Han China Book Report
Han China Tourist Journal
Last year I had quite an adventure. I wanted to visit Han China but I couldn’t because the Han Dynasty was overthrown nearly 2000 years ago, in the year 220 CE. My solution was to build a time machine. I would tell you how I built it, but I won’t since you might use it to kill your grandfather and mess up reality. Anyways, I went back to the year 100 BCE during the reign of Han Wudi. I went back to this year because under Han Wudi the Han dynasty reached its peak, and I wanted to see the Han China when it was a glorious empire. When I arrived in China the first thing I noticed was a group of Chinese boys playing a sport that looked somewhat similar to a game of soccer. I asked one of them what they were playing …show more content…
and he said it was called cuju. When I asked him what the rules of the game were, he responded 漢字漢字漢字漢字, so I moved on to see other sites in China.
As I was walking through the neighborhoods in china I noticed that there were distinct social classes.
I saw slaves, merchants, artisans, and peasants. What surprises me most about the chinese class system is that the peasants are ranked above the merchants, which is unlike any other civilization at the time. This was not clear by looking at them, because some merchants were quite rich, but I know that they were a lower caste than peasants by reading chinese records written on bamboo scrolls. I also wanted to find out what the status of women in chinese society was, so I visited the homes of chinese families. I noticed that women were considered inferior to men and had to obey their husband and brother but not their sons. Another thing I noticed about the position of women in han china was that despite being considered inferior, they held respectable occupations and some even worked on the family’s farm.
The place I was most eager to visit was the great wall of China. I didn’t know where the great wall of china was, but I figured i could get to it by traveling along the silk roads. When I arrived at the silk roads I was surprised to see so many people of different nationalities .There were Greeks,Indians, romans, egyptians, and even British merchants all trading on the silk roads. I saw them trading numerous products such as silk, wine, furs, and spices. Most of the traders went in large groups because smaller groups were easy targets for
bandits.
Off into the distance I saw the great wall and it was even bigger than I had imagined. As I got closer I was forced to turn back by the chinese military. They told me that the great wall was still under construction and being expanded. Since I really wanted to see the great wall, I decided that I would get back in my time machine and go to the wall at a different date.
I got back in my time machine and went to 202 BC. By the time I realized that this was the year when liu bang revolted against the qin dynasty, it was too late. I saw liu bang with a large army of peasants marching towards the chinese capital, Xianyang. I also saw xiang yu’s army marching towards it too. My time machine and I were stuck right in the middle of the fighting, and my time machine got destroyed. I quickly ran as far away as I could.
Pax Romana Tourist Journal
After running from China, I decided to take a tour of Rome while my time machine was being fixed, When I arrived in Rome the first thing I did was went to a colloseum to see a gladiator show. I noticed that the colosseum was made of arches, which was a common form of architecture during the pax romana,When I got in the colosseum they were in the middle of a fight between two lions. Afterwards I got to witness the execution of a criminal who committed a capital crime. Finally, in the afternoon I got to see the part I wanted to see: physical fights between gladiators. It was quite an experience to witness one of ancient rome’s most renowned forms of entertainment, though it was rather brutal. In fact, it was so brutal that I decided to go to the Roman senate to protest, but since I was not a Roman citizen I was promptly shown the door .
My next stop in Rome was to visit the parthenon, which was one of rome’s greatest temples. Inside the temple I saw people worshiping every one of the Roman Pagan gods which perplexed me because most temples were dedicated to one specific god. While in the temple I saw women, which made wonder if roman women had equal rights during the Pax Romana. After asking several women what rights they had in rome, I came to the conclusion that although they had little legal rights, they were much more respected than they were in Han China.
After I left the pantheon I went to take a walk along the coast of the mediterranean sea. I noticed that the mediterranean sea was used heavily for trading purposes. The trading ships were usually accompanied by a roman navy ship to prevent piracy. Another thing I saw during my walk down the coastline was that the land by the sea was fertile and good for growing grains. Seeing the grains reminded me of my hunger, so I went back to Rome to buy some food. On my way back I was fantasizing about how ancient Roman food tastes, but then it hit me that I did not have any money. When I asked a roman if I could borrow some money from him he told me that the only way I can get money is by selling myself as a slave. I agreed, even though that would make me the lowest social class in rome, under freedmen, plebeians, and patricians. The good news about this though, is that I will be able to regain my freedom if I fight as a gladiator in the colosseum!
