During the Western Han dynasty for the reason of raising money for defending Xiong Nu. Government monopolizes two major good of trading: salt and iron. In 81BCE, the Lord Grand Secretary Sang Hong Yang and a group of Confucian scholars gathered together to debate this monopoly policy. In my opinion, the benefit of having this monopoly outweighs its disadvantages. This monopoly could achieve three main feats: Having enough funds for fighting Xiong Nu. Improve the economics and consolidate the emperor’s Mandate of Heaven. Control prices of two important goods. First of all, the money that monopoly helps the government earned could be used to fight against Xiong Nu. The Xiong Nu have been steeling and robbing China’s sovereignty and border recently. The only way Western Han could defend is fighting a war against Xiong Nu, and for fighting a war government needs lots of money and soldiers. But if the government ignores the incursions, then the Western Han dynasty will lose a lot of …show more content…
The emperor’s power will also be consolidate by increase the general happiness of people and to make diplomatic relationship with other countries. If the Xiong Nu was defeated, the government will have chance to trade with other country beside China. The Silk Road will be cleared and goods could be import out of China. So Western Han dynasties economic will improve dramatically. Diplomatic relations will also be establish, this means making friend with foreign countries. This help the emperor consolidate power, so no other country will try to attack the Western Han dynasty. People on China’s border will not suffer anymore from hunger and cold, their working efficiency and general happiness will increase. (DOC B) People are happy in a country, which means that people will have a little chance to rebel. This also consolidates the Mandate of Heaven for the Western Han
Chapter 1: The Wan-Li Emperor, begins by explaining the major premise of the work: The concept of looking at a single year in the history of the leadership of China and evaluating the implications for understanding other aspects of history, including the decline of the Ming Dynasty. In this initial chapter, Huang provides an anecdotal history of some of the events that occurred, and includes within it a discussion of the set up of the leadership, the repercussions that occurred in the event of certain actions, including the prospects of an audience with the emperor. Huang reviews these issues as he considers that actions taken by the Wan-li emperor, who was only twenty-four in 1587 and who had been a veteran of ceremonial proceedings, and considers his history as an element of understanding the progression of leadership.
Throughout history, and in many nations and empires throughout time, governments are affected by religions of different kinds. Religion has been an integral component of humanity, as a way to search answers to existential questions that they might have as well as possibly giving a reason as to why the things they saw happen occur, mostly in older religions. Religion is used by people in power to govern the citizens of their nations on a basis of that religion, as a way to set the foundations of the rules and regulations that must be followed. The Han Dynasty and the Gupta Empire during the classical ages of China and India, respectively, are examples of how their emperors used religion to exert control and shape their nation. The methods in
The Hans’ had shown a very characteristic feudal structure. They had emperor run the head of government and the emperor had to create the laws id the people, lead the arming force and as a chief executive officer when needed. They had also adopted the political system of the legalist and made the rules clear and harsh. Many tried to unify China through military and were able to defend and defeat other warring states around them. Their efforts were able to keep the formation but did not use brutal military forces and also tried building a wall known as “the Great Wall of China”. Soon later they were able to have positivity influence throughout china and sent standards for the Chinese written language and different stuff like currency, weights, and even measurements. Rome on the other hand was not your typical “rags to riches” story. Their empire’s political system had used Chinese domestic repercussions but had a brief transition into roman culture and did not last long. They governed small city states and always were watching the minority growth within the empire. They also had granted citizenship with very clear advantages and have things like a public office. Military units were big here to be known as legions and here the assimilation were kind and were offered to subject people.
Unlike the Roman Empire, the Han Dynasty was located on a steppe, so therefore they did not have natural protection from invasions. The scholars rose to power because the Han Dynasty greatly valued Confucian ideals. One of the things they venerated was agriculture, primarily because it would help the emperor to keep the Mandate of Heaven. As a result of their beliefs, they did not have a strong army to protect them from invaders. When the Xiongnu tribes invaded, they were unprepared, but they eventually came up with a solution: the Tribute System. They would exchange gifts using the Confucian idea of filial piety. The Han emperor would show his dominance over the tribes by setting an example for them, which meant giving the tribes extravagant gifts like silk. Like the Roman Empire, the Han Dynasty also fell in part to internal conflict. Their main internal problem was the Iron and Salt Debates between the Legalists and Confucians. The Legalists wanted to keep their iron and salt monopolies because they produced government funds for strengthening their military, which was their approach to border protection. The Confucians opposed this idea because it supported mercantile practices, which was not the ideal Confucian profession because it could potentially weaken the emperor’s legitimacy. The disagreement caused tension between the two groups, which eventually led to a decline in the quality of life of the
During the early Ming Dynasty, China was one of the most economically and technologically advanced countries in the world. As Ebrey pointed out, “Europe was not yet a force in Asia and China continued to look on the outer world in traditional terms.” China was regarded as the center of Asia at the beginning of 15th century and the idea of “Middle Kingdom” (Zhong guo) began to take off at that time. The early Ming Emperors were not interested in promoting commercial trade at all. Emperor Hongwu, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, implemented the Hai jin policy which forbade maritime shipping and private foreign trade outside of the tributary system (Ebrey, p. 209). Emperor Yongle, the son of Emperor Hongwu, lifted this policy to a certain extent when he ordered his eunuch Zheng He’s voyages. However, he was only intereste...
