At the end of the Warring States period (475–221 B.C.E.

), the state of Qin conquered all other

states and established the Qin dynasty (221–206 B.C.E.). It was China’s first unified state whose
power was centralized instead of spread among different kingdoms in the north and south.
Although it lasted only about fifteen years, the Qin dynasty greatly influenced the next two
thousand years of Chinese history.

The first emperor of Qin, known as Qin Shihuangdi (literally “First Emperor,” 259–210 B.C.E.),
instituted a central and systematic bureaucracy. He divided the state into provinces and
prefectures governed by appointed officials. This administrative structure has served as a
model for government in China to the present day. Shihuangdi sought to standardize
numerous aspects of Chinese life, including weights and measures, coinage, and the writing
system. These standards would last for centuries after the fall of his short-lived dynasty. He also
ordered many construction projects. He expanded the network of roads and canals throughout
the country. The first Great Wall (not the one that exists today) was built during his reign.

Despite the many accomplishments of the Qin dynasty, Shihuangdi was considered a severe
ruler. He was intolerant of any threats to his rule and established harsh laws to maintain his
control. He had his chief advisor burn all books that were not written on subjects he considered
useful (useful subjects included agriculture and medicine) and reportedly buried hundreds of
scholars alive.

Previously a minor state in the northwest, Qin had seized the

territories of small states on its south and west borders by the
mid-third century B.C., pursuing a harsh policy aimed at the
consolidation and maintenance of power. Soon thereafter, Ying
Zheng (259–210 B.C.), who would reunite China, came to the Qin
throne as a boy of nine. He captured the remaining six of the
“warring states,” expanding his rule eastward and as far south as
the Yangzi River, and proclaimed himself First Emperor of the
Qin, or Qin Shihuangdi. Qin, pronounced chin, is the source of the
Western name China.
n 221 B.C.E., Zheng's conquest of his rivals was complete, and he gave himself a new name: Shi
Huangdi, meaning The First Emperor. Not wanting to allow his enemies to rise again, he made
many administrative changes to his government. First, he completed what was likely the
first census of China, taking a record of all the people and their positions. This allowed for
effective administration and tax collection. Second, he developed a large imperial
bureaucracy. A bureaucracy is a way of governing in which the positions below the ruler speak
with the power of the ruler. He appointed governors to control military and legal matters, and
positioned spies to report back to him on the actions of his governors. This was different from
previous rulers who relied on the loyalty of local lords to act on their behalf. These local lords
had often rebelled against the king or done only what was in their own best interest. Before
Chin Shi, China was politically and economically divided dating back to the Zhou Dynasty. The
Zhou relied on feudalism to govern China. Feudalism is a system of government in which the
king relies on aristocrats who promise loyalty and military service in exchange for land. You
might be familiar with this concept from Medieval Europe. As time went on, these aristocrats
became increasingly detached from their obligations leading to all-out warfare between the
various aristocrats during the Warring States period. Using new technologies, such as the
crossbow and bold military strategies, Qin Shi conquered the warring states one by one,
bringing each under his control.

Military victory did not signal an end to Qin Shi's ambition. He understood that the aristocrats
could easily undo his gains once his military left. To ensure that this didn't happen, Qin Shi
made several important changes to the structure of the Chinese government.

The Qin Dynasty was short-lived, spanning from 221 B.C.E. to 206 B.C.E. Just one emperor,
Shi Huangdi, ruled during this period. Shi Huangdi came to power through military conquest,
and after his victory, he instituted governmental and military reforms to make himself
an absolute autocrat, meaning he ran China with no checks or balances against him. Shi
Huangdi's rule extended into every realm of life, down to the smallest detail. The entirety of
Chinese society was restructured to serve the purpose of the state. China's laws and rules were
restructured and centered around a new philosophy.
The Qin Dynasty, pronounced like chin, emerged in 221 BCE. Qin Shihuang, the
king of the Qin state at the time, conquered the many feudal territories vying for
influence during the bloody Warring States period. He then united them all under
one rule, thus putting an end to the notoriously violent chapter in Chinese history
that lasted for 200 years.

 Qin Shi Huang rules for a very short time (221-206 BCE) but lays the
foundation for China’s imperial structure and begins construction of the
Great Wall for defense to the north.

