Han China & Classical Athens DBQ
Classical Athens and Han China: How Great Were the Differences
Classical Athens and Han China were different due to their forms of government, the relationship between the individual and the state, their views on man and nature and their background information.
Within the background information of both Athens and Han China there are very evident differences between the two. The first document shows the maps of both the empires side by side. The Han Empire is much bigger than the Athens city-state Attica which is a mere 50 miles long, while the Han Empire stretches over 2400 miles long. The size difference alone shows how the Empires would have developed differently. Since Attica is smaller, the people are closer together, therefore it would be easier to develop a democracy there. Han China, however, is very big and everyone is spread out so it would be very difficult to govern if every citizen had a say in the decisions. The second and third documents show the differences in size and distribution of the population in both empires. The differences here are clear. Han China is about 206 times greater in population than Athens. In Athens about 37% of their population are slaves while in China about 7% of their population are slaves or what they call, “mean people.” The majority, about 90%, of the population in the Han Empire consists of peasant farmers and some skilled urban workers. In Athens, farmers were very valued and the majority of the citizens there were landowning farmers. A map of population density would be very helpful in understanding the differences between the empires. This would show where most farming took place because the mass population is farmers and slaves. CONCLUSION*************
Han China and Classical Athens governments are extremely different. Han China’s government was strictly centralized, with an emperor as their supreme and divine ruler; the Son of Heaven. People believed that Heaven chose the person who was ready to rule
Classical Athens and Han China were different due to their forms of government, the relationship between the individual and the state, their views on man and nature and their background information.
Within the background information of both Athens and Han China there are very evident differences between the two. The first document shows the maps of both the empires side by side. The Han Empire is much bigger than the Athens city-state Attica which is a mere 50 miles long, while the Han Empire stretches over 2400 miles long. The size difference alone shows how the Empires would have developed differently. Since Attica is smaller, the people are closer together, therefore it would be easier to develop a democracy there. Han China, however, is very big and everyone is spread out so it would be very difficult to govern if every citizen had a say in the decisions. The second and third documents show the differences in size and distribution of the population in both empires. The differences here are clear. Han China is about 206 times greater in population than Athens. In Athens about 37% of their population are slaves while in China about 7% of their population are slaves or what they call, “mean people.” The majority, about 90%, of the population in the Han Empire consists of peasant farmers and some skilled urban workers. In Athens, farmers were very valued and the majority of the citizens there were landowning farmers. A map of population density would be very helpful in understanding the differences between the empires. This would show where most farming took place because the mass population is farmers and slaves. CONCLUSION*************
Han China and Classical Athens governments are extremely different. Han China’s government was strictly centralized, with an emperor as their supreme and divine ruler; the Son of Heaven. People believed that Heaven chose the person who was ready to rule