The Han dynasty (202 BCE220 CE) was a period of Imperial China divided into the Western Han (202 BCE9 CE) and Eastern Han (25–220 CE) periods, when the capital cities were located at Chang'an and Luoyang, respectively. It was founded by Emperor Gaozu of Han and briefly interrupted by the regime of Wang Mang (r. 9–23 CE) who usurped the throne from a child Han emperor.

The Han dynasty was an age of great economic, technological, cultural, and social progress in China. Its society was governed by an emperor who shared power with an official bureaucracy and semi-feudal nobility. Its laws, customs, literature, and education were largely guided by the philosophy and ethical system of Confucianism, yet the influence of Legalism and Daoism (from the previous Zhou dynasty) could still be seen. Members of the scholarly-gentry class who aspired to hold public office were required to receive a Confucian-based education. A new synthetic ideology of Han Confucianism was created when the scholar Dong Zhongshu (179–104 BCE) united the Confucian canon allegedly edited by Kongzi, or Confucius (551–479 BCE), with cosmological cycles of yin and yang and the Chinese five elements.

Although the social status of nobles, officials, farmers, and artisan-craftsmen was considered above the station of the lowly registered merchant, wealthy and successful businessmen acquired huge fortunes which allowed them to rival the social prestige of even the most powerful nobles and highest officials. Slaves were at the bottom of the social order, yet they represented only a tiny portion of the overall population. Retainers attached themselves to the estates of wealthy landowners, while medical physicians and state-employed religious occultists could make a decent living. People of all social classes believed in various deities, spirits, immortals, and demons. While Han Taoists were organized into small groups chiefly concerned with achieving immortality through various means, by the mid 2nd century CE they formed large hierarchical religious societies that challenged imperial authority and viewed Laozi (fl. 6th century BCE) as a holy prophet.

The typical Han-era Chinese household contained a nuclear family with an average of four to five members, unlike in later dynasties when multiple generations and extended family members commonly lived in the same household. Families were patrilineal, which made the father the supreme head of the house. Arranged marriages were the norm, while a new wife was expected to join the clan of her husband. Having sons over daughters was considered extremely important for the sake of carrying on ancestor worship. Although girls and women were expected by custom and Confucian tradition to behave passively towards their male relatives, mothers were given a familial status above that of their sons. Women also engaged in various professions in and outside of the home and were given protection under the law. The empress was superior in status to the male relatives of her consort clan, while the mother of the emperor—the empress dowager had the authority to override his decisions and choose his successor (if one had not been appointed before his death).

Social class

Royal family, regents, nobles, and eunuchs

At the apex of Han society was the emperor, a member of the Liu family and thus a descendant of the founder Emperor Gaozu (r. 202 –195 BCE).Ch'ü (1972), 66–67. His subjects were not allowed to address him by name; instead they used indirect references such as "under the steps to the throne" (bixia 陛下) or "superior one" (shang 上).Wilkinson (1998), 106; Ch'ü (1972), 68–69. If a commoner, government minister, or noble entered the palace without official permission, the punishment was execution.Ch'ü (1972), 68–69. Although the Commandant of Justice—one of the central government's Nine Ministers—was in charge of meting out sentences in court cases, the emperor not only had the ability to override the Commandant's decision, but also had the sole ability to draft new laws or repeal old ones.Ch'ü (1972), 69–70. An emperor could pardon anyone and grant general amnesties. Although the emperor often obeyed the majority consensus of his ministers in court conferences (tingyi 廷議), his approval was still needed for any state policy decision and he sometimes even rejected the majority opinion.Ch'ü (1972), 70–71.

The emperor's most powerful relative was the empress dowager, widow to the previous emperor and usually the natural mother of the emperor. If the grandmother of an emperor—the grand empress dowager—was still alive during his reign, she enjoyed a superior position over the empress dowager. Emperors often sought the approval of the empress dowager for their decisions. If an emperor was only a child, he acted merely as a figurehead while the empress dowager dominated court politics.Ch'ü (1972), 72. She not only had the right to issue edicts and pardons, but if the emperor died without a designated heir, she had the sole right to appoint a new emperor.Ch'ü (1972), 74. Below the empress dowager were the empress and imperial concubines. Although she was the wife of the emperor, the empress's position at court was not secure and she could be removed by the emperor.Ch'ü (1972), 75. However, the empress did enjoy the submission of concubines as her subordinates, who advocated the elevation of their sons over the empress's at their own peril. In the early Western Han, imperial relatives and some military officers who had served Emperor Gaozu were made kings who ruled over large semi-autonomous fiefs, but once the non-related kings had died off, an imperial edict outlawed all non-Liu family members from becoming kings.Ch'ü (1972), 76; Bielenstein (1980), 105. The emperor's brothers, paternal cousins, brother's sons, and emperor's sons—excluding the heir apparent—were made kings. The emperor's sisters and daughters were made princesses with fiefs.Bielenstein (1980), 107. Although the central government eventually stripped away the political power of the kings and appointed their administrative staffs, kings still had a right to collect a portion of the taxes in their territory as personal income and enjoyed a social status that ranked just below the emperor.Ch'ü (1972), 76; Bielenstein (1980), 106–107. Each king had a son designated to be heir apparent, while his other sons and brothers were given the rank of marquess and ruled over small marquessates where a portion of the taxes went to their private purse.Ch'ü (1972), 76. Although kings and marquesses enjoyed many privileges, the imperial court was at times aggressive towards them to check their power. Starting with Emperor Gaozu's reign, thousands of noble families, including those from the royal houses of Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Han, and Wei from the Warring States period, were forcibly moved to the vicinity of the capital Chang'an. In the first half of Western Han, resettlement could also be imposed on powerful and wealthy officials as well as individuals who owned property worth more than a million cash.

