<P> Small and medium - sized estates were managed by single families . The father acted as the head manager, the sons as field workers . Wives and daughters worked with female servants to weave cloth and produce silk . Very wealthy landowners who had a large peasant following often used a sharecropping system to similar to the government's system for state - owned lands . Under this system, peasants would receive land, tools, oxen, and a house in exchange for a third or a half of their crop yield . </P> <P> Prior to the Han dynasty, markets close to China's northern border engaged in trade with the nomadic tribes of the eastern Eurasian Steppe . The heqin agreement between the Han and nomadic Xiongnu stipulated the transfer of tributary goods from China . The exact amount of annual tribute sent to the Xiongnu in the 2nd century BC is unknown . In 89 BC, when Hulugu Chanyu (狐 鹿 姑) (r . 95--85 BC) requested a renewal of the heqin agreement, he demanded an annual tribute of 400,000 litres (11,000 US bu) or 10,000 dan of wine, 100,000 litres (2,800 US bu) or 5,000 hu of grain, and 10,000 bales of silk . These amounts of wine, grain, and silk were considered to be a significant increase from earlier amounts of tribute, which must have been much less . Besides these arrangements, the most common commercial exchanges between the Xiongnu and Han merchants consisted of the trading of Xiongnu horses and furs for Han agricultural foodstuffs and luxury items, most notably silk . By means of the black market, the Xiongnu were also able to smuggle Han iron weapons across the border . </P> <P> The Han established a diplomatic presence in the Tarim Basin of Central Asia during Emperor Wu of Han's reign (141--87 BC). Han envoys brought gifts of sheep, gold, and silk to the urban oasis city - states . The Chinese sometimes used gold as currency; however, silk was favored as a means to pay for food and lodging . Once the Han had subjugated the Tarim Basin and established a Protectorate there, Han envoys in these states were given free food and lodging . These envoys were required to send tributary items of furs, precious stones, and delicacies such as Central Asian raisins to the Han court . The Arsacid court sent exotic animals including lions and ostriches to the Han court, and a king ruling in what is now Burma sent elephants and rhinoceroses . Han diplomatic missions to royal courts across Asia were usually accompanied by trade caravans which earned substantial profits . </P> <P> The Han court received tributary submission from the Xiongnu leader Huhanye (呼 韓 邪) (r . 58--31 BC), an important rival to Zhizhi Chanyu (r . 56--36 BC, died at the Battle of Zhizhi). Huhanye's tribute, exchange of hostages, and presence at Chang'an in the New Year of 51 BC were rewarded with the following gifts from the emperor: 5 kg (160 ozt) of gold, 200,000 coins, 77 suits of clothes, 8,000 bales of silk fabric, 1,500 kg (3,300 lb) of silk floss, 15 horses, and 680,000 l (19,000 US bu) of grain . However, this is the only occurrence of rewarded gifts that present materials other than fabric . As shown in the table below, based upon Yü Ying - shih's "Han Foreign Relations" (1986), the gifts consisted only silk after 51 BC, and the Xiongnu leader's political submission was guaranteed only for as long as the Han could provide him with ever - greater amounts of imperial largesse of silk with each succeeding visit to the Chinese court . </P>

The production of which substance increased during the han dynasty