a dynasty in China, 206 b.c.–a.d. 220, with an interregnum, a.d. 9–25: characterized by consolidation of the centralized imperial state and territorial expansion. Cf. Earlier Han, Later Han.
a river flowing from central China into the Yangtze at Hankow. 900 mi. (1450 km) long.
the Chinese people in general, esp. those not of Mongol, Manchu, Tibetan, or other non-Chinese extraction.