Different Dynasties in World History
An essay that compares and contrasts two important dynasties in history.
Have you ever wondered why world history teachers think that certain dynasties are different from others? After all, they all are so similar. Yet, in reality they differ from each other like night and day. Even today, most civilizations are easily comparable, but there is so much diversity that only people who work their whole life finding the similarities and differences of these civilizations can know. To start off, two civilizations that emphasize that civilizations can be different but can also be similar are the ancient Chinese and Egyptian civilizations. These are two river valley civilizations that historians are always eager to learn more about and after extensive research they found how these civilizations are similar and different in many ways.
For beginners, these civilizations had different ways of record keeping. In other words, they had a certain way of reading and writing. For example, the ancient Egyptians started out reading and writing with pictograms. Pictograms are drawings that represent a physical object and were used to communicate ideas. The Egyptians used this writing system during the early stages of their civilization until this form of record-keeping later changed to hieroglyphics, an original form of writing out of which all other forms have evolved. The early Chinese civilization started out using pictograms as their record-keeping system as well. The pictography developed into symbols, which represented abstract ideas. This writing system is called calligraphy and is still used today.
Although these river valley civilizations existed around the same time period, they had different morals and beliefs. The Chinese civilization’s morals and beliefs were strongly based on respect and tight family structures. This was influenced by the Confucian belief system. This was a concept known as filial piety. Filial piety is an attitude of respect for parents and ancestors in societies. They also believed that their ancestors were somewhere in between heaven and earth, watching over their family. However, they would not worship their ancestors. The Egyptians on the other hand believed in over 1,500 deities, all of whom controlled different things on earth. This belief was known as polytheistic and it lasted in ancient Egypt for more than 3,000 years. They believed that their ruler, the pharaoh, was chosen by the gods to rule the civilization. The beliefs of the early Chinese civilization and the ancient Egyptians were very different from one another for the time that they lived in.
Last but not least, most civilizations were divided into social groups. In the ancient Egyptian civilization, the population was divided into the most obvious social classes: the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class. In this social organization, lower class people such as slaves and servants could move up to a middle or upper class status. This social organization also gave many rights for women. For example, women could own property, participate in trade, and divorce their husbands. Nonetheless, the majority of the society was dominated by men. On the other hand, the Chinese had their society broken into four social classes: the king and aristocracy, the military, artisans and craftsmen, and peasants. In this social division, the king and aristocracy were the most respected, followed by the military, artisans and craftsmen, and finally peasants who were usually either farmers, slaves, or serfs. This societal distribution was established and not much could change. In the end, both social organizations were divided based on what they believed made you important to society. Only the Egyptians allowed more room for growth and development in all classes.
In conclusion, the Chinese and the ancient Egyptians were similar in many aspects of their life but their differences are stained quite brightly for people who deeply look into these ancient civilizations. The civilizations were very big for their time and they still exist today. So if you hear a historian telling you that every civilization is different but they still have their similarities, they really know what they’re talking about.
