THE 4 CENTURY-LONG 漢*汉 HAN DYNASTY

Han (pronounced at the fourth tone : Han4) in traditional Chinese character is 漢

Han (pronounced at the fourth tone : Han4) in simplified Chinese character is 汉

The image above of The Dragon symbolizing China dining together with The Bear symbolizing Russia with a dish made of The Bald Eagle symbolizing ahem, ahem, ahem…. has been chosen by me because the present Red dynasty aka Baba Beijing aka the CCP (Chinese Communist Party/Chinese Civilization Party) has been created by a Son of Heaven, 毛 泽 东 Mao Zedong (1893-1976) sharing many common characteristics with another Son of Heaven having lived 22 centuries ago, 刘 邦 Liu Bang (256 to 195 BCE), precisely the one having created the 4-century long 漢＊汉 Han dynasty.

The 秦 Qin dynasty (221 to November 207 BCE) gave to the Central State its present days international name : China.

The Chinese call their country Zu Guo 祖 国 (Zu3 Guo2) meaning The Ancestors’ Land or Zhong Hua 中 华 (Zhong1 Hua2) The Splendid Central Civilization or Zhong Guo 中 国 (Zhong1 Guo2), The Central State. The official full name of present days People’s Republic of China is Zhong Hua Ren Min Gong He Guo 中 华 人 民 共 和 国 (Zhong1 Hua2 Ren2 Min2 Gong1 He2 Guo2) meaning The Commonwealth of the Peoples of the Splendid Central Civilization.

The 4-century long 漢＊汉 Han dynasty (206 BCE to November 220 CE) gave to the Chinese people the name they use to call themselves, the Han people or the Han Chinese, representing 92% of the total Chinese population of 1410 million people or 1.41 billion people (in 2023), meaning 1297 million people or 1.297 billion people. After the Tang dynasty (618-907), the Chinese people, especially those from the southern part of China, also call themselves Tang Ren 唐 人 (Tang2 Ren2), meaning the people of Tang.

Liu Bang (256 to 195 BCE), the personal name of the Han dynasty founding father, is also known as 汉 高 祖 (Han4 Gao1 Zu3) : Lofty Progenitor of the Han dynasty who ruled from 206 to 195 BCE. Liu is his family name. Bang is his given name.

Here is an excerpt from Liu Bang’s biography by the Grand Historian Sima Qian (145 to 86 BCE) :

” He was kind and affectionate with others, liked to help people, and was very understanding. He always had great ideas and paid little attention to the business the rest of his family was engaged in. When he grew up he took the examination to become an official and was made village head of Si River. He treated all the other officials in the office with familiarity and disdain. He was fond of wine and women and often used to go to Dame Wang’s or Old Lady Wu’s and drink on credit. When he got drunk and lay down to sleep, the old women, to their great wonder, would always see something like a dragon over the place where he was sleeping. Also, whenever he would drink and stay at their shops, they would sell several times as much wine as usual. Because of these strange happenings, when the end of the year came around, the old women would always destroy Gaozu’s credit slips and clear his account. “

For enjoying the short poem called ** Song of the Great Wind ** His Majesty wrote 22 centuries ago, go to this link :

Chinese Film Culture and History Series: “The Legend of Chu and Han”, Episode 41, as explained by Dr. Quan Le. China Rising Radio Sinoland 210429