Almost everyone who took a basic level history class can recall studying the Aztec empire and their culture. However, a less remembered empire is the Ming Empire that sprouted in China in the 14th century. These two empires are very different but had a few similarities when looking at the political and environmental aspects of the growing empires. For example, both of these empires introduced a tax on the people. However, some of the differences were outweighed as the Aztecs were in a very mild climate while the Ming Empire was in a climate that was vastly different. In addition, the Aztec Empire ruled with diplomacy and warfare while the Ming Dynasty used a secret police and central bureaucracy to control their people. Overall, these two empires have little similarities and many differences due to the differing environmental and political aspects in these cultures.
One of the major similarities between these two empires is the introduction of a tax system. The Aztecs would tax people by claiming such as textiles, clothing, jewels, and other items. However, it was normally the entire city surrendering these goods instead of private households being taxed. In China, the ruler Taizu introduced a taxing system that discouraged the use of paper money. In addition, after the Black Plague caused an extensive loss of population, he increased the tax wages on the rich and decreased the tax wages on the poor. This allowed the poor to get relief throughout the recuperation process while putting more of the weight on the rich in order to balance out the funds. As it can be seen, even in this basic similarity, there is a wide difference starting with the taxing of a city rather than a specific household and the differing tax wages when a crises hits. However, the Aztecs did not go through a crises such as the Black Plague in the same time period as the Ming Empire. Something that could be comparable to the Black Plague to the Aztecs would be the introduction of devastating diseases such as smallpox that was introduced by the Spanish colonizers. This disease, among others, was one of the many factors that contributed to the sharp decline of the Aztec Empire.
When looking into the political aspects, there is a key difference between these two empires. This being that the Aztecs ruled in a sort of diplomacy with the introduction of wars in order to assure conduct throughout the empire while the Ming Empire restored the central bureaucracy and created a spy like “police” force in order to ensure conduct throughout the governing body. The Aztecs would approach cities offering gifts in order to encourage the people of that certain city to surrender. However, if they did not comply, the Triple Alliance attacked and would forcefully take the city over. The Triple Alliance is what ensured the people of the Aztecs to comply as they have seen their aggressive tactics used to take over cities. In the Ming Empire, Taizu gained a following due to him restoring the central bureaucracy and modeled his governing after the Tang empire of the seventh and eighth century. This introduced respect from the people but Taizu also introduced a spy system that would purge officials that possibly betrayed him. This introduced conduct in the governing body as it created a strong political fear throughout the government. The differing governing aspects of the Aztec and Ming Empires allowed a different variant of control but ended with the same affect through each of the Empires.
Environmentally, there were not many similarities between these two Empires. One of the most detrimental effects of the environment towards the Ming Empire was the spread of the black plague. After this disease took its hold of Asia, the Ming Empire was founded and was the time when Taizu grew in popularity due to praising the Chinese agricultural community among other things. The Ming Empire was in subtropical hill and collapsed due to deforestation and other climate changes. The Aztec Empire was situated in the Valley of Mexico and had a mild climate. After an initial food shortage, the Aztecs took over the city of Azcapotzalco in order to decrease the amount of food given away. However, the fall of the Aztecs is speculated to be because of a large war between the Aztec people and the Spanish Colonizers later in the sixteenth century. The Ming Empire was severely affected by the Black Plague as well as overworked land. The Aztecs were not as affected by the environment as the climate was mild and they had a strong grasp on the agricultural and how the land worked with various types of farming. Despite the Ming Empire’s praising of agriculture, the land was sill overworked and was one of the factors that led to the fall.
As it is shown, the Ming Empire and the Aztec Empire were extremely different areas, even in the small details such as taxing. However, they had few similarities that can be compared due to the similar governing techniques of the governing body. It can be concluded that the climate of the Ming Empire was vastly different from the Aztec Empire due to the varying climates as well as the differing governing types. In addition, the culture of these two Empires allowed for very different ways of taxing, farming, and everyday life.