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Creating China: The Qin empire September 19, 2013 Review • Why do the various peoples of Southeast Asia appear to represent different“races”? • Where did the Malays come from? • Where and when did the first state in Southeast Asia emerge? Eastern Zhou (Ebrey, p. 21) • Western Zhou 1045 BCE to 771 BCE: • sacking of the capital in 771 BCE forced the Zhou to move their capital eastward. They soon lost the authority they had wielded over a wide area and instead retreated into a reduced Zhou state, which existed alongside many other independent kingdoms. • Eastern Zhou 770 BCE to 221 BCE. • Spring and Autumn period-- 770--475 As many as 170 different states during this period • Warring States Period 475-221 Dwindled to only 7 major states by the 3rd century. This is the period when the Confucian Classics begin to take shape. • China enters the iron age during the Eastern Zhou period Beliefs and Values Ebrey, pp.26-32 • Harmony with Society: Confucianism • Confucius: filial piety, ritual, and interpersonal morality • Mozi: “universal love,” frugality in rituals, • Mencius: human nature is good, Mandate of Heaven • Xunzi education and ritual necessary for vitue • Harmony with nature: Daoism • Laozi and Zhangzi (religious Daoism is different) • What is “Legalism”? Confucianism and Daoism • • • • • • Confucians: stress on society Daoists: stress on self wisdom ritual and self-control blissful ignorance spontaneity and naturalness hierarchy equality refinement primitiveness cosmic virtues arbitrary labels • society is natural society is unnatural • society is moral society is immoral • Qin 221-206 BCE (Ebrey, 36-41) The first real Chinese empire Forged by Qin Shihuangdi How did the Qin create China? • Standardized writing, weights and measures, axle lengths, etc. • Replaced feudalism with central government control. -moved aristocracy off their land. • eliminated primogeniture to gain control of the land. • Why did the Qin fall so quickly? • Didn’t take into account the need for popular support. Tried to introduce too many changes too quickly. • Relied to0 heavily on the strength and character of one man. Too centralized. • The Qin built a state well-suited for war but less well-suited for governing after the war was won. • Was the First Emperor of China good or bad for China in the long run? The Xiongnu • A non-Chinese “barbarian” people on China’s northern borders • Won some battles with the Qin and the Han, and lost some. (Ebrey, 41-42) • Seen as barbarian because their customs were not the same as the people of the “central plains” (China) (Sen, 84-86) • Through the Xiongnu and people like them, people living in China learned how to ride horses, and fight from horseback. (Sen, p. 30)