Han Dynasty and Mauryan/Gupta Dynasties

Han Dynasty (China) vs. Mauryan/Gupta Dynasties (India) The Han Dynasty lasted from 206 BCE – 220 BCE, and was in China. The Mauryan and Gupta Dynasty lasted from 322 BCE – 500 CE, and were in India. The Mauryan Dynasty ended by 185 BCE. The Gupta Dynasty started in 320 CE. In my essay I am going to be comparing and contrasting the 3 dynasty’s (2 of them as 1), and their control through religion, trade, male dominance, and how they fell. The Han Dynasty controlled their empire through Confucianism. One of the emperor’s, Han Wudi, established an Imperial University.

Confucianism was the official course of study. If you wanted to become part of the government you had to have “graduated” from the University. Any person from an social class could go to the University. Going to the University actually could bump you up to a better social class. Most of the emperors of the Han Dynasty ruled through Confucians teachings: Ren, Li, and Xiao. While the Gupta Dynasty went through a few religions; Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. They mostly used Buddhism and Jainism to control the empire. Both religions had many restraints on what you could and could not do.

Jainism didn’t believe that women could go through the spiritual process unless they were reborn male. I don’t understand why in history women were always looked down upon, and weren’t allowed to do what males can do. They had different religions, but the same purpose. China’s one main trade was silk. Everyone wanted China’s silk because it was the best; plain and simple. Even if you tried to duplicate their stitching, it wasn’t as good. China was extremely secretive on how they created silk, and made items out of it. They were the only culture at the time who knew how to take care of the silk worms.

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Even if outsiders were able to sneak one out of the country, the worm died soon because they didn’t know the proper way to take of it. China only traded with villages outside their wall. India on the other hand traded across the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and the Mediterranean. Their trade schedule depended on the monsoon winds. They traded from Asia to Persia. If you were born a Vaishyas you were a merchant/ trader. The social class you were born into decided what you did for a living. Male dominance; the only subject you can ever get me extremely wound up about.

If I had lived during the time period of male dominance I would have been a very disobedient woman. In China according to Confucius, women were only around to serve their husbands and take care of the children. They were also not granted a proper education and most of them couldn’t read or write. Their duty was to be a good little house wife. In India arranged marriage was common. Father’s paid another family to have their son marry his daughter. The daughter could be eight years old, while the man she was married to was twenty. I think that’s just wrong and disgusting. The Han Dynasty fell because of a rebellion.

The people were tired of the tax raises. They didn’t like that they were forced to help build the Great Wall. They definitely didn’t like the property policies; having their land easily taken from them and given to someone richer. The Mauryan Dynasty fell because they kept devaluing the currency; making everything too expensive and it cause inflation. The Gupta Dynasty fell because it was continuously invaded by the White Hun’s. It disintegrated along regional fault lines. After the Gupta Dynasty fell smaller kingdoms were created and dominated India until the Mughal Empire.

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