Compare And Contrast The Shang And The Zhou Dynasty

The Shang/Zhou dynasties and the Maya civilizations were both powerful entities built around political control. The two governments power came from religion, as their leaders were viewed to be Gods by the people they ruled over. However, the contrasts between them, such as Shang/Zhou China’s monarchy and the Maya’s warring city-states, defined each cultures varied political advancements.

All empires in history had a high in their history but they all eventually came to their demise. The Ottoman Empire and the Ming Dynasty both had ways they gained, consolidated and maintained their power while they were at their highest point. They had significant leaders that lead to these successful points.

The first source directly describes the story of the Qin Dynasty, and its subsequent rise from a group of lowly soldiers in the far-west of the old Zhou Kingdom to its unification of all the Chinese States to become the very first of the Chinese Empires. The mastermind of this unification was Ying Zheng, who would later give himself the title Qin Shi Huang-Di which translates to, “First Sovereign Emperor of Qin.” Ying Zheng, and his short-lived dynasty, would create the foundation of all Chinese administration and government structure for the next two-thousand years. This base included: the abolishment of the feudal system, centralization of state powers, a rigid system of laws, standardization of the writing system, and the creation of provinces

Different periods throughout China’s history have different names, known as dynasties, for the diverse positions within its society. Theoretically, all of the periods are similar, with the government and military officials ranking high in the hierarchy, and the average everyday people being under regular Chinese law. Throughout China’s history, the society has been organized into a hierarchic system of socio-economic classes, known as the four occupations. The four occupations system seems to have become distorted after the commercialization of Chinese culture during the Song Dynasty. Even though the social rankings within the country are not as predominant as they once were, the people living within the country still know their “place” within the society.

Qin Shi Huangdi was the first emperor to unify all regions of China into one single empire, taking drastic steps and measures to achieve this aim. He conquered six kingdoms and survived many attempts on his life. Through his barbarity and brutality, he had earned himself the title of the most successful and influential man of China. The State of Qin believed in a political philosophy called Legalism, which justified strict and centralized control and using the people to strengthen Qin. They believed that part of strengthening his rule was to force everyone to simply obey, not speak out against him and by decreeing even how people could write, what they could believe and what they could do. He succeeded in moulding the people to become more

The Han dynasty Empire and the Roman empire stood large and mighty at the start of the Common Era, with the two kingdoms controlling an unprecedented mass amount of populations under their reign. Both kingdoms rose as predecessors from previous political systems that extended lands under one rule, with the Roman Republic expansion in Europe after the Punic wars and the Qin state achieving conquest over six other nearby states creating the first imperial China in east Asia. The heavy hand of the Qin dynasty and the assassination of Rome’s beloved general, Julius Caesar, by the Roman senate, threw both kingdoms into rebellion, ushering in centuries of imperialistic rule for both in their respective timelines. Both developed innovations in city development and Military conquest that nations looked to for millenniums to come.

China, up until the Qin Dynasty, consisted of independent states controlled by kings fighting each other for land and power. This time period was called The Era of Warring States, which lasted two hundred years. After this time, the Qin Dynasty rose to power. They conquered all other dynasties, and established a centralized government, unifying China for the first time. The dynasty that succeeded the Qin, the Han, continued the centralized government and they started a westward expansion that would encourage trade and cultural diffusion. The Qin and Han Dynasties were similar in that they both believed in a strong centralized government, which strengthened and unified their empires, but they differed in that the Qin followed the strict Legalism while the Han followed the more flexible Confucianism, and the way they interacted with outsiders; the Qin tended to be more defensive of outsiders while the Han were more interactive and wanted to build relationships with foreigners.

