WILL MARK BRAINLIEST
Evaluate the extent to which religious responses to wealth accumulation in Eurasia in the period circa 600 B. C.E. to 1500 C. E. differed from state responses to wealth accumulation.

Question 1 is based on the accompanying documents. The documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.

In your response you should do the following.

Thesis: Present a thesis that makes a historically defensible claim and responds to all parts of the question. The thesis must consist of one or more sentences located in one place, either in the introduction or the conclusion.

Argument Development: Develop and support a cohesive argument that recognizes and accounts for historical complexity by explicitly illustrating relationships among historical evidence such as contradiction, corroboration, and/or qualification.

Use of the Documents: Utilize the content of at least six of the
documents to support the stated thesis or a relevant argument.
Sourcing the Documents: Explain the significance of the author’s point of view, author’s purpose, historical context, and/or audience for at least four documents.

Document 1

Source: The Chronicle of Zuo, one of the earliest Chinese historical works, composed during the Warring States period, circa 350 B. C.E.

An ambassador from another [Chinese] state desired a jade ring that belonged to a merchant who resided in the Chinese state of Lu. So the ambassador begged Zi Chan, a Lu official, to have the ring confiscated from the merchant and given to him. Zi Chan, however, refused, saying, “One of our ancient rulers made a pact with the merchants in our state, to last through all generations. The pact said, ‘If you do not revolt against me [the ruler], I will not violently interfere with your commerce. I will not beg or take anything from you, and you may have your profitable markets, precious things, and substance, without my taking any knowledge of them.’ Through this attested covenant, our rulers and the merchants who live in our territory have preserved their mutual relations down to the present day. If you get the jade and lose a friendly state, wouldn’t that be a mistake?”

The ambassador then changed his mind, saying, “I presumed in my stupidity to ask for the jade, which would have occasioned such a calamity. Let me now withdraw my request.”

Document 2

Source: Chanakya, advisor to the first Mauryan emperor, Arthashastra, economic and political treatise, circa 250 B. C.E.

The Superintendent of Commerce shall monitor demand and the changing prices of various kinds of merchandise, both domestically produced and brought from other countries. He shall also determine the time suitable for the distribution, purchase, and sale of various kinds of merchandise. He shall avoid setting prices that allow for such large profits for merchants as to harm the people.

All those who sell merchandise shall submit to the Superintendent their sale reports, saying “this much has been sold and this much remains”; they shall also hand over their weights and measures for inspection.

The Superintendent of Commerce shall fix prices to allow a profit of five percent for local commodities and ten percent on foreign produce. Merchants who inflate the price even half a penny more than that shall be punished with a fine.
Document 3

Source: Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher, An Essay about Duties, circa 50 B. C.E.

We generally accept as true the following statements about trade and occupations, in regard to which are suitable for gentlemen and which are vulgar. First, those occupations are condemned, which bring upon you peoples’ hatred, such as tax collecting and moneylending. Also vulgar and unsuitable for gentlemen are the occupations of all hired workmen whom we pay for their labor, not for their artistic skills. Also to be considered vulgar are retail merchants, who buy from wholesale merchants and immediately turn around and resell; for they would not make a profit unless they lied a lot. Of all the occupations from which profit is accrued, none is better than agriculture, none more profitable, none more delightful, none more suitable to a free man

When Cato [a Roman statesman well-known for his moral integrity] was asked what was the best form of property ownership he replied. “Raising livestock with great success.” And after that? “Raising livestock with little success.” And third? “Raising crops.” And when the person asking the questions said, “What about moneylending?” Cato replied, “What about murder?”