Sunday, September 22, 2013

Ideas To Prevent Destruction: The Han Empire

Throughout the history of Han empire, there were many problems that completely destroyed it from the inside out. For example, there was the problem of land distribution, the rich were not helping the peasants, and rebellion/banditry was happening everywhere. Even after the era of Wang Mang, the newly established Han empire still followed the same pattern of destruction. If I was in Wang Mang or Han Wudi's shoes, I would come up with various ways to protect the interests of the emperor and the empire as a whole. For the problem of land distribution, I would cut the amount of taxes inflicted upon the peasants and give them money to pay off their debts. After this, I would implement various laws that reduced the power of the wealthy and helped the people in need (peasants). Such laws would include things like abolishing slavery, equal land distribution, and equal rights. As for the issue of rebellion/banditry, these problems would slowly vanquish as stability would overcome the empire. If such problems didn't cease, I would simply call for a meeting with the high class ministers to discuss each major problem, and then go on from there to solving them. Finally, the worst trend in all of these empires has been the greed and selfishness of the emperor and their families. If they gave some kind of respect or helping hand towards their people, then various emperors would've lived longer and more happily. Also, each new empire or dynasty that forms does the exact same thing as the previous, which doesn't promote any advancement in society or life in general. The Han empire collapsed because of it's inability to protect its people and if my ideas were considered, then such ruthless rebellions and destruction of lives would've never happened.

3 comments:

  1. I agree with the idea of reducing taxes but how would you redistrubute land or cut down the power of the wealthy without causing a rebellion from them? Also, you didn't mention anything about stopping the "rebellion/banditry" that was prevalent everywhere.

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  2. Prateek,
    I agree with many of your ideas. I liked the fact you wanted to improve the life of peasants (which is important because of the many rebellions caused by peasants). Also i liked how you wanted a more equal society (ex. Banishing slavery). The thing that most stood out was when you mentioned meeting with high class ministers and discussing problems with them.

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  3. I thought making laws like the abolition of slavery and equal rights was a very good plan to help stop the collapse. By doing this there would be less tension between the poor and the wealthy, and this would also help with problems like land distribution..

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