រាជវង្សហាន: Education, literature, and philosophy

Education, literature, and philosophy
thumb|right|A fragment of the 'Stone Classics' (熹平石經); these stone-carved Five Classics installed during Emperor Ling's reign along the roadside of the Imperial University (right outside Luoyang) were made at the instigation of Cai Yong (132–192 AD), who feared the Classics housed in the imperial library were being interpolated by University Academicians.de Crespigny (2007), 513; Barbieri-Low (2007), 207; Huang (1988), 57.

The early Western Han court simultaneously accepted the philosophical teachings of Legalism, Huang-Lao Daoism, and Confucianism in making state decisions and shaping government policy.Csikszentmihalyi (2006), 24–25; Loewe (1994), 128–130. However, the Han court under Emperor Wu gave Confucianism exclusive patronage. He abolished all academic chairs or erudites (boshi 博士) not dealing with the Confucian Five Classics in 136 BC and encouraged nominees for office to receive a Confucian-based education at the Imperial University that he established in 124 BC.Kramers (1986), 754–756; Csikszentmihalyi (2006), 7–8; Loewe (1994), 121–125; Ch'en (1986), 769. Unlike the original ideology espoused by Confucius, or Kongzi (551–479 BC), Han Confucianism in Emperor Wu's reign was the creation of Dong Zhongshu (179–104 BC). Dong was a scholar and minor official who aggregated the ethical Confucian ideas of ritual, filial piety, and harmonious relationships with five phases and yin-yang cosmologies.Kramers (1986), 753–755; Loewe (1994), 134–140. Much to the interest of the ruler, Dong's synthesis justified the imperial system of government within the natural order of the universe.Kramers (1986), 754. The Imperial University grew in importance as the student body grew to over 30,000 by the 2nd century AD.Ebrey (1999), 77–78; Kramers (1986), 757. A Confucian-based education was also made available at commandery-level schools and private schools opened in small towns, where teachers earned respectable incomes from tuition payments.Ch'ü (1972), 103.

Some important texts were created and studied by scholars. Philosophical works written by Yang Xiong (53 BC – 18 AD), Huan Tan (43 BC – 28 AD), Wang Chong (27–100 AD), and Wang Fu (78–163 AD) questioned whether human nature was innately good or evil and posed challenges to Dong's universal order.Ch'en (1986), 773–794. The Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Tan (d. 110 BC) and his son Sima Qian (145–86 BC) established the standard model for all of imperial China's Standard Histories, such as the Book of Han written by Ban Biao (3–54 AD), his son Ban Gu (32–92 AD), and his daughter Ban Zhao (45–116 AD).Hardy (1999), 14–15; Hansen (2000), 137–138. There were dictionaries such as the Shuowen Jiezi by Xu Shen (c. 58 – c. 147 AD) and the Fangyan by Yang Xiong.Norman (1988), 185; Xue (2003), 161. Biographies on important figures were written by various gentrymen.Ebrey (1986), 645. Han dynasty poetry was dominated by the fu genre, which achieved its greatest prominence during the reign of Emperor Wu.Hansen (2000), 137 138; de Crespigny (2007), 1049; Neinhauser et al. (1986), 212; Lewis (2007), 222; Cutter (1989), 25–26.