The Difference Between Ancient China and Egypt
Ancient China and Egypt By: Jessica Isham Ancient Egypt and Ancient China were 2 of the biggest civilizations thousands of years ago. Both left its impact on history, they had many similar beliefs, and different ways of life. They had different rulers, religions, languages and forms of money. Both civilizations have different rulers. China is ruled by emperors and empires, and Egypt their people by pharos. In Egypt their people didn’t live as long so they had a lot more pharos. China’s on the other hand, lived a lot longer. So, therefore Chinese emperors and empires were around longer.
The religion of ancient Egypt was polytheistic and centered on the divinity of the ruler and the eternity of the soul. The Chinese were polytheistic with the addition of ancestor worship. Over time, these beliefs were sometimes blended with Taoism, Buddhism or Confucianism. They both also had different beliefs. Egypt believed when people passes, if they were preserved than they might have an afterlife. The Egyptians would put the dead mummified people in solid gold coffins and filled the burial room with bizarre treasures. China believed in the burial method as well.
They would bury the Chinese people in the ground and pour water on them, then put them in a hanging coffin. The Chinese also believed in cremation, were they burn the body into ashes. The ancient Egyptians believed that most non-physical ailments were caused by spells and curses. Overall treatments included amulets, potions and surgery depending on what was wrong. Chinese medicine was based on the idea of the balance of the energies yin and yang. Illness was the result of an imbalance and was treated with herbs, acupuncture and exercises.
The Chinese were mainly ahead of the rest of their time period. They used cowrie shells and metal beans for money. They also had paper money and coins. The Egyptians traded goods and services. The two civilizations created their own languages. Egypt had hieroglyphs that were dated from 3400 BC. Hieroglyphs are a formal writing system that contained a combination of logographic and a alphabetic elements. China had a language called Man’yogana. Man’yogana is an ancient writing system that employs Chinese characters to represent the Japanese language.
