Qin Shi Huangdi

Legalism

-Qin established LEGALISM in 233 BC -Legalism is the belief that humans are inherently evil and cannot be trusted to take care of themselves -rulers must establish strict laws and violently enforce them -this belief was completely country to Confucius thinking and Qin ordered for Confucian scholars to be killed and his writing burned

Terra-Cotta Soldiers

-Qin ordered a massive tomb be built in his honor -he instructed the tomb be filled with life-size terra-cotta soldiers and horses to protect him in the afterlife

Who s Qin Shi Huangdi?

-Shi Huangdi (also known as Zheng) was born around 259 BC as the son of the King Zhuang Xiang of Qin -although his father was king, he did not rule over all of China -he was born during a time when Cina was at war with other nations; the country was split into many different kingdoms -each kingdom had its own ruler; this period was known as THE WARRING STATES PERIOD -the different kingdoms had been warring for hundreds of years when Zheng was born and the Qin Kingdom was the most powerful of the 7 that remained -when his father died, Prince Zheng became king of the Qins at age 13 -the advisors ruled for King Zheng until he was 22

The First Emperor of China

-by 221 BC Zheng's powerful Qin Army conquered all the other kingdoms in China -to celebrate this victory, Zheng renamed himself Qin Shi Huangdi --"the first emperor of China" -he worked hard to establish tight control of the empire -he established counties (divisions) in China and appointed officials to rule each county -the government had ultimate control and disobeying the law was severely punished

The Positive Side of Qin

-he united the country by bringing together all the separate kingdoms under one rule -he unified the monetary and written systems which allowed the economy to thrive and grow -in addition to making a single, standard unit of money, Qin required all people to learn a uniform written language -Qin also improved trade routes within China by building roads, irrigations systems and canals -he ordered the building of THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA to protect the Chinese from the Mongolian invaders to the north

Qin Rule Ends

-his harsh rule gave him great power to make changes in China; he was however, unpopular -the Qin dynasty ended 3 years after Qin's death in 210 BC -after the end of this dynasty, China remained a united nation for the next 600 years -the improved infrastructure, centralized government, unified writing and money that Qin put in place, continued for over 2000 years

The Qin Dynasty

-the Qin dynasty lasted 11 years; the shortest in the history of the Chinese Empire -it is a well known and important dynasty even though it's rule was so brief -Emperor Qin was notorious for his hard rule and absolute power -he also is remembered for pursing the unification of all of China -the name China comes from Qin's name (Qin is pronounced Chin)