The Qin Dynasty

Dynasty Song

So far - Shang and Zhou DynastiesNow looking at Qin DynastyPlus more

How to memorise the order of the major Chinese dynasties

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJis9TSw1rE

Other ways Qin (秦 )is written

• Qin• Chin• Chi’in

• The name “China” comes from Qin

The First Emperor• Born as Ying Zheng in 259 BCE• Unified warring states • Declared himself “Qin Shi

Huangdai – Shi Huangdai means “The First Emperor of China”

• Cruel ruler• Died 210BCE• Length of dynasty – short• Qin dynasty ended 206BCE –

Han Dynasty next

Achievements - Standardization

• Money• Weights and Measures• Writing• Irrigation• Roads

• This made trading easier

Legalism

Legalism

• Originated in Zhou dynasty• State over the individual• Qin Shi Huangdai rejected Confucianism (rule

by wisdom and virtue ) in favour of Legalism (rule by law)

• Legalism believed that people were wicked• Strict laws to control behaviour• Reward/punishment

Video

• First Emperor of China - National Geographic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XprytutpRXw

Source – What was Emperor Qin like?

• ‘The King of Qin was born with a prominent nose, elongated eyes, the breast of a bird of prey, and the voice of a jackal: he seldom extends favour, and has the heart of a tiger or wolf. Once he really has his way in the world, he will hold the whole world captive. He is ruler without benevolence or respect for learning.’

(Sima Qian, Grand Historian, 221 B.C.)

The Great Wall of China

Difficulties in the Growing Empire

• Communication• Protection

Source Analysis• ‘Large-scale public construction projects were

made possible by the unification of the country, when territorial conflicts no longer existed. The Great Wall is a case in point, Shi Huang did not build it from scratch; the wall had already existed in various former states. Shi Huang had only to link it into a 4,000-mile wall.’

(Yong Ho, historian, 2000)

Protest song lyrics from the third century BCE (English translation by Anne Birrell in New Songs for a Jade Terrace, 1982).

I water my horse at a Long Wall hole,The water’s chill hurt my horse’s bones.I go and tell the Long Wall officer,‘Mind you don’t keep us Taiyuan men for good!’‘Corvée has a set time to run!Swing your sledge! Lend your voice!’‘We men would rather die fighting!Why are we bored to death building the Long Wall?Dead men’s skeletons prop each other up?’

Source C. Extract from the website of TravelChinaGuide, the largest online tour company in China, 2013.

In the year 221 BC, Emperor Qin Shihuang defeated all his enemies and unified China for the first time in its history. During his reign, the Huns from the north were a constant threat, often coming down to the Yellow River Basin and taking land from people in the Hetao Area, located at the top of the Great Bend of the Yellow River. To protect his people and safeguard his political power, the Emperor ordered General Meng Tian, commanding 300,000 soldiers, to defeat the enemy force. To prevent further attacks by the Huns, he decided to consolidate and extend the Great Wall of China.

Wall Built During the Warring States Period (website of TravelChinaGuide)

The First Emperor’s Mauseleum

End of the Qin Dynasty

• Qin Shi Haungdai died in 210BCE• His son was a weak ruler• End of the Qin Dynasty in 206BCE• Han Dynasty was established