Why Do Chinese Dynasties Last So Long

Test Essay

When observing Chinese dynasties today, it is seen that all the dynasties combined have lasted around 4000 years, from the Xia to the Qing, but how did each individual dynasty truly last so long? There were three major factors that led to lengthy Chinese dynasties. First of all, the Chinese dynasties’ trade and its evolution led to the wealth of several Chinese dynasties, enabling longer rule. The political innovations and structures created and adapted by the Chinese were effective, and led to more efficient ruling, lengthening the lifespan of the dynasties. Finally, the many intellectual creations and innovations produced by several dynasties led to easier life and increased stability, enabling the dynasty to last longer. The
economy and trade of the Han and Tang, the political structures of the Han, and the intellectual creations of the Han and Song, led to dynasties lasting for so long.

During the later Chinese dynasties such as the Han and Tang, the trading evolved and the manufacturing increased. Previously, during the early Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Chinese people only traded internally. However, in the late dynasties, due to foreign contact, the Chinese became more eager towards outside trade. During the Han Dynasty, the Chinese realized how valuable the silk they made was. The government owned huge silk mills, which competed with the private silk weavers. After the silk was created, there was a worldwide demand for it, and so the Chinese began to trade along the Silk Roads, and the silk they sold all over Asia and India, traveled all the way to Persia and eventually Rome. This increase in trade and commerce led to Chinese dynasties lasting longer due to the benefits they provided the government and people. The government became rich off the silk mills, and thus could use the money in order to improve the dynasty, or specifically the government itself, which would work quickly and more efficiently, lengthening the dynasty’s life. In addition, the merchants would get rich off the silk, and then be able to live happily and in a good condition, diminishing protest or revolt, causing less conflict in the dynasty, and thus enabling it to stay in power for a longer period of time. During the Tang and Song dynasties, foreign trade continued to flourish, but a different kind of trade increased, sea trade. Thanks to new technology such as magnetic compasses, sea trade became more popular, and using it, the Chinese traded goods with Korea, Japan, India, and even Africa. This made dynasties last longer for the same reason the increased trade did, it would lead to happier people, less revolts and anger, and longer dynasties.

The Han adopted and modified the political structures of the Qin, and then created their own new bureaucracy, which continued on to the Tang, and helped the dynasties last longer.
Liu Bang, founder of the Han Dynasty, adopted the centralized government that Shi Huangdi had put in place, where a central authority runs the state. Furthermore, Bang placed commanderies to report to the government. Finally, he lowered taxes and decreased the harshness of punishments put by Huangdi. The centralized government and commanderies enabled the Han to last longer because there was no longer just a dynasty king, but an entire centralized government, working more efficiently, to run the dynasty. Also, the commanderies were useful because they would probably report any suspicious activity or keep an eye on officials, keeping the government aware of what’s going on, and enabling it to prevent any conflict, lengthening its time. Lowering the taxes and lowering the harshness led to people’s support and happiness, leading to less conflict, and longer lifetime. The political innovation invented by the Han, which enabled the dynasties to last longer, was the civil service system. The civil service jobs created by Wudi, enabled civilians to obtain government jobs through examination. Wudi created a school to teach Confucianism, and the people who wanted jobs were examined on Confucian knowledge and other subjects. If they pass, they get a government job, and this helped dynasties last longer. Since the people in jobs were now educated, it led to a more educated ruling body, which enabled it to make better decisions and function better, so the dynasty can last longer and experience less
conflict.

The intellectual inventions and creations of the Han and the Song led to dynasties lasting longer. During the Han Dynasty, the Chinese invented paper, which was beneficial for education. More books became available, and so more people could be educated. This leads to easier record keeping, which expanded the bureaucracy. Thus, civilians, who were now more educated, could more easily get jobs in the expanded bureaucracy, leading to more employment. More employment means less poor people, less poverty, and so, less conflict or revolt, leading to a more stable empire, causing a longer dynastic lifetime. In the Song dynasty, one of the major inventions was gunpowder. The development of gunpowder empowered the Song, enabling them to create explosive weapons, like bombs and grenades. Since the Chinese were the first to develop gunpowder, this gave them an advantage over outside conquerors or invaders. If any conquerors attempted to take down the Song, they could use their explosive weaponry to protect themselves, preventing invasion, and thus lengthening the dynasty’s lifetime.