The Han Empire consolidated imperial China, extended the Silk Road, and became so foundational that the Chinese people still call themselves the Han — lasting four centuries with only a brief interruption by the Xin dynasty.
Ended in 220 CE when the last emperor, Xian, was forced to abdicate by Cao Pi, who proclaimed the Cao Wei dynasty and began the Three Kingdoms period.
The atlas holds 5 border frames for Han Dynasty — the shape you scrub through changes in 206 BC · 150 BC · 50 BC · 50 · 150.
Mote's sweeping work covers Han through Qing; the Han chapters are an excellent synthesis of the dynasty's political, social, and economic achievements.
Essential context for Han-Xiongnu relations and the empire's constant frontier challenge with steppe powers.
China’s great historical novel of the Han collapse and the wars that followed.