Compare And Contrast The Han Dynasty And The Gupta Empire

1045 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Religion and civilization influence

Throughout history, and in many nations and empires throughout time, governments are affected by religions of different kinds. Religion has been an integral component of humanity, as a way to search answers to existential questions that they might have as well as possibly giving a reason as to why the things they saw happen occur, mostly in older religions. Religion is used by people in power to govern the citizens of their nations on a basis of that religion, as a way to set the foundations of the rules and regulations that must be followed. The Han Dynasty and the Gupta Empire during the classical ages of China and India, respectively, are examples of how their emperors used religion to exert control and shape their nation. The methods in …show more content…

These similarities and differences are portrayed throughout history though documented history and primary sources.
The Han Dynasty and the Gupta Empire had intense social stratification and patriarchy during their reigns, which was similar to each other, but also having contrasting differences. During the Han Dynasty in China, the women were viewed as inferior to the men and had very little rights, since their only role in society was to stay in the household and take care of the children as well as to do the housework. This thus makes the Han Dynasty a very patriarchic society. Social stratification in the Han Dynasty had the scholar-gentry as the highest ranking of all the people, besides the emperor, farmers and peasants a rank lower than the scholar-gentry, and merchants being the lowest ranking in the society. In the Gupta Empire, the women were regarded as inferior to the men and had little rights, which made the Gupta Empire a very patriarchal society. Social stratification in the Gupta Empire had the Brahmin at the top, the …show more content…

Although the Han Dynasty used Confucianism mainly as a practical philosophy and moral code by which they should live, Daoism was also practiced at the same time as a religion as well. Also, later in the Han Dynasty, Buddhism came to flower in China, which came from India. Daoism entails the concept of all things at equilibrium, as well as being one with a basic life force or nature. The Gupta Empire favored the usage of Hinduism, although Buddhism was still practiced at that time by the people. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion that entails the concepts of the caste system, reincarnation, karma, dharma, and the goal of being one with Brahman, which is called moksha. Buddhism is similar in most aspects except in the belief of the necessity of the caste system. The Han Dynasty and the Gupta Empire are similar in their religion in that both brought about the renewal of an old way of life that used to be more prevalent. The Han Dynasty brought back the usage of Confucian principles and the Gupta Empire revived the Hindu religion in India. Concerning the religions themselves, Hinduism and Buddhism are similar to Daoism in the fact the there is an end goal, which is to join together to unite with a universal force. They also are obviously different from each other, contrasting in many different

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast The Han And Roman Empires

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    All of the empires in chapter four certainly left their legacy. But what was their legacy about? As I see it, it was more about their destructive features than their ‘greatness’. Every empire had a rise and fall, the fall due to war or conflict. Rome and the Han Dynasty were the major two ‘empires’ with conflict. Next, Persia and the Greek empire’s conflicts.

    Read More

  • Ban Zhao's Lesson For A Woman

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ban Zhao wrote Lessons for a Woman around the end of the first century C.E. as social guide for (her daughters and other) women of Han society (Bulliet 167). Because Zhao aimed to educate women on their responsibilities and required attributes, one is left questioning what the existing attitudes and roles of women were to start with. Surprisingly, their positions were not automatically fixed at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Ban Zhao’s own status as an educated woman of high social rank exemplifies the “reality [that] a woman’s status depended on her “location” within various social institutions’ (167). This meant that women had different privileges and opportunities depending on their economic, social, or political background. Wealthier noble women would likely have access to an education and may have even been able to wield certain political power (167). Nevertheless, women relinquished this power within the family hierarchy to their fathers, husbands, and sons. Despite her own elevated social status, Ban Zhao still considered herself an “unworthy writer”, “unsophisticated”, “unenlightened’, “unintelligent”, and a frequent disgrace to her and her husband’s family (Zhao). Social custom was not, however, the only driving force behind Zhao’s desire to guide women towards proper behavior.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire

