Compare And Contrast Maurya And Gupta India

In China power was determined by the Mandate of Heaven for centuries. The Mandate of Heaven was that if a leader was fulfilling his duty to his subjects then he should stay in power. People would believe the Mandate of Heaven had changed to another ruler when that ruler would not properly handle things like floods and famines. I ruler could keep power through floods and famines if he was still seen to be fulfilling his duties as a leader. Even after the Mandate of Heaven went out of practice in China, its basic concept remained. This concept was that a ruler would stay in power in China if people thought the leaders were fulfilling their duties. In other words, a leader’s tenure depended on his relationship with the people. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was engaged in the daily lives of the average Chinese peasants, while the Chinese Nationalist Party, Guomindang (GMD), and their leader, Chiang Kai-Shek focused more on maintaining power then improving China for everyday people. The day to day involvement of the CCP in the life of peasants in China, and the GMD ignoring the needs of the everyday Chinese was the major force that drove the GMD out of power and helped the CCP gain control of China.

The idea of ruling a powerful government based on the principle of using two conflicting ideologies at the same time appeared foreign to most dynasties of early China. In early Chinese times, after the Period of the Warring States, two ideologies emerged: Legalism and Confucianism. Legalism stressed a strong central government that expressed harsh laws while Confucianism had a decentralized government, placing trust in conscientious and learned individuals to work together to solve political issues. These two schools of thought were in stark contrast to each other and, up until the Han dynasty, had never been combined with each other through government policy. The Qin dynasty, for example implemented a strict Legalist government while the

One necessary part of any large empire like the Roman empire or the Han dynasty is an organized power structure. Both the Romans and the Han had similar power structures in some functions, but they differed in ideologies and emphasis on roles of the power structure which accounts for the differences in success of integration. The ruler of the Roman and Han empires were emperors who had absolute control over every aspect of the empire. For the success of these two empires, a bureaucracy was

The Han Dynasty and Imperial Rome were two greatly advanced civilizations for their time period and their success was no fluke. Both dynasties gained their success through a handful of varying ideas and strategies involving the economy, military, and social structures. However, one of the greatest factors that determined the respective dynasty’s futures was their methods of political control. The Han Dynasty and Roman Empire agreed on some major aspects and ideas of politics, but also had diverging views on a few subjects. For example, one major topic both groups disagreed on is the form of government. Some examples of subjects they both agreed on was the focus on infrastructure and trade.

Two influential and focal points in ancient Chinese history, the Qin and Han dynasties together spanned from the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE, both of which utilised comparable philosophies in order to establish control and continuity in a centralised empire. With the Qin dynasty adopting Legalism and the Han dynasty using a combination of Confucianism and Legalism, the two dynasties’ bureaucratic governing systems, while similar in nature, achieved varying levels of success.

Since the Qin dynasty the classical Chinese Empire include a central government ran by a king or emperor commonly through a dynasty and provincial bureaucracies. During the Han dynasty when Confucianism was accepted as a main political structure, it changed and furthermore supported the Chinese governmental bodies of order. In Confucian philosophy, the idea of a bureaucracy was supported. Instead of having a bureaucracy with a collection of people with common political goals, Confucianism turned the bureaucracy to a collection of people with common political standards. Confucianism clearly heavily affected the bureaucracy that the civil service tests massively stressed Confucius thoughts. Also the emperor was also changed through Confucianism. Emperors through Confucianism could not kill, be brutal, and had to rule and be chosen by

To start off, short-lived emperors put into office corrupted the empire. To try and make the empire stronger, they expanded the

While India focused more on religion, China leaned towards secularism. In Classical India, Hinduism was widely popular. The brahmins, or priests, would hold immense power and be at the top of the caste system. Alongside the elected chiefs, brahmins