The position of regent (officially known as General-in-Chief 大將軍) was created during Emperor Wu's reign (r. 141–87 BCE) when he appointed three officials to form a triumvirate regency over the central government while the child Emperor Zhao (r. 87–74 BCE) sat on the throne.Wang (1949), 166–168; Loewe (1968), 50–51; Bielenstein (1980), 5, 10–12, 116–117, 124. Regents were often relatives-in-law to the emperor through his empress's family, but they could also be men of lowly means who depended on the emperor's favor to advance their position at court.Wang (1949), 166–168. Eunuchs who maintained the harem of the palace could also gain a similar level of power. They often came from the middle class and had links to trade.Adshead (2004), 32. In the Western Han, there are only a handful of examples where eunuchs rose to power since the official bureaucracy was strong enough to suppress them.Loewe (1986), 200. After the eunuch Shi Xian (石顯) became the Prefect of the Palace Masters of Writing (中尚書), Emperor Yuan (r. 48–33 BCE) relinquished much of his authority to him, so that he was allowed to make vital policy decisions and was respected by officials.Wang (1949), 171–172. However, Shi Xian was expelled from office once Emperor Cheng (33–7 BCE) took the throne.Wang (1949), 173. No palace eunuch would obtain comparable authority again until after 92 CE, when the eunuchs led by Zheng Zhong (d. 107 CE) sided with Emperor He (r. 88–105 CE) in a coup to overthrow the Dou 竇 clan of the empress dowager.de Crespigny (2007), 589; Bielenstein (1986), 282–283. Officials complained when eunuchs like Sun Cheng (d. 132 CE) were awarded by Emperor Shun (r. 125–144 CE) with marquessates, yet after the year 135 CE the eunuchs were given legal authority to pass on fiefs to adopted sons.Bielenstein (1986), 287–288; de Crespigny (2007), 475. Although Emperor Ling (r. 168–189 CE) relinquished a great deal of authority to eunuchs Zhao Zhong (d. 189 CE) and Zhang Rang (d. 189 CE), the eunuchs were slaughtered in 189 CE when Yuan Shao (d. 202 CE) besieged and stormed the palaces of Luoyang.de Crespigny (2007), 513–514; Beck (1986), 345.

Gentry scholars and officials

Those who served in government had a privileged position in Han society that was just one tier below the nobles (yet some high officials were also ennobled and had fiefs).Ch'ü (1972), 84. They could not be arrested for crimes unless permission was granted by the emperor.Ch'ü (1972), 94–95. However, when officials were arrested, they were imprisoned and fettered like commoners.Ch'ü (1972), 96. Their punishments in court also had to gain the approval of the emperor.Ch'ü (1972), 97. Officials were not exempt from execution, yet they were often given a chance to commit suicide as a dignified alternative. The most senior posts were the Three Excellencies—excluding the Grand Tutor, a post that was irregularly occupied.Bielenstein (1980), 5. The individual titles and functions of the Three Excellencies changed from Western to Eastern Han. However, their annual salaries remained at 10,000 dan (石) of grain, largely commuted to payments in coin cash and luxury items like silk.Ch'ü (1972), 84, 89–90. Below them were the Nine Ministers, each of whom headed a major government bureau and earned 2,000 bushels a year. The lowest-paid government employees made Equivalent to 100 bushels annually.Bielenstein (1980), 4–5. It was thought that wealthy officials would be less tempted by bribes. Therefore, in the beginning of the dynasty, having a total assessed taxable wealth of one hundred thousand coins was a prerequisite for holding office.Chang (2007), 62. This was reduced to forty thousand coins in 142 BCE, yet from Emperor Wu's reign onwards this policy was no longer enforced.