This is a map of Qin Dynasty state, territory. The mass of brown color indicates the territory of the Qin Dynasty kingdom, and the blue line represents the Great Wall of China that had been constructed during the reign.
Technology/ Economy:
The main idea of the Qin Dynasty economy was based on the centralization. Its main idea was to standardize the money, measurements, and weights. Emperor Qin Shi Huang thought that having the same money system helped ease the trade between the states, thus they wouldn't require to exchange the money as they traveled. Standardizing the measurements helped in making the Terracotta armies into same exact scales and proportions.
The world’s first compass was made in China during the Qin Dynasty. It was composed by balancing pieces of loadstones such as an iron oxide-based mineral are carved into the shape of a scoop on a bronze plate and it aligns itself in North and South directions. The first person ever to use the compass was a remarkable Chinese sailor named Zheng He, who undertook seven sea voyages.
Compass created in the Qin Dynasty
During the Qin Dynasty, seven powers were at continual war with each other and the competition among their leaders led to great advances in weapons’ design and its productions. At the time, there were three powerful kinds of weapons available which are distant firing weapons, such as bows and arrows, weapons for close-in combat (knives) and longer weapons for less close combat. Generally, the weapons were of an alloy made of copper, tin, lead and mostly bronze. The Qin Dynasty craftsmen were in possession of high metallurgical technology; therefore, they made the knife blades containing an oxidized layer through the process. This thin layer of protection (the oxidized layer) is to avoid any rusting
from occurring.
Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty created the extraordinary Terracotta statues, a.k.a. “underground army” that are unearthed in 1974. It’s because, he desired a little protection in the afterlife; therefore, he made an exact replica of the army and was to be recreated in clay including horses and chariots. The proportions of the Terracotta statues are extremely accurate, which means the statues are roughly the same size as the real horses or people. This indicates that Qin Dynasty had the high level of sculptural arts and each tomb figure has various appearance, as well as emotions on their faces. Every single Terracotta warriors has a special posture according to their duties, for example: Soldiers with relatively long beards which are placed towards the rear is usually indicated as old generals. In addition, the warriors who are kneeling, ready to shoot their arrows are obviously archers. This is a discovery that amazed the world and it’s been called as the “Eighth wonder of the world!”
Terracotta Armies built by the tyrant emperor Qin before his death and the fall of Qin Dynasty.
Social Changes:
Emperor Qin further unified China when he extended and improved the communication within the provinces, since each province had their own language and therefore, could not always talk to one another, which limited the interactions in trade, sharing of ideas, technology and travel. Therefore, Emperor Qin made the written form of language the same to entire provinces. Before the unification of the Chinese scripts, Qin Dynasty had been using the scripts called “Greater seal script” or “Early seal script”; however, the Emperor transformed that ancient scripts into “Lesser seal script” This was officially approved script following the unification of Chinese languages by the Qin Dynasty. The ability to communicate helped increase the economic and social interaction between the states. Generally, the Chinese still speak very different languages, but the system of scripts that Emperor Qin developed helped unite the culture as one.
This image above is an example of lesser seal script in Qin Dynasty.
During the Qin Dynasty, changes in the style of dress were dramatic. The emperor Qin Shi Huang, who was influenced by the concept of Ying Yang believed that Qin Dynasty would control the Zhou dynasty like water extinguishes fire. Therefore, because the Zhou dynasty was "Fire superior to gold, its color being red," the favorite color for the Qin Dynasty was black, since the color black was associated with water. So, in the Qin Dynasty, the color black became the superior color to symbolize the power of water, so the cloth and dress were all black color.
This is a traditional dress from the Qin Dynasty, and as you see the color is black.
Another photo of a Chinese woman dressed in black dress from Qin Dynasty.
A male costume of Qin Dynasty in black color.
Government:
Emperor Qin Shi Huang reorganized the government itself, either to gain more advantage for himself, such as absolute power. Firstly, he changed the way people obtain the lands. Previously, the kings before him had given large sections of land to nobles or land lords who controlled it. Once the land is given to either noble or the land lords, the permission to control the land passed through within the family members. So, when the land lord or noble who controls the land dies, the land is passed on to the eldest son. However, Emperor Qin Shi Huang changed by dividing the land into 36 sections called provinces, and every single province was divided into smaller areas called the districts. The new rulers or governors who weren’t appointed to get the priority to control the land are due to father passing it on to them. By doing this, the governors would serve him more loyally to keep themselves away from losing their precious job. He set up a system where qualified people were appointed to the jobs as he desired. The appointed rulers received a certain amount of salary from Emperor Qin Shi Huang himself and so, the amount of salary depended entirely on him, which would give him more power among them. He then appointed two people to each province, one to govern and one responsible for defense and they are the supervisor. Emperor kept himself as the center of all power in government, in other words, he created a central bureaucracy under his absolute reign. Under the absolute rule of the emperor, the government was based on Legalism, which had developed since the Zhou dynasty. Legalism stated that people wouldn’t naturally obey and therefore, they needed to be strictly ruled by laws with harsh punishments to transform them into good person. Thus, during the Qin Dynasty, the government burned all the books on Confucianism and other books that interferes the influence of Legalism. Those who opposed the government or the emperor were to be executed immediately and some where buried alive!
