Asia

1. Asia Foundations Classical Era

2. How does the advanced technological capabilities of the Han contribute to their classical success? • The Han were exceptional inventors and innovators. Han society and traditions valued these traits, giving status to early emperors by crediting them with major inventions. • The Han used advanced iron making technology in military and agricultural pursuits, which gave them an enormous advantage over their pastoralist rivals. • The crossbow and cavalry were among the important military innovations. • The watermill and horse collar allowed the Han to harness supplements to human labor. • The production of silk and the ability to transport it and other commodities via roads and canals to distant markets helped expand Han economic power. • Enormous defensive barriers, part of which became the Great Wall, were constructed to protect the empire.

3. Although short lived, what were the accomplishments of the Qin and why could they be considered as the developmental era for the success of the Han? • During the Warring States Period, the small states had emphasized their independence. • When the Qin state took over the other states, it united China. • Drawing on the Legalist philosophy, which justified force and coercion, the Qin suppressed all opposition and demanded forced labor from subjects. • The Qin’s commitment to standardization helped to create a unified Chinese civilization. • The Qin imposed standard weights and measures, coinage, uniform law code, common written language, and even regulations governing the axle length of carts to leave one set of ruts in the road. • The Qin also built roads to connect the empire and ease the movement of armies. The Qin constructed canals to connect river systems. • The expansion of a chain of walls on the northern frontier protected agricultural lands from nomadic attack.

4. How was were the Han able to succeed and build a great empire during the classical era while the Qin, although a significant cog in the overall wheel, weren’t able to bring all of China together? • The peoples of East Asia were fragmented following the Zhou and entered an era of the Warring States. The Qin were brutal and forced the legalist doctrine throughout the realm, to include book burnings. • The Qin building projects such as the Great Wall and the tomb for Shih Huang Di bankrupt the energy and financial resources of the people. • The people were resistant to these methods because of the influence of both Daoism and Confucianism. • The Han Empire assumed control from the quickly declining Qin, and created traditions of cultural and political unity that drew the warring states together. • The foreign forces, such as the Xiongnu, were somewhat contained by the wall and other elements created by the Qin dynasty creating a more stable environment for the early Han. • The Han portrayed themselves as more benevolent than the Qin and subscribed to a Confucian code of responsibility. • Overcoming geographic obstacles, the Han dynasty was built on an agricultural foundation. • The Han cleared forests and constructed canals, dikes, and terraces to expand the arable land, focusing on increasing agricultural production. • Agriculture supplied the wealth and taxes to support the Chinese people and the Han government. • The population grew, supplying labor to further expand the empire. • The government required all males to donate one month every year to government projects and to serve two years in the military. • The labor and taxes of the growing population of free peasants expanded the size and power of the Han dynasty.

5. How was the social and cultural role of the family, including gender roles, connected to Confucian values? • The basic Chinese social unit was the family, which included all previous generations. • Han society was a larger reflection of familial values such as loyalty, obedience, respect, and honor. • Each member of the family had a place in the hierarchy and a proper role to play. • Chinese families subordinated the roles of women, who were controlled by their fathers, husbands, or sons. • It was not considered proper for women to participate in public life or business enterprises. • Marriages were arranged, and women were expected to prove themselves to their new families. • Confucian ethics deeply influenced the intellectual and governing classes. • Those elites lived urban lifestyles, engaging in trade and leisure activities not available to the poor.

6. Roman Foundations Classical Era

7. How does the expansion of the empire contribute to weaknesses in the military and trickle down to other elements of Roman society and eventually contribute to the decline of the Roman Republic and eventually the Empire? • Frequent wars and territorial expansion drained the empire of its military foundation—peasant farmers—and the new wealth those wars generated ended up in the hands of the wealthy classes. • While Roman farmers were abroad fighting for the empire, the privileged and powerful purchased or otherwise took possession of the peasants’ land. • Self-sufficient farms were replaced by large estates and ranches, called latifundia. • Displaced peasants returning from wars became part of the disaffected urban masses that increasingly plagued Roman politics and society. • The military, which was open only to men who owned requisite amounts of property, suffered manpower shortages. • Once landless men were allowed to enter the ranks, their loyalties lay with the generals who rewarded them with land and money. • Ambitious Roman generals led armies against each other in power struggles, often invading Rome itself. • The emperors beginning with Augustus, who were really military dictators, illustrate the transformation from the Republic to the principate.

8. What are some elements that contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire? • After the empire stabilized under Augustus and the “good emperors” of the second century, internal and external problems grew until they reached the crisis stage in the third century. • Frequent turnover of rulers, followed by chaos and civil wars, created the political dimension of the crisis. • Political weakness in turn encouraged invasion from outside the empire. • The economy suffered because of the disruption of commerce and high cost of rewarding the armies. • The urban elite collapsed along with the economy, and imperial administrators went into hiding to escape their fiscal responsibilities. • The population shifted from urban areas back to the countryside. • Stable leaders such as Diocletian provided temporary relief from these problems, but the problems continued to gnaw at the foundations of the empire.

9. How did the Roman peace contribute to the spread of Christianity? • Paul of Tarsus was a Jew who converted to Christianity and became one of the most energetic proselytizers of the new faith. • Paul’s talents and traveling resulted in the founding of many Christian communities in the Mediterranean. • Pax romana brought a unity to the Mediterranean that Christians were able to use for travel and diffusion of the Christian religion. • The unity, relative safety, and ease of contact provided by the Roman dominance of the Mediterranean created a community of peoples, not merely domination. • The Roman world was cosmopolitan, and although Paul was raised in a Greek city, he moved easily between the Greek and Jewish worlds using Roman roads, relying on the Roman peace, and using his Roman citizenship to protect him from the action of local authorities. • Paul is an excellent example of the impact of pax romana and how the Romans created a commonwealth of peoples

10. Why did the Romans expand their empire especially in the Imperial Era? • There are several theories that seek to explain Roman expansion, such as the need to acquire territories as a shield against invaders and the consuls’ desire to win glory before their one-year terms expired. • Rome was at the crossroads of Italy, and Italy was at the crossroads of the Mediterranean basin. • Roman agriculturalists expanded the empire by seeking new land, and fought neighboring pastoralists. • The Romans wisely extended citizenship and its privileges to conquered peoples, incorporating them directly into the growing empire. • Booty from conquests, taxes levied on provinces, and control of the region’s trade brought great wealth, which provided the impetus and the means for further expansion. • Fanning out from their central geographic location, the Romans conquered the Mediterranean area and controlled the commerce and politics within it.

11. Similarities of Han and Rome • A strong comparison appears between the two in their emphasis of the family and the strong loyalties and patriarchal structure of the family units inculcated notions of duty and respect, which was reflected in their larger social structures and political organizations. • Economically, they both used agriculture as the fundamental activity. • Both empires had autocratic emperors that were able to control the power of wealthy families. • Both were extremely large geographic entities that started with a homogenous core and then expanded to encompass a great diversity of peoples and cultures. • Their military organizations depended on the existence of a free peasantry. • Administration was conducted relatively competently by a class of educated civil servants. • Technological improvements, particularly in transportation, created a robust economy. • The local elite adopted the culture of the ruling people and saw their interests as linked to the imperial government.