Han China and Mauryan India had many similarities. They were both bureaucracies, they both had emperors, and both empires established their laws on religious belief. They also had a lot of contrasting ideas for positioning their people, and they had contrasting ideas for their different religious standpoints. One empire put more weight on logic, and the other more on religion.
Both Han China and Classical India used social structure systems as a method of political control. The caste or class a person was born into in either China or India, determined your position and status, unless under extreme circumstances would a person be lowered or raised in a caste or class. However, how people were placed into a specific social structure were very different. Han China developed a social structure based upon literacy, and Classical India introduced a caste system based on “occupation”.
Literacy divided China educationally between first class, palace court, nobles, government officials; second class, peasants; third class, artisans; and fourth class, merchants and slaves. It restricted the lower classes so their ability to pass the Civil Service Exam was near
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Buddhism had an impact in both empires. However, Confucianism was the official ideology upon the entire Han Dynasty. Their values focused on a system of philosophical and “ethical-sociopolitical teachings”. Han China accented political control around the education of bureaucrats to make more logical decisions. Maurya India, on the other hand, was essentially a Hindu state. Therefore, their political control was more controlled by spiritual beliefs. The king even appointed Dhamma Mahamatras to look after the spiritual well being of the people. The two civilizations both differed in their views for keeping peace within the empire but still the ultimate goal for each was to keep