Han China and the Roman Empire Comparison Essay

Han China and the Roman Empire Comparison Essay Whereas Han China (202 BCE- 220 CE) and the Roman Empire (~800BCE- 476 CE) were thousands of miles away from each other, they had many similarities and differences. Some of the similarities include peasant rebellions, while the differences are such as woman’s rights and their views on manual labor. Peasant rebellions were very important to the societies of Rome and China. The dynasty of Han China itself was formed by a peasant rebellion lead by Wu Ti. Their counterparts in Rome suffered through periods of slave revolts.

These shaped these societies dramatically. One of the many differences of these two empires was woman’s rights. While Han China was a highly patriarchal and believed woman were the “lowest of the low” on the social scale, Rome saw woman still as lesser being, but still had some importance. I believe this is because Rome, unlike China, had more than one god, including goddesses. These woman of a higher power influenced Rome in a way as to see women in a new way, not as scum. Thus making these two cultures different.

Another important difference between Han China and the Roman Empire, were their views on manual labor. In Han China, Confucianism supported the manual labor of farmers and other peasants. Meanwhile in Rome, their idea was that manual labor just took away from the slaves. Even with their differences, both Rome and Han China laid the foundation for major religions like Christianity, Daoism, and Confucianism. Those religions are still ruling the world today. They also created lasting legacies that we consider today as Classical Civilizations.