Ancient China 's Trade And Economy

The early civilizations of China and India emerged prior to 600 CE in what is known today as the continent of Asia. With the Himalayan mountains in between them, these civilizations developed in isolation from one another, and yet still managed to produce kingdoms with continuous growing populations to this day. Individual growth and development amongst the people stimulated technological inventions, increased the chances of survival and lead to: greater agricultural production, strong armies, and expansion. Eventually, these commodities and other luxury items produced will be traded, spurring the economic growth of both civilizations. Overall, these early stages of development not only furthered contact amongst these two great empires allowing for cultural diffusion, but also set the foundation for future generations to follow. Although China and India’s growing empires took place in different parts of the world, the structure of their economies developed similarly, beginning with an agricultural infrastructure and progressing towards trade within and beyond the kingdoms, while also acquiring distinctive cultural differences overtime such as a social hierarchy defined by certain beliefs. These characteristics will define the beginning and the advancement of early economic systems used during the Foundations Era and Classical Age, and provides insight on the essentials that influenced the two economic

The Tang and Song dynasties in China existed between 618 to 1279 CE. Throughout this period, there were many developments in art, poetry, and technology. China was highly influential all around the world. It became known as the Golden Age of China. With advances in technology and ideas that could improve the everyday life, a unified government, and a strong economic system, the Tang and Song dynasties became the Golden Age of China.

In the period 1046B.C- 256B.C the Zhou Dynasy ruled. Next, during 221B.C -206B.C, the Qin Dynasty ruled. Finally from 400 years to 220C.E, the Han Dynaty ruled. Throughout all these dynasties, political, economical, social,and religion, were problems which led to different scenerious.

Following the collapse of the Han Dynasty in 220, China declined into an elongated term of division. China was divided and in a time of war, with a lack of leadership. It was only in the Sui Dynasty (589-618) reunited North and South China as one. The Tang (618-906) and Song (960 - 1279) Dynasties that followed created the “Golden Ages of China”. Although the Tang and Song Dynasties existed in a similar time and had a similar economy, there are also many differences between the influential dynasties such as certain aspects of their society and politics.

The following are the Chinese dynasties in order from oldest to most recent: Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. The legendary dynasty is the Xia, which is believed to be around 2000 BC. The Shang (1700-1000BC) developed the first written Chinese language. The Zhou (1028-221BC) built the first roads, expanded trade contacts and trade routes, and also developed plows and irrigation systems. Trade at this time was expanding in China. The Qin Dynasty (221-207BC) built the famous Great Wall of China as a defense mechanism and also united all of China under one central government. Next is the Han Dynasty (207BC-AD220), which did a lot for China in terms of trading. They developed the Great Silk Road, a trading route that stretched from China all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. The Sui Dynasty (589-618) united almost all of China. Followed in suit by the Tang Dynasty (618-917) discovered one of Chinas' leading exports, porcelain. During the Tang Dynasty, the first block-style printing press was invented. The Song Dynasty (960-1279) came next, which took over all of China and later took the southern rule after being conquered by the Jin. The Song Dynasty is responsible for developing Chinese cuisine as we know it today. During this time period the compass and gunpowder were also discovered. The Jin Dynasty (1127-1234) took rule over Northern China from the Song. The Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) brought a long period of peace to

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, power is the ability or right to control people or things. This definition is apparent throughout the history of China and through historical figures. Confucius is one of the most influential historical figures of Chinese history. In Confucius’s mind, the government should retain power, however, not to the extent that they do today. According to The Confucian Ethic and More About Confucius, “the government’s most important job was to inspire people [...] to feed and protect the people and gain their admiration” (The Confucian Ethic 13) . Confucius’ beliefs differ from what is going on now because he is calling for the government to treat the people with respect and take care of them. This may exist somewhat in China today, but China is known for killing political prisoners and silencing people who disagree with them. Mao Zedong, another historical

In fact, the Chinese were the first civilization to have dynasties. A dynasty is a ruling family. New dynasties mean very new things for the people of China. Whenever someone new took over they would lower taxes, restore peace and rebuild the roads and irrigation systems. As the dynasty aged they would eventually raise taxes. This would get the people very mad. People revolted because they were mad at all the problems going on. Then a new dynasty will take over. This continues for every dynasty. This is also called the Dynastic Cycle. Another thing the Chinese invented was the compass. We still use the compass today to tell us what direction to go in. The Chinese civilization’s achievements had a large effect on our life

Throughout the lifetime of civilizations in the Ancient World, methods of creating a stable economy were prevalent. Such method would be the integration of trade routes between societies and a strong social class. In Han China and in the Roman Republic, the silk road was a staple in the economy of their societies. Both of these societies established routes along the silk road to increase the wealth and prosperity of their civilizations. However, though both of these countries utilized the trade of silk and other goods along the silk road, they also had differences. Han dynasty China and the Roman Republic had both utilized the silk road to trade their goods to gain prosperity and they relied on agriculture to receive some of their goods, but differences were present in the goods that they exchanged, such as China mainly trading silk and rice and Rome trading maining grapes, wine, and pottery.