2. Provide an example of a government-created monopoly. Is it a bad public policy? Why?
The Han dynasty and the Roman Empire were both powerful empires during their era. However, the ways they obtained their power varied greatly because they used different methods that involved their political structures, which revolved around their centralized governments. The Han dynasty and the Roman Empire acquired very unique techniques that allowed them to control social and political. For example, the Han dynasty adopted a religion known as Confucianism, which monitored everything in the lives of the Chinese. Contrary, the Roman Empire established a monarchy but allowed its residents more freedom as compared to the Han. Nevertheless, the two empires were similar in political structures in that the power was depended on the wealthy that were in authority, the peasants struggled with their lives because of concerning issues such as food supply. The empires were able to create and preserve a peaceful and sustainable lives for a long time, unlike the past empires. Social distribution were under the control of the wealthiest and they could effortlessly impact community viewpoints and interactions among the residents. These two empires existed during the Classical Period had comparable and various social, political, religions, as well as economical values and practices. However, they both possessed differences and similarities in their economic and social perspectives even though the two empires were established around the same era.
The Han Dynasty was established in 221 BCE by the rebel leader of the peasants, Liu Bang. Religion not only played a role in the Han dynasty’s rise, but also in their fall through conversion. On the other side of the spectrum, the Roman Empire between 33 and 300, were also undergoing change through religious beliefs. Similarly, both the Han dynasty and the Roman Empire were built by a spread of religious beliefs. In my opinion, religion is the most significant difference between the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty China based on its effects on the political rule and nature of political authority during both eras. Religion is the most significant difference because societal practices and power structure of the two eras stem from the different beliefs. The Han Dynasty is built up from the spread of Confucianism. The Roman Empire is built up from the spread of Christianity. The two religion’s
Major changes in political structure, social and economic life define the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties. Each period laid the foundation for the next, with changes and improvements to create a new order.
...e seen as angry manifestations of heavens, of divine powers. After this things began to unravel. Eunuchs obtained more power turning court officials into a bloody political field. Peasant uprising called the Yellow Turban Rebellion threatened the imperial Capital. Then in 190 CE a war lord, Dong Zhou, took control of the imperial capital and placed a child, Liu Xie, as ruler. Although Liu Xie was a member of the Han family as he was placed there by Dong Zhou he was the one with true control. He killed the eunuchs and burned Luoyang. After time battle after battle to the imperial order until Liu Xie was removed from the throne in 220 CE, the last years of the Han dynasty. Wars continued and China would not be unified for another 350 years. This was the vast history of the Han dynasty that had unified china for over 400 years and paved the way for future generations.
...e, Europeans were finding themselves short of land and room for expansion due to numerous empires in a relatively small area. This led to the search for land. The political powers sought wealth and hoped to achieve this by conquering Asians markets as had been done in the west. Much like the political powers, the Christian church greedily sought mass expansion and conversion, pushing for missions in the foreign lands. In contrast to the Europeans motives, the reasons for Chinese commercial expansion were desires and curiosity of a single emperor in the Ming dynasty that was not pushed for by the aristocrats, church, or scholar-gentry. Whereas the general consensus of Europe pushed for expansion for economic, political, and religious reasons, the expansion was the doing of one emperor who looked for wealth for defense against the threat of the Mongols from the north.
The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were two grand empires that rose out of preexisting territories and provided relative peace over wide areas. The collapse of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), which was the first great land-based empire in East Asia, came after a period of war, confusion, and tyrannical rule. Due to the political disorder that stemmed from the early dynastic activity, the emergence of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE- 228 CE) sprung to focus on restoring order. On the other hand, the rise of the Roman Empire (44 BCE- 476 CE) originated from consolidating authority over aristocratic landlords and overriding the democratic elements of the earlier Republic. Instead, the Roman Empire redefined the concept of “citizen” as subjects to the Roman emperor. Both empires shared similar agendas to exploit their vast territories and resources, which helped them expand their political dominance; however, despite having similar political goals and foundations, their government system, cultural ideologies and imperial expansionist natures diverged.
When comparing different societies in ancient history you may not think that Han China and Ancient Rome had a lot in common. These two great societies had many similarities and differences, especially in their social structures. These similarities and differences are all due to Han China’s and Ancient Rome’s governments, family structures and religions. Both of these wonderful empires lasted for approximately 400 years and had lasting effects on the lands they conquered.
Today we can look around ourselves and see thousands of technical innovations that make life easier; But if we take a step back and ask ourselves “How?” we will soon realize that most often, these technological advancements did not just “poof” into existence, but are usually the outcome of building upon yesterday’s technology. If we follow this cycle back into time, we can attribute almost any modern day invention to an ancient civilization during its golden age. China was no exception. China’s Song and Tang dynasties fostered scientific advances comparable to Rome’s during its Pax Romana. The most significant and impacting of these were the development of primitive gunpowder and porcelain of the Tang and paper money, and the magnetic compass of the Song Dynasties. Although these may seem very far off, if you look hard enough, you can see traces of their impacts in society today because most of the advancements today we owe to them.
rules and laws that applied only to those who were peasants. The laws sort of boosted their lives; he kept the land tax low, and the granaries stocked to guard against famine. During his reign he also attempted and succeeded in building up the class of those of the peasant and working class. Hongwu’s new government did not cause any change for those in other social classes.