Allison Sawey
Ms. Rodriguez
WHAP 6th
Oct. 30th 2014
DBQ Essay
In the Classical Era, 600 B.C.E to 600 C.E, the Han and Roman empires thrived in technology. The advancement in technology gave an opportunity for mixed opinions and attitudes throughout both empires. Although technology was viewed as most beneficial to the working class and more advanced than in previous eras, the governments of these societies played a negative role in the advertisement of technology.
Overall, both Han China and the Roman Empire viewed technology as most beneficial to the working class. As written in History of the Early Han Dynasty in 200 C.E, new inventions, such as the water-powered blowing-engine for iron agriculture, were used in the Han Dynasty and ultimately
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In 20 C.E, Han Philosopher Huan Tan states in his writing, New Discourses, that local workers utilized the power of animals to increase the efficiency of cooking utensils, such as the pestle and mortar. This testifies that developers of his time were able to take beauties of the Earth’s creation and use them efficently, in a way that had not been previously done (Doc. 3). In the first century, Roman Water Commissioner Frontinus heavily compares the beneficial invention of the aqueducts, used to supply water to public baths, private latrines, and fountains, to the beautiful, but useless, works of the Greeks, proving that Romans had completed a standard that the Greek bar had not met. (Doc. 8). An additional document from a Roman citizen in response to the Roman water commissioner, Frontus, would be helpful. The citizen could voice the comparison of Rome’s water system before and after the aqueducts were implemented, thus verifying that the new technology truely was more beneficial than prior. Similarly, in the first century, Roman citizen Plutarch praises the works of second century Roman leader Gaius Gracchus, who focused on the constuction of roads that had distance indicators and a level appearance, thus proving that roads of the Roman time, unlike previously, were not only beneficial to …show more content…
Huan Guan, Han government offical, wrote Discourses on Salt and Iron in the first century B.C.E, and explained that since the state government had monopolized the salt and iron industries, the tools provided by the state, rather than the workers themselves, were difficult to use and not as good quality as the ones made by individuals, implying that the governent put a halt to workers utilizing the more productive tools of the era (Doc. 2). An additional document from a worker from either the salt or iron industry would be helpful. The worker could voice whether the state-enforced tools had negetively effected their work, thus verifying that the government’s ideology of quantity over quality and lack of support in productive technology was detrimental to state wide production. In the first century B.C.E writing, On Duty, Roman leader Cicero expresses that craftsmen take part in vulgur, nonenlightening occupations, thus negetively advertising the practice of the working class as well as the technology the working class utilizes (Doc. 5). The author of the document is negatively advertising the use of new technology because he, as a Roman leader and a member of high society, is widely listened to and can greatly affect the attitude of the citizens towards new technology throughout the Roman
Although Han China and Rome shared similarities in their techniques of imperial administration though military conquest and engineering’s aid toward the economy, they differed in their approach to land distribution.
Roman aqueducts were very important to the ancient Romans and heavily influenced their daily life. The aqueducts brought wealth, power, and luxury to the people of Rome in more ways than imaginable and more than just for the obvious purpose of delivering water. When the wells and rainwater were no longer sufficient for the population of Rome, they had to develop a new method of bringing water into the city. Thus creating the invention of aqueducts.
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.
From the aqueducts of the Roman Empire to the pestle and mortar of Han, China, technology played a big role in ancient civilizations. From the 2nd century BCE through the 1st century CE, both the Han and Roman empires were dealing with the advancements in technology, whether the people liked it or not. There were many different approaches between the two empires, but there were also differences in views within the empires themselves. In the Roman Empire, people believed that technology unnecessary, but not rational, while other people believed it as a way to show how great the Roman Empire was. In the Han dynasty, some believed that technology was a vital part of an empire and needs government interference, while others saw it as an unnecessary and costly burden.
In the Han Dynasty, technology was respected and viewed as a helpful skill to improve the quality of life for society. In contrast, the Roman upper class men did not appreciate technology because they viewed it as an unworthy, on the other hand many Romans saw technology as somewhat useful and good for the empire.
