Strong Rulers Unite Warring Kingdoms Sec. #3

The Terracotta Army In 1974, a group of farmers found pottery made of terracotta Archaeologists found 8,000 life sized statues of horses, chariots and men These soldiers were buried for more than 2000 years at the tomb of Shi Huangdi

One China, One Ruler Shi Huangdi (first emperor) was the leader of the Qin Dynasty He led through strong and harsh rule and expanded the empire over most of the land that makes up modern day China Shi Huangdi ordered the Great Wall of China to be built because of the nomadic invaders

The Great Wall 300,000 farmers and merchants were created as an army of workers to build the wall When it was finished, the wall extended 1400 miles

Organizing the Government Roads were built to put down rebellions in the empire Roads enabled armies to get to the scene quickly and put down uprisings The emperor was harsh with local rulers who did not obey him Shi Huangdi divided China into districts with a government run by the emperor’s trusted officials

Unifying the Culture Shi Huangdi wanted his kingdom to have one currency and one culture A common currency made it easier for districts to trade with each other Common weights and measures, an improved system of writing and a law code were also created Any ideas about Confucianism were outlawed Only knowledge of Qin scholars was allowed All books were burned except for farming, medicine and technology People were killed if they did not obey. Shi Huangdi died in 210 B.C. The dynasty lasted for 15 years

The Han Dynasty Lui Bang helped to end the Qin Dynasty and became the Emperor of China Lui was the first emperor of the Han dynasty and was born a peasant Stable governments were a feature of the Han Dynasty Confucianism was brought back

Wudi: The Warrior Emperor Wudi was Lui Bang’s great grandson who came to power when he was 14 He was a military emperor expanding the empire west and north When he died the dynasty started to fall apart Warlords or leaders of local groups gained power China broke up into several smaller kingdoms