Download Classical China

Classical China
Rise of the Qin
!   The Qin developed a very effective military state during
the Warring States period.
!   The developed a system in which the whole society was
mobilized and directed towards the objective of
expanding Qin power and conquering other states.
!   These ideas were first formulated into a political
philosophy with emphasis on laws by Shang Yang who
was the chief minister of the Qin.
Legalism
!   Han Fei developed these ideas further adding an
emphasis on rewards and punishments. Creating the
official legalist doctrine
!   Qin rulers implemented harsh punishments for crime
that were universal for all classes of society.
The Qin Dynasty
!   The Qin replaced the Zhou Dynasty it employed
Legalist ideas to subdue the warring states.
!   In 221 the the Qin ruler assumed the name Shi
Huangdi, which means “First Emperor.”
!   Shi Huangdi halted internal battles, defeated invaders,
and crushed all resistance to his rule within China.
Political opposition
!   Shi Huangdi employed a policy he call “strengthening
the trunk and weakening the branches”
!   He commanded all noble families to live in the capital
city under his suspicious gaze. This policy uprooted
120,000 noble families.
!   Seizing their land, the emperor carved China into 36
administrative districts. He sent Qin officials to control
them.
Qin rule
!   To prevent criticism, in 214 BCE. Shi Huangdi and his
prime minister murdered hundreds of Confucian
scholars.
!   They also burned books of Confucian thinkers and
poets.
!   Shi Huangdi established an autocracy—a government
that has unlimited power and uses it in an arbitrary
manner.
The Burning of books and the
Burying of Scholars
Qin Social Advances
• 
Shi Huangdi built a highway network more than 4,000
miles long.
• 
He set standards throughout China for writing, law,
currency, and weights and measures.
• 
Under Shi Huangdi irrigation projects increased farm
production and trade blossomed because of the roads
system.
• 
Trade made the new class of merchants wealthy
• 
harsh taxes and repressive government made the Qin
regime unpopular
The Great Wall
!   The Great Wall of China arose on the backs of
hundreds of thousands of peasants.
!   The wall builders worked neither for wages nor for love
of empire. They faced a terrible choice: work on the
wall or die.
!   Many of the laborers worked on the wall and died
anyway, victims of the crushing labor or the harsh
winter weather.
The Great Wall of China
From the Yellow Sea in the east
to the Gobi Desert in the west,
the Great Wall twisted like a
dragon’s tail for thousands of
miles. Watch towers rose every
200 to 300 yards along the wall.
In the time of Shi Huangdi,
hundreds of thousands of
peasants collected, hauled, and
dumped millions of tons of
stone, dirt, and rubble to fill the
core of the Great Wall.
Slabs of cut stone on the outside
of the wall enclosed a heap of
pebbles and rubble on the inside.
Each section of the wall rose to a
height of 20 to 25 feet.
N
40°
The Qin Dynasty, 221–202 B.C.
MONGOLIA
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Qin Dynasty
Extent of Zhou Dynasty
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SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Visual Sources
Luoyang
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The Fall of the Qin
!   Three years after the second Qin emperor took office
peasants rebelled.
!   Shi Huangdi’s son wasn’t a strong ruler and could not
suppress these rebellions.
!   By 202 B.C.E. the Qin gave way to the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
!   in 202 B.C. Liu Bang declared himself the first
emperor of the Han Dynasty, which ruled China for
more than 400 years.
!   The Han is divided into two periods the former Han
ruled for two roughly two centuries until 9 C.E.
!   After a brief period when the Han were out of power,
the Later Han ruled for almost another two centuries.
Han China
!
Lui Bang followed Shi Huangdi’s policy of establishing
a strong central government.
!  
He destroyed rival kings power and set up a
government in which central authority controls the
running of the states.
!   He established hundreds of local provincials called
commanderies.
Liu Bang
!   In the western half of the empire Liu Bang appoints
officials that governed over provincial territories.
!   In the East military leaders controlled territories
autonomously.
!  
Liu Bang won popular support by departing from the
strict legalist practices of Shi Huangdi.
!   He lowered taxes and softened harsh punishments.
Consolidation
!   By the early 2nd century BCE. Independently
controlled eastern territories became unruly.
!   Liu family manipulates these leaders against each other
and slowly integrates these territories into the imperial
system.
!   By 150 BCE. All eastern territories are under direct
imperial authority.
Empress Lu
!   After Liu Bang’s death one of his wives seized control
through her son.
!   She outlived her son and retained control by naming
an infant king.
!   Empress Lu was the first female ruler of the Empire
The Martial Emperor
!
Wudi reigned from 141 B.C.E. to 87 B.C.E. Longer than
any other Han Emperor.
!   He was called the “Martial Emperor” because he adopted
the policy of expanding the empire through warfare.
!   He saw the state as an instrument for good and believed the
government should be used to solve problems.
!   He created Government monopolies on critical
commodities like salt alcohol, and iron to regulate pricing
against private interest.
Confucianism
!   Mostly, Chinese emperors rewarded loyal followers with
government posts.
!   Others obtained Gov’t post by testing their knowledge
of Confucianism.
!
Wudi set up a school where hopeful job applicants
from all over China could come to study Confucius’s
works.
Xiongnu
!   The Xiongnu were fierce nomads that often raided
Han’s northern territory.
!   The early Han emperors tried to buy off the Xiongnu
by sending them thousands of pounds of silk, rice,
alcohol, and money.
