Qin Dynasty

  • The Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) was the first dynasty after the Unification of China, named after the Qin State.
  • Qin Shi Huang, (221-210 BCE) was the first Emperor of China, founder of the Qin Dynasty and the man who united China. Although the Dynasty only lasted 15 years, the imperial system it founded lasted until 1912 CE.

The Unification of China

  • The Qin succeeded in uniting seven separate kingdoms during the Warring States Period (475-221 BCE)
  • Qin Shi Huang then centralised state control by developing:
    1. A centralised bureaucracy
      • for government based in the capital city of Xianyang, using the philosophy of Legalism, which superceded Confucianism and Daoism. This ended Feudalism in China by bypassing the power of the Feudal Aristocrats and Landowners and ruling the peasants directly.
    2. Large standing armies
      • located in fortresses across China.
    3. One standard for the currency
      • the Ban Liang which was round with a square hole.
    4. One standard for weights and measures and axle width.
    5. The standardisation of writing
      • All logograms were to be written in the same size and shape.
    6. A new national road system.
    7. The Zhengguo canal
      • Named after its Founder Zheng Guo, this canal was on the Wei River, originally built with Qin support in 246 BCE, but then re-dredged by the Qin to remove silting.
      • The areas irrigated then produced an agricultural surplus that provided enough food to supply the very large Qin armies.
  • The Qin Dynasty was succeeded by the Han Dynasty (202 BCE- 220 CE).

Great Wall of China

  • The wall was completed by joining together existing walls to prevent invasions by the northern Xiongnu.

Terracotta Army

  • The Terracotta Army was part of a larger Funerary Monument built in c. 209 BCE for the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. His Tomb is at Mount Li, Lishan.
    • The Army is located in a larger Necropolis occupying 38 square miles (98 square km).
    • It is an Army of 8,000 Terracotta warriors, 520 Horses, 130 Chariots and 150 Cavalry Horses.
    • They are buried in pits guarding the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang as a Funerary Memorial. The Army stands guard to the East of the Tomb.
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