Comparison between the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty of China---from the perspective of foreign trade and cultural values

From the 2nd century BC to around the 2nd century AD, two prominent empires, the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire, fell respectively upon the Eastern as well as Western lands. From the perspective of global history, it's really important and valuable for us to make comparisons between these two nearly synchronous empires which hold different civilizations. Taking advantage of the method of historical comparison between East and West, this article strives to make a comparison between the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty based on foreign trade and cultural values. In term of economy, the germination of "globalization" appeared, and the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty made foreign trade frequently through the Silk Road; in term of cultural values, as autocratic country, the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty paid attention to the construction of "common cognition", and further stabilized their rule through the process of "Romanization" and "Confucianism" respectively. Then, this paper makes a critical analysis, and combines it with the national conditions of today's China to strive to find some useful insights for us, hoping to achieve the effect of "using history as a mirror to know the rise and fall of dynasties".