The Han Dynasty, the extraordinary Chinese era said to have unified China for over 400 years. This era in China's history began in 206 BC when a rebel army rose up against the Qin army. A rebellion, led by Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang, was later joined by Xiang Liang, Xiang Yu, Ying Bu and Peng Yue joined forces with Liu Bang. The people of the Qin Dynasty were unhappy under the rule of Qin Shihuang who ran his empire with an iron fist. His rule was absolute and disagreement was punishable by death, although Emperor Qin was the one who ended the Warring States and completed the conquest of China in 221 BC, thus expanding the Chinese state. After taking power, Liu Bang took the name Emperor of China and changed his name to Emperor Gaozu and the Qin laws were abolished. During this period in China the Han dynasty was responsible for China's greatest expansion, into what is now southern China, northern Vietnam and parts of Korea and traded with central Asia, India and Persia. Due to the expansion of the territory they were able to trade with more countries. This was aided by the discovery of the Silk Road in the 2nd century BC The Silk Road, discovered by the Chinese ambassador Zhang Qian, was a series of trade routes from China to the Mediterranean Sea. The Silk Road takes its name from the amount of silk used for trade during the Han Dynasty. This route was used to travel from west to east by land, traveling to India, Persia, Arabia and Europe, while traveling by sea they passed through Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. These routes were used by merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and city dwellers. The beginning of the Western Han from 206 BC to 24 AD was the first unified...... middle of paper...... They are seen as angry manifestations of the heavens, of divine powers. After this things began to fall apart. Eunuchs gained more power by turning court officials into a bloody political field. The peasant revolt called the Yellow Turban Rebellion threatened the imperial capital. Then in 190 AD a warlord, Dong Zhou, took control of the imperial capital and placed a child, Liu Xie, as ruler. Although Liu Xie was a member of the Han family as he was placed there by Dong Zhou, he was the one in real control. He killed the eunuchs and burned Luoyang. After battle after battle for the imperial order, Liu Xie was removed from the throne in 220 AD, the final years of the Han Dynasty. The wars continued, and China would not be unified for another 350 years. This was the vast history of the Han Dynasty that unified China for over 400 years and paved the way for future generations.