More handpicked essays just for you.
The impact of Confucianism on the oriental world
Influence of confucianism
Influence of Confucianism in China
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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.
Han China and Ancient shared bureaucratic governments. This means that they had a government ruled by unelected officials, giving the people little to no say in government. In Rome the ruler was once a king but then their government transitioned to an oligarchy, which would put the rich people in the highest place in society. On the other hand in Han China, which was an imperial dynasty, and emperors were decided by the Mandate of Heaven. The Mandate gave the common man a chance to become a major ruler during the Han period. The Han government was mainly influenced by confucian government while Romes was based on Roman law and the classics. The Han government spread Confucianism since that was the basis for their government. Rome also relied on local rulers to make sure that their many lands were following rules and not plotting against them. Both the Han and Rome shared a bureaucratic government which affected their social structures in different ways.
Another similarity shared by the Han and Ancient Rome was the tradition of a patriarchal society, which was known as Pater Familia in Ancient Rome. In these societies the man ran the household and the government, basically the man ran every aspect of life. The Pater Familia was the head of a Roman family, the ...
... middle of paper ...
...ther religions since they never really comitted to one main religion. Han China spread Confucianism by leading Confucius lives, they used Confucius ideas for their law codes and taught Confucius ideas to their children. The Confucian ideas spread by the Han helped rulers like Wudi have long reigns of power by embracing rule by morals and ethics. It also helped spread written exams as ways to determine peoples places and jobs in society based off of merit as opposed to putting anyone anywhere just to give people jobs. China also had a growing population of Daoists who believed in the power of nature. As time progressed both of their societies changed their religions. Rome slowly progressed from a basic Hellenistic polytheism to the once persecuted Christianity. Meanwhile China, which was mainly a Confucian and Daoist led society began to accept and embrace Buddhism.
The caste system played a great part in religion and philosophies as well. As shown in the graphic organizer, Father>son, older brother>younger brother. This supports the evidence of a caste system in china, not as strict as the caste system in Ancient India. The caste systems were separated by power, a father being more powerful than his son, and wife. His older son will have more power over the younger son, but the father has the power to control all of his sons. This was similar to the Indian caste system. Brahmins had more power over
First, an aspect that remained constant throughout Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties includes family systems. Respect towards elders and ancestors was demanded at all times. According to Confucius, “there are no wrongdoing parents,” meaning that no matter how abusive or irritating a parent may be, there is no circumstance in which respect can wane. In addition, there was a constant cycle of patriarchal hierarchy, passed through sons before daughters, and the eldest son having the chief privileges. Another aspect that remained constant throughout the pre-classical
All of the empires in chapter four certainly left their legacy. But what was their legacy about? As I see it, it was more about their destructive features than their ‘greatness’. Every empire had a rise and fall, the fall due to war or conflict. Rome and the Han Dynasty were the major two ‘empires’ with conflict. Next, Persia and the Greek empire’s conflicts.
Han China and Rome, despite having some political and cultural differences, fell in ways that were almost directly parallel to one another. Both civilizations experienced declines in everything from culture and population to economy and government, as well as both suffering from attacks by nomadic invaders. However, each civilization's fall had their own unique factors, and the lasting impact of their falls differed greatly.
One of the similarities between two civilizations in terms of religion affect political hierarchy would be how did the kings keep their power. First of all, most of the emperors of China started out as a general in the military and that is the same for the Aztecs because they believed that the best warrior shall be the ruler of the Aztecs. In order for the Aztec rulers to stay in power, they eat human flesh and the human heart just like their gods. They do this so they can be seen more like and god or more superior than the regular citizens. In China, they do not eat human flesh nor do they do anything to please their gods instead they follow the ways of the Mandate of Heaven and do the things that a good emperor or “son of heaven” should do. They are similar because they do things to make people consider them as partially “god” or a god.
