In the second century BCE to 200 CE, the Romans built aqueducts and roads and the Hans built the Great Wall of China and the watermill. Even though the both made great technological advances, they had differing attitudes towards technology. The Han were positive and caring of the people while the Romans were negative and criticized all craftsmen. .
The Han were very open to technology and caring of the workers. As shown in (Doc 1) from the Han government official, their goal was to ward off a flood. This implies that they worry about something, whether the land or the people, and they depend on technology. This concern for the people is also evident by Han Guan in (Doc 2). He states that the tools are "Crude and not very functional" proving to be all around ineffective. The concern is also shown in (Doc 4) the History of the early Han Dynasty, when it says "Tu Shih loved the common people and wished to save their labor." These documents support that the Han were Confucianists, respecting everyone, and were caring of the workers. Han Tan, an upper-class Han philosopher (Doc 3) says that the technology was "increased a hundredfold". From this statement, they knew technological advances were beneficiary. .
On the other hand, the Romans didn't care and were indifferent towards technological advancements. The Romans also didn't care about the workers or the common people, just the completed project. In (Doc 5) Cicero, an upper-class Roman political leader, calls all craftsmen "vulgar". In other words, he thinks they lack sophistication and good taste, they were unrefined. Seneca, an upper-class Roman philosopher (Doc 7) doesn't believe that tools "were invented by wise men". That the minds who invented the hammer and tongs were not "great or elevated". On another note, in (Doc 6) Plutarch, a Greek-born Roman citizen and high official, describes Gaius Gracchus, saying that he "placed other stones" on the side of the road "so it would be easier for those who had horses".
