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WANTED POSTER!
(Due FRIDAY, March 14, 2014)
On the other side of this paper create a “Wanted” poster of Emperor Qin “Shihuangdi” based on the
information about his reign. Use the information from the outline and the Qin Dynasty Crossword Puzzle to
create the poster. (20 points)
Include:

 The word “WANTED” on the top of the poster. (5 pts)

 A portrait of Emperor Qin. You can find a portrait on the internet and print it out, or you can draw
one by hand. This needs to be IN COLOR! (5 pts)

 At the bottom of the poster write two paragraphs describing Emperor Qin.
11.. The first paragraph should include why he was a GOOD emperor. (5 pts)
22.. The second paragraph should include why he was a CRUEL emperor. (5 pts)
(Each paragraph should be 5-7 sentence and include an introduction
sentence, supporting examples and conclusion sentence.)
Total Points out of 20: ____________________
18-20 A
16-17 B
14-15 C
12-13 D
11 and below F
The Qin (chin) Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty lasted from 256-206 B.C. Cheng, from the state of Qin, lead his people to revolt
against the Zhou in 246 B.C. and finally over threw them in 256 B.C. Qin wanted a new title. For the last
1,500 years Chinese rules had been called wang or “King.” Qin wanted to be called Shihuangdi meaning “First
Emperor.” Qin’s next act as Emperor was to unify the states in China. He divided the states into districts,
giving a governor and defender to each one. People in China were urged by Qin to turn in lawbreakers for a
reward. This helped him maintain control over his large Empire.
Before Qin, officials passed their jobs on to their sons. Qin changed that by setting up a bureaucracy* in
his government and millitary. Qin also unified the empire by coming up with one system of measurement,
money, and writing. Qin ended the feudal system of land ownership. Now anyone could own land as long as
they paid the tax.
Qin didn’t want anyone to disagree with his new form of government. The philosopher, Confucius, had
written books that disagreed with Legalism (Qin’s form of government). In 213 B.C. Qin ordered all “useless”
books to be burned. This included any book that wasn’t about medicine, agriculture, or prophecy. “Anyone
referring to the past to criticize the present…should be put to death.” (Lisi, Qin’s advisor) Qin rounded more
than 400 scholars who protested his book burning and threw them into a pit, all tied together. He had his men
shovel dirt over them, burying them alive. Nobody protested his law after that.
The Great Wall of China began construction in the Qin Dynasty. It was designed for two reasons:
First, it helped to keep in peasants who might leave to become nomads. Second, it was meant to keep out
enemy invaders (particularly the Mongols in the North). Guards on the watchtowers kept a lookout for
enemies, using flags or fires to signal for help. The wall was never completely successful. Invaders swarmed
over it and many people died in it’s construction. It is still, however, one of the few man made structures that
can be seen from outer space!
Qin spent the last years of his life looking for immortality. He had his scientists looking for a cure for
death. They gave him pills with mercury* in them. These eventually killed him. Qin was buried with more
than 6,000 terra cotta warriors. In a tomb that Rameses II would have envied! The clay statues were life sized
and were armed with swords, spears and crossbows, ready for battle. Horses and chariots were also set in the
tomb to defend the Emperor in the afterlife. The artisans who worked on his tomb were killed and placed in the
tomb with him when he died. Soon after Emperor Qin died the Hans overthrew the Qin dynasty and one of
these rebels became the first emperor of the Han Dynasty.
*Bureaucracy: A system where each worker is appointed to a job and trained for that job. People at each level
of job supervise those below.
*Mercury: A poisonous chemical that is liquid at room temperature. Today it is used in thermometers.