China Disunity Analysis

The Sui and Tang dynasties took over as some of the most glorious periods in Chinese history. Rome was supplementary more disruptive than the collapse of Hna China. Due to Rome being incredibly drastic, the civilization left only the memory of the greatest in Western tradition. Another difference arises from the base of the civilizations collapsing. Rome was “human symptom” based; on the tombstones of Roman citizens were phrases suggesting the spread of downfall and defeat that provided a despondency of the afterlife (contributing to the decay of religion mentioned in the previous paragraph).

This initiated the reestablishment of the Han dynasty, commonly referred to as Eastern Han (25-220 CE). It received its name based on the relocation of the capital from Chang’an to the city of Loyang, which was located further east in China. It is important to identify the different time periods for which the Han dynasty ruled because several factors contributed to the collapse of the early Western Han dynasty, Wang Mang’s ruling, and then the later Eastern Han dynasty. All of which, in some way or another, were influenced by catastrophe, intruders, class conflict, societal contradiction, elite mismanagement or misbehaviour. 1.2

They also hoarded wealth which contributed to financial crisis (Gill 1). This financial crisis was one of the leading contributors to the fall of Rome because it simply was no longer economically viable. The last major internal factor of the fall of Rome was the collapse of Roman values. The Edict of Milan ceased the persecution of Christians in the Roman empire which greatly increased the number of roman Christians (Andrews 1). The long history of roman militarism was also in decline.

The first couple of primary sources of Unit 7 detail the success and downfall of the Qin dynasty as well as the Han dynasty which followed. The later

Introduction The Tang dynasty is regarded as the Gold Age of Chinese history, and it is also considered as a cosmopolitan empire, which was open to various cultures and intertwined with different religions and people. However, some scholars argue that the cosmopolitan Tang empire had gone after the rebellion of An Lushan (755-763). Instead, the Tang intellectuals had growing xenophobia and were cautious with foreigners and foreign culture. However, is it a myth or reality?

A good example of this would be Lewis writing on the fall of The Eastern Han Empire. Lewis presents several factors as to their decline, however there are two major reasons, decentralization and corruption. Lewis explains that The Han dynasty had based its governmental power in a two tier system that broke up local power in order to keep the central government remaing supreme, however the power deviated from this system. Lewis explains “The provincial governor, however, became a third tier, with command of large populations, great wealth, and significant armed forces— resources that could challenge the authority of the imperial government”. This broke up the power of the central government and decentralized the empire back into states.

The dynastic cycle revolved around the idea of the Mandate of Heaven. The Mandate of Heaven, in essence, was the divine right to rule with support from gods. If the ruling dynasty proved too weak, it was believed that events like invaders, floods, famine, earthquakes, and other disasters were signs that the rulers had lost the favor of the gods. A new dynasty would rise up in the chaos and establish a firm rule. This cycle would go on throughout the centuries of Chinese dynasties.

The earliest origins of Gnosticism are obscure and still disputed. For this reason, some scholars prefer to speak of "gnosis" when referring to 1st-century ideas that later developed into Gnosticism and to reserve the term "Gnosticism". The idea that Gnosticism was derived from Buddhism was first proposed by the Victorian gem collector, Charles William King in 1864 (Conze. 658) This notion is generally rejected by scholars.

How do you assess Mao 's foreign policy? Explain the logic, successes and failures After years of Civil War between the Communists and Nationalists, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People‘s Republic of China (PRC) on October 1, 1949. Thereby, the Communists replaced the Republic of China (ROC) which was under the sovereignty of Chiank Kai-shek, leader of the Kuomintang. The government of Chiank had to flee from Chinese mainland to Taiwan.

The Qin dynasty succeeded the Warring States Period (475 BCE - 221) (Britannica, Warring States, 2014, 2018), and the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC) (Britannica, Spring and Autumn Period, 2017, 2018). During the Warring States and Spring and Autumn Periods, there was a massive power vacuum and several different states were locked in a struggle for control over China. The most prominent state during the Warring States Period was the Qin state, they revised the governing methods of the once influential state of Zhou. They made changes to land distribution, power distribution, education of the common folk, trade, and units of measurement throughout China. The changes made by Qin Shi Huang are what made him successfully unify China.

In order to understand the similarities of how order was in the Han Dynasty and Roman Empire from 300 BCE to 300 CE, the beginnings of each empire should be understood. Before the Han Dynasty rose, the Qin Dynasty, which overtaxed their citizens and regulated their laws by censoring education (burning books). The Roman Empire started out as a city-state which began to conquer neighboring regions, such as Italy, and expanded through warfare. However, from 300 BCE to 300 CE, the Han Dynasty and Roman Empire both created order in society by having an agrarian economy, ideologies, and establishing an authority that shaped social structures. The first similarity of how the Romans and the Han both created order in society, from 300 BCE to 300 CE, was their agrarian economy.

Religions of the Han and Yuan Dynasties The Religion of the Han and Yuan Dynasties were Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism. The religions of these dynasties affected the government and society greatly. During the Han Dynasty the major religion was Confucianism. Buddhism and Daoism were the main religions in the Yuan Dynasty. Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism all affected the Chinese government.

In the Classical era, two very comparable empires carried out the cycle of rising and falling on the far western and eastern ends of Eurasia. While only Rome had to struggle to grow from a single city to an enormous empire, both Rome and Han China rose to power on the backs of their brutal armies. And, the fall of both empires negatively impacted the life of common people as well as the cultivation of culture across Eurasia. In the beginning of its reign, the Roman empire labored to grow from an impoverished city-state into a more expansive political force.

The era of the Han dynasty in China, simply referred to as ‘Han China,’ was an extremely prominent one, with power that almost rivaled the Romans themselves. During this period of China, achievements and accomplishments reached new heights as the Silk Road opened, which allowed connection with the western world. However, even with all this, Han China still fell, thanks to opposing forces in the form of nomadic tribes, several natural disasters that were interpreted as angry messages from the gods, and internal/political unrest. During the Han dynasty and the opening of the Silk Road, there were several aggressive, nomadic tribes that centered around the Asian area.

Between 100 CE and 300 CE, the Han Dynasty had set important cultural foundations, such as Confucianism, constant, which lasted even after the rule of the Dynasty due to literature. The cultural changes led to a period of peace and economic prosperity; however, the political changes, such as unequal control of land between the rich and poor, had resulted in the Empire’s collapse by 220 CE, and it led to the Three Kingdoms Period (ends in 280 CE). The interior government was corrupt because of the civil service exams and the outer court system. Wealthy people had taken advantage of their power in order to get power. The court systems and the elite class became more focused on the luxuries of ruling rather than the duties of ruling.