Han and Roman Technology
Technology was a key role in history, it shaped civilizations and outcomes of many things. Technology was a primary focus amongst many civilizations including the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty. In addition, both civilizations had an appreciation to the technology no matter what social class, and both also payed attention and how they could modify it to benefit the civilization in anyway. In both Roman empire and han dynasty they made sure the technology was advanced at the time as it could be and most useful tool. For example in doc 1 and 6 they both address how they want the thing they are doing to be well constructed and advanced. In doc 1 the Han government wanted to conserve its water in the best way and resourceful way possible so they used high officials to keep things running well and precise when constructing their water canals, pools, and rivers. These had to pass certain expectations to make sure they were very good precise and advance, obviously this was done because this was the government in their view any error could cost lots of money and resources since this is for the greater good of the civilization.This was the same basically for the Romans like in doc 6 a high official which was a political leader had roads constricted. These were not just regular roads he made sure they were well and good looking like he stated “ paying attention to utility”. The Roman official did this because in his view this was a better technology for
The Han and Roman people were two different societies during the classical period. The documents highlighted Han and Roman attitudes towards technology. The Han documents displayed excerpts from it’s people that explain how the Han people relied on technology daily and respected the inventors of the technology. The Roman documents portrayed the Romans weak reliance on technology, however they do emphasize a beauty to the aesthetic side of technology. Han China’s attitude towards industrial as well as labor driven technology was much more open and appreciative than Rome’s attitude. Rome’s attitude was influenced by their more social class-driven society, which causes more negative attitudes towards labor driven technology.
The Hans and Romans understood the importance of technology, but unlike the Hans, the Romans viewed anyone who worked with tools or with their hands to be a person of lowly status. The Romans only showed appreciation for technologies that could hold some benefit for the upper-class. The upper-class Romans thought that craftsmen, people who made a living out of making tools, was hardly an occupation that deserved any respect. The Hans appreciated the use of tools in their labor and how it could help the people. The Hans showed a great appreciation of their technological advancements, and its effect on society.
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
Throughout history, there were various empires which developed into great, powerful forces. These empires expanded their lands to new places but, these empires ultimately came to an end. Amongst these great empires, were the Han and the Roman empire. Both were great in power but, due to political, social, and economic causes, they came to an end. Although they do partake in the equal shares of corruption and problems with the military, they also had fair shares of differences, regarding their declines. For example, the Han empire had decentralization and rebellion while Rome had shifted in interests and developed war issues. These differences and similarities are bits of history which help to comprehend why these empires are no longer
The Han and Roman Empires are very important. They have greatly influenced the past, and many other societies worldwide. The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire have different outlooks on technology, the Han Dynasty view technology as a practical application used to ease the workload of people, while the Roman Empire views certain technology as needed, despite the creator. If not for the technology and the technological views of the Han and Roman Empires, the world would be a much
Han dynasty emerged into power back in 221BCE after the fall of Qin dynasty 206BCE. They were the original pioneers when it comes to political systems and structure of the society that lasted more than 2000 years in China. On the other hand, the Roman Empire controlled the western Mediterranean and they had various advancements in technology and science. The Romans had different engineering accomplishments considered to be different from those of the Han kingdom. They formed the basis of the establishment of the western legal codes. This research is aimed towards analysis the similarities and the differences between the Han dynasty and the Roman Empire. The consequences of their differences are also analyzed in this research.
Using the information within document #3 and document #1 it can accurately be assumed that the Han dynasty was for the development of technology as in both these documents they show the government allowed and encouraged the development of technology.
The Han Dynasty viewed technology as essential in various ways. Documents 1 and 2 show how technology is an essential thing and that although it is great, government intervening must take place to assure everything goes to plan. Document 1 mentions some organization and order that’s needed to make sure everything works, and document 2 mentions how the workers are using crude brittle tools and need to get new tools that are in good condition so they can work more efficiently. Both of these documents may have a slight bias considering both of them are written by Han government officials and they might want to get higher positions and this may influence their writings. It was interesting that in document
After studying the provided documents (#1-8) its come to my understanding that both the Han and Roman empires thought of technology as useful and somewhat revolutionary, but both of them had somewhat different feelings of it. The Han dynasties attitude toward technology was that they thought it was very benefical, and they admired it. The reason this was because they though it to be very helpful in agriculture and construction purposes. Evidence of the positive effects of this can be seen in Document 4: History of the Early Han Dynasty which tells of a governer of Nanynay and as the very generous and loving person he was his policies also refelcted his personality. He had so much love for his people he wanted to lift weight of their
The Han and Roman worlds were two of the largest and most complex early empires composed of different cultures, political systems, languages, beliefs, and ways of living. However, they had a few similarities; one of which is the introduction of various technologies during the first and second millennium. The Han in China and Romans in the Mediterranean experienced a time period of expansion in which they began to develop technology such as metallurgy and water systems to aid in military conquests and practical purposes. Although both Han and Roman had definite appreciation towards technology, the Han attitude towards technology was more glorifying in its effectiveness and utility; while the roman attitude was less glorifying as they focused on technology to display their civilizations advancements, while they neglected to glorify those who worked with tools. Han’s attitude towards technology was appreciative, glorified technology when its is supported by the government, and believed technology is essential for the empire. The Roman attitude includes inferiority of tools, aestheticism as main use of technology, and less glorification and importance on technology.
Many of the government-related attitudes from both the Han and Roman empires of the classical period had positive attitudes towards technology in their respected empires. A Han government official from the early 2nd century BCE wrote to a local official
During the classical periods, each civilizations developed distinctive culture and society along with the development of the technology. However, their attitude toward the technology often varied. Han China generally appreciated the use of technology and the labors who created the tools, and people believed it is Confucius virtue of a ruler to support its subjects with the technology. On the other hand, Romans appreciated the technology for its practicality, but they focused more on its aesthetic use and had a divided society where the labors were put into a more inferior positions.
Han and Roman Reactions to Technology During a time of large empires and increased interactions between societies, the Han and Roman Empires both dealt with new technology. The Han Empire in China had a mostly positive view towards technology, with a few people against it. This was due to their belief in the Mandate of Heaven and Confucianism.
The Roman Empire existed between 31 B.C.E to 476 C.E. and the Han Dynasty occurred 202 B.C.E. to 220 C.E. They existed at same times but were on opposite ends of Eurasia. They both had regions that were ruled by either kings, viceroys or governors in the name of the emperor. They were both similar in slavery, government, and their downfall. They also had their differences in religion, military, and center of power.
Innovation progresses with technology along with the attitudes toward it. The civilizations of the Han and Romans perceived their own technology through different means. The Han looked to make the improvements essential to life with increased water regulation while the Romans sought technology as a way to relieve work and effort from duties. Documents two and three show how the Han used their new technology to grow their economy and agricultural state being. This can be from the monopolizing of the state, pricing necessary tools at low quality, compared to what the individuals had once made (document two).