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The Han and Roman empires both initiated new stages of political development. No longer regional powers,

these empires had become world states whose rule extended over many different people & cultures. The Han &Roman empires exemplified a very different kind of multinational state that was justified in terms of 

universality rather than exclusivity. You can portray these empires as nation-states or even as ancestral forms of

modern nations. Both Han & Roman empires shaped new identities by reinterpreting older, indigenous ideas &institutions.

The Han empires institutional structure was derived from the short-lived Qin dynasty, inaugurated by Shi

Huangdi. Huangdi’s early death created a power vaccum that brought its collapse. Civil war raged as rival

leaders restored local kingdoms & fought with one another for regional power. Finally, Liu Bang reimposedimperial unity.

Despite the change of rulers, much of the basic structure of the Qin regime persisted under the Han, whose early

rulers modified its institutions to meet changing conditions. Qin & Han have been linked together—two phasesof a single stage of imperial development. However, the difference between them points up an important

difference b/w the Chinese political tradition & European: In China, states were named in terms of dynasty, or 

ruling families, rather than in terms of territories, peoples, or institutional structures. Rome would appear to be aseries of different empires, named after successive ruling houses.

The Qin & Han imperical system evolved out of the efforts of territorially more limited kingdoms to create

centralized monarchies. Qin fought with one another—this era was known as the Warring States Period. B/c it

succeeded in centralizing faster than its rivals, Qin proved better able to mobilize its resources & so conqueredthem. Out of collective experiments evolved important, new institutions like autocratic kingship, centralized

 provincial administration, civil bureaucracy, mass military organization, & standardized legal codes—all of 

which Qin & Han empires adapted.

Warring states era supplied new ideas about the nature & purpose of the state. Confucianism is a politicaldoctrine developed from the ideas taught by Confucius. Early Confucianism advocated gov based on ethical

 principles rather than expediency or a ruler’s whims. Confucius directed his followers to seek such principles in

an old ruling house called the Zhou, claiming that its kings exemplified the highest ethical ideal, a quality called

ren (humanity, goodness, & benevolence.) Later followers like the idealistic Mencius & rationalist Xunzi

offered updated Confucian interpretations to suit the altered conditions of the Warring States period. However,

all principles insisted that human goodness made coercion unnecessary & gov’s should rely on moral persuasion rather than force to win support. “Sages”—people with extraordinary ethical virtue & intellectual

ability—could establish such regims. Thus, they claimed that rulers should turn gov’t over to well-trained elites

Daoism a doctrine associated with Laozi, proposed a doctrine of paternalistic, laissez-faire rule. In their view,

secretive sage rulers trusted that the natural world would keep their people content & harmonious.

Legalists propounded a theory of autocracy—linking people to unruly animals. Using a strict system of 

 punishments & rewards, trained their humans to behave in orderly ways, much as dogs are trained.

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