Han China was an empire that expanded over a vast territory and Classical Athens was only a small city-state. Inevitable, there were differences in all aspects of life. The documents provided plenty of information on demographics, government structures, individual roles and duties of a citizen, an view on physical life. Overall, the 64 million differences in population, the democracy that arose in Athens, the importance of a father-son relationship in Han China, and the interests in nature by the Hans were the key facts in the two’s differences.
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.
Buddhism and the Chinese government, along with the strict Confucianists, did not have promising results. The Chinese government was unstable and had complications during the coming of Buddhism, it was threatening to them and to the strict Confucianists who had these new, unknown ideas coming at them. The two sides had completely different views on Buddhism and both were stuck with the positives and negatives. After 570 C.E., China’s imperial structure was restored due to the shrinking influence of Buddhism.
The Buddhist brought with them the concept of multiple gods and Buddha’s “spiritual state to provide the power for humans to make the transition into death and the afterlife successfully” (Corduan, 2012, p.410). Confucianism brought the obedience of the child to the parent into Chinese mainstream life, plus the “social stratification and codes governing dress, actions and communication” (Corduan, 2012, p.409). Taoism introduced the balance of forces in harmony in spirits in the form of yin and yang, thus creating that balance of nature and humans (Corduan, 2012). Christianity influenced Chinese life both socially and economically by introducing the concepts of “love for one’s neighbor, self-discipline, and trust” (Lu, 2014, p.2) as both essential and beneficial (Lu, 2014). All of these together with the traditional Chinese religion, give the Chinese culture it’s popular religion
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 main religions of China were Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism. The central religions in India were Hinduism and Buddhism. Both Ancient China and India had religious teachers that invented these prevalent religions. Confucius invented Confucianism, Lao Tzu invented Taoism, and a man named Hsun Tzu invented the ideas of Legalism in China. Hinduism in India took many of its religious beliefs from the Aryan people that invaded India. Buddhism was created around 520 B.C. by a wealthy man Siddhartha Gautama. China and India had much in common. They both believed in supernatural forces. For example, China and India believed that supernatural forces controlled the weather and the abundance of crops grown at certain times around the year. Furthermore, both ancient civilizations constructed art pertaining to their respective religions.
After starting the Chinese Empire, Shihuangdi based the empire on a harsh law system called legalism and was also influenced by Confucianism. Since Shihuangdi was the only ruler of the empire, the government was considered a strong central monarchy. When the Chinese empire had a good start, they expanded their territories to northern Vietnam, Korea, and the northwest steppes. Shihuangdi believed the harsher the empire the more respected, so he invested heavily into a strong military army a...
During the rise of civilization, empires became a prominent way that this civilization was expressed. Two very powerful empires during this era were the Roman Empire and Han China. All empires, or governments that extend,to include many different lands and people, have inevitably fallen, and the collapse of Han China and the Roman Empire are similar for many reasons. In analyzing the similarities among the collapse of these civilizations, historians can see the problems with this type of government and some universal problems that were relevant at the time.
Regarding religion, Chinese culture saw the emergence of Confucianism and Buddhism as the major influence. Confucianism stressed filial piety which meant respecting elders and superiors, ruling righteously, and obeying commands and orders. Confucianism was introduced by the Chinese thinker Confucius. Buddhism was brought to China, but originated in India and was founded by Siddhartha Gautama. Followers of Buddhism worshipped Buddh...
The four hundred years between the collapse of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.- C.E. 220) and the establishment of the Tang dynasty (618-906) mark a division in the history of China. During this period, foreign invasion, transcontinental trade, and missionary ambition opened the region to an unprecedented wealth of foreign cultural influences. These influences were both secular and sacred. Nomads, merchants, emissaries and missionaries flooded into China, bringing new customs, providing exotic wares, and generating new religious beliefs. Foremost among these beliefs was Buddhism, born in India, but which now took root in China. These new influences entered China by a vast network of overland routes, popularly known as the Silk Road