Transcript Imperial China -- Qin to Ming Dynasties

Qin [Ch’in] Dynasty, 221206 B.C.E.
 Established China’s first empire

 Shi Huangdi (221-206 B.C.E)
 Legalist rule 
 Bureaucratic administration
 Centralized control
 Military expansion
 Book burnings --> targeted
Confucianists
 Buried protestors alive!
 Built large section of the Great Wall
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Army
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Army
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta Soldiers
& Cavalrymen
Cavalry
The Details of an Individual Soldier
Individual “Tombs”
The Great Wall with Towers
The Eastern terminus of the Great Wall, Shanhai
Pass
Han Dynasty, 206
B.C.E.-220 C.E.
 “People of the Han” --> original Chinese
 Paper invented [105 B.C.E.]

 Silk Road trade develops; improves life for many
 Buddhism introduced into China
 Expanded into Central Asia
Han – Roman Empire Connection
Chang’an
The Han Capital
Emperor Wudi, 141-87
B.C.E.
 Started public schools.
 Colonized Manchuria,
Korea, & Vietnam.
 Civil service system 
 bureaucrats
 Confucian scholar-gentry
 Revival of Chinese
landscape painting.
Trade Routes of the Ancient World
Ruins of Jiaohe, Turphan depression.
Han dynasty outpost in Central Asia
Sui Dynasty, 581-618
C.E.
 “Land Equalization” System –> land
redistribution.
 Unified coinage.
 Grand Canal constructed.
 Established an army of professional
soldiers.

People were overworked and
overtaxed!
The Grand Canal
The Grand Canal
Today
Tang Dynasty, 618-907
C.E.
 Imperial examination system perfected.
 Liberal attitude towards all religions.
 Spread of Buddhism in China
 Golden Age of foreign relations with
other countries.


Japan, Korea, Persia
Tang Government
Organization
Tang Dynasty, 618-907
C.E.
 New technologies:

Printing --> moveable print

Porcelain
 Gunpowder
 Mechanical clocks

 More cosmopolitan culture.
 Reestablished the safety of the
Silk Road.
 Tea comes into China from Southeast Asia.

Empress Wu Zetian,
624-705
 The only female Empress in China’s




history who ruled alone. 
Searched for outstanding individuals
to attract to her court.
Construction of new irrigation
systems.
Buddhism was the favored state
religion.
 Financed the building of many
Buddhist temples.
BUT… She appointed cruel and sadistic
ministers to seek out her enemies.
Foot-Binding in Tang
China
 Broken toes by 3 years of age.
 Size 5 ½ shoe
on the right
Foot-Binding in Tang
China
 For upper-class girls,
it became a new
custom.
The Results of FootBinding
Song [Sung] Dynasty,
960-1279 C.E.
 Creation of an urban, merchant, middle class.
 Increased emphasis on education & cheaper
availability of printed books.
 Magnetic compass
makes China a great
sea power! 
Rice Cultivation Began Under the Song
Song Rice Cultivation