ABSTRACT
The narrative presented by Han scholars has portrayed the Qin as a cruel empire that betrayed the social values and political legacy of the Zhou dynasty. By contrast, the Han dynasty was regarded as the orthodox heir of traditional Zhou culture. New studies show, however, that the founding of the Han dynasty saw the loss of influence of the old nobilities but created a new upper ruling elite. A few men from obscure background reached the top of the bureaucratic hierarchy by demonstrating administrative merit. However, it turned out that the existence of the Western Han's independent kingdoms was a serious threat to the emperor and the empire. Independent regimes were the root cause of the century-long conflicts of the Warring States period. Furthermore, Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu precisely because the latter had divided the empire into kingdoms, providing his former allies opportunities to challenge his hegemony.
