The Qin dynasty of China changed the region by replacing the decentralized feudal kings with a central imperial administration, elements of which survive to the present day. First emperor Qin Shi Huang China unified the various feudal states through military might introducing a unified legal system. The Qin emperors would not long survive but the following Han dynasty chose to retain many of the Qin systems and traditions upon seizing power around 200 B.C. Seventy years later Emperor Wu inherited a nation at the height of its power in the ancient world. According to the scholars of the University of Hong Kong “He [Wu] accepted the advice of the Great Confucianist Dong Zhongshu…and officially adopted Confucianism as the ideological creed of the Han dynasty.” (U. of Hong Kong, 2007, p. 49-50). Confucianism would prove to be the central to the cultural growth of the Chinese empire. Equally important was a national education doctrine in line with the Confucius philosophy. An Imperial University was set up in 124 B.C. and there were soon tens of thousands of students enrolled in higher education. A powerful military brought more and more territory into the control of the Han emperors. The University of Hong Kong argues that western China, which had previously …show more content…
The empire oversaw technological innovation such as iron and steel replacing bronze weapons and tools. Advances in military technology led aided Han conquests and allowed them to defend the vast expanse of Chinese territory. Coinage and an advanced, centralized economy brought enough wealth to the nation to effectively run the centralized imperial state but most of all were the advances the Han dynasty made in agriculture. According to authors Hardy and Kinney “agricultural innovations continued throughout four centuries of Han rule” (2005, p. 54) bring field rotation, paddies, and new farming tools into common