Confucianism becomes Han state ideology; Imperial Academy founded
- Date
- c. 136 to 124 BCE
- Category
- Religion & ideology
- Region
- China (Han empire)
- Era
- Classical Antiquity
- Significance
Under Emperor Wu (r. 141 to 87 BCE), and guided by the scholar Dong Zhongshu, the Han court adopted Confucianism as the empire's official ideology.
In 136 BCE Emperor Wu established official academic posts (erudites) dedicated to the Confucian Five Classics and downgraded rival schools, and in 124 BCE he founded the Imperial Academy (Taixue) to train officials in Confucian learning, alongside a system of recommendation and examination for recruiting men into the bureaucracy by merit. Dong Zhongshu fused Confucian ethics with yin-yang and Five Phases cosmology, presenting the emperor as the pivot between Heaven and the human world and grounding imperial authority in the cosmic order. These reforms wedded the centralised state to a literate, classically educated officialdom, creating the enduring template of the Confucian bureaucratic empire and the intellectual foundation of the later civil service examination system.
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Empires active in c. 136 to 124 BCE
- Roman Republic509 BCE to 27 BCE
- Han Dynasty202 BCE to 220 CE
- Shunga Empire185 BCE to 73 BCE
- Kingdom of Numidia202 BCE to 25 BCE
- Ptolemaic Kingdom305 BCE to 30 BCE
- Indo-Greek Kingdom180 BCE to 10 CE
Related religion & ideology events
- Crucifixion of Jesus and the origins of Christianityc. 30 CE
- Roman destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem70 CE
- Pali Canon Committed to Writing at Aluvihara, Sri Lankac. 29 BCE
- Ashoka commissions the Great Stupa at Sanchic. 250 BCE
- The Septuagint: Hebrew scripture translated into Greekc. 250 BCE
- Third Buddhist Council and Ashoka's Buddhist missionsc. 250 BCE
Essential reading
- Han-Xiongnu Heqin Treaty Inaugurates Tribute-and-Marriage Diplomacy198 BC
- Earliest securely dated Maya/Mesoamerican Long Count inscription36 BCE (Long Count 7.16.3.2.13)
- Wang Mang nationalises land under the Xin dynastyAD 9
- Indianisation of Southeast Asia: Spread of Hindu-Buddhist Culturec. 1st century CE
Further reading
The wider story
A Little History of Religion
Accessible sweep of humanity's faiths and belief systems from prehistory to the present.
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