Qin and the Qin Dynasty

1. Qin and the Qin Dynasty

2. UNITING CHINA Qin was King of a state in 246 BCE Had a strong army of foot soldiers, archers, chariots of 600,000 men Conquers all of the other Chinese states by 221 BCE and declares himself emperor He uses spies, bribes, and alliances along with melting down rivals weapons into bells to get and keep control Ends feudalism and forces 120,000 ex-nobles to move to the capital, Xianyang, so he could keep an eye on them since they had the real power before him Starts a bureaucracy of 36 commandries which are ruled by 3 officials civil governor – laws and farming military governor – armies imperial overseer – kept an eye on the other two officials Each commandery is divided into counties overseen by a judge to enforce the laws

3. STANDARDIZING CHINA’S CULTURE China’s culture differed from region to region before Qin Qin standardizes China’s culture writing system consisted of a dictionary of 3,300 characters which improved communication number 6 was the basis of all measurement and measuring cup was standardized one coin called a banliang was used as currency Qin was a legalist so he created a system of laws and everyone was treated the same with both rewards and punishments Punishments = fines, beheadings, forced labor, whipped, amputations, etc. Built a network of roads to inspect his empire

4. CONFLICTS WITH SCHOLARS Qin conflicted with Confucian scholars because his reforms went against Confucianism's beliefs Confucianists believed a ruler’s good behavior would make the people behave and you must honor past traditions Qin as a legalist believed that people were evil and needed strict laws and harsh punishments to behave and he rejected the past and devoted himself to new ideas and methods Burned almost all of the Confucian books and forbade public teaching of Confucianism Executed over 460 Confucian scholars for plotting against him and had them buried alive or beheaded His own son was punished for sticking up for the scholars

5. BUILDING THE WALL Qin built many public works projects (roads, water canals, Great Wall) by forcing hundreds of thousands of his people to build them Connected and extended what was already started as the Great Wall across all types of terrains and weather Did this to prevent invasion and discourage escape It took at least 300,000 workers (soldiers, peasants, govt. officials, criminals) Tens of thousands died building The Wall and were buried in it making it “the longest graveyard in the world” The Wall is over 1500 miles long, made of stone, brick, and dirt Average height = 25 ft. Average thickness = 15-30 ft. It did not fill it’s purpose but still is considered an awesome achievement

6. EMPEROR’S DEATH and BURIAL Qin was unhappy and scared of death and wanted to live forever (immortality) Was told to hide from evil spirits so in his 270 palaces he had secret passages built in and between them Died in 210 BCE at age 49, poisoned by drinking potions that were to give him immortality His death was kept a secret until his body was returned to the capital Was laid to rest in a magnificent tomb that was started when he was 13 It covered 8 sq. miles and took 700,000 workers to make, workers were buried alive with Qin so no stealing would take place The tomb contains the terra cotta army (clay soldiers), city of bronze, mercury rivers and seas, jewels, rare objects, tools and traps