Read History with Jack 34 - The Rise and Fall of Empires
World history witnesses the great mingling and interweaving of cultures, which causes the multifariousness of the globe. Of the many notable civilizations and cultures that shine like bright stars, Chinese civilization is one of the most enduring ones. Due to its geographic position, Chinese culture developed independently, with its self-adjustments and innovations. In ancient China, four dynasties are the strongest and possess the strongest impact on posterity. They are the Zhou Dynasty (mid-eleventh century BCE to 256 BCE), the short-lived Qin Dynasty (221 BCE to 207 BCE), the Han Dynasty (202 BCE-8 CE; 25CE-220 CE), and the Tang Dynasty (618 CE-907 CE). These dynasties expanded their territory, conducted trade, and experienced political, economic, and social reforms. But no matter how they flourished, they have to face their decline. Why would nations and empires rose from the mist of history? And why would they eventually fail and fall?
There are many ways in which an all-powerful empire can rise. Generally, this requires an open-minded attitude and the establishment of a firm centralized power center. Politically, an empire can arise if its leaders are open to novel thoughts and exotic matters, because multifarious convergences strengthen the political base by adding in various elements. For example, during the founding period of the Tang Dynasty, emperor “Li Shimin” supported the frequent communication and trade between the Tang and the western countries, which would constitute the grandeur of the Tang Empire. An empire also needs a strong leader that can centralize power effectively. An empire, by definition, is bureaucratic supremacy. For instance, the First Emperor of China, “Qin Shi Huang”, is a capable and mighty leader. Under his rule, the Qin kingdom was turned into the Qin Empire, unifying China for the first time in history.
Economically, an empire should soothe the traumas of war and let people settle down. For example, during the rule of “Wen Di” and “Jing Di”, both emperors praise highly of the theories of Taoism, a doctrine to instruct people to rest and just follow the patterns of nature. On the contrary, shortly after the Qin dynasty was founded, “Qin Shi Huang” started to erect massive architectures like the Great Wall, the Epang Palace, and graves for the emperor. All these would demand thousands and millions of people to work day and night, without any rest. This largely undermined the economic foundation of the Qin Empire, and is the major stimulant for the ultimate fall of the Qin Empire. Furthermore, an empire can thrive if an emperor successfully facilitated frequent trade with other states. Trading boosts the flow of goods, services, and fortune, which is beneficial for economic growth. The Western Han Dynasty’s booming economy is a good case in point. In China, archaeologists have exhumed artifacts from Persia and as far as Rome dating back to the Western Han Dynasty. This is due to the opening of the Silk Road at that time, which has remained a key trading route and a corridor for communication between the far east and the far west thousands of years.
Culturally, after placating civilians, an empire could strengthen its cultural foundations. Laying vital cultural foundations not only can create a tight imagined order in which everyone can follow, but it can also be passed down to posterity. For instance, the Zhou devised “The rules for conducting ceremonies and composing music appropriate for different occasions” as the model system of Chinese rites and music culture; therein laying a cultural cornerstone for the code of etiquette of subsequent successive dynasties. However, no matter how an empire blossomed in its heydays, most took the road towards collapse. Internally, an empire can break apart due to political issues. Corruption within the ruling class elite can lead to riots and revolts, which is detrimental to the political and cultural bonds holding the empire together. The demise of the Zhou Dynasty is such a good case in point. Because of corruption inside the royalty and the intensifying social revolts, the final period of the Zhou Dynasty was not able to fence off nomadic tribes, and the last king of the Zhou Dynasty was killed in 771 BCE. Moreover, if a ruler gets too much power, it can directly lead to tyranny. Humanity naturally craves for power, so if power is centralized on one person’s hands too much, it is not an auspicious omen. A pertinent example in hand is the First Emperor of China, “Qin Shi Huang”, who as mentioned before unified China. However, he created a too centralized government and he held too much power. That is a key reason why the Qin Dynasty is so short-lived. Furthermore,the demise of competent rulers is also an important cause of the decline of empires. For instance, after Alexander the Great died, his vast empire immediately broke into four kingdoms. Economically, once chaos broke out, the economy would crash quickly, thus causing an empire to fall. There are three main causes of widespread chaos: Hunger, unequal resource distribution, and conflicts. Hunger is mainly the result of natural calamities, like a long-lasting famine, whereas the latter two are all creations of humankind. Let’s take the case of the Bronze Age collapse. Archaeologists and historians find out, that a terrible famine occurred between the 1200s to the 900s BCE, bringing about hunger everywhere. At this precise moment, when states and nations around the Mediterranean were running out of supplies, the sea people, whom historians know little of, came with iron weapons, and they destroyed the entire system. This is the power of chaos; it can lead to the demise of many empires and nations. Moreover, the decline of trade can quickly cause not only an empire but an entire system of interconnected states to collapse. Without trade, any empire’s economy cannot properly function, as trade is the basis for economic development. For example, in the Bronze Age collapse starting from about 1200 BCE, the sea people cut the trade of the entire Mediterranean region, deeply undermining the economies of the Mycenean Greeks, the Hittites,the Egyptians, etc. This first interconnected trade network in the world fell to pieces immediately, and the western world entered into a dark age for about 400 years. Culturally, an empire can face its end when an emperor decided to confine people’s thoughts and close up the country’s doors, barring out all outside influences. As mentioned before, multifariousness and an open-minded attitude are helpful to an empire’s rise, so not deciding to communicate with the outside world is not a fair idea no matter in what historical period. For example, the Qin Dynasty only lasted for 14 years. During these 14 years, “Qin Shi Huang” infamously burned thousands upon thousands of books and buried innumerable scholars and knowledgeable people. If he kept the books and the scholars, his newly-built empire might notlive only 14 years. In 1860 CE, the Anglo-British force pushed open the Qing Empire’s closed doors of more than 350 years, thus forcing the Qing Dynasty’s government to pay attention to the outside world. The over-confident Qing Empire suffered a severe blow from the European invaders, which teaches us a lesson to never lock up our country’s doors. Externally, an empire can decline dramatically due to invasions from stronger states. There are uncountable examples in history to prove this, but the fall of the Western Roman Empire would serve as a prime case. After Gothic invasions, the Western Roman Empire had already begun to decline, and the Germanic tribes eventually overwhelmed the empire in 476 CE, thus conquering it thoroughly. Many people think that there is no need to study history and about the rise and fall of empires. They claim that what matters is today’s and future’s world. However, it is a self-evident fact that history shapes our lives. For example, the democratic system of the US can date back to the ancient Greeks, and the parliamentary system of the UK can be traced back more than 500 years ago. Modern Chinese staples, rice, potato, and wheat, are all founder crops from China or the Middle East and America, and the prefecture and county system of the Qin Dynasty, is still being partially used in China today. Moreover, there is a saying that history repeats itself, and past events can happen in the future. Only by familiarizing ourselves with history, can we better our understandings of today’s complex world. In modern days, a mind-boggling issue is where we are heading. Using the binoculars of history, in the future, we can see the path waiting for our species further,and be more intrepid to step into the unknown. Some pictures are from Tsinghua Arts Museum's official website.