Huan Guan, a Han government official, says that tools given from the government to the laborers were not very functional in the sense to help the laborers do their work (document 2). This is seen as an inconvenience to the laborers because they aren’t able to keep up with their work-load, when using tools that don’t work as well as they would have hoped. Huan Guan, also says that the tools made by the laborers perform better than those provided by the government/state. The attitude that comes off of document two, is that Huan Guan just wants the laborers to have the best materials they can, even with the iron and salt trades. The third document is written by Huan Tan, who is an upper-class Han philosopher, who praised Fuxi. Fuxi is a mythological wise emperor, who developed the pestle and the mortar which were eventually developed to be powered by water and animal power (document 3). Huan Tan’s attitude towards this improvement is that it is a good thing, that should be recognized and that it is extremely beneficial to the society. In the fourth document, it is taken from the History of the Early Han Dynasty, written in about 200 C.E. The focus of this document is on the invention of a water powered tool, which was to benefit the laboring peoples. This was invented by Tu Shih, governor of Nanyang in about 31 C.E., this caused for the invention to be popular and widely used (document 4). The sixth document solely focuses on the architecture of Rome and how it was used throughout the city. It was written by Plutarch, a Greek-born Roman citizen, about Roman political leader in the second century B.C.E., Gaius Gracchus. It describes how Gaius Gracchus was anxious about road building and how he paid attention to detail, throughout the city. Gaius Gracchus developed the columns along the road, the columns served as mile markers (document
The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were considered two of the most powerful empires in the ancient world. Although both dynasties had different ideas about how technology should be utilized, the Han Dynasty and Roman Empire used technology to make their states more advanced. In the documents, the Han Dynasty’s attitude towards technology was aimed towards the needs of individual people while the Romans were focused on large innovations to benefit their entire empire. First, the Han Dynasty’s attitude towards technology can be characterized by helping individual people be more efficient in their labor.
The Han and Roman empires thrived during the Classical Period, in which rose the first great empires and a heavier influence of religion, due to increased trade and the spread of not only goods, but ideas and knowledge. From second century BCE to second century CE the Han Empires’ attitude toward new technology, in general, was more positive and centered toward themselves than the Romans. The Romans even adopted the motto “gravitas” or seriousness towards all matters, not solely technology, which caused the Romans to have a more neutral and lower attitude of technology than Han China. Han China was proud of their technology and viewed themselves as the greatest empirical entity at the time. A Han government official wrote to local officials
Each ancient empire has their own acclaimed heroes and great innovators of their time. Fuxi is credited with creating the mortar and pestle and increasing the power of it by a ‘hundredfold’ Huan Tan speaks very highly of the old Emperor and praises his work. (Doc 3) The Han’s developed a prideful attitude when discussing their innovations. They discussed the refinements made up until the peak of the product, meant to show that they invest time and effort into their work to make it the best they can be. Meanwhile the Romans have a different view on how items are created. A roman philosopher Seneca details that he does not care what level of intelligence someone had when creating a certain product, and that he does not value the importance of how an object came to be,
The Han and Roman empires both saw technology as useful and resourceful. However, their view on how technology should be utilized differed. The Hans saw technology as away to better their empire and properly serve the people, but the Romans saw technology as a way to display the Roman Empire’s great wealth and vast strength. As both of theses empires grew and expanded, the need for advanced technology increased. In regard to the Roman empire, they innovated such ideas to their convenience.
Before the Roman aqueduct was engineered, the ancient Roman people depended on local water such as rainwater, springs, streams, well water and stored in cisterns or container. The water quality were a daily problem of the Romans, and the droughts and drainage problems were even deadly. The engineering's curiosity that implemented the rise of the Roman Empire and sustained the water solution. The Roman aqueducts were not all engineered by Roman inventions; the architects used the Greek designs like the columns and arches by the Etruscans. The aqueducts were built from a sequence of brick, stone, and special volcanic cement.
The development of underwater technology also enabled the Romans to transport the water to different areas. Aqueducts were built to bring water from the source to various cities and towns. The Romans constructed aqueducts to bring a constant flow of water from distant sources into cities and towns, supplying public baths, latrines, fountains and private households. The sewage systems removed the waste that was produced in this and ended up being sent to other bodies of water. This system was crucial for the empire because it protected the towns and kept them clean and free of
Many great empires emerged from 600 BCE to 600 CE. Of these many empires were the Roman Empire and Han Dynasty. These great empires needed many things to prosper and one of those things was technology. Technology allowed these empires to expand and accomplish many feats throughout their time. This all influenced their attitude toward technology. The Han dynasty had a very positive attitude towards technology and wanted it for the benefit of the common man, whereas the Roman empire somewhat neglected technology and saw it as no benefit.