Han China And Rome Comparison Essay

Rome and China are two highly developed civilizations. The Roman Empire began slightly later than the Han dynasty but it was not inferior in terms of vastness or political structure. Han China and Imperial Rome both lasted for about 500 years. They coexisted with the other civilization not knowing much more than each others existence. Politically, they had quite a lot of dissimilarities yet with that comes likenesses as well.

The Roman Empire and Han Dynasty were similar because of the use of the Silk Road as a trading route and both grew and developed because of mandatory military service but were different because the Roman Empire declined because of the expansion of its borders while the Han dynasty declined because of enemy military pressure and because of the wealth and power of its aristocracy. Both the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty used the Silk Road for trade. Chinese merchants returned from trading expeditions to report that Chinese silk was being purchased and traded all along a trading route named the Silk Road. This long route stretched from East Asia all the way to Italy in central Europe.

The Han dynasty and Roman Empire developed approximately around 300 B.C.E- 400 C.E. They both faced a similar issue; they had to figure out a way to govern a vast land. The Han Dynasty’s political authority were highly influenced by their religion. The Roman Empire however were highly influenced by an emperor highly selected by the people.

For decades people have been wondering if the Han dynasty was effective or not. The Han dynasty was the dynasty after the Qin dynasty. Unlike the Qin dynasty that only ruled a short time of fourteen years, the Han dynasty ruled over four hundred years. So with the evidence that I have read, I believe that the Han dynasty was an effective government for a number of reasons.

Technology can be innovations and inventions that help to accomplish tasks easier. Some examples of technology are agricultural tools, modern computers, electric compartments, etc. In earlier civilizations, the invention of technology itself was a massive part in growing the population and preserving business ordeals like trade. The Han dynasty and the Roman empire both believed technology was essential to their civilizations, but Han China had a positive outlook on labor and its benefits compared to a lesser enthusiasm towards it in Rome. Both the Romans and the Hans admired technology and the people that created it.

The Chinese development of technological advances, allowed the era of the Tang, and the Song dynasty to bring about a social, political, and urban change. The Chinese found new techniques in Agriculture and farming rice. This allowed for more growth and spreading of population in the regions. As the population grew, people were interest in new jobs and careers in the markets. So, they sought out jobs such as shop sellers, blacksmiths, metallurgy, fishing, and government work.

Introduction The governments of Han China and Rome after Augustus were vastly different in their institutions and practices. While both empires employed autocratic rule and relied on bureaucracy, the ways in which they developed these systems varied significantly. The Han Chinese imperial government was characterized by a Confucian meritocracy while the Roman imperial government was characterized by a strong religious framework. Additionally, Han China tended to centralize more power within a single ruler as compared to Rome's system of devolved authority through provincial governorships.

China’s Han dynasty and the Romans valued technology in their civilizations, but they used technology for different reasons to accommodate their empire. The Hans relied heavily on agriculture and developed technology to make labor easier and more efficient, which is depicted by some of their technology like iron metallurgy and water systems. In contrast, the Romans focused primarily on science and mathematics, so the intellectuals looked down on technology as it was used by slaves and for their labor. Han China’s attitude towards technology was more appreciative and focused on its benefits toward labor than the Romans who viewed technology as inferior and for the laborers in their class-divided society. All the documents written by the Han,

The Huns were encouraged by a realization of the civilizations weakening. Another similarity emerged with taxation issues. In China, the already heavily taxed free peasants were burdened with new taxes and many lost their farms and became day laborers on large estates, making the upper class even wealthier. While in Rome, tax collection became difficult

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.

In various ways, Han China and Imperial Rome were politically similar yet also had their pair of differences. Two very well-known classical empires, both had highly advanced political systems for their time; Han China, lasted from 206 B.C.E to 220 C.E, and Imperial Rome, lasted from 31 B.C.E to 476 C.E. Many think these two empires where built with no previous influence, however; the Roman Empire had retained many aspects from the Roman Republic, and Han China from the Qin Dynasty. During their peaks, they controlled the majority of the world 's population because of their constant expansion of conquered lands, while their structure of administration and rule influenced many empires and future societies around the world. Aspects such as these, ultimately, led these two empires to be, arguably, the most influential societies in the world; as their legacies still live on today.

During the era of classical societies, the Han and Roman empires were two vast cosmopolitan societies which dominated regions all throughout Eurasia. In regards to the fall of the Han and Roman empires, both were similar in that they fell victim to internal government decay, but different in that Rome fell to foreign invasions, while Han suffered from rebellions of their own people. The Han and Roman empires were similar in their fall in that they both suffered from internal decay, specifically of their governments. In the Han empire, land distribution problems that were originally sought to be fixed by the “Socialist emperor” Wang Mang allowed large landowners to become even more influential than they previously were.

Being one of the longest of China’s major dynasties, the Han Dynasty, founded by Liu Bang, began in 206 B.C. and ended in

Gaozu, the founder of the Han dynasty was the first low-ranked official to found a dynasty in imperial China. In 209BC, Gaozu spearheaded the rebellion against the tyrannical practices of the Qin dynasty. The changes enacted by the Han’s first emperor are central to understanding the political rule and authority in Han China due to the fact that the rulers that succeeded him follow suit in a majority of his policies. Throughout

China’s Last Empire. The Great Qing. William T. Rowe. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009. 360 pages including Emperors and Dynasties, Pronunciation Guide, Notes, Bibliography, Acknowledgements, Index, Maps and Figures.