Honorable Merchants: Commerce and Self-Cultivation in Late Imperial China was written by Richard John Lufrano and documents the culture and lifestyle of mid-level merchants during late imperial China. The book describes the rise of mid-level merchants, who can ultimately be seen as a modern day middle class. During the era of late imperial China, there was an increase in commercialization, which “most members of society…had come to accept commercial activity as a necessary part of life,” causing them to “regard those engaged in commerce as respectable members of society.” With more commerce, Chinese merchants needed to understand how they could operate a successful business, but how would they accomplish a feat like this?
China's role in trade between 600 to 1750 was in part due to different conquests and re-establishments of power which perfected previous Chinese advancements. China's cultural identity help it become a large empire with borders that extended across most of Asia. Tributes systems played out in supporting the Chinese government which in turn formed alliances and enemies as well. These alliance stretched into large trading networks, strengthening Chinas' power in trade, goods, and ideas. From 600 to the 1750's China's self-sufficiency, exchanges of power and mostly secluded location occasionally stagnated and changed its role as a primary trading power, however China's different dynasties improved previous concepts such as those of technology,agricultural
Qin Shi Huang-Di has left a large impact on China, and by extension the world, that has lasted many years. Qin created the foundation of the Chinese country of today. Some scholars even believe that without Qin Shi Huang-Di, there would be no China at all (Gracie). Qin’s impact on the world was the creation of an entire country, a pretty impressive feat. Especially in his time, when nothing like China had ever been created before, his unification and reformation of China into a lasting country is inspiring.
The Song Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty both had methods for choosing government officials. However, the Song Dynasty had the most foolproof way of choosing their government officials. This is because of three reasons. The first reason, is the school was funded by the state, which made it more equal and affordable between the aristocrats and the common people to get education to pass the exam. Another reason is that scribes copied the exams to be graded so the people who are grading the tests couldn't favor one person over the other.
In the period of prosperity, the Song dynasty and the Tang dynasty are similar with their ways in which they fought to be safe from other armies and smart when working to improve their dynasty. In the dynastic cycle, the Song and Tang dynasty showed similar periods of prosperity. In the beginning, the Song dynasty was very successful. Due to the period of rebellion that tore apart the Tang dynasty, The Songs decided they would have a test so they could only have the strongest army to prevent any period of rebellion.
“All the peasants and soldiers to the wall.” Imagine being a laborer and having to contribute in the construction of the wall. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the Great Wall of China was built. The continuous wall protected the dynasties from the Mongols. The benefits of the wall did not outweigh the costs because of the soldiers , the economy that went down, and the forced labor from peasants and laborers.
Han and Yuan Dynasties The Han Dynasty lasted from 206 BC up until 220 AD. The Han Dynasty was founded by Liu Bang. The Yuan Dynasty was about 1000 years later from 1271-1368. The Yuan Dynasty was founded by Kublai Khan, but he placed his grandfather on the imperial records as founder.
The Fall of Han China The fall of Han China began with a decline in an interest of achieving Confucian intellectual goals, students were becoming restless. With this new restless tone, the empire started to let go of their morals, leading to a decline in work ethic, this ultimately meant that trade and agriculture were no longer thriving. Without trade and harvests the empire was no longer self-sufficient. Han China was a Confucian state.
The Chinese development of technological advances, allowed the era of the Tang, and the Song dynasty to bring about a social, political, and urban change. The Chinese found new techniques in Agriculture and farming rice. This allowed for more growth and spreading of population in the regions. As the population grew, people were interest in new jobs and careers in the markets. So, they sought out jobs such as shop sellers, blacksmiths, metallurgy, fishing, and government work.
1) Thesis: During the Han Dynasty, techonogy was almost exclusively viewed positively, while in the Roman Empire, the attitude regarding technology varied. 2) Group 1: In the Han China, technology was seens as a way to improve the quality of goods and improve the lives of the general population. a) Doc 2: A Han government official by the name of Huan Guan wrote that the govt. monopoly on iron should be lifted so that families with pride in their work could be able to construct weapons, rather than have prisoners with no regard for the quality of the weapons construct them. b) Doc 4: In a government sponsored history of the early Han Dynasty, an annonymus source writes about Tu Shi and how he “destroyed evil doers” (Doc 4) and “wished to save their
Ancient China was a highly developed civilization whose many dynasties each had some kind of significant development, let it be in trade, invention, art, religion, government, or architecture. Two dynasties in particular, however, marked the Golden Age of Chinese history. This period is known for its large economic revolution. The two dynasties were called the Tang & Song Dynasty. The Tang & Song Dynasties were experiencing a Golden Age due to the fact that they had a fair system in granting government positions, brought highly advanced inventions to the world, and had very intricate architecture.
China’s Last Empire. The Great Qing. William T. Rowe. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2009. 360 pages including Emperors and Dynasties, Pronunciation Guide, Notes, Bibliography, Acknowledgements, Index, Maps and Figures.
The Hsia Dynasty considered the first dynasty in China. However this dynasty is legendary because there is little archeological evidence to support existence. It is dated from 2205 BCE to 1760 BCE. According to the legend Yu was the wise king who invented a way to control flooding of the Huang He River so that people could live there. Since there is very little evidence to support the story, the second dynasty, called the Shang Dynasty, is the first one recorded
Intro The Tang Dynasty is commonly referred to as the golden age of Ancient China. They had a strong and stable government that supported trade and created equality. Tang China also possessed immense wealth and a strong military, as well as inventing various technological advancements. Trade greatly boosted the Tang Dynasty 's prosperity and it was the leading source of China 's immense wealth during its golden age.
In the Dynastic cycle, the Song and Tang Dynasties of ancient China showed similar periods of Prosperity but, also had some differences. Let’s start off with the similarities. In both the Song and Tang dynasties, different types of art expanded throughout their period of Prosperity. These types of art were landscape paintings and pottery. Another thing the two dynasties have in common is that they both follow the Confucianism way of ruling China.
