The background of the times Key events Representative culture relics Social life
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Chu style and Han rhyme,

Xiangtu's first rise

Left Illustration
Right Illustration

The background of
the time

After the Qin Dynasty unified the whole country, it established Changsha Commandery and Dongting Commandery (Changsha Commandery) in Hunan. Hunan became a part of the Central Plains Dynasty. After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, the Western Han Dynasty established the Changsha State in Hunan, with its capital in today's Changsha (Linxiang).

During this period, the Central Plains system was introduced to Hunan, but the folk still retained a strong Chu culture, and the Chu style and Han system blended with each other.

Key events

221 BC —

After the unification of the Qin Dynasty, the second year of Qin Dynasty, the county system was implemented in Hunan. More than 37,200 Qin slips have been unearthed, which recorded the household registration, laws and official documents of the Qin Dynasty government in the Qin Dynasty. These slips show that the real grass-roots life in Hunan more than 2,000 years ago, and they are also important physical historical materials left by the Qin Dynasty for Hunan.

Bamboo Slips

177 BC —

Jia Yi was exiled to Hunan. The Western Han Dynasty politician Jia Yi was demoted to Changsha and wrote the famous "Ode to the Owl" and "Ode to Qu Yuan". Since then, the "Township of Qu Jia" in Hunan has been spread, and the literary works concerned with the country and people took root.

Ancient Text Clothing
Artifact

168 BC —

The Mawangdui Han Tomb was buried. It is the tomb of the Li Cang family, the Chancellor of the Changsha State. The archaeological excavation was conducted in 1971-1974. A large number of precious cultural relics, such as plain yarn single-clothes, T-shaped silk banners, a large number of lacquerware, silk fabrics and bamboo slips, have been unearthed. It fully demonstrates the craftsmanship, ideology, and life of the Changsha State, making it the most important archaeological discovery of the Han Dynasty in Hunan.

Finally

Group

During the continuous hundreds of years of the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Central Plains Dynasty and the Hunan region interacted and integrated. The Huaxia people and the Hunan people jointly created the Hunan culture, which laid the foundation for the Hunan people's later "resolute" character.

Representative
culture
relics

Simple & Sec Lacquerware Silk Textiles Silk Painting & Silk Book Mrs.Xin Chai
Ding

Western Han
Cloud Pattern
Lacquer Ding

Plate

"Jun Xing Shi"
Lacquer Plate

Banner

Mawangdui
T-shaped
Silk Banner

Slips

Liye Qin Slips

Garment

Western Han
Plain
Yarn Danyi

Clock

Cloud-patterned
lacquer clock

Basin

Cloud-patterned
Lacquer Basin

Robe

Crimson Rhombus-
patterned Silk
Quilted Robe

Manuscripts

Mawangdui Silk
Manuscripts

Social life

1. Transportation and Commerce: Linxiang served as a land and water hub in southern China in ancient times, with the Xiangjiang River waterway connecting the Yangtze River and Lingnan region. Inward and silk from the Central Plains traveled southward, while timber, aquatic products and mineral resources from the south circulated outward along the river. The Changsha Kingdom functioned as a distribution center for goods between the north and the south.

2. Industry: Hunan has maintained a long-standing rice cultivation tradition. The unearthed rice grains, ripened rice and field weeds from the Han tombs indicate that agricultural development in the southern region surpassed the north. In addition, the lacquerware, silk weaving, and bronze casting industries in the Changsha Kingdom reached a high level. Moreover, Chu-style lacquer painting was integrated with the weaving techniques brought by the Central Plains.

3. Thought and Beliefs: The Chu culture did not disappear with the Qin and Han dynasties. In Hunan, during the Western Han Dynasty, the Hunan people's spiritual characteristics of "daring to be the first" and "resolute and strong" were vividly presented. After the Han Dynasty, Hunan gradually became an important transportation hub connecting the Central Plains and Lingnan, and the Central Plains culture and Hunan culture blended and developed together.

MORE: ①The background of the times ②Key events ③Representative culture relics ④Social life

Conclusion

Panoramic Illustration

In the Qin and Han Dynasties, Hunan gradually formed a multi-ethnic region. The Central Plains Dynasty set up commanderies, counties, and enfeoffments in Hunan. The Central Plains system and Hunan culture merged and developed. Through the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Chinese nation's "diversity in unity" pattern was initially formed. The Qin and Han Dynasties were the foundation of the Chinese nation's 2,000-year history and the foundation of the Chinese nation's 2,000-year history.