Eastern Han

Liu Xiu, a descendant of the Han royal house, rebuilt the dynasty amid the chaos and moved the capital to Luoyang — the Eastern Han. His reign brought peace again, and Cai Lun improved the making of paper.

Ban Chao gave up his brush to serve in the Western Regions; Zhang Heng built the first seismoscope; Hua Tuo healed the sick; Zhang Zhongjing wrote on fevers. Science, medicine, and history all shone in this dynasty.

In its last decades, empresses' clans and palace eunuchs fought over the court, and the Yellow Turbans shook the empire. After Dong Zhuo marched into the capital, warlords rose everywhere, and history slid into the Three Kingdoms.