Emily Turner Comparative Essay 10/10/15

A complex civilization is a united population that pioneers advancements in technology,

adapts to its surroundings, and creates a balance in the society. Egypt and China are both

classified as complex civilizations because of their economical, social, and political

advancement. Both of their geographical challenges influenced how they evolved.

Egypt and China had religions that shared similarities and differences. One difference is

that in Egypt, they worshiped their gods while in China, they worshiped their ancestors. Egypt

believed that their weather was controlled by the gods so they worshiped them in order to keep

them happy. That way they would continue to have good weather all the time. One example of

good weather in Egypt was their annual floods. Although they might seem bad, they are actually

very beneficial considering that Egypt was centered around one major water source, the Nile

River. China believed that their ancestors could bring either happiness or sadness to the living.

In order to have a happy life, they would worship their ancestors and happiness would be

bestowed upon them. In their culture, if you didn’t honor or worship your ancestors, they would

haunt you and become a “hungry ghost.” One bad thing the ancestors could have done was

bring destructive weather to China resulting in disastrous consequences. One similarity between

Egypt and China is that they would sacrifice various things for whatever they worshiped. This

was to keep them happy and bring good fortune to everyone else as well. In Egypt, people

would sometimes sacrifice animals and foods. In China, they had the Veneration of the Dead. In

their eyes, the dead had a continued existence and could influence the fortune of their living

successors. All of this relates to the AP World History theme dealing with the Development and

Interaction of Culture. Even though the people they worshiped in Egypt and China were

different, the idea of sacrificing for them was shared by both civilizations. Both Egypt and China

had some similarities and some differences about their individual religions.

Emily Turner Comparative Essay 10/10/15

The governments in China and Egypt were very different yet were similar in some points

of view. While Egypt was ruled by one family that kept passing down power until there was no

one left in the family, China had the Dynastic Cycle.In Egypt, they worshiped their gods so

deeply that they wanted their ruler to be as close to a god as possible. That is why he was

viewed as a god to all who lived in Egypt. From looking at old paintings and other types of art, it

is apparent that the Pharaoh is always the most important person. It can be observed in most

pictures that the Pharaoh was either larger than the others depicted and/or facing a different

way than all the other figures. In China, they had dynasties which were a succession of people

from the same family where the power got passed down. The difference between dynasties in

China and dynasties in Egypt was that in China, they had the Dynastic Cycle.. This was a never

ending loop that basically said that every dynasty would get the “Mandate of Heaven,” and then

they would eventually go corrupt. This would lead the citizens to riot and kick that family out of

royalty. Eventually, a new family would step in and the cycle would start over again. One

similarity between both civilizations’ forms of government was that they were always led by at

least one person that was higher than everyone else. At the time of early civilizations, they

needed someone to be completely in charge or else everyone would be doing whatever they

wanted. Without someone in charge of everyone, people wouldn’t have been able to adapt to

their environment as quickly and efficiently. This relates to the Development and Interaction of

Culture because the leader of a civilization controls all things in that society. If the Pharaoh had

not been looked at as a god, Egypt could have been a less religious based civilization. If China

had a president, like now, instead of a dynasty ruling them back then, who they worshiped might

have been completely different. Instead of ancestors they might have sacrificed for gods like the

other early civilizations. Their isolation caused them to be quite different than other places

during that time period. The love of the living and dead members of families was very important

Emily Turner Comparative Essay 10/10/15

in China, yet changing their dynasties to presidencies could have changed all of that. A lot of the

culture in a society is based on the person leading.

Egypt and China were both greatly affected by their own unique geography. This

changed their political and social stances on many things. Living in a desert or being isolated

can really affect how places develop. Even though there were many differences and similarities

between China and Egypt, there is no doubt that they were both complex civilizations.