Download 9 china

China – Birth of an Empire
General Info
Qin
Dynasty
221 B.C. - 206 B.C.
First Emperor
Qin Shih Huangdi
Dynasty
It was short-lived.
Han
Dynasty
206 B.C. – 220 A.D.
The Most Famous
Ruler
Wu Ti
Dynasty
It lasted over 400 years.
When we last checked in …
Zhou Wuwang

The Zhou was a bronze
age dynasty that had
pushed out the previous
Shang rulers.

By 256 bce, the Zhou
had lost the “Mandate
of Heaven” and China
entered the “Warring
States” period
The Legalist Philosophy of the Qin
conflicted with other political
“philosophies” of the time…
–
Kong Fuzi “Confucious”
Confucianism
 Good government
requires men of
benevolence, virtue,
and culture
 Governments should
promote these traits;
their absence leads to
chaos
 all people have virtue
and are educable
The Analects
• Never kiss a fool, or be fooled by a kiss.
• Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.
• Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
• Respect yourself and others will respect you.
• Study the past if you would define the future.
• Making a mistake and not correcting it, is
making another mistake.
• He who exercises government by means of his
virtue may be compared to the north polar star,
which keeps its place and all the stars turn
towards it.
1. Ruler
Subject
2. Father
Son
3. Husband
Wife
4. Older
Brother
Younger
Brother
5. Older
Friend
Younger
Friend
Daoism (Taoism)
The Dao is “The Way”
 The way is to become one with nature
 Nature should take its course with no
human interference
 People should go with the flow – a rock in
the stream letting the water (life) flow
around you
 "Wei Wu Wei" = "action without action".

Man is unhappy because he lives acc. to
man-made laws, customs, & traditions
that are contrary to the ways of nature.
Daoism
Rejected Confucianism but was
often tied to it
 Confucianism = the public philosophy
 Daoism = solace in private lives
Members of a Taoist spiritual
group cheer colleagues backstage
during an annual prayer
ceremony in Taipei. BBC 2008
The Qin Dynasty

The Qin defeated regional
states and unified the
kingdoms of China by 221
B.C.E.
– The First Emperor of China
– Shi Huangdi
(r 221-206 bce)
 Economic
Power!
– Public works
intended to
improve economy
 Canals
 Irrigation
 Acquisition of areas rich
in iron ore
– Mass mobilization of
FORCED LABOR
for public works including
Great Wall of China
– 700,000 workers used
to create capital city

Beginning in
220 B.C., Shi
Huandi began
restoring and
linking
separate
sections of
the Great Wall
which had
been built
years before
Government
Structure
He provided a single law
code for the whole empire
(laws posted for all to see)
Established a uniform tax
system
Appointed governors to control (legal/military)
each district.
Standardized weights and measures
Standardized written Chinese language!
Harsh system of rule:
Legalism

The best way to control human behavior is
through written law rather than through rituals,
customs, or ethics.

laws maintain the stability of the state from the
people who are selfish and ignorant.

laws let the ruler govern efficiently and
sometimes ruthlessly.

Text apart from law books were considered
useless (and were often destroyed along with
other “arts”)
NO ROOM FOR
CONFUCIANISM?!
NO WAY!!
The Qin Dynasty
– Confucianism was rejected due to its
great respect for the past and its
emphasis on personal ties
– On the other hand, Daoism helped
rulers explain certain things as out of
their control but not very practical as
a guide to rule by
– Legalism is the way of the Qin!
The Fall of the Qin Dynasty
 Dynasty
collapsed with death of
Qin Shi Huangdi in 210 B.C.E.
 His
oppression brought backlash
 Rebellions
 The
in regional capitals
Qin had lost the Mandate of
Qin Shi Huangdi tomb included
7,000 life-size figures of soldiers
An Entire Terra Cotta Army
An Entire Terra Cotta
Army
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Soldiers
& Cavalrymen
Cavalry
Individual Soldiers
The Han Dynasty

One of the
longest lasting
and most
influential of
all dynasties

Rose to power
at nearly the
same time as
Rome
The Han Dynasty (206 bce – 220 ce)

