Transcript The Qin and the Han - Murrieta Valley Unified School District

The Qin and the Han
China is in a state of upheaval! The nomadic
Zhou were in power. There are wars and
other troubles happening in the land.
According to the Mandate of Heaven what is
happening?
From the state of Qin (where the word China
originated) a new emperor came to power!
• Emperor's name was Shi Huangdi (sheehwahng-dee) in 221 B.C.
– The name means First Emperor
– He would eventually expand and unify China
– Legalistic Ruler
Shi Huangdi As Emperor
• Ended internal fighting within states
• Expanded the country to it’s largest size
• He had many critics and had confusianists
killed
• Burned books with ideas or schools of
thoughts that he did not like
• Weakened
nobles
byChina,
takinghe
away
In effort
to unite
… their
land and making them live at the capitol
so he could keep an eye on them
• Made everything the same : weights,
coins (shapes and sizes) and writing
• Linked lands together by highways and
irrigation system
– He paid for this by taxing everyone (this
led to starvation and suffering among
many people) and forcing peasants to
work
The Great Wall
• Ordered the Great Wall to be built
• Known to some as the World’s largest cemetery
because of the many people who died
constructing (making) or in the battles around it
– These deaths caused great resentment
• Stretches two thousand miles through mountains
and deserts
• Put up originally to protect from warriors in the
North who swept down and raided cities
• Expanded and rebuilt many times
Qin Dynasty Ends…
Son tried to rule but a Civil War
broke out
• The assassination attempts were unsuccessful and Shi
Huangdi looked healthy. Still the great emperor was
nearing death. Soon, Shi Huangdi was dead before his
tomb was completed. Shi Huangdi’s loyal advisors were
not ready to take over his empire so they disguised his
death by piling dead fish on his body to hide the smell
•
While Shi Huangdi was still alive, practices of
Legalism and brutal torture were Shi Huangdi’s most
useful tools. But ultimately, Shi Huangdi did help the
kingdom by militaristically unifying the country and
standardizing the written language so the subjects could
work together toward a common goal.
Han Dynasty
• Liu Bang as emperor
– Military general defeated She Huangdi’s son
– Ended war and reunified China
– 202 B.C Han Dynasty Begins
• Kept similar policies but made punishments less harsh and
lowered taxes
• Peasants owed a month labor so they built canals, irrigation,
and road
– Began a bureaucracy
• A government where rulers choose officials to run offices or
bureaus
Bureaucracy
• Officials helped rulers rule
• Enforced rule
• Put family members and trusted people in
government position
• Gave a system of confucianism tests to
see who was the most ethical
Liu Bang dies!!
• Who will rule?
– No one old enough to rule so the Empress Lu
took power and reigned with her son
– Continued to put infants on throne to continue
to rule
– When she died all her relatives were executed
What? NOW what happens…
• A descendant (someone who is related to)
of Liu Bang comes into power
• Wudi ruled from 141-87 B.C.
– Called Martial Emperor
– Used war to expand China
– Expanded to as big as it is today
– Faced many issues but managed to stay in
power for 422 years (202 B.C.- 220 A.D.)
Life in Han China
• many people were farmers living in villages in
small one or two story houses
• Rich farmers had one or two oxen
• Meat was expensive so the diet consisted of little
meat and vegetables
• Cities were centers of trade, education, and
government
• Entertainment- musicians, jugglers, acrobats
• Even street gangs 