Ancient civilizations have significantly impacted the world today, mostly during their golden age. Their geography, politics, and achievements have also separated the mediocre civilizations and the great ones. Both the Han Dynasty of Ancient China and Athens, Greece, fell into the latter category. The Han Dynasty lasted from 206 BC and survived until 220 AD and was far more advanced than other civilizations during their time period. After the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang rose to power to escape harsh policies, forced labor, and high taxes. Their more lenient rule lead to more trust established between the government and the people, which lead to greater achievements. On the other hand, Athens only lasted from about 500 BC to 300 AD.
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The Han Dynasty were incredibly superior in this category. The few major achievements of Athens were that Athens’ archon or leader, Solon, boosted exports in wine and olive oil, bringing in more money and he also created many government reforms. In contrast, Han China was the most advanced empire in the world at their time. They created bridges, rudders for ships and made paper. This shows great imagination and creativity, not to mention, impressive building skills. Regarding medicine, China excelled in diagnostic skills and acupuncture. Diagnostic skills are important because they kept patients from being treated wrongly. Furthermore, Han China had very precise and detailed artwork which shows a significant skill set. Not only did they also have storage bins to keep food from being eaten by animals or becoming rotten, they also had a monopoly on salt and iron, keeping them as a top provider for nearby countries. China, during the Han Empire, was clearly far more advanced concerning …show more content…
Athens was a Democratic Republic whereas Han China was Imperial. The most famous ruler of the Han Dynasty was Wudi. He helped the economy greatly by building roads and canals. He also built storage bins for grains. The Han government was Legalistic but had many Confucius advisors because the official belief system was Confucianism. Scholars ran the bureaucracy. There was even a civil service exam that had to be taken to make sure that people got jobs based on merit, rather than status. They were also used for making sure that Confucian scholars were in an important position. Any man could take these tests, which shows an equitable system in place. The Han expanded the powers of bureaucracy because that was what was deemed necessary to rule over such a large amount of land. The leader or emperor appointed a governor to a section of land they would rule over. The governor would then designate a ruler for a smaller region and so on. There were certain people with certain areas of expertise. This lead to a government made up of almost 130,000 bureaucrats (Document 7). This shows that not only could the Han Dynasty rule over such a large area effectively, they could also employ thousands of people at the same time, all while under one centralized government. This document was written thousands of years after this time period, and published on the other side of the world for a textbook. That shows that the point of
The Han Dynasty were incredibly superior in this category. The few major achievements of Athens were that Athens’ archon or leader, Solon, boosted exports in wine and olive oil, bringing in more money and he also created many government reforms. In contrast, Han China was the most advanced empire in the world at their time. They created bridges, rudders for ships and made paper. This shows great imagination and creativity, not to mention, impressive building skills. Regarding medicine, China excelled in diagnostic skills and acupuncture. Diagnostic skills are important because they kept patients from being treated wrongly. Furthermore, Han China had very precise and detailed artwork which shows a significant skill set. Not only did they also have storage bins to keep food from being eaten by animals or becoming rotten, they also had a monopoly on salt and iron, keeping them as a top provider for nearby countries. China, during the Han Empire, was clearly far more advanced concerning …show more content…
Athens was a Democratic Republic whereas Han China was Imperial. The most famous ruler of the Han Dynasty was Wudi. He helped the economy greatly by building roads and canals. He also built storage bins for grains. The Han government was Legalistic but had many Confucius advisors because the official belief system was Confucianism. Scholars ran the bureaucracy. There was even a civil service exam that had to be taken to make sure that people got jobs based on merit, rather than status. They were also used for making sure that Confucian scholars were in an important position. Any man could take these tests, which shows an equitable system in place. The Han expanded the powers of bureaucracy because that was what was deemed necessary to rule over such a large amount of land. The leader or emperor appointed a governor to a section of land they would rule over. The governor would then designate a ruler for a smaller region and so on. There were certain people with certain areas of expertise. This lead to a government made up of almost 130,000 bureaucrats (Document 7). This shows that not only could the Han Dynasty rule over such a large area effectively, they could also employ thousands of people at the same time, all while under one centralized government. This document was written thousands of years after this time period, and published on the other side of the world for a textbook. That shows that the point of