Compartive Essay on Han Dynasty and Mauryan/Gupta Dynasties
Han Dynasty (China) vs. Mauryan/Gupta Dynasties (India)
The Han Dynasty lasted from 206 BCE – 220 BCE, and was in China. The Mauryan and Gupta Dynasty lasted from 322 BCE – 500 CE, and were in India. The Mauryan Dynasty ended by 185 BCE. The Gupta Dynasty started in 320 CE. In my essay I am going to be comparing and contrasting the 3 dynasty’s (2 of them as 1), and their control through religion, trade, male dominance, and how they fell. The Han Dynasty controlled their empire through Confucianism. One of the emperor’s, Han Wudi, established an Imperial University. Confucianism was the official course of study. If you wanted to become part of the government you had to have “graduated” from the University. Any person from an social class could go to the University. Going to the University actually could bump you up to a better social class. Most of the emperors of the Han Dynasty ruled through Confucians teachings: Ren, Li, and Xiao. While the Gupta Dynasty went through a few religions; Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. They mostly used Buddhism and Jainism to control the empire. Both religions had many restraints on what you could and could not do. Jainism didn’t believe that women could go through the spiritual process unless they were reborn male. I don’t understand why in history women were always looked down upon, and weren’t allowed to do what males can do. They had different religions, but the same purpose. China’s one main trade was silk. Everyone wanted China’s silk because it was the best; plain and simple. Even if you tried to duplicate their stitching, it wasn’t as good. China was extremely secretive on how they created silk, and made items out of it. They were the only culture at the time who knew how to take care of the silk worms. Even if outsiders were able to sneak one out of the country, the worm died soon because they didn’t know the proper way to take of it. China only traded with villages outside their wall. India on the other hand
The Han Dynasty lasted from 206 BCE – 220 BCE, and was in China. The Mauryan and Gupta Dynasty lasted from 322 BCE – 500 CE, and were in India. The Mauryan Dynasty ended by 185 BCE. The Gupta Dynasty started in 320 CE. In my essay I am going to be comparing and contrasting the 3 dynasty’s (2 of them as 1), and their control through religion, trade, male dominance, and how they fell. The Han Dynasty controlled their empire through Confucianism. One of the emperor’s, Han Wudi, established an Imperial University. Confucianism was the official course of study. If you wanted to become part of the government you had to have “graduated” from the University. Any person from an social class could go to the University. Going to the University actually could bump you up to a better social class. Most of the emperors of the Han Dynasty ruled through Confucians teachings: Ren, Li, and Xiao. While the Gupta Dynasty went through a few religions; Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. They mostly used Buddhism and Jainism to control the empire. Both religions had many restraints on what you could and could not do. Jainism didn’t believe that women could go through the spiritual process unless they were reborn male. I don’t understand why in history women were always looked down upon, and weren’t allowed to do what males can do. They had different religions, but the same purpose. China’s one main trade was silk. Everyone wanted China’s silk because it was the best; plain and simple. Even if you tried to duplicate their stitching, it wasn’t as good. China was extremely secretive on how they created silk, and made items out of it. They were the only culture at the time who knew how to take care of the silk worms. Even if outsiders were able to sneak one out of the country, the worm died soon because they didn’t know the proper way to take of it. China only traded with villages outside their wall. India on the other hand