Period 5
Han vs Rome, Attitudes of Technology
The Han and Romans were both huge forces in world history; technology and technological advances were both huge driving factors in the way their empires advanced. The Romans and Han had similar views on how important water technology was, and how it was vital to have a successful country, but the Romans certainly did not think the same way as the Han did about who the inventors should be, but they had similar opinions on how they glorified themselves as an empire. Water is a necessity and always has been, dating all the way back to the Han and Roman empire. Both the Romans and the Han knew that water technology is important to keeping a sustainable empire. Time after time, the most …show more content…
Inventors are needed in a society so that the empire can stay up to date with the newest and most vital technological advances, and so the empire can stay rolling at full force. Both Rome and the Han had revolutionary technology from acupuncture to the greatest roads on earth, but they believed this technology should be discovered from two very different groups of people. The Han believed that technology should be created by high government officials, or those of the upper class. As mentioned in Document 4, the Governor of Nanyang, Tu Shih, invented the water powered blowing engine, which was widely adopted and used in modern history. While it is worth stating that this document comes from government-sponsored history, and may be bias, it still reveals that the Han showed pride in their technological inventions being discovered by upper class citizens. An additional document from peasant inventors would be helpful to show if they also had a role in discovering technology in Han. While the Han viewed technological discoveries as noble work, the Romans had an opposite approach according to the documents given. In Document 5, Cicero, an upper-class Roman political leader continuously states that craftsmen are paid for labor rather than skill, and that it is a job suited for a vulgar or unbecoming gentleman. This shows …show more content…
Both empires were very prideful of their technology and how it has shaped their empires to be as successful as they were. In Document 6, Plutarch, a Greek-born Roman high official describes in detail the grace and beauty in which their road system was placed across the country. He describes the great deal of technology put into the road system and shows how important this basic technology was in creating a roadway that was vital to their empires success. The Han had a similar idea, that showed how technological advances were at the heart of their empire. In Document 2, a Han government official describes how the creating of tools manufactured by small families were often well manufactured, but when mass production took place, the tools often became brittle and hard to work with. This shows that the Han government prided themselves in small production done within their country. Technology was at the heart of both empires, which was respectable because both empires where huge technological engineers. However, an additional document from the point of view of a peasant would be helpful, to show if the technology was really that big of a deal to