Comparative Analysis Of Qin And Han Dynasties

In the notorious Qin and Han dynasties of ancient China, social structure was the foundation of the two early civilizations. Social structure determined what role you had in society, if you had social mobility, and how one person could have more benefits than another. The two dynasties had drastically different ways of social structure from ranging from the Qin dynasty having ran their government with more rules and a lot stricter than the Han.

In the Qin and Han dynasties, each person had a role in society from emperor to merchant and what it said about how much power you had. The two dynasties had the emperors who governed the country, followed by the people who trusted his rules. August, Emperor of the Qin dynasty used Penal Servitude to create order in the social classes. He struck fear into the people by having strict and abusive laws for those dared to hurt the Qin dynasty in any way. “People were rewarded for denouncing those who broke the law, and lawbreakers, once convicted, were punished severely by execution, mutilation, or penal labor” This was a scary time period to be living in because a person could make one false move and they would be killed. As shown this allowed Qin to rule the population from a single authority and proved to be an effective way to govern. Anyone who protested Qin's power was quickly put to labor or killed off. “The Qin had abolished the enfeoffment system in one sweeping stroke, yet it arose again among the followers and family of the founder of the Han, whose successors had to set about quietly and patiently whittling away at feudal rights and holdings until they were finally and for all time reduced to an empty formality”. The Qin dynasty couldn’t keep away from the enfeoffment system for long so it was a dynasty based off of class systems for a very long time. In addition to social structure the Han and Qin dynasty had a chance of social mobility in their dynasty. The best portion about it was it didn't matter what social class you came from both gave an equal chance to move up in the ladder. In the Qin dynasty you could use your dedication to the army to kill as many invaders to move up in social class. Also in the Qin dynasty, you could move down the social class, as shown “In exchanged for two degrees of aristocratic rank a person may free a Father or Mother who has been made a convict servant” Basically allowing the upper class to go down the social ladder for a trade- off for a family member who is a servant. This also impacted the leveling out of the social classes as many upper class family members would take this bargain in exchange to be like the majority.

In the Han dynasty, filial piety was a rule that Confucius presented that at a young age you should respect your parents and other adults around you. This wasn’t the main motive for Confucius, but to set up a virtue of respect for the government and emperor. It was shown in the Han dynasty that “In serving his parents a filial son renders the utmost reverence to them while at home. When they are sick he takes every care. At their death he expresses all his grief. Then he sacrifices to them with full solemnity. If he has fulfilled these five requirements, then he is truly able to serve his parents. He who really loves his parents will not be proud in high position.” This showed during the Han dynasty that the emperor not only wanted the young to respect your parents, but to be there for their every need. If the young did not follow filial piety the whole family was affected by that one person and was shown to have a bad reputation in society. “The proper relation between father and son is a part of nature and forms the principles which regulate the conduct of rulers and ministers. Parents give life – no tie is stronger than this. Rulers personally watch over the people- no care is greater than this. Therefore to love others without first loving one’s parents is to reject virtue.” In the Han dynasty it had a lot to do with your wealth, but if you had good scores you may have gotten a chance to be an official in the government. “Education in China was always very male-oriented, but women’s roles in households, especially those of the ruling elite and the imperial family, were of such importance that much attention was given to their training for family roles and responsibilities. Moreover, since women played a key role in the early education of the young, it was essential for mothers and their female surrogates (grandmothers, aunts, older sisters) to achieve a mastery of the classical texts and primers that they taught to the young males before the latter went off to school.” In the Han dynasty Emperor Wudi was offering anybody who would dedicate their time into studying Confucianism and were highly intelligent could land a job in the government rather than nobles. The only problem was that so few could get that far through the exams, so it did not help many move up in social mobility.

The benefits of each social class varied in each dynasty and how the emperor acted on it, but were relatively similar in a way. In the Han dynasty the upper class were educated and the wealthy, with most of them owning land and with ⅔ of his friends getting the land in exchange for their loyalty. Liu Bang wanted “To ensure the loyalty of his comrades and supporters, Liu Bang was obliged to hand out titles and fiefs to them as his conquests advanced”. Liu Bang needed people who he trusted in and in exchange for his trust he would give them a portion of land. This gave tremendous power to the generals and reinstatined nobles, but with Liu Bang refusing the throne the landowners turned against each other. The middle class consisted of skilled labors who lived a comfortable life. The lowest class was the craftsman and merchants, shockingly put lower then the peasants because they would trade with barbarians. In comparison to the Qin dynasty which Emperor Shi Huangdi abolished noble ranks were stripped so that no upper class power can overrule him. The farmers and peasants who built his empire were brutally abused.

The Qin and Han dynasties went through many experimental time periods trying out new forms of government and ways to run their dynasties. The Qin and Han had two drastically different social structures because they were learning from each other.