Shi Huang di

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Shi Huang di

• The first emperor of China

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Unification of China

• Qin dynasty
• Strong central government
• Unified by Shi Huang di first emperor

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How he did it

• Challenged the teachings of Confucius
• Silenced educated people
• Ordered nobles to move to capital
• Censors watched over them
• Aristocrats lose hereditary positions
• Instead of kingdoms empire was divided into
  districts
• Peasants allowed to own land that they worked

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How he did it cont

• Built new roads
• Standardized weights and measures
• Wagons ordered to be a standard size
• Made Chinese writing system simpler
• Canals built for irrigation and travel
• Built Great Wall for protection

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Great Wall of China

• Begins at Yellow Sea
• 1,500 miles long
• 20 feet high 15 feet wide
• Guarded watchtowers added for security
• 1,000,000 laborers used
• http//www.thebeijingguide.com/great_wall_of_china
  /index.html
• http//library.thinkquest.org/10098/chinatour.htm

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Great Wall of China

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Great Wall of China

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Unpopular king

• Shi Huang di angered many of his subjects
• They did not appreciate his policy of burning the
  beloved books of Confucius
• People were heavily taxed to pay for the kings
  Great Wall

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Death of Shi Huang di

• Died in 207 B.C.
• The people were glad to see his strict rule end
• Created an army of clay soldier to protect him in
  his eternal rest
• http//www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi
  /xian/terra_cotta_army/mausoleum_1.htm

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Han Dynasty

• Five years after the death of Shi Huang di and
  the murder of his son a new leader emerged
• Liu Bang led a revolt against the Qin
• Peasant farmer who had been in the royal police
• He promised land and power to those who helped
  him overthrow the last of the Qin nobles
• Often called Han Gaozu Father of his country

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Han Wudi

• Martial Emperor of Han
• Made civilization more secure by driving back the
  Xiongnu
• Set up civil service exams based on the teachings
  of Confucius
• Filled government jobs
• Population grew to 60 million
• Many farmers forced to sell land to aristocrats
  and become tenant farmers
• Worked land and paid aristocrats in crops

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Silk Road
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Silk Road cont

• Network of trade routes that stretched 4000 miles
  from China to Med Sea
• Journey was difficult and dangerous
• Expensive
• Only high price items traded
• Silk, spices, tea and porcelain
• taxes
• Some civilizations would not let traders pass
• Zhang Qian
• Used Silk Road to explore western world
• Spent time with Romans
• Travels sparked Chinese interest in the Western
  World

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Han Dynasty cont

• Educated loyal followers
• Returned to the teachings of Confucius
• Returned to tradition and formality
• Respect of authority
• Implement kowtow

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Fall of the Han

• Barbarian invaders
• Weak and inexperienced rulers
• Became too dependent on Confucius way of thinking
• However great contributions
• Silk trade with Europe and Asia
• Single unified legal code
• Unified writing system
• Roads and canal built