As the Western Han Dynasty was later weakened by corruption, Liu Xiu, taking advantage of the strength of peasant uprisers, replaced the Western Han Dynasty and Xin Dynasty with the Eastern Han Dynasty founded in AD25. He was called Emperor Guangwu. From this time onward economy, science and culture continued to progress.In 25A.D, Liu Xiu proclaimed him emperor, then, he moved capital to Louyang so that it is named Eastern Han Dynasty.
In A.D. 36, after the Gong Sunshu Uprising in Sichuan having been put down, the whole country was again unified. Emperor Guangwu (Liu Xiu) was very magnanimous and good at employing talents. He limited the power of the relatives of his mother or wife in interfering in state affairs, and prevented the heroes who made contributions to the country from taking control of the armed forces. He then issued six decrees to set free family slaves, which effected the emancipation of the productive forces. He ordered a country-wide check-up on land reclamation and census so as to strike the landlords. And he changed the tithe into one thirtieth so that the society became more stable.
The improvement of iron-smelting techniques led to mass production of steel and advancement of iron farming tools. Irrigation works built across the country sped up the recovery and development of agriculture, also, due to the spreading of ox was put in use of plough. Copper smelting, production of copper utensils and silk fabrication made remarkable progress. Commerce developed further in the Eastern Han Dynasty and Luoyang became the business centre of the whole country. In southern towns like Yangzhou, Jingzhou and Yizhou, the handicraft industry and commerce were booming. The urban population rapidly increased.
In the early time of Eastern Han Dynasty, Xiongnu grew strong, posed a threat to Han again and once even intruded some counties of northern bordering area. But soon after, Xiongnu was divided into two groups- northern group and southern group. Southern Xiongnu moved to northern and southern side area of Great Wall, attach themselves to Eastern Han. Northern Xiongnu moved to Mongolia tableland and controlled Western Regions and often invaded the south. Eastern Han sent troops to attack it so as to protect the four counties west of the Yellow River and sought chances to recover transportation with Western Regions. Under the attack of Han Dynast time and again, northern Xiongnu moved further towards the west. In 73 A.D., Eastern Han set up Western Region Official Residence (a local government of Han) again, that one was first set up in 60 B.C. in Western Region. In 92 A.D., Minister Ban Chao who was famous for military affairs and diplomatist was appointed as the highest administrative commanding officer of the Western Regions. Later, more than fifty states on the western regions to the authority of Han. Ban Chao's management of the western frontier territories consolidated the unification of the country and made the "Silk Road" a trade thoroughfare. In 97 A.D., Gan Ying was sent on a mission to Daqing (Roman Epoire), he was blocked at the Persian Golf and therefore returned.
At the middle age of Eastern Han, eunuchs and relatives of the emperor on the side of his mother or wife conflicted with each other, causing more chaos in the political situation. Meanwhile, the power of landlords and influential families gradually increased. They had their own farms and armies. There were cases of empresses serving as regents and their relatives and eunuchs alternatively controlling the court. The protracted control of the court by influential families gave rise to monopolised powerful-family politics after the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the late Eastern Han era, eunuchs became even more rampant. They openly sold official ranks and titles. Their extremely corrupt practices not only created thousands of refugees and vagrants but also provoked frequent uprisings. At last, in 184 A.D., the well-organised Yellow Turbans Movement broke out in the north, which eventually led to the disintegration of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The powerful landlords who had powerful armies all over the country took this advantage and opportunity to develop their forces and rise. At last, they formed different separate regimes. Those separate regimes were set up by different military forces, leading to mix-up everywhere, and fought against each other. The Emperor of Eastern Han was control by them. Finally, it resulted in the Three Kingdoms situation.
source : chinatravelrus.com
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