Dynastic China

Jonah Maki
Dynastic China Essay
LA/SS Pd. 5/6

Although the 418 years the Han Dynasty controlled would seem like a long time to have the ability to rule a country, the Han Dynasty exerted vast control over China itself to maintain a complex bureaucratic government during their whole rule. During this rule, Confucianism was highly held. Throughout the whole empire, there were classes to support everyone’s role in society and who to respect as their elder and superior. The order was like this: Emperor, King/Governor, State officials and Nobles and Scholars, Peasants, Artisans and Merchants, Soldiers, and at the bottom were slaves. One very important thing in the government of the Han dynasty was the civil servant. He who would server the emperor, Liu Bang, or the king at the time were held above others and allowed to see their ruler at times. Getting into this position was not easy. To get a job as a civil servant, you needed to pass a test of Confucius. If you knew everything about the social structure of Confucianism, then you would pass. If not, then you would fail. People would take special classes with scholars to learn the teachings of Confucius. All in all, the political structure of the Han dynasty was a strict one, but obviously, people were still able to flourish under its reign.

The politics of China flowed into its economy making it very stable. Because of this, people gained the ability to afford such luxuries as books, which were just newly made with paper, as it was a brand new invention. Agriculture in China at the time was a hard job, but a very important and honored occupation. Because of the large 60 million population throughout the dynasty at the time, they needed a lot of food to feed the people, so they relied on agriculture to produce their food. That is why peasants were held above artisans and merchants in their classes. As for technology, a bunch of things were invented during the Han dynasty. The main ones were paper, the collar,...