Han Dynasty Bronzes
During the Han dynasty, bronze was used to make a wide range of vessels as well as weights, tallies, sculptures for tombs, lamps, censers, coins, mirrors, and other objects. The Han dynasty, which lasted over four hundred years, completed the reunification of China begun at the end of the Warring States period by the Qin dynasty. The Han dynasty is divided into two eras: the Western Han, which lasted from 206 B.C.E. to C.E. 9, when the capital was at Xi'an, and the Eastern Han, which ruled from Luoyang between C.E. 25 and 220. (The period from C.E. 9 to 23 is known as the Wang Mang interregnum, after the name of the usurper who briefly assumed the mantle of the ruling Liu family.) |
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