1. Qin Dynasty

2. Unification and Expansion
King Zheng of Qin defeated the seven Warring States” (Yan, Zhao, Qi, Chu, Han, Wei, Qin) ending with the defeat of Qi in 221 BC
The rulers of these states had been calling themselves Wang, not their old noble titles under Zhou rule (like Duke)
According to Confucius, this was one of the problems – they shouldn’t have called themselves Wang unless they had the mandate of heaven
After he unified the country, he changed his name to Qin Shi Huangdi
He continued to fight to expand the borders, eventually even capturing parts of Guangdong

3. New System of Government: Bureaucracy
Qin Shihuang decided to rule all of China from his palace rather than give nobles land and leave them alone
Ruling from the center = bureaucracy
The Emperor appoints experts to different jobs
They appoint experts to jobs below them
If anyone doesn’t do their job they get fired (or killed in the case of the Qin)
The emperor sends down orders which each level carries out
Information on what’s happening flows up to the Emperor
Each level gets paid a salary, has a boss, has subordinates, etc. – like the army!
This is very different from Feudalism – which is when the ruler gives land to nobles and leaves them alone as long as they provide tribute, are loyal, etc.
Qin Shihuang divided China up into 36 provinces (territories) which were further sub-divided into districts
Each provide was governed by two officials – a governor and a defender (i.e., no single head)
He used spies to make sure he knew what was going on

4. New Standards
Qin Shihuang unified many things to make China into one country
Writing (characters)
Coins – ban-liang; round with a square hole in the center for stringing them together
Weights and measures
Axel widths
Also, thought!! he wanted to get rid of all ideas that he did not agree with, incl. Daoism, Moism and Confucianism; that led to the book burning

5. Censorship
Beginning in 213 BC, all classic works of the Hundred Schools were burned except those from Li Si’s own school Legalism
Qin Shihuang also burned books of history and wrote his own which justified his rule
If you were caught not handing in books you would be executed
Even if you were caught talking about certain books you would be executed
The only books spared were books on war, medicine, agriculture and divination
Since ideas could be passed down orally, he also killed many hundreds of scholars by sending them to build the Great Wall or burying them alive!
Censorship – control over what people read, write, see and hear

6. End of the Qin Dynasty Qin Shihuang died in 210 BC
He was 49 years old and had been emperor for only 11 years!
A year before he died, a large meteor fell; someone wrote on it the words “The Emperor will die and his lands will be divided” He sent officials to get the writer to confess; no one confessed so he put all the people living nearby to death.
He died while on a trip looking for the elixir of life; he supposedly died from mercury pills which we taken to make him immortal
Lisi and only a few other people knew of his death; they were two months away from the capital so they wanted to keep it a secret until they got back just in case there was an uprising; so they carried his body back in a chariot; Li Si also ordered that two carts containing rotten fish be carried immediately before and after the wagon of the emperor to prevent people from noticing the smell emanating from the wagon of the emperor whose body was starting to decompose severely as it was summer.
Qin Shihuang’s son Fusu should have been emperor but Lisi didn’t like him and thought he would lose power; so he forged a letter from Qin Shihuang ordering Fusu to commit suicide – it worked!
Qin Shihuang’s younger son Huhai became emperor, and a puppet of Lisi; but he wasn’t a good ruler and everything quickly collapsed in uprisings.
Mao Zedong quote 'You accuse us of acting like Qin Shihuangdi,' he once told a group of intellectuals. 'You are wrong. We surpass him a hundred times. When you criticize us for imitating his harsh rule, we are happy to agree!"

7. Coming Soon! The Han Dynasty