Han Dynasty Puns

My understanding of pre-19th century Chinese history is extremely limited (downright nonexistent) but here is how I've always seen it.

A great force would come around and unify a fragmented China and establish a ruling dynasty. These dynasties all ruled as highly centralized absolute monarchies claiming some form of divine mandate. They made use of uber-efficient bureaucracies, which were maintained by systems of highly competitive state-run schools that churned out armies of very educated mid-level administrators. These administrators were charged with enacting strict laws that were universal across provinces, which themselves rarely exercised any real regional autonomy. Dynasties would however degrade in terms of corruption and competence, eventually inviting either external invasions, widespread rebellion, or both. This would lead to periods of fragmentation until the cycle repeats.

But what I've always wondered is, did anyone in the great list of either long or short-lived Chinese states or dynasties ever experiment or differ in terms of running their domain? When I look across the sea to Japan there are clear and distinct differences in how the land was ruled and governed across its history. I know I am probably way off the mark, I just want to know how wrong I am.

For example, Wikipedia lists the Ming, the Tang, and the Han dynasties seperately on their list of the largest countries by land area. Did the Chinese people start that trend or was it more modern historians dividing China's long history into smaller chunks to make it easier to talk about specific time periods?

What if, for some reason, somehow, the Han Dynasty of China conquered all of the Indian subcontinent? How might this change Indian and Chinese culture?

I couldn't find anything in the search regarding this topic. Only a couple that talked about the Han and Roman in relationship to each other but I'm more curious about how big and powerful the Han Dynasty really was in terms of external power. Or was much of it's praise in terms of internal function and stability.

My general sense from the word is that it’s a village headman kind of thing, as is found all over the world. But would be interested to know more.

Sup fellow "home chefs". Been trying to figure out how to make this for years (unsuccessfully). If you've had this dish before at HD, you know why. Anyone wanna take a stab at the recipe? Teach me the ways. Manayunk is a good 45 min drive for me these days, and I am constantly craving this. Thanks yall.

I’ve started writing a dissertation titled “What was the primary cause of the fall of the Han Dynasty?”. I’m currently planning to do three main paragraphs discussing external pressure from Nomadic Tribes, internal pressure from the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the rise of Warlordism, and the failure of the Imperial Court and emperors themselves.

Does anyone have any books/sources they could recommend for this project? I’ve found some stuff, but I don’t think what I have will be enough for the project.

Thanks!