1. The Unification of China
Chapter 8
The Unification of China
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Unification of China
Qin dynasty develops, fourth to third centuries B.C.E.
Generous land grants under Shang Yang
Private farmers decrease power of large landholders
Increasing centralization of power
Improved military technology
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The First Emperor
Qin Shihuangdi (r B.C.E.) founds new dynasty as “First Emperor”
Dynasty ends in 207, but sets dramatic precedent
Basis of rule: centralized bureaucracy
Massive public works begun
Precursor to Great Wall
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4. China Under the Qin Dynasty, 221-207 B.C.E.
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5. Resistance to Qin Policies
Emperor orders execution of all critics
Orders burning of all ideological works
Some 460 scholars buried alive
Others exiled
Massive cultural losses
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Qin Centralization
Standardized:
Laws
Currencies
Weights and measures
Script
Previously: single language written in distinct scripts
Building of roads, bridges
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Massive Tomb Projects
Built by 700,000 workers
Slaves, concubines, and craftsmen sacrificed and buried
Excavated in 1974, 15,000 terra-cotta sculptures of soldiers, horses, and weapons unearthed
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8. Tomb of the First Emperor
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The Han Dynasty
Civil disorder brings down Qin dynasty in 207 B.C.E.
Liu Bang forms new dynasty: the Han (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.)
Former Han (206 B.C.E.-9 C.E.)
Interruption 9-23 C.E.
Later Han ( C.E.)
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Early Han Policies
Relaxed Qin tyranny without returning to Zhou anarchy
Created large landholdings
But maintained control over administrative regions
After failed rebellion, took more central control
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Han Centralization
The “Martial Emperor”: Han Wudi ( B.C.E.)
Increased taxes to fund more public works
Huge demand for government officials, decline since Qin persecution
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12. Confucian Educational System
Han Wudi establishes an imperial university in 124 B.C.E.
Not a lover of scholarship, but demanded educated class for bureaucracy
Adopted Confucianism as official course of study
3000 students by end of Former Han, 30,000 by end of Later Han
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13. Han Imperial Expansion
Invasions of Vietnam, Korea
Constant attacks from Xiongnu
Nomads from central Asia
Horsemen
Brutal: Maodun ( B.C.E.), had soldiers murder his wife, father
Han Wudi briefly dominates Xiongnu
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14. East Asia and Central Asia at the Time of Han Wudi, ca. 87 B.C.E.
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15. Patriarchal Social Order
Classic of Filial Piety
Subordination to elder males
Lessons for Women
Ban Zhao ( C.E.)
Education should be available to all children
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Iron Metallurgy
Expansion of iron manufacture
Iron tips on tools abandoned as tools entirely made from iron
Increased food production
Superior weaponry
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17. Other Technological Developments
Cultivation of silkworms
Breeding
Diet control
Other silk-producing lands relied on wild worms
Development of paper
Bamboo, fabric abandoned in favor of wood and textile-based paper
Crossbow trigger, horse collar, ship rudder
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18. Economic and Social Difficulties
Expenses of military expeditions, especially against Xiongnu
Taxes increasing
Arbitrary property confiscations rise
Increasing gap between rich and poor
Slavery, tenant farming increase
Banditry, rebellion
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19. Reign of Wang Mang (9-23 C.E.)
Wang Mang regent for two-year old emperor, 6 C.E.
Takes power himself 9 C.E.
Introduces massive reforms
The “socialist emperor”
Land redistribution, but poorly handled
Social chaos ends in his assassination, 23 C.E.
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Later Han Dynasty
Han dynasty emperors manage, with difficulty, to reassert control
Yellow Turban uprising, land distribution problems
Internal court intrigue
Weakened Han dynasty collapses by 220 C.E.
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