By Madihah, Corben and Milan!!

 When the Qin dynasty took over the Zhou dynasty they united China and had their first ever emperor. His name was Qin Shihuangdi. He was a extremely cruel ruler as he executed many of his enemies and his building projects killed thousands of his own people. But he also united the Chinese government and culture. And his building project were among some of the greatest in the world. He ruled cruely and punished harshly even his own nobles were punished the same as a random peasant  As a ruler he was influenced by legalism and believed in strict laws. He replaced the old system of feudalism with a government that he totally controlled.

 Qin Shihuangdi began life as Prince Zheng of the royal family of Qin. He was born in 259 B.C.E. In 256 B.C.E, Qin took over the state Zhou, ending the Zhou dynasty.  At the age of 13, ten years after ending the Zhou dynasty, Prince Zheng took to the throne and became king.  In 221 B.C.E though he got to the grandest stage of all and became the first ever emperor of China and controlling not just the Qin dynasty but all of China.  The emperor had ambitions. But his biggest by far was the building of a huge wall across China’s Northern border. His ambition soon came true as he had people start on a wall like this and through the centuries even after he died this wall was continued until it’s amazing grace today.  The Emperor divided his land into 36 districts. Three officials were assigned to govern each district. One Was responsible for the army, one for the laws and the third to report to the emperor what was going on.  The emperor had discovered plots against his life and he had men track down the perpetrators and had them and their families(children included) killed. He even killed his own mother when he feared she was plotting against him!

 The emperor wanted to unify China. One way he did this was by standardizing the culture from place to place.  The emperor also unified China by using new laws. Like if a wall collapsed, that was built on an officers supervision, that officer would be punished.  Also Widows were not allowed to remarry!  The punishments were cruel, they spelled out exact punishment for bad behavior. There was also physical punishment which included Forced Labor, whippings and even beheadings.

 As we all know the Great Wall of China is one of the greatest pieces of building in the world. But this man Qin Shihuangdi came up with the epic idea, so that he could protect his dynasty and himself from Mongolian rebels.  The Emperor didn’t really build all of the Great Wall but he just connected the smaller parts built by earlier dynasties. Still this was and still is an amazing achievement, in fact probably his best.  Originally he named it the 10,000 Li Long Wall (Li meaning about 3 tenths of a mile).  He then renamed it The Great Wall of China but this wall was actually made of just wooden frames and pounded earth, but it was then made stone later in time during the Ming dynasty.  It took 10 years to build this wall with a work force of 300,00 men including peasants and soldiers, tens of thousands of men died during the building of the wall and apparently there bodies were built into the wall. Most of them died due to the weather and landscape the wall was built on.

 Closer to the end of the Qin dynasty, Emperor Qin was very much hated by the Confucian Scholars who believed in good example not harsh laws. It is said that the emperor executed 460 Confucian scholars for plotting against him. This then started a war between the emperor and his forces and the Confucian scholars.  This battle all started when a Confucian scholar criticized the emperor at a royal banquet saying that his dynasty would not last unless he followed the ways of his past.  The emperor agreed to have all Confucian books to be burned in the capital city, the only books that would be spared were ones about the history of the Qin dynasty, and ones on farming and medicine.  Some scholars chose to rather be executed than give up their books. The emperors brutal actions shocked all of China.  Even the emperor’s own son became a victim and was sent to oversee the work on the Great Wall for criticizing his father.

 Despite the emperor’s amazing achievements, Chinese tablets say he couldn’t find happiness and was scared of dying. He called in magicians from far and wide to make him immortal and they said he would have to find a magical potion. So he went looking to find this potion (which of course was never found).  After 10 years as a ruler, Emperor Qin died in 210 B.C.E, no one knows the cause of his death but it is believed he may have been poisoned.

 Emperor Qin’s body was taken back to the capital and buried in a huge man-made mound which is known across the world as the Terra-Cotta Soldiers.  More than 700,000 workers helped build this magnificent tomb many were buried with him this was to prevent grave robbers from stealing him and the fabulous treasures buried with him.  The amazing treasures of his tomb were only discovered in In the tomb were precious jewels and rare objects.  The most amazing part about this huge burial site was that an entire army made of Terra-Cotta clay was buried there with him. The army included more than 6,000 life sized figures of archers, foot soldiers and even chariot drivers and horses.  So far no two of these figures are exactly alike!

 Although emperor Qin thought his dynasty would last for nearly 10,000 years, it actually fell apart soon after his death. During his reign the emperor had caused a great deal of unhappiness and so it’s no surprise that shortly after his death rebellions broke out in the countryside.  Many members of other royal families joined in the revolt whilst struggling for control. This caused a civil war.  Finally in 206 B.C.E, Liu Bang, a peasant leader defeated all his rivals and established the Han Dynasty.  The Great Wall Of China and The Terra-Cotta Soldiers have become a huge tourist attraction for people all over the world visiting China.  The Great Wall has also Adapted to 21 st Century tourism and now has a toboggan(Chinese Sleigh) slide that allows visitors to quickly get back down off the wall!

   Personal Library of Photos, Corben  History Alive Workbook