Compare And Contrast Mesopotamia And China

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Units 1 & 2 Essay Comparison of Mesopotamia and China Rachael Meador AP World History Mr. Supanick; Period 5 Due 10/22/12 Mesopotamia and China each developed their cultures in a unique way politically, economically, socially and religiously while still having some shared factors in these cultural categories. The similarities and differences between these two civilizations are fascinating and many. An example of this comparison is that both groups created a monarchy to be their government type. The contrast of Mesopotamia and China is shown in the fact that they created two different types of law codes to govern their societies. This essay focuses on the crucial similarities and differences…show more content…
Mesopotamia and China are not excluded from the mass cultural diffusion. They both used agriculture and trade as their mode of production. They used this mode of production for two reasons. They practiced agriculture because their geography permitted it with its fertile soil and regular flooding of nearby rivers. They traded with other cultures because of simple human need and desire for things they lack and cannot provide in their homelands. An example of the agriculture that went on in Mesopotamia is their complex irrigation systems (which controlled the flooding to the crops) and China’s agricultural endeavors included creating the wheelbarrow (which allowed heavier and greater loads to be transported great distances). Another similarity between Mesopotamia and China, economically, is that they both create a staple to base their societies’ agricultures off of. This occurred because each civilization had their own appropriate agricultural geographies. In Mesopotamia, wheat was the primary staple food and in China it was rice. To further advance on this topic, an economic difference can begin to be analyzed. While the geographic regions both supported a staple, they were still different land plots that lay in Mesopotamia and China. This is why rice was farmed easier in China’s geographic and climatic regions and why wheat was produced more often in…show more content…
The amazing closeness yet separateness of these advanced civilizations can be expressed in a number of different ways. One of those similarities is that emperors used their religion to justify their power. An economic difference between Mesopotamia and China is China’s smaller scale cultural diffusion because of natural barricades making it a difficult place to reach. These two factors express the ways in which China and Mesopotamia are similar yet different politically, economically, religiously, and

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