Literature

• literature mainly taken the form of poems such as odes
• proses also achieved a high level of artistry
• Ode, first started during West Han, had its origins in the Qin. The odes of West Han were vigourous and usually very long. Examples are works by Sima XiangRu such as the Ode of Shanglin.
• The Ode of East Han are usually more realistic and shorter than that of West Han. Examples are works by Ban Gu such as The Ode of Two Capitals.
• Poesies were also popular. Their forms were plain and simple, content very interesting and the language earthly. They are the jewels in Ancient Chinese Literature. The First Book of History -- Shiji
• BC 98, because Sima Qian was too straight out, he angered the emperor and was imprisoned with heavy sentence. In an attempt to realize his father's dying wish, he spent 7 hard years, and finally in BC 91, he completed a 520 000-word documentary recording 3000 years of history (it was named Shiji). This was China's first historical record.

• The clothing in this dynasty is divided into Yuanfu, Tiyi, and Zuyi.
• Yuanfu is the hat, Tiyi the main clothing (known as pao) and Zuyi the footware. Pao was very popular. Socks could have been made of cloth or leather.
• To make oneself more beautiful, people often uses headgears, and facial decorations.
• The hairstyle of women are usually updos and too numerous to name one by one.