Unification of China

1
Chapter 8

• Unification of China

2
Rise to Dominance of Qin Dynasty

• Period of the warring states (403-221 BCE)
• Qin prospered by increasing agricultural
  production.
• State of Qin attacked other states
• Under Ying Zheng, the King of Qin, Qin forces
  conquered the other states,uniting China into one
  empire in 221 BCE

3
Ying Zheng (259 -210 BCE)

• Ying Zheng was initially influenced by
  Confucianism, but embraces Legalism in his effort
  to conquer all of China
• Having conquered China, he takes on the title of
  Qin Shihuangdi or First Emperor of Qin.

4
Qin Shihuangdi

• Dismissed traditional nobility
• Administered empire through a large centralized
  bureaucracy that answered to him.
• Standarized laws, currencies, weights and
  measures, script
• Organized massive construction projects
  irrigation systems, bridges, huge defensive
  walls, roads, his own city sized tomb.

5
Qin Shihuangdis Legalistic Practices

• Brought order by means of harsh rule
• Punishments severe
• Killed or drafted into the military critics of
  his rule
• Made Confucianism illegal and buried many
  scholars alive
• Burnt books except those that he considered to be
  of practical value.
• Millions were forced into hard labor. Many
  perished.

6

• Immediately after the death of Shihuangdi in 210
  BCE, rebels began to attack the Qin court,
  bringing a quick end to the Qin Dynasty.