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China’s First Empire Warring States China Qin Unification of China: Origins • The Turning Point From Feudal Anarchy to Chinese Empires • The State of Qin (Fifth Century BC - Third Century BC) • Legalists Welcomed Qin Shi Huangdi, The First Emperor (246-210 BC) The Qin Empire The Great Wall of China • 1400 Miles Long • 100,000-1 Million Dead to build it Qin Reform • • • • • Prefecture and County System Officials Chosen for Talent Aristocrats Stripped of Land Standardization of Everything Persecution of Non-Legalist Thought The Backlash • • • • Huge Taxes Huge Death Everyone Hates the Qin Imperial Collapse: 210-206 BC The Terracotta Army Western (“Former”) Han Dynasty (206 BC-8 AD) Western Han Dynasty • The Dynastic Cycle and the Mandate of Heaven • Rise of the Han: Liu Bang (206-195 BC) • Economic Recovery Han Wudi (141-87 BC) • • • • • • Yellow River-Capital Canal Adopts Confucianism Major Conqueror First Census Higher Taxes Old Age Paranoia The Han • Salt and Iron Debate: Confucius +, Merchants • Xiongnu Threat • The Silk Road • Centralization of Government • Confucianization The Struggle for Power • • • • Court Officials The Empress Dowager (Head Wife) Court Eunuchs Military Leaders The Silk Road Decline and Usurpation • Evasion of Taxes • Higher Burden on Peasants – 22 BC: Peasants Rise Up • Regent Wang Mang the Usurper: 8 AD-23 AD – 23 AD: Rebels Kill Wang Mang, Fight Over His Corpse • 25 AD: Liu Xiu restores order Later Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) • First Century AD – Prosperity and Military Expansion – Xiongnu Flee West, Become Huns • Second Century AD – – – – Internal Court Conflict Landowners with Private Armies Daoist Revolutionary Movements Generals Divide the Empire in 220 AD Three Kingdoms Era (220-280 AD) and Six Dynasties Era (280-589 AD) • The Three Kingdoms Era--Mythic Resonance • Semi-Feudalism • South China prospers but government is weak • Nomads Overrun the North but are Assimilated Han Thought and Religion • Han Confucianism – 175 AD: Official Canon in STONE – Uniformity of Language: 100 AD, 9000 Characters – Philosophy of Nature: Virtuous Behavior Harmonizes Heaven and Earth, Fends Off Disaster – Inventions: Seismograph, paper, wheelbarrow, stern-post rudder, compass Han Thought and Religion • History – Sima Qian (1st Century BC) and Ban Gu (1st century AD) • Neo-Daoism / “Mysterious Learning” • Quest for Immortality – Alchemical innovation is side effect: • Medicines • Dyes and Glazes • Gunpowder Buddhism Rising • First Century AD; Seen as Taoist Sect • Appeal: • It was a doctrine of personal salvation. • It upheld high standards of personal ethics • It had systematic philosophy and ties to Indian intellectual life. • It drew on sophisticated Indian traditions of meditation and psychology. Buddhism Triumphant • • • • 5th Century, Widespread Journey to the West Chinese Buddhism is syncretic Mahayana Sects (focused on compassion and savior figures--Boddhisatvas) flourish • State Regulated