Qin Dynasty

221-207 BCE

This dynasty only lasted about 15 years, but a great deal happened during time…

Quick Review What continent is China

located on? Name the two major

rivers. What isolated China from

the rest of the world? What was the social order

of the Shang? Name 3 of the Shang’s

advances. Describe oracle bones.

What philosophy believed in going with the flow of nature, yin and yang, and the 3 jewels?

What philosophy believed in the law (fa), legitimacy (shi), and arts of the ruler (shu), and had harsh punishments?

What philosphy believed in the return to ethics by fathers and leaders acting as good role models?

Emperor Qin Shi

HuangdiTook the throne at the age of 13Conquered 6 rival warring states to unify China in 221 B.C.E.Formed a centralized government,built a nationwide network of roads and canals,standardized weights, measures and

currencyand formalized the written language.

Qin Qin clearly was a tyrant.Historians say hundreds of

thousands of conscripts died under his direction completing the Great Wall, while 700,000 slaved to build his palace and pyramid-like tomb.

His name, pronounced"Chin," evolved into the Western word for China.Among his own people, he inspired both pride and fear.

TerraCottaSoldiers

A believer in evil spirits, Qin employed master craftsmen to mass-produce a terra-cotta army as a protection in the afterlife.

His mausoleum was rigged with crossbows to ambush intruders.

Terra Cotta Soldiers

Those who knew the tomb's secrets were buried alive with their Emperor.

Qin's dynasty was overthrown, however, just

a few years after his death.

The site of the pottery army was burned

and lost to history for more than 2,000 years.

Standardization

Prior to Qin, each kingdom minted its own currency (money) in various shapes, sizes and weights.

Each kingdom also had its own system of weights and measurements

Qin made all kingdoms use the same money and system of weights and measurements

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China was originally a project of the Qin dynasty designed to keep out the nomadic invaders from the north.

The Great Wall

Was mainly built from earth, stones and wood The wall had defensive fighting stations, to which wall

defenders may retreat if overwhelmed. More than 10,000 watch towers (which were used to store

weapons, house troops, and send smoke signals), each tower had unique and restricted stairways and entries to confuse attackers.

The

Great

Wall

Is the world's largest man-made structure, stretching over 3,948 miles

Can be seen from the space!

TheGreatWall

Communication between the army units along the length of the Great Wall, including the ability to call reinforcements and warn garrisons of enemy movements, was of high importance. Signal towers were built upon hill tops or other high points along the wall for their visibility.

Great WallThe emperor thought the wall would bring peaceto the nation but the nation was weakened by the heavy cost of the

constructionDitches along the wall were filled with

corpses of men who died building the wallDeaths of wall workers are estimated to

exceed one million

The Great Wall’s

Great Cost Taxation became heavier and heavier. Some 3,500,000 people were involved in the

building of the Great Wall. That was 70% of the total

population of Chinaat that time. For each worker working on the wall, six were

required to feed and support them. Construction of the Qin wall became the most

hated imperial project in Chinese history.

Fall of QinIn 209 BCE, only a year after the death of the Qin Emperor, millions of peasants rose up and ended the tyranny and bloodshed of wall building. The Qin Dynasty had fallen, brought down by the building of the great wall. Within ten years much of the wall was a neglected ruin. Once again thenorthern border was at the mercy of the northern invaders.