Re: THE CARE AND FEEDING OF EMPIRES. -- Early World History, Level I

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Date Posted: 19:54:02 05/08/02 Wed
Author: Ryan Maclachlan
Subject: Re: THE CARE AND FEEDING OF EMPIRES.
In reply to: J CURBOY 's message, "THE CARE AND FEEDING OF EMPIRES." on 11:52:20 04/24/02 Wed

>TOPIC 6
> May 8, 2002
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty lasted longer than any other Chinese Dynasty in the Modern Era at four hundred years from 206 B.C. to 220 A.D. Liu Pang, a peasant farmer who overthrew the existing government of the Qin Dynasty, founded the Han Dynasty. The Qin Dynasty oppressed the people and destroyed many earlier teachings. This dynasty had a seventeen year interruption with the Wang Mang which, broke the empire up briefly. The Han Dynasty is broken up into two periods, the Western or Former Han (206 B.C. to 9 A.D.) and the Eastern or Later Han (25 to 220 A.D.). The Hans lived during the same period as Jesus Christ and the Roman Empire. The Chinese civilization on the whole became more advanced than Europe during this period with the many useful and ingenious inventions and ideas.
Liu Pang became Emperor Gaozu with his capital city of Chang�an which means peace. As expected the Han Dynasty lived up to the meaning of its capital city and is known in latin as Pax Sinica, or Chinese Peace � similar to Pax Romana with the Romans. Gaozu abandoned many of the severe and oppressive laws of the Qin, an empire that lasted fifteen years. He decided to enact human policies like sharply decreasing taxes, rents and corvee (giving unpaid labor to a feudal lord). He disbanded a majority of the army in order to have more people working in the fields for the economic turnaround. In addition, during his rule from 202 B.C. to 195 B.C., he released all slaves. Furthermore he restricted the takeover of the peasants by the merchant class. All in all, he enacted a far more laissez-faire style of government. The following Emperors Wen and Jing continued the precedent set by Emperor Gaozu and lowered the taxes and corvee even further. Emperor Jing also brought more power to the central government and taking it away from the fiefsdoms, which lead to a rebellion. This rebellion, :Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms� was quelled and the emperor continued in his power diversion. Due to the peace of the Chinese at the time, population, industry and commerce flourished. This was the beginning of what might be called the Chinese Renaissance.
The greatest emperor of the Han Dynasty was Emperor Wu-ti who reigned from 141 B.C. to 87 B.C. Wu-ti eliminated many fiefdoms and thereby increased the power of the central government, in which he gave dictatorial control to the emperor, himself. However, he was known for his cultural reform in promoting and requiring the philosophy of Confucianism. He encouraged the studying of five Confucian volumes, the Shijing (Book of Poetry), the Shujing (Book of History), the Liji (Book of Rites), the Yijing (Book of Changes) and the Chunqiu (the Spring and Autumn Annals). Confucianism mainly concerns itself with principles of good conduct, practical wisdom, and social relationships � similar to a religion, but was never adopted as one partly due to the lack of divinity in any of its topics. He developed schools for students to attend to study Confucianism with in excess of thirty thousand students attending. He also selected members of the government to help by merit in ordinance with the writings of Confucius, as opposed to the European method of birth. Emperor Wu also created a national coinage and created a heavy tax on the merchants. He also made monopolies on iron, salt, and liquor which all created revenue for the Imperial Court. They also developed highly advanced iron tools and weapons for agricultural and military purposes. After several confrontations with the Xiongnu, a tribe that lived in North China, Wu sent three campaigns to drive them back into a non-threatening area. Successfully sending them off north of Gobi. He built the famous Great Wall as a blockade against any invasions against this tribe. He also made allies with the Zhangqian to the West and established a trade route with Europe called the Silk Road. The Silk Road was named for many of the products that the Europeans ended up receiving for their trading. This made the economy of the Hans even more extensive. Emperor Wu extended the empire�s influence over Vietnam, Central Asia, Mongolia, and Korea. Buddhist influence had arrived from India and became an important second philosophy/religion, second to the mandatory Confucianism.
However, less successful emperors followed the amazing Emperor Wu-ti and caused the Imperial Treasury to be drained further and further until the need for tax hikes to begin. The foolish emperors didn�t slowly hike taxes, but waited till the hike was absolutely necessary and ran everyone in China broke. As a result, rebellions began and a Confucian scholar Wang Mang led the rebels who overtook the Former Han Dynasty.
In 17 A.D. widespread rebellion broke out, and in 23 A.D. Wang Mang was killed by rebel forces who disapproved of his rule. Two years later in 25 A.D., Liuxiu of the Han imperial family re-established the Han Dynasty after a seventeen year absence.
This started the more scientifically outstanding of the two periods of the Han Dynasty. The Eastern Han Dynasty lasted 195 years from 25 A.D. to 220 A.D. with twelve residing emperors. The first emperor was Emperor Guangwu (Liuxiu) who reunified the country and started the Later Han Dynasty. He tried to jump start the poverty stricken China by lowering taxes, abolishing inapposite laws and enacting a series of laws to release slaves. He also ordered irrigation systems, which resulted in a quick agricultural recovery. He emphasized the education of Confucianism as his forefather Emperor Wu-ti had.
Although Emperor He who ruled from 88 A.D. to 106 A.D. was a mediocre emperor, China flourished much like the Roman Empire did under similar leadership. He revoked the monopolies the government had on salt and iron. He also encouraged bronze metallurgy and the textile industry. China�s trade reached new heights under his leadership. In addition, literature increased with the modifications of the Chinese language increasing from three thousand characters to around nine thousand. The first dictionary in the history of the world was produced in China in 100 A.D. Other devices like a seismograph, wheelbarrow, and foot stirrups were all invented during this rule. Tea was also introduced to the Chinese in this time. The first history book was made by Bangu called the History of the Former Han Dynasty. Pottery made its way into the lives of ordinary people in addition to the nobility. A man by the name of Ts�ai Lun in the year 105 A.D. invented one of the most practical and frequently used communication aids ever devised, paper. Ts�ai Lun had created the first cost-effective material for containing written language � everything previous to paper was very expensive or difficult to make. In addition, the sundial, water clocks, and a calender of about 365 days were created thanks to Chinese astronomers, who also mapped the path of the moon and location of the stars. Another advanced civilization of the Mayan would not create a calender for at least another half a millennium. In addition, movable type allowed books to be printed with great ease on the newly developed paper. Trade was also flourishing with Europe and the Silk Road. The Hans gave the Europeans silk, and in return received glass, jade horses, precious stones, and fabrics. This beautiful empire would eventually crumble due to invasion from outside forces like the Huangjin (Yellow Turbans) and the turmoil within the government itself. In 220 A.D. Emperor Xian was formally removed from office and replaced by Caopi who founded the Wei Dynasty which split China into three kingdoms.
The Hans were able to conquer the opposition with relative ease due to their development of iron weapons, rolling ladders, and stone throwers. Another special tactic that the Hans had created is the only man-made object visible from space, the Great Wall. The iron weapons consisted mainly of broadswords, swords, and spears.
China is in southeastern Asia and is known for fertile terrain with some of the longest rivers in the world flowing from the Himalayan Mountains like the Yangtze River which formed the southern boundary of the Han Dynasty for most of its existence.
Overall, the Han Dynasty was a period of peace, with technological achievements that the western world would not see for several hundreds of years. The prosperity of the Hans is truly a feat that signifies great leadership like Wu-ti, Liuxiu, and Gaozu. It would not be an understatement to call the Han Dynasty the Dynasty of the Chinese Renaissance.

