nd people. Merchants passed from China through central Asia to the Parthian kingdom in Persia and the Greek cities on the shores of the Black Sea. Chinese goods, chiefly silks and furs, reached the cities of the Mediterranean via the Silk Road. In return, The Han received horses from central Asia, glass, ivory, precious stones and fine woolens. The Han created many of the institutions that made China distinctive. They expanded the boundaries of the state, Confucianism was elevated to the official state philosophical-religious system, Buddhism became an important religion, literature and arts flourished and agriculture expanded and with it the size of the population. The harsh laws under the Qin period were rescinded, taxes reduced and almost all the Han territory was placed under imperial rule. The Chinese and the Greco-Roman Traditions were similar in their dedication to a centralized structured government, development of irrigation systems and their dedication for education. Rome developed into the social, economic and cultural capital of the Mediterranean world. Like China, Rome expanded her borders and the empire included the entire Italian Peninsula and the Mediterranean basin. The Greco -Roman Culture influenced the Western Culture in political system, agriculture, architecture, military training and education as China had done for the eastern Asian Culture. ...
