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Shi Huangdi Unites China
The warring states period ended when the
kingdom of Qin unified China. King Zheng
became the first emperor.
Unity under the Qin
- Qin was a mountainous kingdom in northwestern
China
- By the late Zhou dynasty, Qin was the strongest
kingdom in western China.
- King Zheng still wanted more
Uniting the Warring States
• King Zheng was a skilled and ruthless leader
• In 221 B.C. he defeated his last enemy and had
united China
• Though China was united, they still faced
challenges
– Different languages
– Different customs
– Rebellion and invasion were always a risk
The First Emperor
• Zheng decided that the name “King” was not
powerful enough, and he decladred himself
Shi Huangdi, or “First Emperor”
• The word Huangdi was tied to the gods and
legendary rulers of China’s past.
Defending the Empire
• Before unification, many rulers had walls built
around their kingdoms to prevent invasion
• Shi Huangdi had these walls torn down so that
rebellion would be more difficult
• He is also the reason the Great Wall of China
was started
The Great Wall
• The Great Wall of China runs east to west
along Shi Huangdi’s empire.
• It was built to prevent nomads from invading
from the grasslands in the north.
• Building the Great Wall was dangerous, and
many men died while working on it
Continued…
• It did not always keep nomads out, and
determined invaders found ways to get
around it.
• The main wall stretches 3,889 miles
• It is roughly 26 feet tall, though its height
changes in areas
Uniform Standards
• Shi Huangdi created standards that unified
China’s economy and culture
• He also standardized transportation by making
rules on the axel lengths of all vehicles
• As a result the ruts made by carts were the
same width which made travel easier
Rule of the First Emperor
• Shi Huangdi is remembered as a cruel leader
• He believed that harsh/ strict rules were
needed to end chaos in Chinese society
• He believed in Legalism, which means that a
strong leader and strong legal system are
needed to create social order
• Shi Hunagdi followed Han Feizi, and he did not
follow Confucian ideas.
– Confucious believed people could be led by good
example
– Han Feizi believed that people must be forced to
do good
• Shi Hunagdi made uniform legal code across
his empire
• Penalties for breaking the law were severe
• For example : a covicted thief could have
his/her feet or nose cut off
• A less serious crime could result in hard labor
• Other punishment included execution by
beheading
• Or cutting a criminal in half!!!!
• One account states that the emperor had 460
scholars executed for disobeying an order
Thought control
• The first Emperor also started to censor or ban
ideas that he found dangerous of offensive
• Debate about government was banned
• He burned all books that did not support his
policies
The fall of the dynasty
• His policies were not popular, but they did
help to create a single nation
• Shi Huangdi believed this empire would last
forever but it collapsed three years after he
died
• The Qin dynasty was undone by its unbending
of harsh laws
• A man named Chen Shen led a group of men
north to guard the border, when heavy rains
delayed them
• He knew the punishment for being late would
be severe, so they started a rebellion
• As news of this spread, thousands of people
supported him
• Some generals even joined the rebellion
• Rebels won, but soon started to fight each
other
• China once again slid into Chaos
Chapter 9 Section 2
• Expansion under the Han Dynasty
• After the Qin Dynasty collapsed, the next
ruling family was the Han.
• The Han Emperors built on the success of the
Qin, and created on of the most influential
dynasties in Chinese history
Government of the Han
• The fighting that ended the
Qin Dynasty lasted a few
years
• Finally, a rebel named Liu
Bang gained control of China
• In 206 B.C., he founded the
Han Dynasty
• The Han ruled China for about 400 years
• Today, the largest ethnic group in China still
call themselves the “Han”
Reuniting and expanding China
• The first Han emperor came from a poor
family
• He was successful because he surrounded
himself with good advisors
• He worked with a Confucian Scholar who
stated that the Qin lost power because they
were too cruel
• The Emperor encouraged learning, lowered
taxes, and ended the Qin’s harsh rules
• Most of China’s expansion took
place under the fifth Han
emperor, and his name was
Wudi
• He is remembered as one of
the greatest emperors.
• Wudi ruled for more than 50 years
• He expanded his empire north to the
Korean peninsula and south into what is
now Vietnam
Structure of Government
• Han emperors followed the Qin in that they
created a strong central government
• By doing this, they avoided the disunity that
the Zhou had faced
• As the Zhou expanded, local nobleman
became more powerful than the king
• Han leaders made sure that local leaders
remained too weak to challenge their
authority
• When the Han conquered new lands, they
administered is directly rather than giving it to
nobles
• The Han government was like a pyramid
• The base was China’s towns and villages
• Government officials made up the middle
• The emperor and his chief offical were at the
top
Civil Service
• The strength of Han government was civil
service
• Civil service is when government employees
are selected for their knowledge and skill
• In the first 200 years of Han rule, civil service
grew to more than 13,000 officials
• Positions in civil service were not hereditary,
or passed down. Officials were appointed
• Test were created to find talented people,
and were based on Confucian ideas
• Han emperors placed limits on officials
• Officials could not work in their home district,
and could not work with family or friends
• This kept the officials from organizing against
the emperor
The Silk Road
• The Silk Road is a network of trade routes that
cross Asia
• They connect China to central and southwest
Asia
• There were already trade routes, but Wudi’s
expansion led to improved trade
• Merchants made fortunes along the Silk
Road, but it was also a way to spread ideas
Journey of Zhang Qian
• Emperor Wudi heard of a group of people
called the Yuezhi
• The Han dynasty had an enemy called the
Xiongnu, who were nomadic people to the
north
• Wudi hoped the Yuezhi would help the Han to
defeat the Xiongnu
• Zhang Qian set out west to meet with the
Yuezhi, but was captured by the Xiongnu and
held captive for ten years
• He escaped but could not convince the Yuezhi
to help the Han
• Still, Wudi was interested in Zhang Qian’s
travels
Important trade route
• The name “Silk Road” comes from China’s
most important export: Silk
• Silk is made from the cocoon of the silk worm
and can by dyed many colors
• Exportation of the actual silk worm is illegal
• Chinese people guarded the secret of silk
making for thousands of years
New Ideas
Chinese invention such as paper spread along
the silk road
Foreign ideas such as Buddhism also entered
China during the Han dynasty
• Buddhism started in India and spread into
central Asia
• Overtime, Buddhism became very popular in
China
• Along with Confucianism and Daoism,
Buddhism is one of the most influential belief
systems in China.
Chapter 9 Section 3
Han Society
• Han society was bound together by Confucian
Values
• Confucius valued mental work rather than
physical labor
• Farmers were highly respected because they
produced basic goods for society
• 90% of Han society was made up of farmers
• People had little respect for merchants
• Merchants did not produce any goods, so they
were not allowed to wear fine clothing of own
land.
• Scholars were the most highly respected
group of people in Han society
Monopolies
• Salt and iron were monopolies that were
controlled by the Han empire
• Lacquerware quickly became popular during
the Han
• Lacquerware had a “glowing” appearance
Inventions
• The Han invented the seismometer, which was
used to measure tremors
• The Han invented a paper that was made of
rags and bark
• The last big invention was the the
wheelbarrow, also known as the wooden ox