Political Changes and Continuities in China Through 600 CE
Political Changes and Continuities in China Through 600 CE Up until the 7th century CE, Chinese politics mainly remained the same after the Han dynasty. The major differences had to do with the way that the people were governed and how much influence religion had over the government. Before the Han, there was the Zhou and Qin dynasties, the Zhou was the first to implement the basis of any widespread government, and it is also the first example of continuity during the classical period in China, language. The basis for any governed civilization is a uniform written language and spoken language. Due to China having multiple indigenous dialects, the Zhou dynasty sought to create a language so that every single person who knows how to read would understand what they needed to do. This language became known as Mandarin Chinese and is still used today as the official dialect of China, it has remained unchanged since the Hans. Another example of continuity in the politics of Classical China is the way that people were punished for crimes. Even if a person was convicted and had to go to jail, they would really be doing some mental or physical work, which would be used to advance the state, or help the Emperor himself. In other words, unlike in America, where the majority of people convicted and sentenced spend their time in jail, just wasting away, without really doing anything, in China it would be the opposite. In China, you would be convicted and then you would be forced to work for the country to help it, or you would be subject to some other punishment that the Emperor saw fit. However, just like there were continuities in the politics, there were also changes. One of the most noticeable changes included the way that the emperor governed the people. With the Zhou dynasty, along with the Han, followed and used Confucianism as their political and philosophical ideology, whereas the Qin dynasty used Legalism as theirs. With Confucianism in the Zhou dynasty, the