Centralization And Centralization Of China

Silk Roads - The Silk Roads were a network of trade routes, formally established during the Han Dynasty of China, which linked the regions of the ancient world in commerce.

The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire vary in their political development and achievements. The Roman’s developed two different codes of law, one that applied to citizens and another that applied to non-citizens. Rome’s trade routes were built using stone, which made it very easy for merchants to travel from one city to another over a vast amount of land. China, however, used a single code of law for all their citizens and conquered peoples, and used a long and treacherous trail in their trade; that lead to the Middle East. Even though these two civilizations held many differences, they also shared rulers who personally oversaw their governments to prevent numerous dilemmas and used expansive trade routes to build up their economies and

Both Rome and Han China equivalently constructed similar roads, bridges, and water development systems all to strengthen their economy. Verifications of this can be seen when Rome fully realized the potential of arches and bridges in their road systems that spanned more than 400,000 km of roads that were used for trade. Correspondingly, they also built aqueducts as a form of water engineering to constantly bring in a flow of water to the cities and towns. Similarly, Han China built massive fortified roadways for trade and walls for fortification comparable to the Great Wall of China as a means of defense. Also in comparison to Roman aqueducts, Han China built water canals as means to direct water as they pleased. These similarities defined their engineering skills as these inventions and constructions were used to help strengthen their economies. Rome built and constructed roads to aid their trade systems and make easier routes of travel. Furthermore, they used aqueducts to get water into the city saving money and the need for human labor. Similarly, Han China used their fortified roads to trade much easier and as a means of safer travel. This went hand in hand with China’s water canals that also aided their economy by directing water where needed saving much money and limiting the need for human labor as well.

In the Persian Empire, King Darius introduced the usage of standardized currency and the Royal Road; and Shi Huangdi of the Chinese Empire initiated a centralization program for a highway system and standardization of measurements, including money. In these two similarities, we see the reason behind the long-lasting and strong control the two empires had, as both currency and road systems encouraged trade to flourish—consequently bringing prosperity and peace. Having consolidated the foundations of an empire, people prospered and grew content under the rule of powerful kings such as Darius in Persia and Shi Huangdi in China. However, even with such similarities, there are a two critical differences the two empires

Southernization is a much debated topic that describes when important developments started in southern asia and eventually spread to the entire world, similarly, westernization is when such developments started in western Europe. Many civilizations played a role in Southernization including the Malay sailors, who by using the Monsoon winds to their advantage, managed to reach africa and spread ideas there; and the Indians who laid the foundations for modern mathematics by inventing the number zero, which China would integrate into their number system inadvertently making it more complex. Southernization also changed life for many people, during the Tang and Song dynasties, it helped China learn about Champa rice, which was much more drought resistant than normal rice, and it was the reason for all of China’s inventions, from the printing press to gunpowder. it is nigh irrefutable that Europe would not have been the nation it was today if southernization had not occurred, for without the compass, South Asian trade items, and gunpowder, it would become powerless against the far more progressive Asia.

Romans were also known to be the greatest builders and architects. They built the longest and the largest roads during the ancient period. The Roman roads that stretched for about 56, 000 miles had 29 highways. The Romans built the roads to transport their soldiers across their large territory and also used it for trade. It is one of the reasons the Roman Empire became more economically prosperous than any other territories in the ancient world. On the other hand, Han Dynasty also had better roads. They are known to have established the Silk Road which was used to conduct trade and to link the dynasty to different markets. Majority of the products that Han people sold were artwork. One reason that the Han Dynasty stood out during the

Tracing back the history of China, Xia Dynasty of the second millennium BCE was the earliest dynasty in China, which was centered along the Yellow River. Before China was unified, it was the time during which most of China's cultural tradition arose. Chinese civilization ascended and developed in a vast area, one-third larger than the United States if such dependencies as Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet are included. For centuries China was almost completely isolated from the other centers of civilization by mountains, deserts, and seas. This isolation helps explain the great originality of China's culture. China has many mountain ranges and three river systems that rise close together on the high Tibetan plateau and flow eastward to

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.

One thing that most major political states throughout history can agree on is the importance of trading, not only within the state but with outside states as well. Both the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty were large participants in trade, not only within their states but with outside states as well. The Han Dynasty exemplifies this by showing their great amount of effort to get involved in the Silk Road. The Han Dynasty went to the extent of expanding the wall into the route of the Silk Road. Metaphorically speaking, this is the Han Dynasty's way of sticking their foot in the Silk Road and regional trade. This was first done in the Han Dynasty because the leaders knew the necessity for trade and its power to keep their government and society thriving.

Both Imperial Rome and Han China focused profoundly on territorial expansion. The reasoning behind so was due to the threats both empires security and stability faced which led to the need of conquest to consume their threats rather than directly solve their issues, which led to more threats causing a constant expansion of these empires. Although the constant conquest did lead to more threats the empires gave inflation to many new military methods, allowing a more broad hand the government had and could use to their advantage in various situations both inside and outside their empires. The increased military coercion and taxation both empires had also created a new political aspect they shared. Imperial Rome and Han China shared similar interest in civil service building projects. The civil service building projects were encouraged due to political threats both these Eurasian empires face but also encourage economic growth. Imperial Rome and Han China’s creation of roads within and along the boundaries of their empires developed easy communication links, heightened and supported economic activity, and made easier the coercion of the military. imperial Rome and shared political structures that made these distant empires quite similar politically

But most importantly, armies could not efficiently move to other regions to stop revolts and invasions, ultimately weakening stability in these large empires. To overcome this problem, these states built extensive roads, linking cities and villages. Movement was greatly enhanced with the introduction of the roads, allowing the military to move quickly from provinces to provinces to quench any rebellion. Along these roads, postal services were built to send and receive information regarding provinces, further enhancing communication. Like the internet, the roads integrated distant regions, permitting large empires like these to survive.

While expanding their empires, the Han and Rome each created thousands of miles of roads. These roads helped move armies and connect

The Han dynasty and Imperial Rome differed in where they focused in facilitating the trade, outside or inside of the empire. The Romans built roads throughout their empire for efficient trading inside of the empire, while the Han dynasty produced goods for export. Han China had a popular product that they exported-silk, which established the Silk roads and facilitated silk trade throughout Asia. This gave the government political control over the silk revenue. For Rome, the era of Pax Romana brought about the construction of 80,000 kilometers of road throughout the

Rome was a vast empire. At Rome’s peak the empire stretched nearly 1.7 million square miles and included most of southern Europe. To keep this vast empire organized the romans created a network of roadways or what we would call it today highways. This network would keep the empire connected with information and supplies to all the surrounding colonies and out post. These roadways contributed to the success of Rome’s power in 3 ways, its military force, trade, and communication. The military would serve as protection and expansion of the empire, trade would bring wealth to the nation and become powerful, communication would bring new ideas from the surrounding nations, new concepts and way of thinking. All these aspects when combined created one of the greatest empires known to man.

Roads were also a visible indicator of the might of Rome, and they helped unify what was a vast melting pot of cultures, races, and institutions. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km of roads, including over 80,500 km of paved roads. When Rome reached the height of its power, no fewer than 29 great military highways radiated from the city. ("Roads in Ancient Rome” - Crystalinks)