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How did large estates weaken the Han central government in the dynasty's final years?

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Map showing the Han Empire's territory around 100 BCE, shaded in orange, covering much of eastern China and extending westward. The map also marks the boundary of modern China and highlights the Great Wall running along the northern frontier, built for protection against the Huns. Major rivers and the capital, Chang'an (Xi'an), are labeled. — Han dynasty Map showing the extent of the Han empire c. 100 bce.

During the final half-century of the Han dynasty, the accumulation of land by great families significantly undermined the central government's authority. As these families amassed vast country estates, they began to operate almost entirely independently of state control.1

These estates weakened the government in several key ways:

Autonomy: The great families acquired their own retainers and armed defenders, allowing them to exert power that rivaled or exceeded that of appointed state officials.1
Economic Erosion: Despite earlier attempts to regulate landownership and address wealth disparities, the continued accumulation of land by these elites persisted, effectively bypassing the state's ability to manage resources and tax the population effectively.1
Loss of Administrative Control: As these estates became self-sufficient strongholds, the central government lost its ability to enforce its writ across the empire, contributing to the broader decline that eventually led to the rise of the Three Kingdoms and the dynasty's collapse in 220 CE.12