China Athens DBQ

Coral Feldman
Mr. Bochnak
World Studies--Period 2
10/17/14
The Better Civilization “Fathers cover up for their sons, and sons cover up for their fathers…” Confucius on the Individual and State. Soon after the time of Confucius, two incredible civilizations rose: classical Athens in the West, and Han China in the East. In Classical Athens, around 470- 430 BCE, they had the first democratic government, the basis for the political systems of many powerful countries today. In the East, around 202 BCE- 220 CE the people of Han China accomplished great architectural projects such as the Great Wall of China, and the Terracotta Army. These two civilizations had two very different mindsets. In Athens they focused on what the individual could do to show loyalty to the city, while in China they focused more on loyalty to the family. Therefore, Han China had the better civilization because they held respect for their elders in higher regard than politics; they had the more efficient political system; and they respected nature and recognized that the Earth controlled them. The Chinese held family and those of their own blood in a higher priority than anything else. Confucius made it clear that even in the event that a family member disobeys the law, their family members would not testify against them: “‘Fathers cover up for their sons, and sons cover up for their fathers.’” (Document J) Loyalty to your family is important in a civilization because then they all have a mutual respect and trust for each other. They know that they can depend on each other in times of need. In Athens they enforced that in an assembly, “everybody is equal before law” (Document D). Later in the Document Pericles writes: “In public affairs, we take great care not to break the laws because of the deep respect we have for them.” This implies that the ancient Athenians had greater respect for the law than for their own family, the men and women that raised them. In Document N it says “A Greek child grew up in an enchanting world - if he survived the first fortnight...Her task was to provide a life free of sorrow, fear and pain in the first three years, and full of sports and amusements in the next three.” This depicts the fact that the woman was a complete slave to her child so that child could be useful to the state. This combined with their greater respect for the law suggests that they worked for the state and very little for themselves. In Han China they had a greater respect for themselves and their family.
China may not have had as much representation of the people, but China’s political systems accomplished more without being a complete tyranny. China’s political system consisted of different dynasties. Each dynasty represented the rule of one family/ last name. Even though there were no polls the Chinese still had the Mandate of Heaven: “When Shun was put in charge of affairs, they were kept in order and the people were content. This showed that the people accepted him...Heaven sees with the eyes of its people. Heaven hears with the ears of its people.’”(Document F). The Chinese did have a way of controlling who ruled them. This form of government wouldn’t be ruined if bias was included, which it inevitably was. In Athens the people ruled themselves. This seems like a more ideal way to rule, and eliminate bias, but ultimately the bias bled through. “The composition of the Prytany changed 10 times a year, and its chairmanship...changed every day. In theory no one remained in power long enough to entrench himself. But in reality this opportunity was open to one class of men: the 10 generals of the armed forces…” (Document E). The Athens system of government was made to exclude bias. If there was bias, which is inevitable, the general principle of the assembly would be lost. China’s government system was better because it had a way of letting the people chose, and at the same time allowed the ruler to get done what he wanted to do. Chinese government also completed enormous projects such as the Great Wall of China. The Athenians may have had a great military, but they didn’t have a wall that separated the whole north side of their city-state.
In Athens in order to be a “good citizen” you had to be interested and educated in politics, and you had to abide strictly by the law. Accord to Pericles, “each individual is interested not only in his own affairs but in the affairs of the state as well…we do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.” (Document H). This suggests that every citizen included in the assembly had to be an active member. To not be one would almost be an insult to the others. The people of Han China had no such requirements: “He worked hard and devoted all his attention to his remaining parent.” (Document P). One of the things most highly valued by the Chinese were respect to your elders, and people in general. In order to meet the standards of a good citizen one only needed to respect each other.
The Chinese recognized that the human race was only a small part of the world where as the Athenians thought that “nothing was more wonderful than man” (Document K). Document L is a painting by Ch’iu Ying. The painting is of a landscape of mountains, trees, and a small lake. There are humans in the painting too, but they are so small that if somebody was to merely glance at the painting, they wouldn’t notice the humans. This shows that the Chinese viewed nature as more important than man power. They believed that they should give back to their surroundings. At the bottom of the painting there is a quote: “Each separate being in the universe returns to the common source. Returning to the source is serenity.” (Document L). This enforces the claim that the Chinese were very emphatic about becoming one with nature. Document K is a painting of a Greek discus thrower. At the bottom there is a quote from Sophocles “The world is full of wonders but nothing is more wonderful than man.” The Athenians thought that men were the center of the world. The Chinese civilization realized that they needed to respect nature and use it to its fullest capacity.
Han China was a wise civilization that recognized the beauty of respect, and nature. And even though many view a democracy as a better form of government than a monarchy, the people of China did have an influence on who was their monarch otherwise known as the Mandate of Heaven. This information matters because without either of these civilizations our world today would be completely different, but the Chinese would made a bigger difference. While Athens ultimately conjured a form of government that ultimately doesn’t work, Han China gave us a culture that demands respect, and efficiency.