Case Studies in History: Han Dynasty China

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The diagram below shows a research tool that can be used to study how historical empires defended themselves. One question worth attention in this regard is the impact on system stability if the elites win by alienating the rest of the population. Another is the relevance of the defensive measures. In a word, do the defensive steps taken actually serve to protect the system?

The particular challenge addressed in this example is Han efforts to deal with the powerful Ch'iang border people. As power ebbed and flowed between the Han and Ch'iang, repeated decisions were required concerning whether to relinquish or defend terrority and how to defend it.

The diagram examines two variables: 1)whether policy is targetting at individuals or groups and 2) whether the policy is mild or severe.

During the first century A.D., when the power balance favored Han, its policy tended to be expansionist and relatively severe (the establishment of military colonies and regular administrative units). When Han power declined, a mild combination of conferring authority on Ch'iang chiefs, pulling back to allow the Ch'iang local autonomy, and using inspectors to address Ch'iang complaints rather than military force was employed. By the middle of the second century, some border regions were overwhelmed and became Ch'iang territory. Toward the end of the century, integrated Han-Ch'iang units became dominant forces in the Han empire itself. The diagram is designed to structure and facilitate the understanding of this complicated dynamic.

Now that this experimental analytical method has been explained, here's your quiz:

• Can you think of an application for this analytical method?
• Can you improve this method?
.....HINT: What does 'severe' refer to--severity of policy toward opponent or severity of the sacrifice the policy requires oneself to make?
• Do we need a third variable?
• How would a graphical display be handled if we had four or more variables?

For a discussion of how to analyze political mistakes that contributed to the collapse of historical empires, see "Diagnosing Ancient Political Systems," which applies political science methodology to history.