The new themes of encounter and exchange did not come without the warfare, violence and confusion that plagued China as the Sung dynasty struggled to fight back against the Mongols. After the suicide of the last Southern Sung emperor, all of China was united by Mongol rule (Gernet 717). The tragic death of one man marked the beginning of a new era. For the first time ever, foreign people conquered the entirety of China. Never before had the Chinese government been completely replaced by an unknown system ruled by outsiders (Fitzgerald 181). The grandiose dynasty created by Kublai Khan was one of the best in the 13th century. As Marco Polo described it, “I repeat that everything appertaining to this city is on so vast a scale, and the Great

The Ming and Qing dynasties were two of many dynasties in China. They were also in fact, the last two dynasties. The Ming dynasty ruled from 1368-1644, and the Qing empire ruled from 1644-1912. Both dynasties had long lasting eras of power because of strong framework from influential leaders. The Ming dynasty had Zhu Yuanzhang who was a successful war leader. The Qing had Hung Taiji and Li Zicheng who were key instruments in taking over the Ming dynasty and Beijing. Both dynasties had eventful paths to power, many achievements while in power, and a particular decline in power.

Qin Shi Huang-Di has left a large impact on China, and by extension the world, that has lasted many years. Qin created the foundation of the Chinese country of today. Some scholars even believe that without Qin Shi Huang-Di, there would be no China at all (Gracie). Qin’s impact on the world was the creation of an entire country, a pretty impressive feat. Especially in his time, when nothing like China had ever been created before, his unification and reformation of China into a lasting country is inspiring. Qin is sometimes credited “with establishing the world’s first truly centralized bureaucratic empire” (Gracie). Furthermore, his format of a centralized bureaucratic empire would be the basis for many other empires and countries that would

The Han Dynasty in China and the Roman Empire shared many similarities and differences when it came to political rule and the nature of their political authority. The most significant difference between the two is how the Han dynasty enacted policies that were shaped to counter the wrongdoings of the previous Qin dynasty, whereas the Roman Empire enacted policies shaped to create and promote peace and stability. The difference in the two empire’s coming to power was to account for their variance in political rule.

The Chinese development of technological advances, allowed the era of the Tang, and the Song dynasty to bring about a social, political, and urban change. The Chinese found new techniques in Agriculture and farming rice. This allowed for more growth and spreading of population in the regions. As the population grew, people were interest in new jobs and careers in the markets. So, they sought out jobs such as shop sellers, blacksmiths, metallurgy, fishing, and government work. The developmental jobs and task created allowed for income and market economy to expand for china. They went further as to trade on land or sea throughout the eastern hemisphere. To travel they needed a ship or a boat to trade long distantly over sea. The increase production of trade allowed for China to make a social change.

There where many factors that led China to political unification in contrast to India. One factor is, dynasties such as the Zhou Dynasty who kept the same political system as its predecessors, where India had changed many things and continued to change political and social systems. India was very fragmented in political unification because, India was and still is a land of diversity. Ancient India was also not as organized as Ancient China in ruling. When the Zhou kingdom had started to end and break apart into many powerful states a “relativity young state of Qin located in the original homeland of the Zhou, emerged as a key player in conflicts”(p. 78) that would eventually bring down the Zhou Dynasty and give way to the Qin Dynasty where it was ruled with ruthless efficiency(p.79).

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.

However, before he unified China, he faced a challenge while becoming king of the state of Qin. When he finally came of age and was able to become king, he faced a coup from his father’s chancellor and his mother as well as others (“Shi Huangdi Becomes Emperor”). If he had not been able to overcome this challenge, the whole history of China could have turned out completely differently. Of course, once he became king, he faced the challenge of actually unifying the six endlessly warring states. With Li Si as his adviser, Qin was able to conquer the other kingdoms between 230 B.C. and 221 B.C. and was able to unify China into one country, becoming the first emperor (“Qin Shi Huang-Di”). Unifying China was a major turning point in Chinese history, ending the constant wars and creating the basis of a country that would last into today. Qin also showed his cruelty through how he unified China. For instance, as he defeated the other states and added their land to his empire, he enslaved and abused many of the people he defeated (Gracie). The number of slaves he had and his method of conquering have contributed to his mixed reputation as a great leader but also as a tyrant. Unifying China was arguably the most influential thing that Qin ever did, creating not only a turning point in history, but also a whole new empire after many years of