The Han Dynasty

THE HAN DYNASTY

Date and Map of dynasty
The Han Dynasty started in 206 B.C. lasting over 400 when it cam to an end in 2020 A.D (3). (Image: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/early_imperial_china/han.html)

Reasons for take-over
The peasants did not appreciate the ruling of the Qin. The Qin’s form of government was very new to the people and the people did not understand it. The labor work and taxes were too much for the people to handle and it had been the first time that China had an Emperor so everything worked differently. After the death of the 1st emperor (Shi Huangdi), his son became emperor (2). Liu Bang prince of Han defeated the Qin during a battle in the valley of Wei. The Qin dynasty came to an end opening the door of the Han dynasty (1). (Image: http://img267.echo.cx/img267/4769/goguryobattleabattlescenekogur.jpg)



Leaders of the Civilization
After defeating the Qin, Liu Bang became emperor of China. Liu Bang named Ch’ang-an the new capital. At the beginning of his reign, he used the same form of government as the Qin but later used force and the help of confucianists to rule (1).
Another very important emperor during the Han dynasty was Wu Ti, he had a reign of great military expansion in China. He expanded China’s borders into Vietnam and Korea. He was emperor from 141 BC until 87 BC; during his reign Wu Ti was able to relocate 2 million to the northwest of China in order to colonize the area (1). (Image: http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/images/han-fdr.jpg)

Leaders from another civilization
Marcus Aurelius was emperor of Roman from 161-180. He was considered the last of the “five good emperors” of Rome. During his reign, he promoted philosophy, literature, and arts. Marcus focused more on the spirit of Italy and maintained peace as much as possible (5). (Image: http://www.livius.org/a/1/emperors/marcus_aurelius.jpg)


Accomplishments
During the 4014 years of the Han dynasty, China had transformed into a completely new country (3). The first half of the Han dynasty (206 BC-23 AD) was very much focused on governmental changes and military expansions (1) (3). The second half of the Han dynasty (25-220) was very successful with foreign policy (1) (3).

In the first Han dynasty, confucianists became part of ruling along with force. People weren’t as much judged based on their social status but more on their education and philosophies (1). People became more equalized, but that resulted in the fall of the first Han dynasty (1). During the expansion of China’s borders, the Silk Road was established (4). The Silk Road made it easier for traders to cross the mountains. Iron tools developed as well and Oxen-drawn ploughs became one of the most useful tools for farmers. Silk weaving and copper work became very popular jobs during the time (4). During the second Han dynasty, China explored a lot of west Asia and was introduced to paper money for the first time (1) (3). Most of its development was based on luck. The Huns which used to be great enemies with the Chinese were defeated by the Chinese, giving china a safe passage to Turkestan. This opened many doors for china mainly for trading. (4)
(Image: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/china/economy/pictures/papmny.jpg)



Reason for fall
Struggle to keep power in Turkestan increased taxes for peasants and increased labor work in China. Due to the high taxes a peasant uprising occurred for the second time during the Han dynasty, they called themselves the Yellow Turbans. This caused the Han Empire to unite with other factions in order to defeat the Yellow Turbans. The Yellow Turbans were conquered but China did not stay united. This movement caused the down fall of the Han dynasty and the beginning of the Three Kingdoms (4).
(Image: http://www.variety.com/rbidata/photogallery/variety/2034.jpg)

Bibliography

(1) http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/early_imperial_china/han.html
(2) http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/early_imperial_china/qin.html
(3) http://sacu.org/dynhan.html
(4) http://ww.chinaculture.org/gb/en_aboutchina/2003-09/24/content_22724.htm

(5) http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/Mediterranean/MAurelius.html

MT Merapi

MOUNT MERAPI
November 1994

Mt, Merapi is located between Yogyakarta (central Java) and Indonesia. The crater of the volcano stands at 2,914 meters. It is a stratovolcano with rock as old as 400,000 years. Merapi has been fully active since 1548 with 68 major eruptions so strong they killed thousands of people in the near by villages. Indonesia contains the most active volcanoes in the world. Even though Merapi is on of the smallest volcano out of the 129 volcanoes in the Java region, it is by far the most active one. It is the youngest volcano amongst the java volcanoes and lies above the Indo-Australian plate which slides under the Eurasian plate. The name Merapi means “Mountain of Fire”. Eruptions started again in 2006 and a major eruption is expected in the near future.

http://www.pdc.org/PDCNewsWebArticles/2006hazardbriefs/Merapi_May06_AP.jpg

From 1992 to 2002 Mt. Merapi experienced a decade of constant. Since 1992 a lava dome formed growing up to ½ a meter or sometimes more per day. Towards the end of 1994 during November, the dome reached the top of the volcano which caused frequent pyroclastic flows . The big eruption of that year happened on the 22nd of November at about 10:15 am. For the first 25 minutes there was a steam eruption with rock ejection and gravel then the eruption happened. That day, 34 people were killed. During that month, 50 people died, due to the difficult breathing caused by the pyroclastic flows. After the eruption and the collapse of the dome, a new dome started to form that sometimes grew up to several meters a day, the new dome then collapsed in 2002.

http://earth.esa.int/ew/volcanoes/Merapi_indonesia-june06/_images/Merapi_encmap.gif

No evacuations were made until the following day, as there weren’t many deaths through out most of the year. On the 23rd of November, 6,026 people were evacuated. People that stayed behind were warned to be on alert for the next seven days incase of any aftershocks. Most of the damage occurred along the Boyong rivers. Several days later, lava was still flowing along 1.5 kilometers from the volcano along the Boyong rovers. Over 15’000 people live a long the volcano, most of them being farmers. The soil along the volcano is filled with nutrients due to the weathering process of the volcanic rocks, which attracts a lot of farmers. Chemicals released by the eruption also help make the soil fertile. After eruptions, the soil becomes a lot richer which speeds up the growing of crops for farmers. Merapi is also a big tourist attraction having bin active since the 16th century.

http://www.vsi.esdm.go.id/mvo/fig31.jpg

Mt. Merapi is under watch by a volcano monitoring program. Some of the volcanoes seismic monitoring programs today are still from 1924 when monitoring first started. There are currently 8 seismographs located around the volcano, through this scientist can accurately predict were small earthquakes under the volcano originate that may trigger an eruption. Not knowing when an eruption may occur, evacuations have been made when ever movement was collected be the seismographs.

Bibliography
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Vdap/Responses/Merapi94/merapi1.html
http://www.startsurfing.com/encyclopedia/m/o/u/Mount_Merapi_b6fc.html
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/current_volcs/merapi/
http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Mount_Merapi
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Vdap/Responses/Merapi94/merapi4.html