Transcript Chinese Empire - Alpine Public School

CHINESE EMPIRE
Chapter 9
Thursday, February 26, 2015
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Homework: Read section 1 (starting on page 274)
Do Now: Please take out your homework from
yesterday
The Qin
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Qin was a mountainous kingdom located in
northwestern China
Beyond the kingdom, there were foreign lands of
Asia
Although by the late Zhou dynasty, Qin had become
the strongest kingdom in western China, King Zheng
wanted more power!
Uniting the Warring States
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Kin Zheng of Qin was ruthless, he defeated each
kingdom one by one
By 221 BC, Qin forces defeated their last enemy
and united China
 There
are still challenges:
 Languages
and customs varied
 Rebellion may occur
 Invasion by nomads
The First Emperor
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The Qin ruler decided that the Chinese needed to
become one people by one government
King was too small of a word for such a vast empire
 He
then declared himself Shi Huangdi – “First Emperor”
 “Huagdi” is tied to the gods and legendary rules of
China’s past
The Great Wall
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Before the Qin unification, the smaller kingdoms had
walls to protect themselves from other kingdoms
Shi Huagdi had these walls torn down and began
work on one of the largest public works projects in
history
 The
A
Great Wall
long wall running east and west along his empire’s
northern border to defend the empire from nomads living
close by
Protection
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Building the wall was dangerous and many workers
died
It did not always keep invaders out, but other
emperors who followed also relied on the wall for
protection
Establishing Standards
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Shi Huagdi knew he needed to standarize daily life
 Standards
for economy
 Standards for culture
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Anyone who did not follow the standards was
punished as a traitor
Most importantly, the empire established a single
written language
Establishing Standards
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Transportation became standardized
The government established a standard length for the axles
of all vehicles, making travel between different areas easier
 All carts and wagons could travel in the same ruts on the
same roads
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A uniform set of weights and measures was also set into
place
This made trade easier
 Currency was the same throughout China
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Organization
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Shi Huagdi introduced the concept of centralization
(central government system)
He organized China into 36 provinces
 Each
province was divided into counties
 Each county had a leader who reported to central
government who then reported to the emperor
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To prevent rebellion, Shi Huagdi forced thousands
of noble families to move to the capital where spies
could watch them
A Legalist Government
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In the alte Zhou dyansty, the Qin rulers brought in
advisors to help make the Qin stronger
Shang Yang was a very important advisor who
belonged to a school of thought called Legalism
 According
to this, a strong leader and a strong legal
system are needed to create social order
A Legalist Government
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The Qin kings took more direct control over the
common people with heavy taxes and labor
requirements
The kingdom became stronger and more orderly
Shi Huagdi became very interested in harsh laws
and following Legalist Han Feizi
Rules and Punishment under Legalism
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Han Feizi did not agree with Confucianism
 Instead,
he believed people must be forced to do good
 This was done by making strict laws and enforcing them

Shi Huagdi made a uniform legal code across his
empire with very severe punishments
 Ex:
a thief could face physical punishment as harsh as
cutting off the feet or nose
 Ex: less serious theft may receive punishment of harsh
labor such as working on the walls or the roads
Censoring Thought
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The First Emperor tried to control Chinese thought by
censoring ideas he found dangerous or offensive
Debate about the government was banned
People could not praise past rulers or criticize the
present one
Books that did not support his policies were burned
Fall of the Qin Dynasty
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About 3 years after Shi Huagdi’s death, the
dynasty collapsed
A soldier named Chen Sheng led a rebellion
 He
was leading troops north to defend the borders of
China, but a storm of heavy rains delayed them
 He knew that arriving late would have a severe penalty
so he and his men decided they had nothing to lose by
rebelling
Fall of the Qin Dynasty
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As news of Chen Sheng’s uprising spread, many others
rose up to support him
Qin generals tried but could not put down these
rebellions
Knowing the punishment for failure, some of the generals
joined the rebellions
The rebels joined together long enough to defeat the
Qin, but then began fighting amongst themselves and
chaos erupted AGAIN