Persuasive Essay Sample: Han Dynasty Was More Humane Than the Qin Dynasty

This essay aims to argue how and why the Han Dynasty was more humane than the Qin Dynasty. Up until the emergence of the Qin Dynasty that lasted between 221 BC to 206 BC, China contained independent states. During this 'warring' period that lasted 200 years, kings would fight for their land. There was no unification in China. This period of time concluded with the Qin Wars of conquest that finally saw the end of this warring period. Many of the contending states were cut off, and the Qin won the war, thus creating the first unified Chinese Empire and bringing peace to China. However, this essay will argue why the Han was still better than the Qin.

The history of China can be traced back to the brutal Qin dynasty. Qin saw the only way fit to create a lasting government was through a unified state, centralized political power, and a large military. The Qin helped build the Great Wall of China, but they still had many issues. The first big issue of the Qin dynasty was that they almost entirely abolished private property. The Qin tried to maintain complete control over the peasant class and keep the government running. It allowed for easy and cheap labor for over 300,000 convicted criminals and peasants. What that means is that the Qin dynasty essentially could pursue any projects that they wanted without having to worry about any opposing forces.

According to Learn Chinese History, an educational database run by a former teacher, "The rules for the people changed to that of Legalism, which gave absolute power to the emperor and his government. Before kings in each state decided what should be done and many times the decisions did not make sense or the decisions differed in a similar event. With Legalism, the laws were made into a system and were followed the same in each event." Legalism was the system in which the Qin used to maintain control. Also, according to Short History another, educational database on the Qin, "Legalism held that human beings were fundamentally base and selfish and had to be strictly controlled through laws. These laws were effective only if punishments were severe and certain, so the Qin kingdom was frighteningly autocratic. But Legalist philosophy also demanded a strong central government, a strong military, a tightly controlled economy, and the strict regimentation of the citizens of the state. As a result, the Qin kingdom grew powerful and wealthy in a very short time." Ironic, it is almost as if the Qin tried to maintain control because they were afraid of another period of warring states. As the late genius Albert Einstein once famously said, "“Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” The Qin were so focused on control that they mistreated their people in the process.

According to History.Com, "In two years' time, most of the empire had revolted against the new emperor, creating a constant atmosphere of rebellion and retaliation. Warlord Xiang Yu in quick succession defeated the Qin army in battle, executed the emperor, destroyed the capital and split up the empire into 18 states. Liu Bang, who was given the Han River Valley to rule, quickly rose up against other local kings and then waged a three-year revolt against Xiang Yu. In 202 B.C., Xiang Yu committed suicide, and Liu Bang assumed the title of emperor of the Han Dynasty, adopting many of the Qin dynasty institutions and traditions." Qin Shi Huang died in 210 BC. The amazing thing about the empire he had founded is that it collapsed only four years after his death. While the Legalist government of Qin Shi Huang was ruthlessly efficient in its control over the state and the bureaucracy, that ruthlessness proved to be its undoing. The emperor, who had hoped to found a dynasty lasting over ten thousand years, had alienated many people, particularly the landed aristocracy. The building projects of the Qin demanded forced labor and heavy taxation; people all throughout the empire were on the verge of revolt. 

Obviously, at the time, Chinese officials would be more concerned with properly maintaining control especially when they lacked the necessary resources and funding needed for them to run a government. However, the Han did not do this. The Han Dynasty inherited the administrative division management system of the “districts and counties system” of the Qin Dynasty. Unlike the Qin administrative divisions, the implementation of the “districts and counties system” also promoted the closure of the country as a whole, including the kingdom and the country of China.  This essentially gives the government more control through state law. The two kinds of parallelism are also known as the "county-state system." Although the county-states were parallel in the two Han periods, they were still dominated by the "county-county system." At the start of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang faced together with the princely forces and the background of the six countries after the Qin Dynasty. The primary tasks were: to maintain a stable situation, destroy the surname princes, and to balance the different surnames and kings. Bipolarity, when Liu Bang and Xiang Yu competed, they successively sealed up seven different surnamed kings. After the emperor's death, he also sealed the nine kings of the same surname. This caused the continuation of the confrontation between the central government and the imprisoned country for a long time. The restoration of the feudal system in the early Han Dynasty, and the implementation of the system of counties and counties at the same time, made the county and the country miscellaneous and ensnared and played a positive role in maintaining centralization and national unity. Restoring past political systems that were more selective allowed for the government to create a wider bubble of control over the people while simultaneously allowing for the people to keep their inherited freedoms. A great example of this would be that the Qin may have directly oppressed the population but when the Han did it was indirect which made it better. Indirect oppression can be more dangerous, but it also allows for people to do more in the XYZin XYZ of that economic system.

Conclusion

The Han Dynasty was able to ensure peace for a longer period of time by playing to the interests of the people. By modernizing a lot of their philosophies into the core of the government they were able to maintain a functioning society that treated its people well for hundreds of years.