ESSAYS - The qin dynasty
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Inna zheng - Centralized Power The Qin Dynasty, established in 221 BCE ruled as China’s first dynasty until 206 BCE. After the fall of the Zhou government, The Qin Dynasty united The Warring States and created an empire they named Ch’in (China). To establish a centralized power, Qin Shi Huangdi, China’s first emperor, removed aristocrats from their position of power, created a standardized script and currency, and destroyed anything or anyone that was against his methods of ruling .
Before The Qin Dynasty, aristocrats were the few people that had power and land. Fearing that the aristocrats might eventually become a threat to his empire, Qin Shi Huangdi removed over 120,000 nobles from their homes and forced them to live in the capital city, Xianyang. In doing so, the aristocrats would have limited to no power and resources to rebel. After the removal of the aristocrats, Qin Shi Huangdi divided his empire into 36 provinces and placed three officials, a civil governor, a military commander, and an inspector to run each province. It was believed that splitting up the power would prevent any one person to become too powerful. In addition, the land of the aristocrats were given to peasants who were also placed into groups by family. This allowed the families to keep each other in line or else they would also be punished if another family was caught committing a crime. Standardizing writing and currency was of utmost importance to centralize the power of the dynasty. A system of writing called the Qinzhuan was invented to be used throughout the empire. Qinzhuan not only allowed civilians to understand the edicts of the emperor but also allowed scholars and officials from different parts of China to understand each other and share information, regardless of the many dialects spoken throughout China. To allow an easier collection of taxes, a new currency was created. The Qin currency used a coin called Baliang coin which was a small circular coin with a square hole in the middle. This new currency also allowed an easier payment of wages and an easier transaction of money throughout the empire. Another method used to centralize power was the removal of anything or anyone that opposed to Qin Shi Huangdi’s legalistic way of ruling. In 213 BC, Qin Shi Huangdi ordered all books “except those on astrology, agriculture, medicine, divination, and the history of the Qin State to be burned.” He believed that books could influence the thoughts of civilians and turn against the legalistic state. However, after this event, many Confucian scholars spoke out against the burning of books which lead to the execution of 460 Confucian scholars. These two events were named Fen Shu Keng Ru (To burn books and bury Confucian scholars alive), and were used as an example for anyone who criticized or disagreed with the emperor. Although The Qin Dynasty lasted only fifteen years, reforms such as the removal of power from aristocrats, the standardization of writing and currency, and the execution of any person who opposed the state, allowed for the centralization of power for Qin Shi Huangdi. Even though, his method of ruling might have been seen as extreme, Qin Shi Huangdi developed China into a much more advanced and unified empire. The innovations made in fifteen short years still managed to have an effect on the rest of China’s history. |
christopher aiello - RUling with AuthorityThe Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), the government was set up with a supreme ruler who used legalism to rule. The dynasty was very successful and powerful under the rule of the first emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi. Qin Shi Huangdi was the first to rule and unify China as a whole, and had exceptional ruling abilities to help strengthen China. However, Qin Shi Huang's predecessor Er Shi, did not have the same ability he had to enable him to rule over China through Legalism. Er Shi was eventually overthrown by rebels for his lack of leadership. For these reasons, the rise and fall of the Qin dynasty was based on the ruler’s ability to lead through legalism and maintain their subjects respect.
The first ruler of The Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huangdi, was able to gain power and end The Warring States Period by taking advantage of the change in military tactics from chariot warfare, to mounted riders. He was able to take advantage of this because of the Qin’s region that had many horses. While in power, Qin Shi Huangdi’s rule was centralized on legalism, and made sure all of his subjects and the area he ruled over was standardized to legalist beliefs. To do this he standardized all measurements, weights, and currency. Qin Shi Huangdi also made sure that none of his people would be swayed by Confucian ideals by burning all but one of each Confucian Classic and executing many Confucian scholars that would speak against him. Qin Shi Huangdi made sure that at all times he had a strong grip on his followers and that there would be no potential uprisings to oppose his rule. This was a vital trait to have when ruling over a dynasty and without it, it would be hard to be successful. Qin Shi Huangdi’s predecessor, Er Shi, did not posses the same qualities his father did to rule a dynasty. Er Shi took control of the dynasty on short notice after his father’s sudden passing. Throughout all of his rule he relied heavily on Zhao Gao, his tutor, who ended up having a much more powerful role than Er Shi due to how easily Er Shi was manipulated. Er Shi’s followers quickly lost all hope in him and began to revolt. By 206 BCE rebels Xiang Yu and Liu Bang had completely taken control of the dynasty. Staying in power for a pathetic 15 years, The Qin Dynasty fell in 206 BCE and remains the shortest-lived dynasty to rule that territory in Chinese history. We see that in Qin Shi Huangdi’s rule he gave in to no one and used his power constantly to keep his subjects under him. Er Shi however was easily manipulated and rarely used the power he was given for any purposes whatsoever. Qin Shi Huangdi’s method to rule definitely ended up being much more successful and influential on Chinese culture. Er Shi’s method resulted in him losing his entire dynasty in less than five years. From the evidence presented, it is very clear that Qin Shi Huangdi was able to rule very effectively by using an almost Machiavelli type system to keep his subjects in line. However, Er Shi method was quite unsuccessful, leaving his people not choice but to revolt and overthrow the dynasty before more bad could come out of it. |
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imogen horn - unification in the qin dynastyOne strong theme portrayed throughout the Qin Dynasty (221 BCE - 206 BCE) is the concept of unifying all of China. From the beginning of the Qin, Shi Huangdi went to great lengths to unify his kingdom. He standardized many important systems, took power away from his subjects, and destroyed all records of other philosophies and ways of ruling.