!   When Wudi realized that the bribes were simply
making the Xiongnu stronger, he sent more than
100,000 soldiers to fight them.
The early Han emperors tried to buy off the Xiongnu by sending them thousands
of pounds of silk, rice, alcohol, and money. Usually, the Xiongnu just accepted
these gifts and continued their raids.
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Han Dynasty, 200 B.C.–A.D. 220
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Han Empire at its
greatest extent, A.D. 220
Han protectorate (influence)
Xiongnu regions
Great Wall
Silk Road
GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps
1. Place What was the approximate size, in square miles, of the Han Empire at
its greatest extent?
2. Location Along which border did the Chinese build the Great Wall? Why did
they build it there and not in other places?
Change in Policy
!
Wudi’s military adventures and centralized gov’t cause
severe economic strain on the empire
!   Han Wudi to finance his ventures he raised taxes
confiscated land and personal property from wealthy
individuals
!   After his death in his policies were challenged the Salt
and Iron debates of 81 BCE. Led to the dismantling of
government monopolies.
Wudi’s successors
!   After Wudi’s death the Imperial court becomes less
engaged in the affairs of administration and leaves the
administration of the empire to their officials.
!   Corruption and exploitation becomes rampant
amongst these official who saw opportunities to gain
wealth through their political influence.
Economic problems
!   By the first century BCE . Social and economic
differences generated serious tensions.
!   Economic problems forced many small landowners to
to sell their property under unfavorable conditions
!   By the end of the first century BCE land had
accumulated in the hands of a relatively small group of
individuals who owned vast estates
!   Poorer classes began to organize rebellions in hopes of
attaining a greater share of Han resources.
Wang Mang
!   Wang Mang was a powerful and respected Han
administrator.
!   He he served as regent in the early late first century
CE. when a two year old boy inherited the Han
imperial throne.
!   Wang Mang claimed the imperial throne in 9 ce.
!   Wang Mang tried to implement a system of land
redistribution, which was largely up popular among
landowners who rebelled infear of losing power.
Wang Mang
!   Wang Mang’s life and dynasty were ended in 23 ce.
After a coalition of disgruntled landlords and
desperate peasants overthrew his empire.
!   Within two years the a recovered Han dynasty returned
to power, but ruled over a much weaker realm.
!   This period is known as the Later Han
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Han Gov’t
!   The Han emperor’s relied on a complex bureaucracy
and a vast imperial army.
!   He levied taxes to raise money.
!   Chinese peasants owed part of their yearly crops to the
government. Merchants also paid taxes.
!   Besides taxes, the peasants owed the government a
month’s worth of labor or military service every year.
!   With this source of labor, the Han emperors built
roads and dug canals and irrigation ditches.
Technology
!   Paper was invented in A.D. 105. Before that, books
were usually written on silk.
!   Another technological advance was the collar harness
for horses.
!   The Chinese perfected a plow that was more efficient
because it had two blades.
!   They also improved iron tools, invented the
wheelbarrow, and began to use water mills to grind
grain.
Agriculture and Commerce
!   During the Han Dynasty, the population of China
swelled to 60 million, which created a large demand for
agricultural products.
!   The government established monopolies on the mining
of salt, the forging of iron, the minting of coins, and
the brewing of alcohol.
!   Spurred by the worldwide demand for silk, Chinese
commerce expanded along the Silk Roads to most of
Asia and, through India, all the way to Rome.
Women in Han China
!   Ban Zhao also wrote a guide called Lessons for
Women, which called upon women to be humble and
obedient but also industrious.
!   Confucian teachings had dictated that women were to
devote themselves to their families.
!   A few empresses wielded great power. Daoist—and later,
Buddhist—nuns were able to gain an education and
lead lives apart from their families.
Han decline
!   During the Han the system of rewarding officials for
services in offices through grants of land becomes
universal.
!   Soon individual estates compete in the market and a
new aristocratic elite develops.
!   These aristocrats compete for power and influence
within the Han Bureaucracy.
The Fall of the Han
!   According to custom, a family’s land was divided
equally among all of the father’s male heirs.
!  
Small farmers often went into debt and had to borrow
money from large landowners, who charged very high
interest rates. If the farmer couldn’t pay back the debt,
the landowner took possession of the farmer’s land.
!   Large landowners were not required to pay taxes, so
when their land holdings increased, the amount of
land that was left for the government to tax decreased.
Decline
!   Military strongmen also wielded power and competed
for influence within the Han Government.
!   These groups along with Eunuchs within the imperial
court caused divisions within the Han government.
!   In addition Local landowners began to intensify their
exploitation of the peasantry.
!   In 184CE. a major peasant revolt further weakened
Imperial authority
The Yellow Turban Rebellion
Causes:
1.  high government taxes used to fund public works
projects and garrisons along the Silk Road.
2.  Exploitation by wealthy landowners
3.  Agrarian crisis and famine in northern territories
coupled with Floods along the Yellow River.
Outcome of Rebellion
!   Military gained a glorious victory however the cost was
very high.
!   Government offices were destroyed, magistrates were
killed and many districts were cut off from centralized
rule.
!   Military and local leaders gained self-governing status
which fueled later feuding and divisions within the
empire
The Era of the three
Kingdoms
!   In 220 the country divided into three kingdoms ruled
independently.
!   This age is remembered for its great adventure and
clever military strategy.