Compare And Contrast The Song Dynasty And Han Dynasty

When comparing Han China and Classical Rome, many political, geographical, and religious similarities can be found, though many differences are also prevalent. Though Roman and Han political structures both emphasized bureaucracies, they came to them quite differently. Through copious amounts of expansion, both societies spread culture and earned money, though expansion was eventually their downfalls. Their religions differed immensely, with Rome emphasizing polytheism and Han China focusing on Confucianism. The differences and similarities between these two civilizations are to be discussed in this essay.

Two of the earliest empires in Chinese history were the Qin Dynasty (221- 206 BCE) and the Han Dynasty (202 BCE- 220 CE). They both successfully unified the vast nation of China. Both Empires allowed government to not only influence politics, but also economy, philosophy, and social life. The empires ruled China distinctively differently. The Qin was a very fierce and brutal dynasty, while the Han dynasty tried to reduce the repression of the people brought by the Qin Dynasty. They also both used two distinctive government styles, the Qin used Legalism, a style based on based on effective institutional structures, and the Han used Huang-Lao which combined legalism with Daoist and Confucian ideals. While both empires and schools of thought had their strengths and weaknesses, both subsequently fell.

As you can see the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire possessed many differences both politically and through their accomplishments. That being said, they also shared an extensive variety of similarities. They varied in government, but

There are many differences and similarities between the Roman Empire and Han Dynasty like their technological achievements, social classes, and political leaders. In the Han Dynasty a leader’s actions were backed up by the Mandate of Heaven and if they lost the Mandate a new leader would come to power. However in early Rome there was a struggle between the elites and the plebeians; the majority of the population. Romans expanded on the concept of arches, created concrete, and aqueducts while Han used many canals. Both the Han and Romans broaden the use and creation of roads. The Han society was

The Song dynasty, also called the Sung dynasty, was the Chinese reign during the late 10th-13th centuries that, like the Tang, had a far-reaching impact economically, culturally, and socially. The period is divided into two parts: the Northern Song and the Southern Song. Economically, commerce, trade, and manufacturing grew exponentially. Culturally, Confucianism witnessed new life as it undergirded the growth of the Chinese middle class, and socially, a revision of the Chinese civil service examination widened government representation. The Song dynasty could easily be argued as the renaissance of China.

Many aspects of the political reign throughout the Tang and Song Dynasty are fairly similar, yet there are some key differences. During the Tang Dynasty, emperors established a new system of land reform. This meant that land was taken from the rich and evenly distributed to peasants. The peasants owning land could now

The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire both had a great influence not only on its people but the world as a whole. The two had similar and different methods of political control. Both ruled their people under a bureaucracy, they had civil servants to maintain their large empires, and their foundations were made of great and strong rulers. Aside from the similarities they also had several differences. Take China for example, they focused more on Confucianism and they had a Mandate of Heaven. Rome on the other hand used entertainment to distract and control the masses of its population.

The Han and the Yuan Dynasties share some similarities, but also some differences. First I will be talking about the similarities that both Dynasties shared. First the Han dynasty shared some native trait while the Yuan Dynasty had foreign traits. The Han Dynasty lasted over 100 years and had numerous leaders to lead. On the other Hand the Yuan dynasty only lasted a generation and then started to wear out over the years. Han being a new culture created a new philosophy for a new dynasty starting out was big. Usually dynasties just passed down traditions and they followed it, but for the Han that wasn't the case. The yuan dynasty did follow the traditions and they picked up cultures traits from chinese tribes. They shared laws, Gods,

Besides these similarities, the two empires also had several differences in terms of what had contributed to their downfalls. For one, the Han Dynasty had decentralization transpire and a rebellion. The Han Dynasty had decentralization occur because the power shifted from the central government to warlords which befell after a reform had taken over the empire. “After the reform, governors were granted executive authority over the province, Therefore, the governors not only had power over the civil decisions of the province, but they also became the military leaders” (Zhi). The

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty right after the Qin Dynasty, so there are major similarities between the two. One of those is the social structure of the country. The system consists of three tiers. Bureaucrats and government officials are on top, skilled laborers such as farmers and blacksmiths were the middle class, and servants and merchants were the bottom class. The country was ran by the Emperor and his/her royal family. Importantly the social class did not impact the wealth or power of each individual or family, it only indicated their status. This is how order was established throughout this civilization.

Classical Chinese Empires and the Roman Empire were both a big political power in their times. Chinese governments had a centralized government, same with the Roman’s. Both empires were very scared of their dynasties spreading out. This happened to the Greek-City State Athens, they were very decentralized and Athens spread out to make new villages. This caused Athens to eventually fall because they couldn’t take the power of the Roman Empire. Both were very successful and they accomplished many great achievements with the many leaders they both had. Innovation similarities were very similar as well because both empires invented and carried

It is known for being flourished with women rights. The Song dynasty’s society definitely had its differences to Tang, “For instance, the prime minister of the Song dynasty might take a bath in the same public bath house as everyone else, which would be unthinkable in the Tang Dynasty”, (Wang, 2003). This is quoted from a secondary source from a professor studying Chinese history and shows how different the societies were between the two. Men were still greatly superior to women in this period. In contrast with the Tang dynasty, women in this period despite it following the Tang dynasty, were not allowed into positions of great importance like government officials or be involved in politics and were just expected to stay at home and take care of the household. But women of this period, unlike those of Tang, were had equal societal and legal rights that enabled them to control their own dowry, able to establish small businesses and were equal to men when it came to terms of inheritance, (Yuan, 1984). Essentially, Tang dynasty women were bolder and more active in the society where the women of the Song dynasty were more academically inclined and well reserved and respectful. Although the society themselves were different in certain aspects, women’s role between the two were similar. Both of these dynasties were divided by gender,

Even though the Qin dynasty was seen as barbaric and brutal, the Han did implement some of the old Qin institutions into their new government. One of these institutions were the Commanderies. These were administrative divisions of land in which a governor would be appointed by the government and run it as the government or emperor wants it to be ran. This is institution is very useful for knowing how many people you have. When war comes and you need to draft able bodied men to go fight, you will know just how many you will be able to get. Another reason would be for tax purposes. It is also very useful to regulate the trade and growing of certain crops. Even more in depth than that the government can control what the children in the commanderies are taught and what propaganda they are seeing. Qin law is another thing that the Han used from the former dynasty. One example of this practice was the fact that women could bring up cases against men even though the women did not have the same rights as men. Punishments were also

The Qin and Han dynasties changed many things regarding how China was governed. Like when Qin Shi Huang standardized the units of measurement, currency, and the width of roads to ease trade within his country, strengthening the unity between areas. Another change is the Han dynasty’s usage of education. They let all boys receive an education to a certain extent, however, if they wanted to further their education more they would have to travel to the capital. One of the several changes Qin Shi Huang changed how dictators controlled China in many ways how he distributed his land and power. Many of the changes he implemented were used by Chinese rulers for over 2000 years, these changes created a lasting effect on how China was ruled. The Qin

Although the Qin and the Han are different in how they governed after gaining new territory, there are still similarities such as, how both dynasty’s expanded their borders and then used isolation to keep the people in line.