Download The Collapse of Qin Dynasty

Lecture
Three
Emperor’s Qinshihuang Ruling of Xi’an (221B.C.__206B.C.)
The Legends of Qin Family
Qin family first lived in the east of China during the Shang dynasty.
Later on, when King Zhou of Shang dynasty thought that the Zhou
kingdom was a threat to him, he ordered Qin family to the west to help
him to control the Zhou kingdom. Unfortunately, Shang dynasty was
thrown down by the Western Zhou dynasty. As a result, the Qin family
had no work to do and settled down in west china. They usually lived in
the middle of Gansu province and searched for pastures.
When the Qin family helped the king of the Western Zhou dynasty
move the capital to Luoyang city instead of Xi’an city in 770 B.C, Qin
family got an opportunity to develop itself.
Reforms of Shang Yang (390B.C.___330B.C.)
In 359 B.C., Shang Yang launched his reform in Qin kingdom, a
reform that historians regard as the most significant event at that time.
The main contents of reform of Shang Yang included the following:
First, He made clear what the laws were, rewarding those who had
distinguished themselves in farming or on the battlefield.
Second, He carried out a policy of “elevating agriculture and
downgrading commerce”.
Thirdly, He abolished the traditional privileges of the nobles and
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introduced a new system in which there were 20 ranks of honor, which
were granted to those who deserved them.
Meanwhile, He established 30 to 40 counties in the Qin kingdom.
Qin Xianyang city was built up
Xiaogong of Qin kingdom moved his capital to Xianyang (west in
Xi’an city) in 350B.C. Xi’an became the capital of Qin kingdom until it
collapsed in 206B.C.
When Qinshihuang came to power and unified China into Qin
Empire. In order to avoid the possibility of a divided China, Qinshihuang
gathered the famous and large noble families to Xianyang from the
whole country after he unified China.
The ruling of Qinshihuang
Qinshihuang reigned over the government after he grew up. After
that, Qinshihuang carried on some important policies in his country.
In politics:
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He claimed that he is the first emperor of Qin dynasty, and his
descendants will be the following rules of his empire.
He established the system of Three Councilors of State and the Nine
Ministers. This system is a kind of central administrative unit, inside of it,
he let Chengxiang (like a prime minister in modern country) help him to
administer to his country, and because there were many works to do, nine
smaller offices worked to help the minister. At the same time, he also
named a Taiwei(like a commander in military) who served him as the
supreme government official in charge of military affairs. There is last
official, Yushidafu( supervise the officials in government), whose work
helped the emperor to oversee all officials in daily work life.
The system of Three Councilors of State and the Nine Ministers
influenced China in a very long time.
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Qinshihuang continued to build up the System of Prefectures and
Counties in the whole country. When Qin ruled China, Qin dynasty had
48 prefectures and more than 1000 counties during its whole history.
The system of bureaucracy
Qinshihuang enlarged the amount of bureaucracy in his
government. Before him, when the Zhou dynasty ruled China, the Zhou
dynasty used blood relationship to help him to rule his country. So, the
use of officials to rule his country in Qin empire was progress at that
time.
Economic policy of Qin dynasty
When Qin dynasty wanted to develop its economy, it freed slaves
and feudal land ownership was established in Qin country, Qin dynasty
had a rich labor force and many lands open for agriculture.
Qin dynasty unified currency with Qin’s money. There were different
currencies circulated in China when Qin dynasty unified China. afterward,
the Qin government claimed that Qin’s money will be the only money
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used by its people.
Meanwhile, Qin dynasty also unified kinds of units, like length,
weight, volume, size and so on.
Qin dynasty carried out proagricultural and anticommerce policy
Proagricultural and Anticommerce policy carried out by Shangyang.
And when Qinshihuang unified China, he continued to push this policy in
his country. After him, almost all dynasties followed same policies.
Policies in culture field
All policies were based on protecting the new unified country, so in
the cultural field, Qin dynasty unified the writing system of Chinese
characters. Scholars said this policy helped China to be a unified country
until present day.
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Burn Books and Bury Alive Confucian Scholars
In 213B.C.__212B.C., there were some scholars and students
arguing against the policies used by Qin dynasty at that time, and these
arguments were heard by government. Prime minister Si Li thought
government should control these arguments, so, the government decided
to execute the scholars and burn their books.
Policies in Military
When Qin unified and ruled China, a minority group
Xiongnu(hsiung-nu) was also establishing its own country in the north of
China. The relationship between them was poor. A series of wars broke
out between them.
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Xiongnu and Qin empire
In front of strong enemy, Qin dynasty decided to build up a great
wall to defend against the Xiongnu. Many people died while constructing
the wall. There was a tale that said, a young woman named Jiangnv
Meng cried so hard that the Great Wall was destroyed by her tears when
she heard that her husband died while working to construct the Great
Wall.
In the south of China, Qin dynasty conquered southeast of China in
what is present day Guangxi and Guangdong areas. Qin dynasty was a
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great country at that time.
When Qin dynasty ruled its large country, it constructed roads to
control its empire. Like the ancient Roman Empire, they used roads to
send their forces and officials to anywhere they wanted.
Mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang
Qinshihuang used Lishan Mountain as his burial site. In 1974,
when several Chinese peasants wanted to dig a well, they found a
human head made with soil, then they found some other things, when
the archeologists and scholars researched these artifacts carefully, the
Terracotta army was found and astonished the world.
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The Collapse of Qin Dynasty
Although Qin dynasty did many great works, it collapsed very soon
after the death of Qinshihuang. In 206B.C., when uprising people entered
into Xianyang city, the Qin dynasty collapsed and the Western Han
dynasty was established, China entered into the time of the Western Han
dynasty. Scholars usually believe there are many reasons for the collapse
of the Qin dynasty. There are three main reasons: First, when Qin dynasty
ruled China, people were tired by their many duties. Second, Qin laws
hurt too many people. Finally, when the people rebelled against the Qin
government, the Qin collapsed.
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