Transcript China’s First Empire

China’s First Empire
Warring States China
Qin Unification of China:
Origins
• The Turning Point From Feudal Anarchy to
Chinese Empires
• The State of Qin (Fifth Century BC - Third
Century BC)
• Legalists Welcomed
Qin Shi Huangdi, The First
Emperor (246-210 BC)
The Qin Empire
The Great Wall of China
• 1400 Miles Long
• 100,000-1 Million Dead to build it
Qin Reform
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Prefecture and County System
Officials Chosen for Talent
Aristocrats Stripped of Land
Standardization of Everything
Persecution of Non-Legalist Thought
The Backlash
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Huge Taxes
Huge Death
Everyone Hates the Qin
Imperial Collapse: 210-206 BC
The Terracotta Army
Western (“Former”) Han Dynasty
(206 BC-8 AD)
Western Han Dynasty
• The Dynastic Cycle and the Mandate of
Heaven
• Rise of the Han: Liu Bang (206-195 BC)
• Economic Recovery
Han Wudi (141-87 BC)
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Yellow River-Capital Canal
Adopts Confucianism
Major Conqueror
First Census
Higher Taxes
Old Age Paranoia
The Han
• Salt and Iron Debate: Confucius +,
Merchants • Xiongnu Threat
• The Silk Road
• Centralization of Government
• Confucianization
The Struggle for Power
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Court Officials
The Empress Dowager (Head Wife)
Court Eunuchs
Military Leaders
The Silk Road
Decline and Usurpation
• Evasion of Taxes
• Higher Burden on Peasants
– 22 BC: Peasants Rise Up
• Regent Wang Mang the Usurper: 8 AD-23
AD
– 23 AD: Rebels Kill Wang Mang, Fight Over
His Corpse
• 25 AD: Liu Xiu restores order
Later Han Dynasty (25-220 AD)
• First Century AD
– Prosperity and Military Expansion
– Xiongnu Flee West, Become Huns
• Second Century AD
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Internal Court Conflict
Landowners with Private Armies
Daoist Revolutionary Movements
Generals Divide the Empire in 220 AD
Three Kingdoms Era (220-280
AD) and
Six Dynasties Era (280-589 AD)
• The Three Kingdoms Era--Mythic
Resonance
• Semi-Feudalism
• South China prospers but government is
weak
• Nomads Overrun the North but are
Assimilated
Han Thought and Religion
• Han Confucianism
– 175 AD: Official Canon in STONE
– Uniformity of Language: 100 AD, 9000
Characters
– Philosophy of Nature: Virtuous Behavior
Harmonizes Heaven and Earth, Fends Off
Disaster
– Inventions: Seismograph, paper, wheelbarrow,
stern-post rudder, compass
Han Thought and Religion
• History
– Sima Qian (1st Century BC) and Ban Gu (1st
century AD)
• Neo-Daoism / “Mysterious Learning”
• Quest for Immortality
– Alchemical innovation is side effect:
• Medicines
• Dyes and Glazes
• Gunpowder
Buddhism Rising
• First Century AD; Seen as Taoist Sect
• Appeal:
• It was a doctrine of personal salvation.
• It upheld high standards of personal ethics
• It had systematic philosophy and ties to Indian
intellectual life.
• It drew on sophisticated Indian traditions of
meditation and psychology.
Buddhism Triumphant
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5th Century, Widespread
Journey to the West
Chinese Buddhism is syncretic
Mahayana Sects (focused on compassion
and savior figures--Boddhisatvas) flourish
• State Regulated