The laws and justice system of the Ancient Chinese Civilization mainly the Qin and Han Dynasties were somewhat totalitarian and were based on the theory of legalism. The peak of the Legalism theory was in the Qin Dynasty, which placed absolute power in the ruler’s hands. Emperor Qin Shihuangdi ruled with extremely strict laws, harsh punishments and took severe actions to eliminate all possible challenges to his authority. People were rewarded for telling on other who broke the law and those who were convicted on crimes were punished brutally by execution, mutilation, or penal labor. Many of the laws and acts passed under Legalism were designed to make the common people ignorant and weak. He believed that a strong state required weak people. All books that were not regarding agricultural or medicine were burnt and many scholars were buried alive. This represents the extremities of the government in Ancient China during the Qin and Han Dynasty.
In the Modern Western Civilization, laws and justice system are fair and are made to protect individual rights. Law were made to provide a set of rules for governing behaviour and maintaining order in a society. Everybody has the right to a trial in court and the ultimate decision of whether or not the suspected is innocence or guilty is decided by a third party jury. There are specific punishments for different offences in order to keep the justice system fair for everyone. The most common form of punishment in the modern era is the prison. Prisons may serve as detention centres for prisoners after trials until they are ready to be considered for probation. The ultimate goal of the criminal justice system is to reduce crime and increase the security of the people, which is a completely different perspective from the Ancient Chinese. Citizens have much more rights and more laws are made to ensure the safety, fairness and the morality of society. It very different from the justice system in Ancient China.
The religion, beliefs and institutions in the Qin and Han Dynasties of ancient Chinese civilization were mainly Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. Taoism meaning “way” or “path” is both a Chinese religion and a life philosophy, and it can be stated as the flow of the universe, or the idea of a grand cosmic harmony. Tao is believed to be the influence that keeps the universe in balance and in order; its basic principle is of peace and “non-action”. Buddhism believes in the purity of mind and action, and the build up of karma by doing good deeds and avoiding bad ones. With enough karma, a Buddhist reaches a state of nirvana. The Ancient Chinese also believed in Confucianism, which has concepts, specifically li or “ideal action”, yi or “righteousness”, and ren or “human compassion or empathy”. Confucius’ moral system is based on empathy and understanding that a good and orderly life can only come from a well-disciplined society that places emphasis on ceremony, duty, morality, and public service. Confucius taught the importance of leading by example, and believed that strong familial loyalty, ancestor worship, respect for elders, and that the family unit form the basis of good government. His beliefs were later spread throughout China by his disciplines, and many people learned from his wise sayings.
In Modern Western Civilization everyone has the right to pick his or her religion and follow it. The common religions are Roman Catholic and Protestant Catholic that branched off of Christianity. The second largest group are people without a religion. Christianity is the world's largest religion representing about a quarter to a third of the world's population, followed by those who worship Jesus Christ and the belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world and son of God, the creator of the world. The religions are different from Ancient China because of the different culture that exisits.
Many technological advances were made during the Qin and Han Dynasty of ancient China that changed the lives of the Chinese and the world forever to this day. In the Ancient world inventions were mainly made for survival. For example, the very first compass was made in China by balancing a piece of loadstone, an iron oxide-based mineral that aligns itself in a north-south direction because of the Earth’s magnectic field. The loadstone was carved in the shape of a laddle on a round, bronze plate. The Chinese used it for finding a good place to bury people, geomancy and fortune-telling. This invention is still used to this day mainly for direction. In the year 221 BC during the Qin dynasty, the Emperor defeated all his enemies and unified China for the first time in its history. During his reign, the Xiongnu people from the north were a constant threat to the Chinese empire, often coming down to the Yellow River Basin and taking land from people. To protect his people and to protect his political power, the Emperor ordered General Meng Tian, commanding 300,000 soldiers, to defeat the enemy. To prevent further attacks by the Xiongnu people, the Emperor ordered for the completing of the six partially complete walls and the extension of the Great Wall. Today, the Great wall is one of the most visited attraction is China and it is the only structure made by man that is visible on Earth from space with the naked eye. During the Han dynasty the Chinese also invented an iron smelting technology that turned wrought iron into pig iron using blast furnaces. Later in this dynasty a Chinese metallurgist discovered that wrought iron and cast iron could be melted to make an alloy of what we call steel. This gave the Chinese advantage on making weapons over all the other Civilizations.
