Comparing Romeand Han Dynasty

3 Pages 684 Words

"The period between 200 BC and 200 AD was a fascinating period in the world’s history. During this time several legendary figures walked the earth. People like Jesus Christ, Julius Caesar, and Cleopatra. Great empires like the Roman Empire (27 BC to 5th century AD) in the west and the Han Dynasty (202 BC to 220 AD) in the east ruled over vast sections of the world population. The impact and legacy of these two empires on world history are undeniable.

When Wang Mang tried to create a new dynasty, the Hsin ("New") dynasty, from within the Han dynasty, his central concern was addressing the severe inequities in wealth and property that had grown up between the classes in China. He would have succeeded had not his military been weak and had not nature, and the Hsiung Nu, conspired to create widespread starvation and dissatisfaction. When Wang Mang was executed in 23 AD by the peasant group, the Red Eyebrows, there were no strong candidates to assume the awful burden of taking over the massive Chinese imperial government. For two years, from 23 to 25 AD, various factions fought among themselves until, in 25 AD, a wealthy landowner led a rebel army and seized the government. Since he was related to the Han imperial house, he declared the Han dynasty restored.

However, a pattern of history seems to have been set by the former Han. Beginning auspiciously with agrarian reforms, the former Han redistributed wealth and solved a rising agrarian crisis that had been building since the Chou period. Soon, however, the government grew weak and economic power shifted to wealthy landowners at the expense of the peasantry. The agrarian crisis caused by these inequities led to the rise of a peasant revolt, the Red Eyebrows, which overthrew the Han government. The same pattern would be repeated with astonishing precision in the later Han dynasty as well.


As in the Former Han, a strong centralized government was restored and powerful...