Both the founders of Chinese and Roman empires conceived of and justified imperial authority. The entire direction and administration of both Chinese and Roman empires were absolutely in accordance with the wishes of the emperor. Both the rulers believed and gave more emphasize on territorial expansion. They both considered bureaucracy and taxation are necessarily important. They developed bureaucracy with government officials and both emperors gave significant importance to expand the functions of bureaucrats and their offices.
One of the significant contrast between Chinese and Roman empire was, Chinese empire was mostly held together by ideologies like Confucian and Buddhist, whereas Roman empire was held together by the powerful laws
…show more content…
The king who makes the law, according to the will of the heaven, is obliged to preserve the earth, there by his men by following the rules of the heaven. If the heaven is happy, it will cause everything to flourish and if the heaven is unhappy, everything is ruined by natural catastrophe. For example, king Zheng of Qin dynasty defeated the warring states and united these states into a centralized empire. He who assumed the mandate of heaven declared himself “Shi Huangdi” or “First August Emperor” (wtwa page 242). He established standard weights and measure, standard currency, extended China’s boundary to north east, improved communication system and build great wall of China but followed the principles of legalism. Philosophy of legalism valued in strict law and unbending punishment rather than rituals and ethics. “Hard punishments were given to every one regardless of their rank” (wtwa page 243). The after effect was the “Qin” dynasty didn’t last long as the ruler didn’t have moral values (wtwa 245).
Han took over the Qin dynasty and followed the philosophy of Confucianism. Chinese values are grounded in the Confucian believes and ideas emphasized on “loyalty to family, perfection of moral character to become a superior man and following rituals to