    2784 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were two grand empires that rose out of preexisting territories and provided relative peace over wide areas. The collapse of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), which was the first great land-based empire in East Asia, came after a period of war, confusion, and tyrannical rule. Due to the political disorder that stemmed from the early dynastic activity, the emergence of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE- 228 CE) sprung to focus on restoring order. On the other hand, the rise of the Roman Empire (44 BCE- 476 CE) originated from consolidating authority over aristocratic landlords and overriding the democratic elements of the earlier Republic. Instead, the Roman Empire redefined the concept of “citizen” as subjects to the Roman emperor. Both empires shared similar agendas to exploit their vast territories and resources, which helped them expand their political dominance; however, despite having similar political goals and foundations, their government system, cultural ideologies and imperial expansionist natures diverged.

    Read More

  • The Safavids And The Ming Dynasties

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Ming and Safavid Dynasties had great similarity in the way they viewed the female role in their dynasties however the disparities in social class systems, economic policies and political matters such government and war policies were evidently stronger.

    Read More

  • Differences Between The Han Dynasty And Roman Empire

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Han Dynasty was established in 221 BCE by the rebel leader of the peasants, Liu Bang. Religion not only played a role in the Han dynasty’s rise, but also in their fall through conversion. On the other side of the spectrum, the Roman Empire between 33 and 300, were also undergoing change through religious beliefs. Similarly, both the Han dynasty and the Roman Empire were built by a spread of religious beliefs. In my opinion, religion is the most significant difference between the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty China based on its effects on the political rule and nature of political authority during both eras. Religion is the most significant difference because societal practices and power structure of the two eras stem from the different beliefs. The Han Dynasty is built up from the spread of Confucianism. The Roman Empire is built up from the spread of Christianity. The two religion’s

    Read More

  • A Comparison of the Values of Classical India, China, and Persia

    1649 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the era known as the time of the classical civilizations, there were numerous noticeable changes occurring in many civilizations and city-states around the world. In India, China, and Persia in particular, one could see the influence of religion and philosophy on the political and social structure of the time.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Song Dynasty And Han China

    422 Words  | 1 Pages

    The classical empire that I choose was the Han China and the Post Classical Empire, song dynasty. The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period. Spanning over four centuries, the Han period is considered a golden age in Chinese history. And was one of the best of its times, this dynasty was a brought many great things to China itself, such as weaponry, new technology, and many new ideas for China. The emperor was at the pinnacle of Han society. He presided over the Han government but shared power with both the nobility and appointed ministers who came largely from the scholarly gentry class. The Han Empire was divided into areas directly controlled by the central

    Read More

  • Sonny's Blues Thesis

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    Men and women were seen to live in separate social class from the men where women were considered not only physically weaker, but morally superior to men. This meant that women were the best suited for the domestic role of keeping the house. Women were not allowed in the public circle and forbidden to be involved with politics and economic affairs as the men made all the

    Read More

  • Essay On The Han Dynasty And The Roman Empire

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Han dynasty and the Roman Empire were both powerful empires during their era. However, the ways they obtained their power varied greatly because they used different methods that involved their political structures, which revolved around their centralized governments. The Han dynasty and the Roman Empire acquired very unique techniques that allowed them to control social and political. For example, the Han dynasty adopted a religion known as Confucianism, which monitored everything in the lives of the Chinese. Contrary, the Roman Empire established a monarchy but allowed its residents more freedom as compared to the Han. Nevertheless, the two empires were similar in political structures in that the power was depended on the wealthy that were in authority, the peasants struggled with their lives because of concerning issues such as food supply. The empires were able to create and preserve a peaceful and sustainable lives for a long time, unlike the past empires. Social distribution were under the control of the wealthiest and they could effortlessly impact community viewpoints and interactions among the residents. These two empires existed during the Classical Period had comparable and various social, political, religions, as well as economical values and practices. However, they both possessed differences and similarities in their economic and social perspectives even though the two empires were established around the same era.

