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James Greer

Hist 112a

Professor Hinz

Problems of Building Empire in India and China

The idea of a universal empire would seem almost impossible to achieve and keep intact

if all perquisites for it are met in today’s society but during the late B.C.E and Early C.E. times

this was a far different case. When we look at empire we think of the areas of Persia, Rome,

India, and China as some of the more notable empires besides the British empire that formed in

the later 1600-1800s, but for the purposes of this essay I wish to argue three main points or

difficulties of establishing empire in China and India that may or may not have been fully

resolved. These three main difficulties include control of the aristocracy, standardization of

territory, and a solid system of accumulating income through taxation. In the case of India the

degree to which empire succeeded can be considered questionable in contrast to that of China

where on the basis of a single system several periods of empire succeeded and fell.

To discuss the attempt to establish an empire in India we must first note the important

role of the caste system. There are four main levels of caste. The Brahmin who have religious but

no political authority, the Kshatriya or kings and nobility who have no religious but much

political authority, the Vaishya who are the wealthy merchants and craftsmen, and the Sutras or

peasants. The untouchables are not counted in the caste system. The first attempt to establish and

empire in India was the Nanda “Empire” (421-321 BCE) by Mahapadma who was part of the

Sutra caste and was also called “the Destroyer” because his attempted method to control the

aristocracy was to completely eliminate them. The Kshatriya were utterly terrified at the

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demonstration of brutality Mahapudma showed. In addition he did develop a system of direct

taxation and a full standing army.

The second attempt to build an empire in India and from whom The Arthasastra was

developed was enacted by Chandragupha. This was also called the Maaryan Empire which lasted

from about 321-185 BCE. Chandragupha was one of the Kshatriya who managed to escape the

wrath of Mahapadma and his methods differed in that he used what elements were already in

place by the caste system to appoint regional based aristocracy. He also developed a system of

taxation based around central, regional, and local state monopolies. In addition, he also reached

out in appeal and support of the people by massive public works projects such as garrisoned

roads and integrated trade networks. One example of how he managed the aristocracy was

through a large scale system of spies as we see in The Arthasastra under chapter ten; “Spies are

in the guise of pseudo-student, priest, householder, trader, saint, practicing renunciation,

classmate or colleague, desperado, poisoner, and woman merchant.” With this expansive spy

network he was able to maintain control over his highly contested position in which other

Kshatriya wanted.

In addition in Ch.21 of The Arthasastra titled Building of Villages he declares a sort of

standardization of village specifications in which he states “Villages should consist of not less

than a hundred and not more than five hundred families of cultivators of the service classes. The

villages should extend from about one and a half miles to three miles each [in circumference]

and should be capable of defending each other.” These standardizations make it easier to plan

public works, a tax census, and other necessities of empire. The last of the three emperors

Emperor Ashoka done all of the above things plus expanded military further for improved

management and established the Pillar Edicts as a form of theater statecraft to display himself as

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like a father to the empire in which this statement “I started to have Dhamma edicts written for

the welfare and happiness of the people, and so that not transgressing them they might grow in

the Dhamma.” (The Seven Pillar Edicts, section 6) demonstrates this concept well showing a

form of kindliness and love as would a father give to his son.

In China the problems were the three issues of building empire also were encountered,

but the resolutions are similar and yet different from Ashoka in India. Confucianism school of

thought was adopted into China by a man named 孔夫子 (Confucius) in the Warring States

period around 475 BCE and became the main ruling ideology in that like Ashoka the emperor

should act towards his subjects as a father does towards his son, but in addition to this ideology

the emperor is also claim to the Mandate of Heaven in that he acts as a cosmological mediator of

some kind between heaven and earth. This is similar to the Egyptian ideology of Ma’at but the

emperor in this case is not seen as a God. There is yet another term that is used to define how an

emperor should treat not only his subjects but neighbors that surround him called “benevolence”

in which through obedience by the subjects he is to repay in benevolence by offering help in

times of war, weapons, supplies, gems, etc…

Let’s look at a few of The Analects said by Confucius himself to see how certain issues

were approached. In analects II. 3. He says “Govern them by moral force, keep order among

them by ritual and they will keep their self-respect and come to you of their own accord.”

Through this statement we see a bit of how the terms benevolence and obedience should be

enacted upon in the since that this applies to the emperor as well as the subjects to maintain a

certain moral obligation and through good character of the emperor himself the people will

follow this same moral respect and see him as benevolent therefore they will be sure to approach.

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This helps to resolve both dominance over the aristocracy by moral character and will prove for

easier business transactions to bring in capital from neighboring areas.

In section XIII. 11. Confucius says “Only if the right sort of people had charge of a

country for over a hundred years would it become really possible to stop cruelty and do away

with slaughter.” This again puts high emphasis on the behavior of the emperor to set an example

for his people, but this statement does not really help much by itself since there are often several

“Big Men” contesting for the most benevolent and rightful over others and does not necessarily

prohibit warfare or promote peace between states. However, in attempt to resolve this issue a

Civil Service Examination system is developed as like a series of tests that people had to take for

promotion to test their knowledge of the analects to rise in what I would basically call

benevolence points in hopes to ensure the most prominent officials were in charge though the

title of emperor was off limits mostly to those except for family to ensure a dynastic kingship

which unfortunately could be a problem if their civil service exam scores were not high enough

or they did not even have to take them.

This follows into part II. 19. on public opinion in which Confucius states “But if you

raise the crooked and set them on top of the straight, the commoners will not support you.” In

which does caution against possible corruption. Furthermore, this leads us back to the mandate of

heaven in that if something goes wrong like a drought or a flood and the emperor is seen as

flawed in character it is his responsibility to maintain benevolence and order by continuous

support for the people by building of roads, moving supplies, maintenance of buildings, and

other duties then he has lost the mandate of heaven and rebellion will result leading to empire

collapse.

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Overall, these three problems of aristocracy control, income and taxation, and

standardization of territory occur in both China and India empires constantly showing a degree to

which the system of universal empire is relatively unstable and expensive. Both countries took

several measures in attempt to resolve these issues through methods like soft and hard coercion

as well as theater statecraft, but inside of each of these empires there still remained holes that

could be taken advantage of ultimately leading to decline in the political structure. In India, the

main problem was the caste system and Hinduism itself which posed a strong opposition to the

building of empire. In China, Confucianism being the main adopted ideology had several issues.

It could govern and set examples of behavior and moral character for emperors and subjects, but

the way in which this was achieved was too open to many who wished to be in this position and

good moral character can easily be faked in the first place and corruption could easily take hold.