Han Rome DBQ

The attitudes that the Chinese Han dynasty and the Romans conveyed towards technology depended on the government’s views on technology and also the relationship of the government with its people and laborers, but ultimately it would benefit the people and contribute to the development of society. Technology was vital to a society because it made the decreased work for laborers significantly, as in Documents 3 and 4. Documents 1, 6, and 8 display how, in order for a society to develop, the growth of technology is essential. Document 2 shows how a government’s view on technology can influence whether or not it can be beneficial to society or not. Whether or not technology contributes to society also depends on how the state chooses to utilize it, which is expressed in Documents 5 and 7. The place in the social hierarchy the authors of the documents were from certainly was influential in how the author viewed technology. It was displayed in the tone of the writing whether it showed sympathy towards the people, spoke lowly of the people, or spoke highly of certain people who influenced technology. An additional document portraying a commoner’s attitude toward technology would be helpful to gain a wider view of the affect of technology on society. It would show whether or not the people of a state agreed with their rulers’ views on technology. Although the attitudes toward technology varied between the Han Chinese and the Romans, in the end, technology would be utilized to improve society.
Technology was a way to make labor easier and more efficient. It contributes to society because easier labor allows for more production of food and agriculture. In Document 4, The History of the Early Han Dynasty tells of how Tu Shih, governor of Nanyang at about 31 C.E., was generous towards the commoners hoping to reduce their labor. He would invent a water-powered blowing-engine in order to supply the people with iron tools that would produce more with less labor. In Document 3, Huan Tuan explains how Fuxi invented the pestle and mortar, which would later on be further developed into a way that would increase its efficiency by 10 times. Production would later be increased by a hundred times by implementing the power of domesticated animals and water power. However Fuxi is said to be a mythological wise emperor. This shows the filial piety that existed in Chinese culture because it shows how the people had much respect for those above them, which in this case is Fuxi. The existence of filial piety is the result of a bureaucracy built on Confucian principles.
Technology was also necessary in the development of a society. In most societies, technology was an indicator of how advanced it was. Plutarch was a Greek-born Roman citizen and high official in the first century B.C.E. Plutarch represents a result of Greco-Roman culture. He described the technological ambitions of the second-century B.C.E. Roman political leader Gaius Gracchus, specifically in road building. Gaius Gracchus was a ruler of Rome who made land reforms, breaking up latifundias and powerful families. He also attempted to preserve the republic in Rome. Roads were built throughout the country, and over streams and ravines as bridges. These roads were built with stones and packed sand, precisely detailed with equal and parallel heights on both sides of the roads. He also placed mile markers and stones to help people mount their horses (Document 6). All of these roads would lead to Rome and would play a role in the standardization and bureaucratization of legions in Rome. In Document 8, Frontinus describes the aqueducts in the cities and how they affect the advancement society. Frontinus was a Roman general, the governor of Britain, and water commissioner for Rome during the first century C.E. The water flowed into containers where it filtered out the sediment and then flowed to the city where it was used for public and private uses. The aqueducts provided an ample amount of fresh water for areas in the interior and exterior of the city, to basins, public fountains and buildings, and other public areas. The aqueducts would provide water for Roman baths in cities. These baths were important aspects of the cities, because not only did they provide hot and cold baths, but they also were important centers of sociability. In the early second century B.C.E., a Han government official wrote to local officials about flood prevention. He suggested setting up water conservation offices with experienced staff in each district. This staff would include a high official, a deputy, enough workers, and a chief hydraulic engineer on both sides of the river. There would be inspections on waterways, city and suburban walls, dikes, rivers, canals, pools, government buildings, and cottages. The Han official also suggested having enough workers to do any repair work in each district (Document 1). The state’s control of technology would also limit the advancement of technology. In Document 2, Huan Guan discussed in Discourses on Salt and Iron, in first century B.C.E., how the tools created then were not as high quality or functional as he tools made earlier. The state had monopolized the salt and iron trades allowing it to control the production of tools using convict labor, resulting in low quality tools for workers. This would lead to higher prices for iron and salt, not allowing many commoners and peasants to afford either. Because of the state’s control over the technology, Huan Guan wrote, “Some of the poorest peasants now have no choice but to till the soil with wooden plows and cannot afford salt to season their food.” Before the state took control of iron and salt, tools made by individuals for their own use were much more functional and well-made. Good tools for agriculture was important to Chinese because rice was an important crop of Chinese society.
In Roman society, craftsmanship and skill was more important than just labor with technology. In Document 5, Cicero explains in On Duty how it was considered “vulgar and unbecoming to a gentleman” to take a job for hired workers, “whose labor is purchased rather than their skill.” Cicero was an upper-class Roman political leader in the first century B.C.E. He believed that technology was creating jobs that valued labor rather than skill, which was not a respectable way to make a living then. His view of these “vulgar” occupations may be influenced by the fact that Roman polticians gained much wealth from the labor of slaves and that Rome was Timocratic, meaning that those who had more responsibility, were also the ones who benefitted more. They could benefit because Rome was a plundering system. Rome also had a massive source of slaves in their social hierarchy, which was legitimatized by the founding patrons, who also had slaves. Seneca was and upper-class Roman philosopher and advisor to Emperor Nero in fist century B.C.E. He believed that tools for crafts were not invented by wise men. In Document 7, he explained that these tools “were invented by someone with a mind that was nimble and sharp, but not great or elevated.”
Technology was an important aspect of a developing society at the time of the Han dynasty and the Romans. It greatly improved the production in agriculture and other areas of production. It made the work much more convenient for the people. It provided the Han and the Romans with essential parts to their societies such as water, transportation with roads, and protection from floods. However it is how the state utilizes the technology and how the state defines the role of the people that determines whether or not technology can be beneficial to people and society. Slave labor was valued in Rome which somewhat discouraged the growth of technology. Since Han China did not value slave labor as Rome did, it had greater technological growth and thrived more than the Romans. The Han dynasty in China was actually linked to the golden age of China. The technological legacies of these two cultures have still proven to improve the lives of peoples by suggesting new techniques, ideas, and innovations.