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NSWAncient HistorySection IV (Historical Periods): Imperial China - the Qin and Han 247-87 BC
Quick questions on The founding of Han, Gaozu and consolidation: HSC Ancient History
1short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is the early Han settlement?Show answer
The central decision of the early Han, and the reason it endured, was to keep the Qin administrative machine while discarding the Qin temperament. The Qin system of commanderies (jun) and counties (xian), run by centrally appointed and salaried officials, was the most effective instrument of centralised control the Chinese world had produced, and Gaozu retained it as the backbone of Han government. What he abandoned was Legalism's coercive intensity: the savage penal code, the relentless conscription and forced labour, and the ruinous taxation that had turned the population against Qin.
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