Eastern Han in the context of "Eastern Han Chinese"

The Xin dynasty (/ʃɪn/; Chinese: 新朝; pinyin: Xīn cháo), also known as Xin Mang (新莽) in Chinese historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty which lasted from 9 to 23 AD, established by the Han dynasty consort kin Wang Mang, who usurped the throne of the Emperor Ping of Han and the infant "crown prince" Liu Ying. The Xin dynasty ruled for over a decade before it was overthrown by rebels. After Wang's death, the Han dynasty was restored by Liu Xiu, a distant descendant of the Emperor Jing of Han; therefore, the Xin dynasty is often considered an interregnum of the Han, dividing it into the Western Han and the Eastern Han.

The emperors of the Han dynasty were the supreme heads of government during the second imperial dynasty of China; the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) followed the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and preceded the Three Kingdoms (220–265 AD). The era is conventionally periodised into the Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD) and Eastern Han (25–220 AD).

The Han dynasty was founded by the peasant rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gao (r. 202–195 BC). The longest reigning emperor of the dynasty was Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 BC), who reigned for 54 years. The dynasty was briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang, but he was killed during a rebellion on 6 October 23 AD. The Han dynasty was reestablished by Liu Xiu, known posthumously as Emperor Guangwu (r. 25–57 AD) or Guangwu Di, who claimed the throne on 5 August 25 AD. The last Han emperor, Emperor Xian (r. 189–220 AD), was a puppet monarch of Chancellor Cao Cao (155–220 AD), who dominated the court and was made King of Wei. On 11 December 220, Cao's son Pi usurped the throne as Emperor Wen of Wei (r. 220–226 AD) and ended the Han dynasty.

The Book of Han (Chinese: 漢書), finished in 111 CE, is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. The work was composed by Ban Gu (32–92 CE), an Eastern Han court official, with the help of his sister Ban Zhao, continuing the work of their father, Ban Biao. They modelled their work on the Records of the Grand Historian (c. 91 BCE), a cross-dynastic general history, but theirs was the first in this annals-biography form to cover a single dynasty. It is the best source, sometimes the only one, for many topics such as literature in this period. The Book of Han is also called the Book of the Former Han (前漢書; Qián Hàn shū) to distinguish it from the Book of the Later Han (後漢書; Hòu Hàn shū) which covers the Eastern Han period (25–220 CE), and was composed in the fifth century by Fan Ye (398–445 CE).

The Gengshi Emperor (died c.November AD 25), born Liu Xuan, was an emperor of the Han dynasty that had been restored following the downfall of Wang Mang's short-lived Xin dynasty. He was also known by his courtesy name Shenggong and as the King or Prince of Huaiyang, a posthumous title bestowed upon him by Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han. The Gengshi Emperor was viewed as a weak and incompetent ruler, who briefly ruled over an empire willing to let him rule over them, but was unable to keep that empire together. He was eventually deposed by the Red Eyebrows and strangled a few months after his defeat.

Traditionally, historians treated his emperor status ambiguously: sometimes he would be referred to as the Gengshi Emperor, and sometimes by his posthumous title, Prince of Huaiyang. The regime of the Gengshi Emperor is known in historiography as the Xuan Han (玄漢), after his personal name Liu Xuan.

The economy of the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) of ancient China experienced upward and downward movements in its economic cycle, periods of economic prosperity and decline. It is normally divided into three periods: Western Han (206 BC – 9 AD), the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD), and Eastern Han (25–220 AD). The Xin regime, established by the former regent Wang Mang, formed a brief interregnum between lengthy periods of Han rule. Following the fall of Wang Mang, the Han capital was moved eastward from Chang'an to Luoyang. In consequence, historians have named the succeeding eras Western Han and Eastern Han respectively.

The Han economy was defined by significant population growth, increasing urbanization, unprecedented growth of industry and trade, and government experimentation with nationalization. Another large component of the government is that it was run by influential families who had the most money. In this era, the levels of minting and circulation of coin currency grew significantly, forming the foundation of a stable monetary system. The Silk Road facilitated the establishment of trade and tributary exchanges with foreign countries across Eurasia, many of which were previously unknown to the people of ancient China. The imperial capitals of both Western Han (Chang'an) and Eastern Han (Luoyang) were among the largest cities in the world at the time, in both population and area. Here, government workshops manufactured furnishings for the palaces of the emperor and produced goods for the common people. The government oversaw the construction of roads and bridges, which facilitated official government business and encouraged commercial growth. Under Han rule, industrialists, wholesalers, and merchants—from minor shopkeepers to wealthy businessmen—could engage in a wide range of enterprises and trade in the domestic, public, and even military spheres.

Green-glazed pottery (Chinese: 緑釉陶器) was a type of colored pottery developed in China during the Eastern Han period (25–220 CE). The body of green-glazed pottery ceramics was made of clay, coated with a layer of glaze, and fired at a temperature of 800 degrees Celsius. Green-glazed pottery is a type of lead-glazed earthenware (Chinese: 鉛釉陶器): lead oxide was the principal flux in the glaze, often mixed with quartz in the proportion of 3:1. The polychrome effect was obtained by using as coloring agent copper (which turns green).

Due to the low firing temperature, the bodies are earthenware, and the glaze often only applied to parts of the objects, which are fragile and have high water absorption. In some cases the lead glazes make the objects slightly poisonous. For these reasons, the objects are only known as grave goods from burials, and examples used in everyday life have not been found. In surviving examples the glaze has often corroded, and turned a "greyish-silver". They are liable to flake off.

The Book of the Later Han, also known as the History of the Later Han and by its Chinese name Hou Hanshu (Chinese: 後漢書), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later or Eastern Han. The book was compiled by Fan Ye and others in the 5th century during the Liu Song dynasty, using a number of earlier histories and documents as sources.

A landlord is the owner of property such as a farm, house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate that is rented or leased to an individual or business, known as a tenant (also called a lessee or renter). The term landlord applies when a juristic person occupies this position. Alternative terms include lessor and owner. For female property owners, the term landlady may be used. In the United Kingdom, the manager of a pub, officially a licensed victualler, is also referred to as the landlord/landlady. In political economy, landlord specifically refers to someone who owns natural resources (such as land, excluding buildings) from which they derive economic rent, a form of passive income.