Even the legal system in traditional China was influenced by Confucian ideas. For instance, crimes that were committed against family members were punished more severely than others. Even though China boasted well renown military strategist Sun Zi, military was not looked that highly at during imperial China. One use of the military was to deal with barbarians of the time- any non-Han Chinese group that interacted with the Han. Different techniques were used for dealing with the barbarians, but sometimes they were able to set up their own dynasties. Various interpretations of Chinese history were made including Karl Marx's view that China's history was unchanging, the Marxist view of historical progression from primitive communism, Karl Wittfogel's view of Oriental despotism, Naito Konsan's Naito hypothesis, and the view that success was based on whom one knew.
The evolution of the human being is something that can really be exemplified by the Han because many of the aspects of their life that were new during that time period can still be seen in present day society. For instance, the technologies that the Han employed were definitely advanced during that time, but these techniques are still being practiced. It is amazing that artifacts found in the 20th century could be traced back to 1500 B.C. Just as philosophy was central in traditional China, many of these philosophical ideas are practiced in different forms or another today. When describing the examination system present at the time, I found it quite surprising how strict the exam atmosphere was. The longest tests I can think of nowadays last no more than 6 hours, while these tests of traditional Japan lasted for up to 3 days. This is something that is very respectable in the system that was present back then because if one can pass the rigorous exam, it shows the extreme intelligence in the individual. Therefore, upward mobility through the manifestation of merit is something that was very notable in the civil service examination.