Historians have blamed some of the other six states for appeasing Qin, but the military power
and skillful diplomacy of the latter also contributed to its success. The Qin Emperor, Ying Zheng,
named himself Shi Huangdi (First Emperor), a formulation of titles previously reserved for
deities and the mythological sage-emperors. He is known by historians as Qin Shi Huang. He
wanted his successors to rule China forever with the title (Second Emperor), (Third Emperor)
etc.
The Qin and Han empires (221 BCE to 220 CE) represent one of the most momentous periods of early China as it
moved from an evolving mosaic of contending states and cultures to a relatively unified imperial state. Political, ritual,
social, and economic changes put in place during these four centuries would greatly influence the dynasties that
followed. During the Warring States period (c. 475–221 BCE), the major states of the North China Plain and central
China vied for supremacy. The northwestern state of Qin eventually dominated the region and succeeded in bringing
the first unification of China in 221 BCE under the First Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi. With the Han conquest of Qin only a
decade later, a four century long period of imperial unity was brought to much of China that extended Han control into
neighboring tributary states in the northeast, south, and southwest, and established rich and complex military and
economic interactions with much of Asia. This early imperial period is well known through abundant traditional literary
and historical sources, the details of which can be found in the comprehensive Historical Overviews. However, these
texts record only a small part of life and society during the Qin and Han periods. Archaeology, first introduced in
China in the 1910s and 1920s, and dramatically expanded since the 1970s, has yielded an increasingly rich array of
material evidence of exceptional diversity and quantity—it is estimated that more than ten thousand Han dynasty
tombs have been excavated, not to mention residential, production, and other sites. These new finds have
dramatically improved our understanding of the Qin and Han periods, including its urban centers, ritual and mortuary
practices, military prowess, details of workshop organization and labor, interactions with neighboring cultures, and the
exquisite refinements in a range of arts, crafts, industries, and scientific/technological endeavors that took shape
during this pivotal period. Finally, note that the terms “Qin” and “Han” have both cultural and chronological meaning,
and archaeological materials from “non-Chinese” cultures with which the Qin and Han empires came into contact
represent some of the most exciting aspects of recent

The Shift from Feudalism to Imperialism Overview: Following the Warring State period, Shi Huang
became the first emperor of China after unifying the seven states which had been at war for over two
centuries. He ended China’s feudal period and began the imperial period which would last over two
thousand years. Shi Huang attempted to create many changes during his reign, and because he believed
his dynasty would last 10,000 generations, he planned big. This lesson aims to focus on continuity and
change by analyzing the Qin dynasty and the affects of the imperial age.

: Destruction of Evidence Overview: After the Qin state unified China, Emperor Shi Huang ordered his
people to burn every book that discussed any state in the Warring State period except the Qin. He
hoped to destroy all evidence of the past, breaking cultural ties that those who were now under his
command might use to encourage rebellion and cause the country to dissolve back into warring nation
states. This lesson will focus on the importance of evidence and how it can be used to control others.

To defend his empire against the intruding northern

nomad tribes like the XIONGNU 匈奴 and HU 胡 (rather a general term
for "barbarians"), a long fortification wall, today known as the
"GREAT WALL 長城, was built along the northern frontier, in the map
shown as a black line.
A very important instrument to control the local governors were
the INSPECTION TOURS of the First Emperor, in the map shown
with red lines. In 210, the emperor died during an inspection tour
(big dot). After his death local leaders rose against the Qin dynasty,
defeated the imperial armies and sacked the ca
 The dukes and kings of the ZHOU PERIOD 周 (11th cent.-221 BCE) STATE OF
QIN 秦 (in the map signified by the green lined pattern) were among the first
rulers to establish commanderies (jun 郡) in their territory as an
administrative unit, instead of investing princes and persons that had won
merits. When King Ying Zheng 嬴政 unified China and became the FIRST
EMPEROR OF QIN 秦始皇帝 (r. 246-210 BCE), he dissolved the old REGIONAL
STATES and established commanderies (names in black) in the whole territory
of China. Some of them, especially the lands in the south where the native
tribes of the YUE 越 lived (Nanyue 南越, Dongyue 東越, and Minyue 閩越), were
incorporated for the first time into the realm of China. The capital was
Xianyang 咸陽 (modern Xianyang, Shaanxi). The territory near the capital
(neishi 內史) was directly administe
pital.