What economic factors caused the collapse of the Han Dynasty?
The Han Dynasty spanned from approximately 206 BCE to 220 CE. Their fall was precipitated by the failure of rich landowners to pay taxes. In addition, scholars declared that they did not have to pay taxes. As a result, the burden of taxation fell heavily on the poor, and the inequality in this society started to destabilize it. Some peasants also evaded tax collectors by running away.
Without money, the emperors could not maintain the infrastructure of roads and canals, and the army also began to fall apart and could not repulse outside invaders such as the Mongols. These attacks began to weaken the Han government. In the past, the Han government had often paid off rival warlords but could no longer afford to do so. In 220 AD the Later Han fell, which was contributed to by the revolt of the Yellow Turbans, a Taoist society.
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imporant economic factors that caused the fall of the Han Dynasty was taxation.
By the time that the Han Dynasty was getting weaker, it was unable to tax many of its subjects. This was because it was not strong enough to force them to pay their taxes or to give the labor that they owed the government. When this happened, the central government had to increase the levels of taxation that it imposed on the people that it did control. As the government did this, those people tended to leave (when possible) the territory that the central government controlled. As this happened, the government came to have less and less money to use for things like maintaining its military strength.
In this way, the Han Dynasty lost its economic power, thus hastening its decline.
What social factors caused the collapse of the Han Dynasty?
Perhaps the most important social factor that helped to end the Han Dynasty was the idea of the "mandate of Heaven." This idea, which came from Confucianism, held that a country would have good fortune so long as the government really had the approval of the gods. If bad things were to happen, this would show that the gods had withdrawn their approval of the government.
As the Han Dynasty became weaker, bad luck also struck China. There were a series of natural disasters like floods and famines that afflicted the agricultural areas of the country. Because of the idea of the mandate of Heaven, these disasters were taken by many as a sign that the gods no longer approved of the Han Dynasty's rulers.
As people came to believe this, they were, of course, more likely to be willing to oppose the Han government. This led to rebellions such as the Yellow Turbans Rebellion in which rebels were led by religious leaders who promised a utopian society would ensue.
Thus, the Confucian idea of the mandate of Heaven came to be a major social problem for the Han as their dynasty collapsed.