    Read More

  • Women In Roman Society

    791 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout ancient civilizations, women were lower than men. In some civilizations like Mesopotamia society, women were below slaves. It is not shocking that they would still not be equal to men. In Roman society, women had more independence and people were more encouraging of women being educated in philosophy. In the Hans society, women did not have any freedom. They were required to follow what the men told them. By examining Gaius Musonius Rufus’ essay and Ban Zhao’s essay, the views of women were different. Woman in Roman society had more freedom and women in the Han’s society were required to fulfill her responsibilities.

    Read More

  • The Role of Religion in Politics

    2726 Words  | 6 Pages

    The role of religion in politics is a topic that has long been argued, and has contributed to the start of wars, schisms (both political and religious), and other forms of inter and intra-state conflict. This topic, as a result of its checkered past, has become quite controversial, with many different viewpoints. One argument, put forth by many people throughout history, is that religion and the government should remain separate to avoid any conflicting interests. This view also typically suggests that there is one, or several, large and organized religions like the Roman Catholic Church, which would be able to use their “divine” authority to sway the politics of a given state by promising or threatening some form of godly approval or disapproval. By leveraging their divine power, individual figures within a religion, as well as the religion as a whole, could gain secular power for themselves, or over others. A second view, which was developed by many theologians through history, suggests that that without religion there would be a general lack of morality in the people and leaders of a given state, which would give way to poor political decisions that would not be in the interest of the people and perhaps even God (or the gods). This argument, however, does not address the fact that morality can exist without religion. In sociology, it is commonly accepted that social norms, which include morality, can result from any number of things. Religion, laws, or the basic desire of survival can all create these norms, so it suffices to say that as a society, our morals reflect our desire to live in relative peace through the creation of laws that serve to help us to survive. The argument of whether or not religion and politics should mix...

    Read More

  • Greek Religion Essay

    1940 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the ancient world, religions and ideologies have developed into forms and practices that influence the very essence of civilizations. Religions could pose as a form of foundation for the beliefs, ideas, social organizations, and economic structures of a certain group of people. They provided a means of justification and form of unity between people and they helped establish and infuse new ideas into a culture. Religions were used as source to explain the misconcepted beliefs in nature and science as well as natural phenomina and it was also used to provide a source of motivation, control, and stability in a civilization.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Buddhism And Confucianism

    562 Words  | 2 Pages

    . There are three believe system in the Chinese tradition those believes are Confucius, Taoism, and Buddhism. Confucius was the most influential and respected philosopher in Chinese history. His ideas were the strongest influence in Chinese society. He taught several concepts to maintain China’s social structure. For example, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faithfulness, loyalty and filial piety. Taoism china’s main native religion influence in health and harmony with environment. Believing in Taoism consist in long life by eating specific kinds of food and brinks. Buddhism is a philosophy that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known

    Read More

  • Religion and Civilization

    1234 Words  | 3 Pages

    Religion helps establish mankind’s place in the order of the universe. As civilization began to be established through the domestication of animals, the irrigation and cultivation of agricultural crops, and life became more complex (moving from mainly a hunter/gather existence to one that could settle down and have more time to consider advanced ideas) people began to consider questions such as, where life comes from, is there a creator or creators who helped make the world, and what happens after we die. Religion helped answer some of these questions. It gave people purpose, meaning, and perspective. Religion helped establish nations in the case of religious theocratic governments. In many of the ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians, the Mayans, and even Mesopotamia, the priests and other religious leaders played prominent roles in help shaping the laws and government of these civilizations. As his...

    Read More

  • religion and state

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    Religion is an organized system of beliefs, practices, rules and ceremonies used to worship a god or groups of gods. Religion as an organization has an overall leader who is normally elected by a special council of church leaders. From this the church is seen to have defined structures that enable it perform its duties. On the other hand, the State is an organization that is the governing authority of a political unit. The leader of a state is normally elected by the majority. This shows how religion is closely related to the state in terms structures and management. The relation between religion and state is a very important subject that helps in the establishment of the political philosophy of a state. However, at some point the religious demands conflicts with the political philosophy of the state. For example, in the case of the Islam that demand absolute obedience to Allah’s will.

    Read More

More about Compare And Contrast The Han Dynasty And The Gupta Empire

Open Document