Transcript Imperial China

The Beginning

In 246 B.C., a boy king
named Ying Zheng
took the throne in the
Qin province of Asia
(Qin is pronounced
Chin…this is where
China gets its name).
He defeated the other
provinces of Asia,
through battles, to
unite them into one
empire in 221 B.C.

To rule his new, vast
empire, the emperor
put in a strict
government - and he
established a
standardized writing
system, weights and
measures, and oversaw
the construction of
what became the Great
Wall.

He was so strict, that
during his reign he had
many scholars who
disagreed with him put
to death and had any
books that challenged
his authority burned.
Eventually, the people
rebelled and a civil
war ended the dynasty
around 207 B.C., just 15
years after it had
begun.
 The
emperor died,
and was buried. In
1974 his burial site
was discovered by
farmers. He was
found in a large
burial area with over
600 clay statues of
soldiers and horses
to keep him
company.

In 206 the Han
province took over
power from the Qin
province. They used
many of the
governmental ideas
used by the Qin, but
did it better and
created the first longterm dynasty/empire
in China. It lasted over
400 years, from 206
B.C. to 220 C.E.