(Incomplete) Han and Roman Views on Technology Essay

Submitted By Liwanag1
Words: 481
Pages: 2

Han and Roman Attitudes Towards Technology The Han and Roman Empires were the most technologically advanced civilizations during their time of existence, making them very important to ancient history. The Han Empire started around 206 BCE and ended during 220 CE, while the Roman Empire started around 27 BCE and broke into two halves, the West side ending in 476 and the East in 1453. Though they were both prosperous in technological advancement, they had different views on what technology was to them. The Han people saw technology as a tool for practical application in making labor easier while the Romans saw it as something made by unseemly men, though some certain devices were still needed to them, despite the creator. Starting with the Han, they thought of technology as something used to decrease work loads and make life easier for those who lived in the the life of labor work, however that was only if their tech was good quality. For example, Han government officials wrote documents to local officials concerning how to use a water conservation office to prevent floods and what kind of workers they should have, also stating what jobs they should do and that they should only have the needed amount of workers. (Document 1) The instructions given were done to make sure the technology was used in a way the government thought that it would make work easier. The government not only instructed how to use technology, but they also praised the benefits of it by claiming it could increase a surplus of something by a hundredfold. (Document 3) They even used it to influence more praise to a person of high status by claiming they achieved a certain technological advancement out of their own will to make the work of his own people easier. (Document 4)