Compare and Contrast Mesopotamia and Early China

Many of the early world civilizations had similar evolutions to become the influential cultures of the later, classical societies. Although they struggled in the same ways to form functioning communities, and determine a successful system of governing, the outcomes were widely varied. In this way, Mesopotamia and China started with mostly the same humble beginnings, dealing with problems concerning rivers and constant invasions, but still managed to have very different cultural divides within governmental systems and environmental understanding.

The main reason that China and Mesopotamia's governments had to be strong, was because of their similar land-based challenges. The Northern communities and nomadic societies had easy access into China from an upper advantage. This forced the government to provide a strong defense system against invaders. Mesopotamia was spread out across more land, so unlike China, it was easier for outside villages to take over the civilization. Both societies also had a strong intellectual leader at some point. While they believed very different things, King Hammurabi and the Shang Dynasty set their cultures into action with codes of law and systems of writing.

While the terrain demanded some things of the governments, they still differed systematically. Mesopotamia was made-up of quasi-separate city-states. This was partially due to planning from the king or head-of-defense, but mostly because the civilization covered so much land and so many small groups of people. On the other hand, China leaned toward a more unifying and strong central government. They set up a dynasty system, with emperors that were regarded almost as divine leaders. Both systems had their advantages, but most of the downfalls had to do with time and strength. The city-states of Mesopotamia suffered in times of weak government from all-out takeovers. First by the Akkadians, then by the Babylonians. China suffered from the low points in their "dynastic cycle", but rarely got fully taken over. This was primarily because of the strong single government and more centralized society. The other big difference in governmental policy between the two, was the development of slavery in Mesopotamia. Whether it was the effect of spread out farming lands or just weaker government, Mesopotamia introduced slavery to the early world.

The relationships between China and Mesopotamia with their surroundings was mostly based around similar cultural advances and trying water supplies. Both societies focused a lot of their research and education into science, and more specifically, astronomy. Because of a need for a time system and calendar year, these early civilizations ended up advancing very quickly in their knowledge of the environment, in a vertical manner. Both cultures suffered from irregular floods from their central rivers. China even referred to the Huanghe River as "China's sorrow".