ic local families with their own resources of food and fighting men."
Control was a perennial problem for the Han emperors, and in the capital the ruler had to find a way to avoid the domination of the court by the family of an empress. This was because when a Han emperor died, his power rested in his widow, the empress dowager, who would appoint her husband's successor from the ranks of the Liu clan, the clan of the Han emperors. She might choose a minor of the Liu clan as emperor, and she might place a strong-man regent from her own clan to rule for him. A number of empresses did just this. The palace was always a center of intrigue as factions struggled for power. The emperor sought to control residents of the Earlier Han capital at Chang-an and so divided the city into 160 wards, giving each its own walls and gate, and with each overseen by a select group of residents forming a sort of committee.
The Han ruled China for four centuries and instituted major changes as well as ruling during a period of great population growth. As the Han governments lost power, they surrendered some of their monopolies and market controls to local aristocratic landed and merchant families. An upper class emerged in this era as the dominant social group. it was tied by blood relation to officialdom but was locally independent, represented by men educated to be gentlemen. This class had a literate, artistic, and sumptuous lifestyle. Han economic growth in the north increased foreign trade and military expansion. Dominating Han foreign policy was the need for stable relations with the widespread tribal confederation of the Xiongnu, Turkish nomads who habitually raided North China for loot and supplies. The Han would fight or buy off the barbarians. The Chinese also learned to use diplomacy to get some barbarians to fight others.
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