comparisons between east and west(China,Greecs and Romans)

Posted: June 2nd, 2009 | Author: xiaochong | Filed under: history of china timeline | Tags: Add new tag, china, Greecs, Romans | No Comments »

Let’s see now,

2000 BC – 1600 BC

China – Xia dynasty, Chinese already knew how to carve jade at this early age, and clay silkworms and spindles exist as evidence that they knew how to make silk as well.
Aegean/Greece – Middle Minoan Period to Late Minoan period.
Etruscans – tribals
How do you decide which was more advanced?

1600 BC – 1000 BC

China – Shang dynasty
Aegean/Greece – late Minoan period to Mycenaean period
Etruscans – tribals

1200BC – 800BC

Aegean/Greece – Greek Dark Ages

China – Western Zhou Dynasty, spread of “civilisation” to the extremes of the Central Plains.

Etruscans – tribals

776 BC

Aegean/Greece – The traditional year of the first Olympic games in Greece.

China – Reign of the useless King You of Zhou who cried wolf.

Etruscans – start of Orientalizing Period (700-600 B.C.), Rome founded 753BC.

800BC – 300BC

Aegean/Greece – Ancient Greece, rise of city-states, defeating the Persian Empire, Athenian Empire, Peloponnesian War, culminating with the Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great. Golden Age of classical Greece with Aristotle, Socrates and Plato.

China – Eastern Zhou dynasty, the rise of the hegemons among the feudal lords during the Spring Autumn period, and into the Warring States Era. Confucious, Meng Zi, Lao Zi, Xun Zi and Zhuang Zi etc, not to mention the famous Sun Zi.

Etruscans – Archaic Period, Roman monarchy changed to Republic, got sacked by the Gauls, recovered and defeated the Etruscans and Samnites to become capital of Italy.

300BC – 100BC

Aegean/Greece – Hellenistic Period, at the end of it, end of Greek’s greatness as a civilisation when it was overshadowed by Rome.

Romans – Whacked Carthage in 3 Punic Wars to become master of the Med.

China – Unification under the short-lived Qin, then Western Han at its greatest size, spreading far beyond the Central Plains.

100BC – 300AD

China – Han Dynasty in slow decline leading to the Three Kingdoms.

Romans – Rise of the Roman Empire, Julius Caesar & the Gallic Wars, Caesar Augustus, “good times” of Five Good Emperors brought to an end by Commodus, troubled reigns of the Severus dynasty leading to the crisis of the third century.

Of course, I covered large chunks of history at a glance, but the main point was to show the concurrent events in China and Greece/Rome prior to the 5th century AD.

It is debatable which was more advanced.

Going by technology, Joseph Needham’s works showed China’s technology was far more advanced compared to Europe’s.

Going by society, China also had larger city than any in Europe.

There is no standard gauge for which civilisation was more advanced.
Hence, I will leave it to individuals to familiarise themselves and bring forth their arguments based on the parameters of their own choice.

Here is a graph from a Needham related site. It roughly follows the idea that China was only ahead of the west (in scientific achievements at least) near the beginnings of the Europe’s dark age. And before enlightenment.

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