Liu Bang, first Han, commoner who chose
educated men with Confucian principles
 History became more
important
 Established elite academy
to teach Confucianism as
part of requirement that
knowledge of Confucius is
necessary for promotion
in bureaucracy
 Consolidated legal system
 Established principles for
the conduct of women
The Han Dynasty

Military Power and Diplomacy
– Han as militaristic as Qin
had been
– Army of 300,000 to one
million
– Campaigns to the west for
silk markets and access to
horses
– Foreign relations by “tribute system”
 Payments and obedience to Chinese
government in return for gifts from
emperor to tribal leaders
The Han Dynasty

Economic Power
– Developed ironworking techniques
– Spread trade routes to the west (utilized
“Silk Road”)
– Raised land revenues and nationalized
private enterprise
– Confucianists opposed these policies but
also opposed business activity in general
A Weakened Han Dynasty [23-220
C.E.]

Han weakness enabled barbarians
to live inside the Great Wall, serve
in army, and intermarry with
Chinese

Led to sinicization of barbarians

Han failed to force local administrators to
send tax revenues to central government
Peasant Revolt
and the Fall of
the Han
 Yellow
Turban revolt in 184 C.E. broke out
simultaneously in sixteen places
 Four factions within
government sought
dynastic power
– Child emperor
– Bureaucrats, advisors,
palace guard, and regent
– Court eunuchs
– Women of the court
End of the Han in 220 ce
…but not the end of China!
– China divided into 2 to 3 various
kingdoms for the next 361 years!
– North suited to wheat; south to rice
culture
– Chinese culture endured imperial
division; “people of the Han” refers to
culture
– Western dynasty became more
“Chinese” over time
Buddhism Reaches China
– Entered during Han Dynasty
– Foreignness contributed to its
success
– Anti-priestly stance and presence
in trading communities made it
acceptable to merchants
– Becomes a unifying cultural
element!
Reunification under Sui and Tang
Dynasties
– The Short-lived Sui
Dynasty [581-618 C.E.]
(sway)
 Used Confucian, Daoist,
and Buddhist beliefs to
win popular support
 Centralized
government; rotated
officials
 Completed Grand Canal
but efforts helped
deplete Sui treasury
Successor (Tang, 618-907
C.E.) dynasty continued
expansion to “Outer China”

Block printing and Buddhist religious art
Tang Dynasty
Development of
fine porcelain
 Tang poetry on
meditation,
nature, and
suffering

China
essentially unified from this
era forward!
Imperial China – so what?
–Chinese pursuit of assimilation
was regarded as mutually
beneficial to Chinese and
“barbarians”
–Danger in the threat of civil
war when members of an
ethnic group rejected
assimilation
Imperial China - Vietnam
 Vietnam
–Part of Chinese empire (111
B.C.E.-939 C.E.)
–Gained Buddhism and some
agricultural practices adopted
from China
–Intense desire for
independence
Imperial China

Korea
– Cultural influence high; political
control brief
– Adopted much Chinese culture
– Free of direct control after 220 C.E.
– Resisted Chinese attempts to retake
peninsula
– Confucianism, legal codes,
bureaucracy, literature, and
Buddhism were borrowed from China
Imperial China - Japan
– Japanese adopted rice culture from
China
– One-third of Japanese nobility claimed
Chinese or Korean ancestry (by 500
C.E.)
– Chinese script from Korean scribe (405
C.E.)
– Japanese visit China to learn Chinese
models
Imperial China - Japan

Taika (“great change”) in 646 C.E.
centralized state and abolished
private ownership of land

710 C.E.--new capital at Nara and
emperor regarded as divine but no
adoption of “Mandate of Heaven”

Reliance on Chinese models declined
over later centuries
Comparison of China and Rome
– Similarities
 Significance of imperial armies
 Relations with barbarians
 Gender relations and the family
 Role of the emperor
 Religious policies
 Overextension
 Public works projects
 The concentration of wealth
 Revolts
Comparison of China and Rome
– Differences
 Ideological
 Influence on neighbors
 Policy and powers of assimilation
 Longevity and persistence
 Language policy
Han – Roman Empire
Connection