedule doesn't allow that.
The questions I asked him are as follows as well as Mr. Wudi's responses.
Q: Mr. Wudi, how old are you?
A: Well, considering it is 97 B.C, and i was born in 141 B.C, I am about 44 years old. Yes that is a long time to be living but I assure you I am living and feeling perfectly well. I bet some people are jealous about how old I have lived to.
Q: This is a question frequently asked by the public: do you enjoy paper?
A: Oh, I love paper! I really love the feel of paper when I write on it. In fact I know the man who invented it myself! He is a very good man, very focused, and very good at what he does... make paper.
Q: How easy is it to be emperor of China?
A: People may think it would be easy, but it's not. Being emperor means you have to take care of many responsibilities. You have to talk to neighboring kingdoms, you have to defend your own empire, you have to enforce and create laws, you have to worry about invasions, and you have to take care if the person that will take the throne right after you! It is a very exhausting job, but I know that I was meant for this, so I will not complain about it.
Q: Why did you decide to continue the Great Wall of China?
A: Around 127 B.C I commissioned a construction project for extending the wall. The wall would block our enemies, the Huns, to our north. This allowed the connection between them and their allies, the Qiang people. This made China a lot safer than it previously was from the Huns.
Q:Why did you expand China to the west to cover the Silk Road?
A: Honestly I thought this would be quite obvious but I will still answer the question. I sent my generals to the west to go and secure more land around the Silk Road. This would increase trade and would decrease thieves and deaths.
The questions I asked him are as follows as well as Mr. Wudi's responses.
Q: Mr. Wudi, how old are you?
A: Well, considering it is 97 B.C, and i was born in 141 B.C, I am about 44 years old. Yes that is a long time to be living but I assure you I am living and feeling perfectly well. I bet some people are jealous about how old I have lived to.
Q: This is a question frequently asked by the public: do you enjoy paper?
A: Oh, I love paper! I really love the feel of paper when I write on it. In fact I know the man who invented it myself! He is a very good man, very focused, and very good at what he does... make paper.
Q: How easy is it to be emperor of China?
A: People may think it would be easy, but it's not. Being emperor means you have to take care of many responsibilities. You have to talk to neighboring kingdoms, you have to defend your own empire, you have to enforce and create laws, you have to worry about invasions, and you have to take care if the person that will take the throne right after you! It is a very exhausting job, but I know that I was meant for this, so I will not complain about it.
Q: Why did you decide to continue the Great Wall of China?
A: Around 127 B.C I commissioned a construction project for extending the wall. The wall would block our enemies, the Huns, to our north. This allowed the connection between them and their allies, the Qiang people. This made China a lot safer than it previously was from the Huns.
Q:Why did you expand China to the west to cover the Silk Road?
A: Honestly I thought this would be quite obvious but I will still answer the question. I sent my generals to the west to go and secure more land around the Silk Road. This would increase trade and would decrease thieves and deaths.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Inventions During The Han Dynasty
There were Lots of inventions created during the Han dynasty in Ancient China from 206 B.C to 220 A.D. and this is just one very important invention of the many more created.
Paper was invented in Ancient China during the Han dynasty around 105 A.D. Paper was made by being washed and soake in hemp waste water, and was then beaten to a pulp with a wooden mallet. Paper was used to record data and important events, usually by scribes and government officials at first, but soon was easily accesable by the public. Paper was created by a man named Cai Lun during the Han dynasty. Before the invention of paper data and important events were written on turtle shells, animal bones, gold stones, bamboo slips, wood and cloth.
chineseartnet.com Paper reached the other parts of the world in 610 A.D when it reached Japan and was produced there, but paper was only used to record government records then. It was also spread to Korea in the 3rd century A.D and moved to India and Vietnam in the beginning of the 6th century A.D. Yet it took around a thousand years to reach Europe, and didn't reach England until about 1490, some 1385 years after its invention. In the 16th century is when paper went global when is was being produced in America. Paper was a very small invention that is such a vital part of life but took a long time to spread throughout the world, but once it spread, it got much more popular and vital.
Paper has affected our lives in so many ways, wether we know it or not. In the past people have used it to write books and to record events and data. Today we use it so much more than in the past. Everyday we use it in school, at work, for projects, for maps, printers, worksheets, books, pretty much everything. We also need paper as much as we use it compared to ancient China where it was only used for recordings. Paper is something everyone use nowadays and we are needing it in abundance for our daily lives. Paper is possibly the most important invention ever.
Paper was invented in Ancient China during the Han dynasty around 105 A.D. Paper was made by being washed and soake in hemp waste water, and was then beaten to a pulp with a wooden mallet. Paper was used to record data and important events, usually by scribes and government officials at first, but soon was easily accesable by the public. Paper was created by a man named Cai Lun during the Han dynasty. Before the invention of paper data and important events were written on turtle shells, animal bones, gold stones, bamboo slips, wood and cloth.
chineseartnet.com Paper reached the other parts of the world in 610 A.D when it reached Japan and was produced there, but paper was only used to record government records then. It was also spread to Korea in the 3rd century A.D and moved to India and Vietnam in the beginning of the 6th century A.D. Yet it took around a thousand years to reach Europe, and didn't reach England until about 1490, some 1385 years after its invention. In the 16th century is when paper went global when is was being produced in America. Paper was a very small invention that is such a vital part of life but took a long time to spread throughout the world, but once it spread, it got much more popular and vital.
Paper has affected our lives in so many ways, wether we know it or not. In the past people have used it to write books and to record events and data. Today we use it so much more than in the past. Everyday we use it in school, at work, for projects, for maps, printers, worksheets, books, pretty much everything. We also need paper as much as we use it compared to ancient China where it was only used for recordings. Paper is something everyone use nowadays and we are needing it in abundance for our daily lives. Paper is possibly the most important invention ever.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Map of China at its height during the Han dynasty
The Han dynasty was very successful in their conquests throughout China, and conquered roughly a third to a half of present day China. The area on the North East part of China that is sticking out is land conquered by China around the Silk Road, in order to protect it. The squiggly line on the northern border of China is the amount of the Great Wall of China that was built during the Han Dynasty. Loyang was the capital of the dynasty form 25-190 A.D., and Chang'an was the capital from 206 B.C. to 9 A.D. The part on the eastern coast of China that is not Chinese territory is "Min Yueh". When Liu Xiu, the first emperor after the brief Xin dynasty, moved the capital of China from Chang'an to Loyang he started the Eastern Han dynasty, because he moved the capital eastwards of the old one. In this map China has conquered parts of North Korea and North Vietnam.
Front page news story
Trading safer up to Tarim Basin (110-130 BC)
by Steven C. ultimate writer-in-cheif
by Steven C. ultimate writer-in-cheif
Recently our wonderful ruler, Wudi, has sent our military to conguer land to the West of China all the way up to the Tarim Basin. This was done so that the Silk road trade route, used to trade with the western world, is safer for caravans and merchants to trade and make a living with the western world. This is good news for all of China, and should impact our daily lives for the better. Yet some experts are asking the question: will this raise our taxes? The answer is thankfully no, the military is being paid its normal salary to protect the newly aquired region and our government officials are saying there will be no negative affects on the public. One expert says, "Because this taking of land was so easy, we barely used anything up, so almost no money was used,"(Sgt. T. Swan). This report form a soldier that was there when that land was taken confirms that shouldn't affect us. This action is an important action for China because it will allow us to connect and interact with the western part of the world, where we can gain culture and inventions and new ideas that will make our lives and our nation better.
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