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Wikipedia Featured Articles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Today%27s_featured_article This RSS feed is a screen scrape of the Wikipedia Featured Articles page en-us GNU Free Documentation License Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:05:04 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss wikipedia@jeays.net XML::RSS 1.45 November 20, 2009: Han Dynasty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Today%27s_featured_article/November_20%2C_2009 <div style="float:left;margin:0.5em 0.9em 0.4em 0;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nswag,_dinastia_han,figurina_dipinta_di_danzatrice.JPG">80px|A Han pottery female dancer in silk robes</a></div> The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Dynasty">Han Dynasty</a> was the second <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynasties_in_Chinese_history">imperial dynasty of China</a>, preceded by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Dynasty">Qin Dynasty</a> and succeeded by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms">Three Kingdoms</a>. Spanning over four centuries, the period of the Han Dynasty is considered a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/golden_age">golden age</a> in Chinese history. The Han Empire was divided into areas directly controlled by the central government, known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commandery">commanderies</a>, and a number of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kings_of_the_Han_Dynasty">semi-autonomous kingdoms</a>. The Han Dynasty was an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_Han_Dynasty">age of economic prosperity</a>, and saw a significant growth of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_currency#Imperial_China">money economy</a> first established during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Dynasty">Zhou Dynasty</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Chinese_coinage">The coinage</a> issued by the central government <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mint_(coin)">mint</a> in 119 BCE remained the standard coinage of China until the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Dynasty">Tang Dynasty</a>. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_of_China">The emperor</a> was at the pinnacle of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_and_culture_of_the_Han_Dynasty">Han society</a>. He presided over the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_the_Han_Dynasty">Han government</a>, but shared power with both <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_nobility">the nobility</a> and appointed ministers who came largely from the scholarly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentry_(China)">gentry class</a>. From the reign of Emperor Wu onward, the Chinese court officially sponsored <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucianism">Confucianism</a> in education and court politics. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_technology_of_the_Han_Dynasty">Science and technology during Han</a> saw significant advances, including <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/papermaking">papermaking</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/rudder">rudder</a>, the use of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_and_non-negative_numbers">negative numbers</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mathematics">mathematics</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/raised-relief_map">raised-relief map</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulics">hydraulic</a>-powered <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/armillary_sphere">armillary sphere</a> for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_astronomy">astronomy</a>, and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/seismometer">seismometer</a> employing an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/inverted_pendulum">inverted pendulum</a>. (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Dynasty">more...</a>) Recently featured: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_National_Park">Death Valley National Park</a> – <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind">Wind</a> – <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungus">Fungus</a>