In the Modern Western Civilization, technological advances are invented to make human’s lives easier and better. Generally technological developments included the development of airplanes and space exploration, nuclear technology, advancement in genetics, and the birth of the Information Age. Airplanes are getting faster and space exploration is getting more advanced as I write this essay because of the NASA phoenix spacecraft that just arrived on Mars on May 25th 2008 and it is trying to study the Martian soil. Nuclear technology has spread throughout the modern Western civilization as the newer and cleaner form of energy. The biggest genetics advancement is the stem cell research and the newly discovered ability to clone organs with just the skin. The creation of the Information Age includes the development of the computer, laptop and the Internet, which can put the world at our fingertips. The technology of the Modern Western Civilization have made many achievements but they would not be possible if it was not for past inventions.
When the Ancient Chinese Civilization specifically the Qin and Han Dynasty and the Modern Western Civilization was compared to on the five aspects of family roles, the political structure, the law and justice system, religious beliefs and institutions, and technological achievements there were a tremendous amount of differences. This is mainly because of the different way that people think back then compared to the way that modern people think. Family roles were different because of the set roles that society placed on people in Ancient China and because there are no expectations of family roles in the Modern Western Civilization. The political structure is extremely different because having a dictator like Emperor making decisions for an empire is entirely different then having a prime minister or president making decisions based on either a democratic or republican government. The laws and justice system were different because of the lack of education and experience of the Ancient Chinese and the lack knowledge of what law and justice system have been proven successful to make their vision of the country. The religious beliefs and institutions are different because of the different culture of Ancient China and the Modern Western Civilization. The technological achievements advanced since the Ancient Civilizations because of the better education system and the stronger economy to support these advancements. The Ancient China Civilization was entirely different from the Modern Western Civilization because they have a different viewpoint on almost all aspects of life.
Ronald Wright’s explanation of why civilizations in general rise, prosper, and fall does not apply to Ancient China’s two dynasties Qin and Han because they did not exploit natural and human resources to a point where they could no longer expand and fell. Those two dynasties rose because the past emperors were overthrown by other members of society because they were unhappy of the way the emperor was ruling and possibly because of their hunger for power. The dynasties prospered because of Dynasty’s advances in military power, the improved standards of living, and trade in the Han dynasty These dynasties fell mainly because the public did not like emperor was ruling and the laws that he put into place. In the Qin dynasty, the tipping point was when the emperor suppressed Confucian ideas, and many important books were publicly burned including scholars who were buried alive. The populace got angry and when the emperor died officials seized the opportunity to take over the empire. The fall of the Han dynasty can fit Wright’s formula because the fall was because of their oversized army and bureaucracy that put a tremendous strain on the economy. The peasants lost their land which caused revolts and raids by the peasants and commoners and fell during a time of economic turmoil.
It is very hard to predict if the Modern Western Civilization will follow Wright’s explanation and fall due to the successes. The natural resources are being used at a tremendously fast pace and one day it will be gone. We are using up our planet and are striving to do whatever we can to be the powerhouse in the world even if that means spending a ridiculous amount of money on a new arms race that could be used provide the entire world with safe drinking water. Will the civilization survive? No one would know because of our rapid technological advances that could maybe one day make natural resources renewable and perhaps one day civilization could move into another environment due to our space explorations.
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Comparing the Ancient Chinese Civilization and the Modern Western Civilization
Submitted by: Elaine Hu
Submitted to: Mr.Hartill
CHC2D7-03
June 08, 2008
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