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[> Re: THE CARE AND FEEDING OF EMPIRES. -- Marie Grunbeck, 09:11:40 05/09/02 Thu

The Dutch Empire
By Marie Grunbeck

The Dutch Empire was established as independent provinces in 1581. The Netherlands, also called the Low Countries, is located in Western Europe, and is bordered by the North Sea, Belgium, and Germany. The Low Countries were made up of 17 provinces and were part of the Holy Roman empire beginning in 1482, which was ruled by Philip of Burgundy. When Philip died in 1506, the provinces were passed on to his son, Charles. When Charles became the king of Spain in 1516, the Netherlands became part of Spanish rule. Charles�s son, Philip II, wanted the people of the northern provinces to follow the Roman Catholic religion. However, they were Protestants, and refused to convert to Catechism.

Philip II tried to persuade the Protestants from the seven northern provinces to give up their religion by terrorism. However, the reluctant people were not ready to give up their Protestant faith. So from 1568 to 1581, William of Orange, a protestant, led a series of revolts against Philip II. Finally, in 1581, the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands declared independence from Spain. They became the Republic of the United Netherlands, and elected William of Orange as their ruler.

The Netherlands in 1543

The newly declared empire almost immediately went into a �Golden Age�, during which time they flourished and became wealthy. Amsterdam became the main city and was home to many affluent merchants and bankers. With the end of Spanish rule, Dutch art also began to thrive. Since the upper class was becoming wealthy, they now had the money to buy paintings from prominent artists such as Rembrandt and Jan Vermeer.

Although many aspects of Dutch life, such as seafaring, fishing, and finance, influenced the wealth of the empire, the most important addition to their wealth came from trade. Starting in 1599, the Dutch began to take control of the Moluccas, from the Portuguese. In 1602, the Dutch East India Company was set up to support more trade with the islands in the East Indies. The company increased trade so much that in 1621, the Dutch West India Company was also established to increase trade in the west, with places such as the islands in the Caribbean, South America�s mainland, and islands off the coast of Venezuela and Brazil. Some of the items that were traded by the two companies were slaves, tobacco, sugar, coffee, tea, cinnamon, cloves, and other spices.

Dutch Empire and Trade Routes

With the two companies set up, the Dutch empire was able to trade with nations all across the world, and this not only gained them wealth, but also gave them something that no other nation had � �the largest commercial enterprise in the world�. Although this brought a lot of affluence to the Dutch, it also contributed to their downfall. From 1651 to 1674 the Netherlands and England engaged in three wars over trade. This was because England was jealous of the wealth that the Dutch had. Then, in 1689, the Dutch King, William III of Orange and his wife, who was the daughter of the King of England, were offered the English throne. Soon after this, the Dutch Empire began to decline because England became more powerful.

One interesting fact about Dutch art and agriculture is the people�s attraction with tulips. In the beginning of the 1600s, tulips were scarce in the Netherlands. However, when they were introduced to the Netherlands in 1593 they almost instantly became part of their culture. The tulips �fascinated artists as a result of their beauty and as a symbol of luxury�. Many Dutch artists began to use tulips and other flowers in their paintings. Within each painting, the most important flower was the tulip.

Bouquet of Flowers
By Ambrosius Boschaert

Still Life With Flowers
By Hans Bollongier

The Dutch Empire was in power from 1581 and flourished until its slow decline to England, which started in 1689. The results of the Dutch Empire were the great trading enterprises � the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company. Without the existence of the Dutch Empire, the world would probably have never been introduced to such a large network of trade systems around the world as the Dutch gave them. Therefore, without the Dutch Empire, the world would not have been able to gain wealth, transport goods throughout the world, or have ties with other places around the world that were not close to them.

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