As one rises, another falls. Civilizations undulated in historic times more frequently than waves in an ocean; however, most of them are forgotten to this day because of their insignificant impact. The Roman and Chinese Empires were established like any other civilization, but rose to power through proper governing of the people. They later became so successful that they emulated one another in different fields of culture. The Han Dynasty was one of many dynasties in ancient China and it was able to change the outlook on society because of its radical and novel ideology based on Confucianism. During the dynasty, the emperor Wudi pushed borders and trade like no other dynasty of its kind and conquered land past China's century long

The classical civilizations of the 600 BCE-600 CE period were characterized by large empires rising out of the earlier city states. Rulers/military officials extended their influence through conquered new and nearby lands, expanding of land and increasing availability and variability of resources as they added more people and wealth; China, under the Han dynasty, was no exception to this trend. To illustrate, the Silk Road, a trading route interconnecting Europe, Asia, and North Africa/Middle East was named after China’s main cash crop, silk, which was prized for its soft smoothness and durability, in Rome, the Middle East, and other civilizations. This meant that merchants had a large impact in and outside China. The big silk trade also led

In the Silk Road from China, the photograph shows a long trail, known as the silk road, passing through several different well known places such as China, the Middle East, and India ( Document 8 ). Around the main are two different routes, which are the Eurasian Steppe Route, and the Main Connecting Route. All of the different courses link together, with the two routes being used to provide a passageway for different countries, create the general Silk Road. The creation of the Silk Road was influential towards mankind since it gave the different civilizations and easy and simple course to follow when in the desire or need to trade with different civilization. In addition, with the benefit of trade going smooth and easy, China was able to take in needed material in which helped them stabilize and improve the civilization. All in all, the Chinese Civilization influenced mankind from the invention of the Silk Road, and how it originated the idea of trading with far

Many thousands of years ago, upon the earliest creations of civilization, there were two thriving civilizations. Both of which knew little to nothing about each other’s existence. In this ancient world, there was no connection of the two civilizations, no trade in commerce or culture. It was not until the second century BC that Europe and Eastern Asia interacted in a significant way. What is known as “The Silk Road” was established during the Han Dynasty of China, it was a network of trade routes that created a link between these two regions during this ancient world (ancient.eu). Though these routes have history prior to the Han Dynasty, this is when many historians see the routes in full practice. This time during the second century BC was crucial in the connection of these separately thriving civilizations, connecting them through commerce, religion, and exploration.

In china there has been no central rule in China for 70 years until the Song Dynasty created in 960. Things started to change in China, for example, the government started to aid the poor a lot more than what they have in the past. They were getting this money from the newly introduced income tax. This made a lot of people happy and everyone started to have more patriotism and pride. This pride gave the government a feel of legitimacy. Some of the major things the government is paying for is the roads, food, and education. Pottery at this time helps out the economy in China, because the pottery is so advanced that it was being exported for good money and it also led more people to come to China. Even though China was number one in the world for many things like technology and a sophisticated culture they were weak military wise (Holcombe p.127).

Rhoads Murphey describes the history of China history is on the succession of dynasties that ruled it over a period of time until around 1912 when Republic of china was formed before rising to the current People’s Republic of China was formed in 1949. In China, a dynasty was made up of Kings or emperors that came from the same family. They ruled in succession where a king could be inherited by his son or his immediate relatives. Although china’s history is majorly regarded on the basis of dynastic ruling, other small kingdoms were established that ruled different part of china. For example, in 200AD, the fall of great Han dynasty triggered formation of smaller kingdoms all over the china which were later united by a short lived Sui Dynasty that reigned between 580 and 618 AD.

Next, looking at the Han Dynasty, it lasted from 202 B.C.E. to 220 C.E. This time period was said to be the most prosperous; population growth of approximately 50 million, expansion to Korea, Vietnam, and Pakistan, and the establishment of the famous Silk Road. It was not until about 184 C.E that this dynasty was to break internally through political and economical reasons