In the classical period of world history, the Han Dynasty of China and the Republic of Rome both went through periods of massive growth and prosperity as well as devastating downturns, collapses, and eventually dissolution. These two sprawling entities, although similar in certain aspects, were also profoundly different and it is these differences and similarities that had a major impact on the development of their regions throughout history and even the modern world today. There were major similarities and differences between Han China and Rome in regards to aspects such as the civil service exams, political system of governance, and commerce. Overall, there are more differences between China under the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire than similarities. The Civil Service Exam played a major role in both the societies of Han China and the Republic of Rome as it provided their citizens a way to progress in life, economically and socially. Both civil service exams in the Republic of Rome and the Han Dynasty in China were open to all citizens, with some exclusions to the impoverished, giving them the chance to move up the socioeconomic ladder in society. The Roman civil service exam prepared their citizens for utilitarian careers and trades in fields such as carpentry, smithery, construction, etc. A relatively high number of people who took the Roman civil service exam passed in proportion to all of the participants. However, this was very different from the Imperial Examinations under the Han Dynasty, where the examination, prepared citizens exclusively, for a career in the government. Also, the Han civil service exam was much more rigorous, with higher demands of the people who took the exam, resulting in only a minuscule fractio... ... middle of paper ... ...ny similarities when it came to their government’s focus on the development of trade routes, roads, and other forms of infrastructure as well as the fact that both offered the opportunity to take civil service exams to a wide majority of their people and that major economic downturns lead to the inherent collapse of their empires. But they had more differences than similarities especially in regards to their established political system, the different nature of the civil service exams, different forms of trade that played major roles in their economies, and the levels of dependence of the East and West on each other for goods. These factors, among many would greatly affect the development of history and the entire world would be arguably, much more different if it were not for the contrasting and similar aspects of China under the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire.
In the book The Examination by Malcolm Bosse two brothers travel across China in their journey to pass the Imperial Exam. The brother’s names are Chen and Hong. Chen is very intelligent and is taking the Civil Service Exams hoping to pass. Hong on the other hand, is a known cricket fighter and joins the White Lotus Society along with the army. The Examination takes place in Song Era and is very accurate about what Chinese life and society was like in that time. This book depicts ideas and technologies and religious structure of ancient China. In the book The Examination by Malcolm Bosse, the author depicts ideas and technologies such as the civil service exam, junk ships, and porcelain as well as the religious structure of
The occurance of the dynastic cycle in these two dynastys was similar and differnet in many ways. Both empires were
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.
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 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 Romans power and administration was structured differently from that of the Han emperor. The Romans power was developed through envisaging of
China was one of the most politically and economically strong countries during 1500 – 1800. The state was identified as family. It brought unity and integration. The political system was an expanded role of Confucianism. From 1500 – 1800, China was the most highly commercialized non-industrial society in the world. China had what is known as the perfected late imperial system. The two Dynasties that ruled China during this time period were Ming (1368 – 1644) and Ch’ing (1644 – 1911). They both had the same type of government, good familial and good educational system. The emperor was stronger than ever during Ming - Ch’ing. It made all-important and UN-important decisions. Below him were the Grand Secretaries. They made all decisions the Emperor did not want to make. The Ming and Ch’ing had an organization of offices, at the top was the military, censorate, and administrative branch, below them were six ministries. They ran a Confucianism political system. These were also Chinas last Dynasties.
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.
Some similarities between the Zhou and Han dynasties include the family and religious systems and some of the changes include government authority and increasing trade and philosophy.
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
...hey knew nothing about. Therefore, civil service examinations were created in order to hire skilled professionals. These examinations were a needed stipulation for hiring during a time when more technical skills were needed. It also displaced unskilled workers, a number of which were put into place by the political machine. Civil service examinations hurt the machine in many ways. It released workers who were put in by the machine, and then taken out due to being unqualified, from voting in their favor. They created an atmosphere which made it difficult for the machine to use their patronage in order to place unskilled workers in a job. More importantly, it aided in the public realization that with the arrival of a more representative government for everyone, which didn’t ask for individual favors, political machines no longer appealed to them and were not needed.
Two important, mighty Asian empires in history are the Ottoman Empire and the Ming China. These two empires are in totally different areas of Asia – the Ottomans were in the very west, the Chinese were in the oriental east. Therefore, these two empires, naturally, formed completely different cultures. However, surprisingly, these empires had many parts in common as well. The Ottoman Empire and the Ming Dynasty had both many different and distinct parts, as well as many similarities.
Ancient Greece and China had similar problems. They both had to deal with civil wars. They also dealt with rivers flooding. Lastly, they both had to deal with plague that killed a lot of the population in the Ancient lands.
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.