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Mr. Melia – Social Studies
Unit 7 – Ancient China
Chapter 5 – Section 3
Strong Rulers Unite Warring Kingdoms
In 1974, a group of farmers was digging a well in a grove of trees in northern China. Six feet down,
they found some pottery made of a clay-like material called terra cotta. Another five feet down, they
unearthed the terra-cotta head of a man. Archaeologists began digging—and discovered more than
8,000 life-sized statues of horses, chariots, and men. It was a terra-cotta army. For more than 2,000
years, these buried soldiers had kept watch at the tomb of the great Chinese emperor, Shi Huangdi
(shee hoo ahng dee).
Today, visitors to the tomb of Shi Huangdi are stunned by the sight of this army. No two statues are
identical. Each statue is carefully made,
down to the smallest detail of clothing.
There are even royal chariots pulled by lifesized terra-cotta horses.
With his underground army, Shi Huangdi
planned to rule a second empire in the
afterlife. He also had grand plans for the
real-life empire he created in China. His
dynasty, he boasted, would last for 10,000
generations.
One China, One Ruler
Actually, Shi Huangdi's dynasty lasted for
only two generations. But he is still a major
figure in Chinese history. He is the ruler who
unified China.
The Qin Dynasty
Shi Huangdi's original name was Zheng
(juhng). He ruled a fierce people, the Qin
(cheen), who lived along China's western
edge. A Chinese poet described Zheng this
way: “Cracking his long whip, he drove the
universe before him…. His might shook the
four seas.”
By 221 BC, Zheng had extended his rule
over most of the land that makes up
modern-day China. After seizing power,
Zheng took his new title of Shi Huangdi,
which means “First Emperor.” He expected his sons and grandsons would number themselves Second
Emperor, Third Emperor, and so on. His dynasty is named after the people of his homeland. It is the
Qin dynasty.
Strengthening the Empire
Shi Huangdi set about changing China through strong and harsh rule.
One of his first tasks was to protect the new empire from its enemies.
The Great Wall
Throughout history, Chinese rulers had to worry about the nomads that lived along China's huge
northern border. Shi Huangdi had a plan to end these border wars. He ordered the largest
construction project in Chinese history. It is called the Great Wall of China. Locate the wall on the Qin
and Han Empires map. Previous rulers had built walls along the border. Shi Huangdi decided to
connect them. He ordered farmers from their fields and merchants from their stores to form an army
of 300,000 workers. When it was finished, the wall stretched for 1,400 miles (2,240 km). That is
about the distance from Washington, D.C., to Denver, Colorado.
Organizing the Government
To put down rebellions from
within the empire, Shi Huangdi
put thousands of farmers to
work building roads. The new
roads enabled his armies to
rush to the scene of any
uprisings.
The emperor dealt swiftly with
local rulers who opposed him
by having them killed or put in
prison. Shi Huangdi divided all
China into areas called districts.
Each district had a government
run by the emperor's most
trusted officials.
Unifying the Culture
Shi Huangdi was not content to unify the government of China. He also wanted the many peoples of
these united kingdoms to have one economy and one culture.
He ordered that one currency, or type of money, be used throughout China. The new currency was
a round coin with a square hole in the middle. A common currency made it easier for one region of
China to trade goods with another. He also ordered the creation of common weights and measures,
an improved system of writing, and a law code. Shi Huangdi also tried to control the thoughts of his
people. In 213 BC, he outlawed the ideas of Confucius and other thinkers. Instead, he required that
people learn the philosophies of Qin scholars. He commanded that all books in China be burned
except those about medicine, technology, and farming. Hundreds of scholars protested the order. Shi
Huangdi had them all killed.
Shi Huangdi's death in 210 BC started four years of chaos and civil war that ended in the murder of
his son. Shi Huangdi's grandson could not hold China together. Rebellions broke out. The dynasty
that was supposed to last “for 10,000 generations” lasted for only 15 years.
The Han Dynasty
One of the rebels who helped overthrow the Qin dynasty was a talented ruler named Liu Bang (lee
oo bahng). By 202 BC, he won out over his rivals and became emperor of China. Liu Bang was the
first emperor of a new dynasty: the Han (hahn). He was also the first ruler in Chinese history who
was born a peasant. Liu Bang created a stable government. His rule was less harsh than Shi
Huangdi's.
Stable governments were a feature of the Han dynasty, which lasted for about 400 years. Han rulers
realized that they needed educated people to work in the government. So they set up the civil service
system based on Confucianism.
Wudi: The Warrior Emperor
The Han dynasty reached its peak under Wudi (woo dee), Liu Bang's great-grandson. Wudi came to
power in 140 BC, when he was only 14 years old. He remained in power for more than 50 years.
Wudi's main interest was war and military matters. In fact, his name means “Warrior Emperor.” He
made improvements to Shi Huangdi's Great Wall. He also strengthened the army. By the end of
Wudi's reign, Chinese rule stretched west into Central Asia, north into present-day Korea, and south
into what today is the country of Vietnam. Locate the Han empire on the Qin and Han Empires map.
The End of the Han Empire
The great emperor Wudi died in 87 BC. After that, the Han dynasty slowly started to fall apart. The
process took more than two centuries. Over time, roads and canals fell into disrepair. Warlords,
leaders of armed local bands, gained power. The last Han emperor was kept in power by a warlord
who tried to control the empire through him. When that warlord died in AD 220, the emperor gave
up power. The Han dynasty had ended. China broke up into several smaller kingdoms.