Religion/ Philosophy:
Legalism achieved what all the other philosophies struggled for- the unification of China. The Qin Dynasty which was operated by the Legalist philosophy, finally unified China in 221 B.C. The principle of the Legalism was that people had to be strictly controlled through the laws which were only effective if the punishments were extremely severe. Basically, it was a belief that all human being were born evil and that education couldn't improve them. Therefore, the law should be supreme as well as a strong centralised government exercising absolute power by means of harsh punishments. For this to work out, the Legalism asked the state to become immortal and wealthy with the leader being an autocrat. In addition to this, the Legalism stated that other philosophies that goes against the Legalism itself should be all denied. So, during the Qin Dynasty, the emperor Qin burned all the books about the other philosophies and scholars, teachers who held beliefs against the Legalism were executed immediately. However, there were several good aspects of Legalism, such as it made a strong government and military and a controlled, stable economy and therefore, the Qin Dynasty kingdom grew powerful and wealthy than ever for a short period of time. Thus, the Qin Dynasty was able to conquer all the warring states. And that's how the rebellion started after the death of the emperor Qin, following the fall of the Qin Dynasty.
The word "Legalism" written in Chinese characters
Leaders/ Contemporaries:
Emperor Qin Shi Huang: He was the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, China who conquered six states during the Warring State war and established the first centralized, unified state in Chinese history. He was the one who standardized the written script, weights and measures, and currencies, and established the centralized bureaucracy that had given him the immortality over the Qin Dynasty. He was a bloody tyrant who executed many Confucian scholars that interfered the influece of Legalism and burned thousands of books that went against the ideas of Legalism. Emperor Qin ordered more than 300, 000 people over a dozen years to build the Great Wall of China. Later on his reign, once again he ordered thousands of people to build an enormous Terracotta Armies to protect him and give him the supreme power in the afterlife.
Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who became the first emperor in China.
Qin Er Shi: Emperor Qin Er Shi was a second son of Emperor Qin Shi Huang who later became the second emperor of the Qin Dynasty following his father's death. Honestly, he was not the original emperor since that position should be given to his eldest brother, the rightful heir to the throne. From the advice given by the Zhao Gao and the prime minister Li Si, they made a fake degree or will from his father that ordered his eldest brother (Legal heir) named Fusu to commit suicide and appointed the youngest brother to take over his throne. He was a puppet emperor during his reign, since he heavily depended on Zhao Gao and that almost lead to corruption of the Qin Dynasty itself. Due to this incident, Zhao Gao was afraid that emperor Qin Er Shi would blame him for this, and therefore, Zhao Gao along with the others forced the emperor Qin Er Shi to commit suicide.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes: He was a Seleucid King of the Hellenistic Syrian Kingdom, and his father was Antiochus III. Antiochus IV Epiphanes was taken to Rome as a hostage, where he learned alot about the Roman Institutions. On his release, he quickly took over Syria and in addition, he conquered Egypt as well. However, his allies were defeated from the Romans which neutralized the rule of Eygpt, meaning he was forced to give up the throne in Egypt. Although, he kept Southern Syria and took over Jerusalem to expand his empire and enforced its Helleization. Later in the period, he had to protect his empire from Parthians and regained his power in Armenia and he rest his soul in the country named Persis.
Image of Antiochus IV Epiphanes on a coin during his reign...
Marcus Livius Salinator: He was a Roman consul who fought in both of the major wars including Second Lllyian War and Second Punic War. His most famous accomplishment was the victory over the Carthaginians at the Battle of Metaurus in the spring of 207 B.C. and killing their commander named Hasdrubal. Later then, he was awarded with a heavy triumph in 206 B.C.
This is a portrait of Marcus Livius Salinator.
Summary:
In Economy, Emperor Qin Shi Huang changed its dynasty’s economy by standardizing the money system, currency, measurements and weights. In addition to this, he also began big construction projects, including the Great Wall of China and Terracotta Armies. In Social Changes, Emperor Qin Shi Huang improved the ancient writing scripts into lesser seal script, therefore, the Chinese people’s daily lives eased up, especially in communication. In Government, Qin Dynasty’s government was heavily depended and believed in Legalism. Furthermore, Legalism is one of the philosophies that believed in severe punishments as the priority and believed that all men were born evil that education wouldn’t improve them. That’s why punishment was popular during the Qin Dynasty to change a bad person into good. Finally, one of the most crucial leaders during the Qin Dynasty was Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who became the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty throne, China.
Others:
Warring State period occurred during the unification of China by the Qin Dynasty in 221 B.C. Basically, Warring State period was a time when regional warlords seized control of the other smaller states and expanded their territory. There were seven major states, also known as the Seven Warring States including, Qi (齊), the Chu (楚), the Yan (燕), the Han (韓), the Zhao (趙), the Wei (魏) and the Qin (秦). Among these seven states, one wealthy, strong state emerged victorious which was the Qin Dynasty.
A portrait of the image during the Warring state period...
Time Line
- 221 B.C. - Emperor Qin Shi Huang conquered all of the states in China during the Warring States war, since Qin Dynasty emerged victorious among the other states. And he became the first emperor in China.
- 221 B.C. - Emperor Qin Shi Huang started the construction of the Great Wall of China, which is 5000km long.
- During 221 B.C. - 210 B.C. - Qin Dynasty reunified the China as one nation.
- 213 B.C. - Emperor Qin Shi Huang outlawed all the school that went against the ideas of Legalism, and burned all the books that interfered the influence of the Legalism philosophy. He also burried 346 scholars alive.
- 210 B.C. - Emperor Qin Shi Huang died and buried in a tomb near Xian, surrounded by thousands of Terracotta Armies to protect him and give him the immortality for eternity, even in afterlife.
- 209 B.C. - After the death of the first emperor, his son named Qin Er Shi became the second emperor of Qin Dynasty.
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