Transcript Imperial China -- Qin to Ming Dynasties

Today’s Goal  Describe the new
philosophies emerging in China and how
Legalism was used by the Qin Dynasty.
Qin [Ch’in] Dynasty, 221-206
B.C.
 Established China’s first empire
 “First Emperor” = Shi Huangdi (221-206
B.C.)
 “Strengthen the trunk & weaken
the branches”
 Legalist rule
 Bureaucratic
administration
 Centralized control
 Military expansion
Qin [Ch’in] Dynasty, 221-206
B.C.
 Prevented criticism & opposition
 Book
burnings
 Buried protestors alive
 Autocracy – gov’t w/unlimited
power & uses it however it
wishes
 Program of Centralization
 Highway
& road networks
 Set standards for writing, law,
currency, weights & measures
 Harsh taxes & cruel gov’t
Great Wall of China
 Closed gaps in pre-
existing wall & extend
along border
 Hundreds of thousands
of peasant laborers 
“work or die”
 Built upon later by the
Han & Ming Dynasties
 Today it is 8,851.8
kilometers (5,500 miles)
from east to west of
Great Wall of China
Fall of the Qin
 Shi Huangdi’s son was
an ineffective ruler
 Peasant rebellion
 Replaced by Han
Dynasty
Shi Huangdi’s Terra Cotta
Army
Shi Huangdi’s Terra
Cotta Army
Confucianism
 Restore order & moral living
 Five basic relationships (ruler  subject,
father  son, husband  wife, older bro 
younger bro, friend  friend)
 Filial piety - respect for parents &
ancestors
 Education!!!
 Bureaucracy (trained civil service)
Daoism
 Laozi  Dao De Jing (“The Way of Virtue”)
 Natural order more important than social
order
 the Dao (“Way”) is universal force
which guides all things
 Live simply & in
harmony with
nature
Legalism
 Efficient & powerful gov’t needed to restore
order
 Rewards for obedient; harsh punishments for
disobedient
 Control ideas & actions
Other Ethical Systems
 I Ching  book of oracles to solve ethical or
practical problems
 Yin & yang  represented the natural rhythms
of life
 Yin
= cold, dark, soft, mysterious
 Yang = warm, bright, hard, clear
Feminine
Passive
Darkness
Cold
Weak
Earth;
Moon
Masculine
Active
Light
Warmth
Strong
Heaven;
Sun