9781422283523

The Great Empire

T his picture shows two craftsmen chopping and soaking bamboo for making paper. The Invention of Paper Paper was invented in China in the second century bce . People started to use plants, such as hemp, to make thin paper. Before this time, people wrote on pottery, bones, stone, silk, wood and bamboo. In 105 ce Cai Lun, an official of the Han court, improved the technology of paper- making and his name has been associated with papermaking ever since. Eight centuries later, papermaking spread to the Arab world and from there to Europe.

T his map shows the extent of the Han Empire at its height. The Yellow Turban Rebellions In the third century ce , many popular Daoist sects (groups) rose up against the Han government and brought about its collapse. People belonging to the sects often wore yellow turbans around their heads, so their uprisings have been called the Yellow Turban Rebellions. China sank into a new period of unrest after these rebellions. Between 304-580 ce , there were power struggles on the Central Plains, and on the northern and western frontiers many minority peoples established their own kingdoms.

T he Great Wall was not built entirely by the First Emperor, some of it existed before him, but he did make it much longer.

13