The Han dynasty of early imperial China, divided between the eras of Western Han, the Xin dynasty of Wang Mang, and Eastern Han, witnessed some of the most significant advancements in premodern Chinese science and technology.
An unfolded traditional bamboo scroll book (Chinese: 册) of Sunzi's (fl. 6th century BCE) The Art of War, a Qing dynasty copy from the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736–1795)
A painted pottery jar from the Western Han period, decorated with raised reliefs of dragons and phoenixes
An Eastern-Han celadon ceramic bottle with a lid and lug handles
Han dynasty
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The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China, established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring interregnum known as the Chu–Han contention (206–202 BC), and it was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD). The dynasty was briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) established by the usurping regent Wang Mang, and is thus separated into two periods—the Western Han and the Eastern Han (25–220 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the Han dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history, and had a permanent impact on Chinese identity in later periods. The majority ethnic group of modern China refer to themselves as the "Han people" or "Han Chinese". The spoken Sinitic language and written Chinese are referred to respectively as the "Han language" and "Han characters".
Statue of a horse trampling a Xiongnu warrior, at the mausoleum of Western Han general Huo Qubing (d. 117 BC), who fought in the Han–Xiongnu War. This is the first known monumental stone statue in China.
The ruins of a Han-dynasty watchtower made of rammed earth at Dunhuang, located at the eastern edge of the Silk Road