One of the many ways Shi Huangdi unified China was by the systems of measurement, currency, written language, and transportation. Shi Huangdi created a system of weights and measurements that was common for everyone. He also created a new currency system, which consisted of gold; used as a higher grade currency, and bangliang, a round copper coin with a square hole in the middle. The currency was circulated nationwide. Shi Huangdi also established a new written chinese language to improve communication. Lastly, he extended roads and canals to strengthen the transportation system. He also passed a law saying that cart axles had to be the same width so that all trains could travel on the same Chinese roads. When Shi Huangdi began his rule, he wanted to be sure that no one had the power to challenge him. He ordered his armies to force the nobles out of their homes and made them move into his capital at Xiangyang so that he could monitor them. He needed to do this because in order to unify a disorganized empire like The Warring States, a steady ruler is needed, and all subjects must be at the same level. If someone rises too far above someone else, they could be seen as another ruling figure, and the empire would split between the two possibilities, disrupting the flow of a unified China. Shi Huangdi needed this because he couldn’t have nobles with land, seeing as they could easily overthrow him with a base of power. He needed to be sure that he had ultimate power and control in his dynasty. Because Shi Huangdi followed a philosophy that gave the subjects of his dynasty little or no power, he couldn’t have his people be educated about other ways they could be ruled that would benefit them more. Shi Huangdi knew confucian scholars disagreed with his ways, and he ordered his men to kill all of the confucian scholars they could find. He killed 460. Some were burned alive, and some were buried up to their necks and then had their heads chopped off. Not only that but he also tortured, killed, and enslaved anyone else who opposed his rule, and he burned all books that weren’t either manuals on agriculture or medicine. Although this was a cruel and quite an unreasonable tactic, Shi Huangdi used it to unify his empire further because it centered the power on one person, and put everyone in an equal position. By choosing such a centralized philosophy he was able to ensure that his subjects wouldn’t split up and follow other rulers, and relapse back into The Warring States. Even though Shi Huangdi didn’t exactly create the best impression of Legalism for the people of China, it was a philosophy whose ideas carried on for years after the fall of the Qin. In 206 BCE, the Qin dynasty collapsed. It was the first dynasty to unify all of China, and it ended the Warring States period. Although it was only 15 years long, the fact that it brought all of China together into one unified dynasty, made it have a lasting effect on years of Chinese dynasties to come. |
HENRY'S ESSAY - LEGALISM IN THE QIN DYNASTY
Henry Rouslin 8-6 Legalism in the Qin Dynasty The Qin dynasty was run by a powerful and cruel system of government and philosophy called legalism. Legalism stated that the ruler had all the power and could do anything he wanted with it, so even if something seemed unreasonable, he could absolutely still do it. Legalism stated that the only good way to rule people is with harsh punishments and strict laws.(Ellis 101) There are many aspects of legalism that show us that legalism was a feared philosophy for everyone because it put all their lives and very few privileges at risk. One of the many things legalism stressed as a community norm was slavery. The society had slaves and a lot of them were actually former citizens. Legalism stated that any person who committed any bad enough crime (or honestly even if they didn’t, the emperor still had total power) could choose between being castrated or being killed. But, the emperor took it a step further because he could and made the rule that you would be castrated and sold into slavery. Most of the time, slaves were sent away to perform long and difficult tasks such as building the great wall of China or some other great work. Another aspect of legalism was the harsh punishments. As of now you have heard three of the many types of harsh punishments (castration, death, and slavery) but there are so many different types of punishments. A few other examples of these harsh punishments are to cut off someone’s nose, brand their head, boil them alive, brand their head, or tattoo their face. Something Shi Huang Di did to keep everyone in line was that he burned books with varying ideas from him. He did this so that people would not ever get the idea to rebel against him and get smarter. He also took the richer and more powerful people and seperated them from everyone else to keep them from getting any ideas. |
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