Download The Qin Dynasty

The Qin Dynasty
221 BCE - 206 BCE
The Qin Dynasty was the dynasty that redefined China. The emperor of this
era wanted to conquer the warring states that the Chou dynasty had in
essence created. This emperor succeeded and China was one nation once
more. Upon conquering all the warring states, the emperor pronounced
himself as the first emperor of China or, Shih Huang Ti. The unified China
was larger than it ever was. This was the first time outside forces
acknowledged the existence of another race of people, and aptly named the
nation China after the then current dynasty, the Qin.
The first emperor not only unified China, but went about standardizing
writing, weights, and measures throughout his kingdom. This was used to
promote internal trade among the newly acquired states. The states each had
their own standards of measuring and weighing, and the Qin emperor
wanted his kingdom to be as one to strengthen it. This standardization was
good for the weights and measurements but was not good for philosophical
ideas.
During this time, many schools of thought were outlawed; only legalism was
given official sanction. In 213 BCE, all the books of the opposing schools of
thought were burned except for the copies held in the Qin imperial library.
The only way for emperor to keep his nation together was to have all his
subjects think the same way. Any deviation would throw China back to the
hundreds of years of warring.
The Qin empire was vast. The first emperor pushed China's borders South to
current day Vietnam, and current day Korea. But the central kingdom was
still in the Yellow River Valley. Regardless, of all the accomplishments of
the Qin, the best known is the Great Wall of China.
The construction of the Great Wall of China did not come without a price. It
came with massive financial burden as well as human life. This led to
resentment of the Qin emperor by his people. Not only that, the intellectuals
were not happy with the emperor either; the books they coveted were burned
at his hands.
By this time, the emperor had grown old and he did not want to face death.
He wanted to be immortal. He set all the court scientists and doctors to work
to make some sort of medicine that would make him a god. The doctors
came up with a deadly solution that they truly thought would work. The
medicines the doctors prescribed were pills that contained traces of mercury
which eventually lead to the emperors death.
When the emperor died, China went into a rage, and a rebellion against the
Qin dynasty ensued, leading to the next dynasty, the Han.