Han China’s attitude toward technology was more favourable than the Romans; they had a rather organized and class-divided society, making the populous’ general attitude toward technology to be lower. This can be proven through the constant concern on the part of the Han dynasty over the less than stellar opinion on the part of the Romans.
As a foreword, every document provided was written by a higher class citizen or government official, giving no insight into how the common people, lower classes, peasants, or slaves felt about technology. This does not give a nation or empire-wide opinion on manufacturing and laboring, as the upper class was not the majority. There are also no documents from women, forcing the reader to only guess how the …show more content…
The Hans seemed to feel that technology was about helping the people accomplish tedious and/or hard tasks. As demonstrated in document one, the first goal of technology is flood prevention. This shows concern for the people, or at least of property, giving the impression that technology can be invented to aid the Chinese. This point is proven even more by the somewhat troubled, obvious concern tone government official Huan Guan uses in document two, where he writes about the problems that a lack of quality technology, such as iron plows, is causing the people. Huan Guan account tells that technology has become useless as the tools are in poor condition and ineffective all around, so the usefulness of technology is a key concern for Han society. Huan Tan's account is the epitome of Han self-glorification, saying things like, “the benefit was increased a hundredfold” (document three). This emphasizes Han concern for effectiveness. Document four continues to boast Han technological advancements, as it praises Tu Shih, the governor of Nanyang. However this document is somewhat questionable, as it is government sponsored. At around the same time, the Hans lost their Mandate of Heaven, so it wouldn't be surprising that it glorifies the technology introduced under Han rule; they still needed the support of the people to stay in
As a foreword, every document provided was written by a higher class citizen or government official, giving no insight into how the common people, lower classes, peasants, or slaves felt about technology. This does not give a nation or empire-wide opinion on manufacturing and laboring, as the upper class was not the majority. There are also no documents from women, forcing the reader to only guess how the …show more content…
The Hans seemed to feel that technology was about helping the people accomplish tedious and/or hard tasks. As demonstrated in document one, the first goal of technology is flood prevention. This shows concern for the people, or at least of property, giving the impression that technology can be invented to aid the Chinese. This point is proven even more by the somewhat troubled, obvious concern tone government official Huan Guan uses in document two, where he writes about the problems that a lack of quality technology, such as iron plows, is causing the people. Huan Guan account tells that technology has become useless as the tools are in poor condition and ineffective all around, so the usefulness of technology is a key concern for Han society. Huan Tan's account is the epitome of Han self-glorification, saying things like, “the benefit was increased a hundredfold” (document three). This emphasizes Han concern for effectiveness. Document four continues to boast Han technological advancements, as it praises Tu Shih, the governor of Nanyang. However this document is somewhat questionable, as it is government sponsored. At around the same time, the Hans lost their Mandate of Heaven, so it wouldn't be surprising that it glorifies the technology introduced under Han rule; they still needed the support of the people to stay in