Han Dynasty Dbq

Words: 1070
Pages: 5

Han and Roman Technology DBQ
The Han Dynasty was one of the most powerful Chinese dynasties to ever exist. It had a huge bureaucracy with approximately 130,000 bureaucrats which explains why the government was involved in everything, especially the use and advancement of technology. The Han Dynasty was made up by about 57 million people, most of which were craftsmen and agriculturists, which helps explain why the Han had such an open and favorable attitude towards the use of technology for production and labor. The Roman Empire is arguably one of the greatest civilizations to ever exist. Therefore, it is understandable that the Romans thought they were the most mighty and grand. This sense of nationalism is what caused Rome to concern themselves
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Cicero, an upper class Roman political leader (Doc 5) sees workshops and laborers as vulgar because they are not grand and do not help the idea that Rome is the mightiest of the civilizations, because he is of the upper class. The Romans were very methodical in the building of roads, they made sure everything was the same length, bridges were parallel, and they set out markers for distance. They used their technology on the roads projects because it showed anybody who used them that Rome was the mightiest (Doc 6). Frontinus used the technology of Rome to build an intricate system of aqueducts that reach the city at different elevations. When the water flows into the city its volume is measured on calibrated scales, and the amount of water is not only sufficient for public use but also private use and for pleasures such as …show more content…
Tools and machines are typically invented to make the life of whoever is using the invention easier and to decrease the amount of labor needed to perform the specific task, while increasing the efficiency. Dynamite, patented in 1867 is a tool that reduces the amount of labor needed to dig tunnels, mine mines, and build roads, and increases the amount of work that can be done with less people. This is similar to the Han invention of the water powered mortar and pestle, which decreased the amount of time and labor needed to grind a substance and increased its efficiency was increased a hundredfold. Developing and inventing new technologies that decrease the manpower and increase efficiency, allow a nation or people to the put their focus on other matters, that can be fixed with the inventions of new