Great Wall Of China Dbq Essay

The Great Wall was constructed by the Qin and Han dynasties. they built the Great Wall to be protected by the Xiongnu. However the benefits of building the Great Wall didn't outweigh the costs. According to Document C, evidence supports my claim by stating," According to poetry and legend, tens of thousands of soldiers died from hunger, sickness, and extreme heat or cold." This shows how the loss of soldiers happened by constructing the Great Wall they could've just have more soldiers protect around China.

The era of the Han dynasty in China, simply referred to as ‘Han China,’ was an extremely prominent one, with power that almost rivaled the Romans themselves. During this period of China, achievements and accomplishments reached new heights as the Silk Road opened, which allowed connection with the western world. However, even with all this, Han China still fell, thanks to opposing forces in the form of nomadic tribes, several natural disasters that were interpreted as angry messages from the gods, and internal/political unrest. During the Han dynasty and the opening of the Silk Road, there were several aggressive, nomadic tribes that centered around the Asian area.

Prior to the reconstruction, the pre-existing wall from the Qin dynasty was outdated and no longer suited as a defensive wall in its condition. Consequently, this represented a time period in which China had no defense system, and demonstrated the danger that the nomadic tribes were to the Chinese. Specifically, Han dynasty historian Sima Qian states that the wall was built “so that the barbarians no longer ventured to come south to pasture their horses and their men dared not take up their bows to vent their hatred.” The nomadic tribes, especially the Xiongnu, were still in massive conflict with the Han dynasty, and the danger that the Xiongnu posed to the Chinese only grew.

In comparison to Tacitus’s Germania excerpt, Sima Qian’s Account of the Xiongnu seems to be much more unbiased in nature. This, I believe is for two reasons: that the Han had respect for the Xiongnu, and that Qian tried to stay unbiased in his report to be accurate for military purposes. He reveals both the victories and defeats of the Hans. In regards to respect, there was enough respect for the Xiongnu that the Han had to pay them off in order to make sure that the Xiongnu didn’t attack because they feared their strength and military tactics (Xiongnu 11). The Han, although they still saw themselves as superior to the Xiongnu (Qian continually calls the Xiongnu barbarians), realized that they were

The benefits of the Great Wall did not outweigh the costs. The reason being the amount of deaths and ineffectiveness to keep people out. During the construction of the wall many soldiers died and suffered. Both the Qin suffered during the construction.

Berlin was known as the centerpiece of the Cold War. Being the capital city of Germany, the desire to have power over it was extremely high. Germany was split into two, the East, taken over by the Soviet Union, and the West, taken over by the United States, Britain, and France. Tensions rose between each country on who would be able to have power over Berlin. Since the city was on the east side and up to 100 miles inside Soviet-controlled East Germany, the Soviets had power; However, the West would not allow them to take over the capital city so easily.

As China grew with population and technologies, so did their government. Their military was weak but they had the idea to make iron and steel weaponry. The increase of weapons allowed the Chinese military to have more power over the people. Yet, the downfall of their era was their tactics in controlling their army and the rebellious citizens. As China’s economy and population grows, so does the growth of politics and Urban life styles.

The Chinese also had the capability to build roads and wells for other countries. When other empires saw China’s wealth and power, more than 16 countries gave tribute to the Ming court (Beck). Chinese scholar-officials complained

It also shifted China closer to the Silk Road.     To add,many may believe that the benefits didn’t outweigh the costs because of the lives that were lost. “If we die,unburied,in the wilds,our corpses will feed the crows.” The Chinese workers lives were lost because while building the Great wall of china some structures had fell upon them leaving them dead. Although many people died during this building the benefits did outweigh the costs because it provided protection,glorified China, and helped the trading system.

1587: The Year of No Significance Précis Ray Huang contends, in 1587: The Year of No Significance, that the year of 1587 of the Ming Dynasty is significant for linking the past history of China and the future events of it (Huang 1). Huang exemplifies the importance of how the many failures of adapting and innovating by members of the government were led up to and realized in this year, along with their future effects on China (221). Altogether, Huang advocates for the noteworthiness of 1587 as a connecting point of Chinese history.

China, up until the Qin Dynasty, consisted of independent states controlled by kings fighting each other for land and power. This time period was called The Era of Warring States, which lasted two hundred years. After this time, the Qin Dynasty rose to power. They conquered all other dynasties, and established a centralized government, unifying China for the first time. The dynasty that succeeded the Qin, the Han, continued the centralized government and they started a westward expansion that would encourage trade and cultural diffusion.

Ancient civilizations began in areas that had arable land and other features such as rivers. Civilizations succeeded in these environments because they could settle down and not live a nomadic lifestyle. Because the land was arable, agriculture prospered and people relied on the geography to grant them the elements needed for survival. In China and Egypt, geography greatly influenced and affected the lives of the people living there because of the prosperous rivers and large natural barriers.

The Han Dynasty in China and the Roman Empire shared many similarities and differences when it came to political rule and the nature of their political authority. The most significant difference between the two is how the Han dynasty enacted policies that were shaped to counter the wrongdoings of the previous Qin dynasty, whereas the Roman Empire enacted policies shaped to create and promote peace and stability. The difference in the two empire’s coming to power was to account for their variance in political rule. After the Qin dynasty, the Han ruled China for four centuries, enacting numerous political changes and governing one of the most efficacious dynasties in Chinese history.

This shift had potential to benefit the Ming, but their economy was not strong enough, and when the Mongols began threatening them, their “land forces urgently needed financial support” (Doc 5). The inflation of silver, the revolts that followed, and the cancellation of any expeditions were the main internal factors that caused the transformation the Ming empire

Economic, political, both domestic and international, social and cultural factors all had various levels of impact and repercussions on the Qing regime, with chapters also dedicated to the formation and organisation of the Qing government, giving the reader context to the period. He traces the changes and continuity in these themes and argues against the orthodox interpretation of Qing history that the watershed in the Qing dynasty was the 1839-1842 First opium war and the resulting Treaty of Nanking. Instead, he argues that when the Western powers first came to assert their influence and dominance over the Qing, the Qing was already poorly equipped with the means of dealing with them and the Western powers, and later, Japan, simply proved too much for the Qing to handle. One specific reason behind this argument is the relationship between the Qing government and the people. Rowe explains the Qing approach to governing its huge empire as an attempt to conduct “government on the cheap”, referring to their principles of benevolent rule inclusive of light taxes and minimal direct involvement in local society, a pseudo laissez faire model through under governed China.