Around the dawn of the first millennium, the Han and Roman attitudes toward technology were both self glorifying; however, the Han Empire in China placed more value upon technology and technological enhancements than did the Roman Empire, as evidenced by the constant concern on the part of the Han dynasty over the occasional indifference on the part of the Romans. Before beginning, it must be stated that every single document provided is written by somebody in the upper class, giving no insight into how the lower classes or peasants felt about technology. This provides a very limited viewpoint into the different attitudes as the upper class was not the majority. Plus, there are no documents from women, leaving the reader to guess what women felt about the technology they used, how it helped them or was all technology geared toward helping men in those patriarchal societies? A document from either of these sources would provide great insight into the attitudes toward technology in each nation. The Han’s view of technology was predominantly self-glorifying; with good reason as the Chinese invented everything from paper to acupuncture. The Han seemed to feel that technology was about helping the people. As demonstrated in the letter in document 1, the first goal of technology is to ward off disaster, in this case a flood. This demonstrates a concern for the people, or at least the property, giving the impression that technology is there to aide the Chinese. This impression is increased by the obvious concern shown by Huan Guan in the second document, where he writes about the problems the lack of technology, such as iron plows, is having on the people. Huan Guan points out how technology has become useless as the tools ar... ... middle of paper ... ...he Roman aqueducts, declaring them better than the pyramids. Can anyone say “egotistical maniac”? However, this prideful view of the aqueducts comes from a water commissioner for the city of Rome. Of course, he paints the aqueducts as the biggest thing before sliced bread. His job is to bring water to Rome. Part of his income depends on the aqueducts being marvelous Roman inventions. If he said aqueducts were bad, he’d probably lose his job, so his opinion is at best questionable. What these documents truly show, however, is not so much the differing views of the Han and Romans toward technology, but rather their differing views toward commoners, toward the poor, and unfortunate in their kingdom. The Han documents show glimpses of compassion; the Romans show naught but cold indifference, which begs the question, “Was it truly the “Glorious Roman Empire”?
The Han dynasty and the Roman Civilization were the superpowers of the world at that time. They influenced the world and left an indelible mark in the ancient world. Traces of their contributions are ubiquitous, ranging from the invention of paper to the Latin language. Both shared similarities and grew due to a strong government and profitable trade. Yet due to numerous factors, both Empires pulverized under intense pressure and never returned to their former glory.
Han China was an empire that expanded over a vast territory and Classical Athens was only a small city-state. Inevitable, there were differences in all aspects of life. The documents provided plenty of information on demographics, government structures, individual roles and duties of a citizen, an view on physical life. Overall, the 64 million differences in population, the democracy that arose in Athens, the importance of a father-son relationship in Han China, and the interests in nature by the Hans were the key facts in the two’s differences.
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.
When comparing different societies in ancient history you may not think that Han China and Ancient Rome had a lot in common. These two great societies had many similarities and differences, especially in their social structures. These similarities and differences are all due to Han China’s and Ancient Rome’s governments, family structures and religions. Both of these wonderful empires lasted for approximately 400 years and had lasting effects on the lands they conquered.
After picking up force, they legitimated their power by guaranteeing to be the beneficiaries of past amazing dynasts and by saving or modifying the predecessor’s temperate administering ways. (247) In spite of the fact that the main Han rulers had no real option except to trade off with distinguished gatherings who had overthrown the Qin, in time the Han made the most exceedingly brought together organization on the planet, significantly more unified than that of the Roman Empire. (247) As under the Qin, the organization touched everybody since all guys needed to enlist, pay charges, and serve in the military. Han researchers were naturalists and innovators. They made imperative restorative disclosures, managing judicious judgments of the body's capacities and the part of wind and temperature in transmitting infections. (248) They additionally concocted the
Even though, the arguments put forth by the author are relevant to the central theme, they lack clarity. He tends to go off on tangents and loses the flow of the article. It seems that the author has a slight bias against our generation’s obsession with technology, but that can be attributed to him being a quinquagenarian. I feel that the author has not covered the topic thoroughly enough. He has not quite explained the topic in depth or covered it from various perspectives.
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.
During the periods of the Pax Sinica and the Pax Romana, the Han Chinese and the Roman Empire were alike in politics (both had a bureaucratic government), but differed in religion (Confucianism vs. polytheistic practices) and engineering (while both developed highly groundbreaking technology such as paper and running water, Han China made advances in practicalities, while Rome made advances in sophisticated daily living.)
The majority of the Han views on technology were positive. However, a majority of Romans’ views, usually upper class, were not positive. In both societies, the views of people who had expertise in technology were positive, while those who did not have expertise were negative.
Han saw technology as a need for economic life, and Romans saw technology as something they didn’t need and that it couldn’t be a substitute for hard work. The document states that technology is what keeps Han China’s efficiency and productivity high. The documents also show the Roman pattern of dislike towards technology and how they were in favor of a stronger work ethic and larger labor system. This views of technology what indicated the decline of this civilizations. The civilizations of Han and Roman had very different views of technology, the Han saw technology as a daily necessity and the Romans just thought of technology as a way to be more productive.
The ancient Romans were skilled engineers and have left lasting contributions in this field. The Romans built a great network of roads connecting cities throughout their empire. They also built aqueducts and bridges using arches for support. The Roman arch design was by far the most important innovation of their time. The arch, however, would have been useless without the discovery of concrete. The Romans had many other such discoveries that would make their engineering skills known throughout the world.
In document 2, a Han government official talks about how the use of iron tools is failing and there are negative effects to their production. A Han philosopher talks about the invention of the pestle and mortar and how beneficial they were in document 3. It says these were invented by Fuxi and they were improved, “Later on… cleverly improved… the benefit was increased tenfold.” Going back to document 7, Seneca discusses how certain technologies are not useful or unimpressive, “The question of whether the hammers or the tongs came first does not seem important to
The Aqueduct, while not an invention of the Romans, was made effective and marvels of the engineering world. Some of the techniques of the aqueducts are still used by modern engineers. Roman aqueducts were immense feats of engineering and architecture
Technology allows culture to evolve by creating solutions to problems by removing constraints that exist. Every invention and concept is expanded on to create the utmost perfect solution. Although this process can take decades, or even centuries, to actually develop a proficient resolution, the end result is what advances society industrially. There are conflicting views, however, if these advances are beneficially or maliciously affecting society (Coget). There are three kinds of people in regards to the attitude toward technology: technophiles, technophobes, and those who aren't biased in either regard (Coget). Technophiles understand that the world adapts to the advances in technology and uses them to improve their lives (Tenner). Technophobes observe technology as damaging or are uncomfortable in using it (DeVany). It is undeniable that technology is ever-expanding, thus peaking curiosity to uncover what fuels the fear behind the technophobes. Our focus is concentrated on the technophiles and the technophobes . I will begin with the latter as they contribute greatly to the ov...
Can you imagine your life without technology? Many people believe that the technology currently saves a lot of time. And some people think that technology makes human life is full of hardships. It is clear that technology takes part everywhere in the world. Take a moment to think about the whereabouts of technology, then you will see that it is everywhere. At home, one certainly will find electricity, refrigerators, air conditioners, and many other devices. And if you take a look at life outside the home, the transportation of most of its types are considered part of technology such as cars, pilots and other transportations that go with the meaning of technology. Human life in the current era is dependent on technology, people will find great difficulty in life that if taken away from technology. Although many people believe that technology enslaves people, It is obvious that technology saves