Last year I had quite an adventure. I wanted to visit Han China but I couldn’t because the Han Dynasty was overthrown nearly 2000 years ago, in the year 220 CE. My solution was to build a time machine. I would tell you how I built it, but I won’t since you might use it to kill your grandfather and mess up reality. Anyways, I went back to the year 100 BCE during the reign of Han Wudi. I went back to this year because under Han Wudi the Han dynasty reached its peak, and I wanted to see the Han China when it was a glorious empire. When I arrived in China the first thing I noticed was a group of Chinese boys playing a sport that looked somewhat similar to a game of soccer. I asked one of them what they were playing …show more content…
and he said it was called cuju. When I asked him what the rules of the game were, he responded 漢字漢字漢字漢字, so I moved on to see other sites in China.
As I was walking through the neighborhoods in china I noticed that there were distinct social classes.
I saw slaves, merchants, artisans, and peasants. What surprises me most about the chinese class system is that the peasants are ranked above the merchants, which is unlike any other civilization at the time. This was not clear by looking at them, because some merchants were quite rich, but I know that they were a lower caste than peasants by reading chinese records written on bamboo scrolls. I also wanted to find out what the status of women in chinese society was, so I visited the homes of chinese families. I noticed that women were considered inferior to men and had to obey their husband and brother but not their sons. Another thing I noticed about the position of women in han china was that despite being considered inferior, they held respectable occupations and some even worked on the family’s farm.
The place I was most eager to visit was the great wall of China. I didn’t know where the great wall of china was, but I figured i could get to it by traveling along the silk roads. When I arrived at the silk roads I was surprised to see so many people of different nationalities .There were Greeks,Indians, romans, egyptians, and even British merchants all trading on the silk roads. I saw them trading numerous products such as silk, wine, furs, and spices. Most of the traders went in large groups because smaller groups were easy targets for
bandits.
Off into the distance I saw the great wall and it was even bigger than I had imagined. As I got closer I was forced to turn back by the chinese military. They told me that the great wall was still under construction and being expanded. Since I really wanted to see the great wall, I decided that I would get back in my time machine and go to the wall at a different date.
I got back in my time machine and went to 202 BC. By the time I realized that this was the year when liu bang revolted against the qin dynasty, it was too late. I saw liu bang with a large army of peasants marching towards the chinese capital, Xianyang. I also saw xiang yu’s army marching towards it too. My time machine and I were stuck right in the middle of the fighting, and my time machine got destroyed. I quickly ran as far away as I could.
Pax Romana Tourist Journal
After running from China, I decided to take a tour of Rome while my time machine was being fixed, When I arrived in Rome the first thing I did was went to a colloseum to see a gladiator show. I noticed that the colosseum was made of arches, which was a common form of architecture during the pax romana,When I got in the colosseum they were in the middle of a fight between two lions. Afterwards I got to witness the execution of a criminal who committed a capital crime. Finally, in the afternoon I got to see the part I wanted to see: physical fights between gladiators. It was quite an experience to witness one of ancient rome’s most renowned forms of entertainment, though it was rather brutal. In fact, it was so brutal that I decided to go to the Roman senate to protest, but since I was not a Roman citizen I was promptly shown the door .
My next stop in Rome was to visit the parthenon, which was one of rome’s greatest temples. Inside the temple I saw people worshiping every one of the Roman Pagan gods which perplexed me because most temples were dedicated to one specific god. While in the temple I saw women, which made wonder if roman women had equal rights during the Pax Romana. After asking several women what rights they had in rome, I came to the conclusion that although they had little legal rights, they were much more respected than they were in Han China.
After I left the pantheon I went to take a walk along the coast of the mediterranean sea. I noticed that the mediterranean sea was used heavily for trading purposes. The trading ships were usually accompanied by a roman navy ship to prevent piracy. Another thing I saw during my walk down the coastline was that the land by the sea was fertile and good for growing grains. Seeing the grains reminded me of my hunger, so I went back to Rome to buy some food. On my way back I was fantasizing about how ancient Roman food tastes, but then it hit me that I did not have any money. When I asked a roman if I could borrow some money from him he told me that the only way I can get money is by selling myself as a slave. I agreed, even though that would make me the lowest social class in rome, under freedmen, plebeians, and patricians. The good news about this though, is that I will be able to regain my freedom if I fight as a gladiator in the colosseum!