The “republic” failed to function effectively, prompting tyrant after tyrant to make his quest to the throne. This difference occurred because of the societies different approach to the equality of distribution of leadership in military conquests and the homeland. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty expanded north into Korea and south into Vietnam by 111 BCE, and used the tributary system to effectively contact foreign authorities and communicate with those in his empire; however, in contrast, Roman legionaries participated in Roman Punic Wars and wars of conquest (3rd and 2nd c. BCE), deserting their land in the empire, and the wars were halted when the struggles for authority began as the legionaries returned to find their land in unorganized chaos. Emperor Wu’s ability to expand his empire and communicate with foreign societies and authorities while maintaining order in China allowed expansion to continue. In contrast the absence of Roman legionaries controlling farmland caused such farms to become less successful and productive, as there was an nonexistence of organization and

The unification of China was under the dynasties Qin and Han. There were formed schools of thought called Confucians, Daoists, and Legalists. These school of thoughts worked to bring political and social stability to China during the rule of the late Zhou dynasty which were chaotic years. Legalist principles and imposed centralized imperial rule were adopted by rulers of the Qin and Han dynasties. Political stability was the foundation of economic prosperity for the Han dynasty. There was a search of political and social order, unification of China, and a transition from economic prosperity to social disorder.

Roman and Chinese empires in the classical era of civilizations share many similarities and differences in their rise, influence of rulers, control of gained power, and fall. With larger populations and the call for unity, these empires took expansion seriously. Also, they centralized their cities by stabilizing and standardizing for their growing populations. Rulers played important roles in both empires, even though the way rulers consolidated power differed. Through the construction of walls and continual expansion, the Romans and Chinese were able to gain control of their large and diverse populations. Unfortunately, too strong of military forces and rapid expansion, among other factors, negatively impacted the empires and led to their fall.

The methods of political control used by the Han and Imperial Roman Empires were different, as in the degree of citizen participation in government because of how each empire utilized it to control the people.  However, the use of theologies to justify rule was a similar method used by the two empires because it allowed leaders to win over the people in more ways than one.  In addition, the use of militaries to control the population and outlying territories was a similar method because the empires were so vast and diverse that force was needed to control people.

India and China have been two of the biggest and most powerful countries in Asia for thousands of years. They each have a long history of powerful ruling empires which led them to become the great nations they are today. The first empire of China was the great Qin Dynasty, who ruled for from 259 – 210 BCE. The Mauryan Empire was the first empire of India, who ruled from 321 – 184 BCE. Both of these great ruling monarchies created long-lasting laws and values within their countries, and their histories continue to live on today.

The countries with the two largest populations in the world are India and China. This leads us to wonder how they became so populated and how they became countries. With these two countries we can analyze two major dynasties of their early civilization the Mauryan Empire from India and the Qin (Ch’in) Dynasty. The start of India’s long civilization dates back to the third and fourth millennia, when the Harappan society was thriving. This society was a large diverse society that covered a vast area of 600,000 sq. miles. Then around 1500 BCE the Harappan civilization collapsed in which is still a mystery today. After the fall of the Harappan civilization, a nomadic group came in none as the Aryans. They settled in India around 1500 BCE. Then by 330 BCE the Greeks had conquered the land. The Greeks had a short reign in India before the Mauryan Empire. The Mauryan Empire arose to power around 324 BCE. In China there were two Dynasties before the Qin Dynasty, Shang and Zhou. The Shang Dynasty dates back the sixteenth century BCE. The Shang Dynasty lasted until the eleventh century BCE when it was over thrown by the Zhou Dynasty. Zhou was the longest lasting dynasty in China history in which it lasted for 800 years. The Zhou dynasty fell because of the power of the king became insignificant and several of their principalities broke off to form powerful states. The fall of the Zhou Dynasty gave rise to the Qin dynasty in China around 221 BCE. The Mauryan Empire and

China’s ruler, Emperor Shihuangdi of the Qin dynasty had a large amount of political power which effected much of China’s society and land. The emperor ruled over China and influenced the structure of the military, the people’s lives, as well as the class structure of the people. Within China’s empire “strict laws were used by rulers to prevent disobedience and expel the selfish” (Doc. 3). This had displayed the political power of the emperor and his influence over China. It also showed how the people should act and follow the emperor’s rules and morals. Moreover, in the Han dynasty when Confucius ruled with a political power that changed society and structured it in his way of thinking. When the people are “led by virtue…they will have the sense