Similarities and differences between Qin and Han civilizations and ancient Roman civilizations

Qin, Han and Rome are all super-large political bodies based on agricultural society. They are all ancient civilizations at the east and west ends of Eurasia, with similar population and geographical scale. In the late Roman Empire, the population around the Mediterranean was about 50-60 million. The population of the Qin and Han Dynasties (the standard of the late Western Han Dynasty) was also 50-60 million.

In Qin, Han and Rome, most wealth came from land rent and taxes, all of which were aimed at achieving economic self-sufficiency. Roman soldiers moved to the Mediterranean in order to get a piece of land after retirement and go back to grow olives and grapes. Just like soldiers in the Qin and Han Dynasties, they fought to "disarm and return to the fields" in the future.

Qin, Han and Rome have unique value for later generations. The unique value of Rome lies in the belief that limited conflict can create vitality. In the history of Europe, Rome has always been regarded as a spiritual symbol when pursuing the establishment of a large-scale political body. The unique value of the Han Dynasty lies in the coexistence of monism and pluralism. Unity ensures cohesion, diversity ensures vitality, and "grass-roots political power comes out of the world." China has established the earliest "modern country" in the world since Qin and Han Dynasties.

Similar challenges

Both Qin, Han and Rome need to deal with the relationship between land annexation and the bankruptcy of small farmers. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Jia Zhou, a big businessman, spread all over the world, but a large number of small farmers went bankrupt, while speculators and big landlords never "worried about the country". Similarly, the long-term overseas conquest led to a large-scale "slave manor agriculture" in Rome, which was far more efficient and technical than small farmers, so that a large number of small farmers went bankrupt and sold their land to rich and powerful people, which aggravated land annexation.

Both Qin, Han and Rome need to deal with the relationship between the central and local governments. At the beginning of Rome, it was "expensive+rich" politics. Among the three forces of kingship, nobility and civilians, nobility is the most powerful. This hereditary aristocrat who can "be king" is called "gate valve" in China, just like all family members were officials in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty.

Both Qin, Han and Rome need to deal with the relationship between political power and warlords. In the history of Rome, "nobles and chaebols ruled the world", and the money of chaebols kept flowing into the Roman legion, turning the partisan struggle into a civil war. At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, the governors detonated the "Rebellion of Seven Kings with Wu Chu".

Both Qin, Han and Rome need to deal with the relationship between the state and barbarians. The Xiongnu in the north went south and fought with the Han Dynasty for two or three hundred years. The Xiongnu who moved westward, together with the nomadic people who were also trapped in the grasslands of Central Asia by drought, rushed to Rome, another prosperous center of agricultural civilization. West Rome collapsed and was never unified again.

Both Qin, Han and Rome need to deal with the relationship between local culture and foreign religions. Rome prides itself on its religious laxity. There are 10,000 gods in the Pantheon, and priests of different gods do their own things, but Christianity has formed an increasingly large "invisible country" in the body of Rome. When Christianity was introduced into Rome, Buddhism was also introduced into China. However, China was not as unscrupulous about Buddhism as Rome was about Christianity, which resulted in Chinese Zen.