Chinas rst emperor

DYNASTY
Qin Shi Huangdi
When people think of chinas emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi usually pops into their minds. He was born into the Qin family in 269 BCE. When he was 3 the Qin family took over the other city states. When he was 13 in 256 B.C.E, he rose to power. There are mixed feelings about Qin Shi Huangdi. He did many good things for China, but he balanced it out by doing things that people didn't approve of. He brought the culture together by standardizing certain things. He standardized coinage, by getting rid of the shells and other currencies, and making bronze coins banliang that were circular with a square hole in the middle. This represented the earth (square) and heaven (circle) . He also standardized weights and measurements. He made people use fen, sheng and jins,to represent grams, milliliters and centimeters. The third thing he made the same was the writing by making everyone read and write in the same chinese characters. He created a different form of government. He used a bureaucracy, where people are trained to do a certain thing and report to people directly above them. He got rid of feudalism, where nobles rule above the peasants and force them to work in the elds. When the emperor needed something he would tell the nobles who would force the peasants to do it for the emperor. Qin Shi Huangdi was a legalist and trusted no one, so he got rid of the nobles and moved them and their families to where he could keep an eye on them. He also forced people to build canals and roads, letting people travel more often and increasing trade. He took men and made them build the Great Wall of China. Four to six million of his people died doing his bidding.

QIN

THE

Terra Cotta Worriers inside one of the four pits

Royal families during the Warring States Period

Before and after the Qin dynasty

Before the Qin dynasty, there was a terrible time of disagreement. It was called the warring states period. It had as many as 11 major city states, all ghting with one another. It was a time of terrible chaos, and was horrible for China. It all nally ended in 221 B.C.E. The Qin family took over, but at the cost of many lives. Tons of people died during the ght for control. 400,000 Zhou soldiers died, and that was just one city state. After Qin Shi Huangdi had passed away, the government was worried that the news would get out, and that the warring states period would start again. The government decided not to tell anyone that he was dead. They kept the emperor in his throne, even though he was dead. It was summer, so to mask the smell of the dead emperor, the government put barrels of dead sh next to his throne.

TERRA COTTA WARRIORS

In 1974 chinese farmers found the Terra Cotta Worriers when they were attempting to dig a water well. Over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots, and 670 horses were found in four pits, a mile east of Qin Shi Huangdis tomb. It took 720,000 people 37 years to complete this project. The Terra Cotta Warriors were meant to protect the emperor in the afterlife. I nd it amazing that there were 8,000 soldiers, yet none of them look alike.

QIN DYNASTY 221 - 206 B.C.E

Fried, Grace Thursday, March 21, 2013 9:30:53 PM Pacic Daylight Time 70:56:81:af:fb:53

The Great Wall of China during the spring

Control, Power, and Legacy

Power and Policies
The emperor had tons of power, and even that is an understatement. He was in charge of millions and millions of people. But all this power did not come easily. There were many things Qin Shi Huangdi had to accomplish rst. First he had to conquer all of the warring states. His family had already conquered the Zhou state but when Qin Shi Huangdi (or Prince Zheng) came into power the Qin family was ghting with six other major city states. It took him 35 years to conquer all of the city states. He had strategic battle formations and more worriers than a lot of the other families. He also had spies and he used bribery. Qin Shi Huangdi used policies to strengthen his control. He took drastic measures to make sure that he stayed emperor. When the emperor discovered a plot to assassinate him he had the guilty and his family executed. He exiled his own mother when he feared that she was plotting against him. He traveled from castle to castle, and anyone that told of the emperors precise location would be killed. He left orders that stated to kill the people that had built the tomb, so that there would be no tomb robbers.
Legalism was founded by a philosopher named HanFezi. He believed that having strict laws was the only way someone would behave. With these laws any weak ruler could be strong. He also believed that all people were evil. Deep down, if no one was watching, all people would make the wrong choice instead of the right. Legalists did not trust anyone. Trusting led to being controlled by others. The people could not criticize the government or the emperor. It was forbidden to behave selshly. The worst crime was being disloyal to the emperor. Many people were killed or punished for disloyalty and other crimes.

The Great Wall of China

The great wall of China was built in the Qin dynasty in around the 5th century. Soldiers took young men from their homes and forced them to build the wall upon the emperor's command. It is estimated that four to six million people died building it. The dead were buried in the wall giving it the nickname the longest graveyard in the world. Although it cost many lives, it survived to be one of the seven

One of the many Terra Cotta Worriers

Legacy
Although the Qin dynasty and Qin Shi Huangdi are long gone, there are many reminders of both of them. I have already mentioned the Great Wall of China and the Terra Cotta Worriers, but there are many more. Qin Shi Huangdi pulled China through a hard time, and unied the culture. He increased trade and travel by building roads and canals. He also worked millions to death with his building projects, wars, and other orders. He was both good and bad for China. The rst emperors impact on the world is still remembered today.

Legalism
Qin Shi Huangdi was a legalist. It was a very strict Chinese philosophy. They believed that it was best to have harsh punishments and strict laws. They also had fabulous rewards for anyone that was willing to turn someone else in for breaking the law. With a harsh belief like this, many people lived in fear. They didn't want to be exiled, buried, beheaded, burned, tattooed, whipped, chained to a rock, and beaten while their arms were twisted around a pole. The legalists told the people that if they were criminals in this life that they would be in the next. Criminals would go to a ery place where they would be chained and slaves forever. The people didn't know what to do. Most people were very paranoid.
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world wonders.
Fried, Grace Thursday, March 21, 2013 9:30:53 PM Pacic Daylight Time