Two of the earliest empires in Chinese history were the Qin Dynasty (221- 206 BCE) and the Han Dynasty (202 BCE- 220 CE). They both successfully unified the vast nation of China. Both Empires allowed government to not only influence politics, but also economy, philosophy, and social life. The empires ruled China distinctively differently. The Qin was a very fierce and brutal dynasty, while the Han dynasty tried to reduce the repression of the people brought by the Qin Dynasty. They also both used two distinctive government styles, the Qin used Legalism, a style based on based on effective institutional structures, and the Han used Huang-Lao which combined legalism with Daoist and Confucian ideals. While both empires and schools of thought had their strengths and weaknesses, both subsequently fell. The Qin Dynasty began in 221 BCE with the emperor being King Zheng. Even before the Qin ruled over all of China, it was a well established as a legalist state. The people of Qin were known to be very law-abiding, and the Qin economy was doing very well due to an increase of production in agriculture. King Zheng conquered the states of Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, and Qi, and became not only the first, and only, emperor of the Qin Dynasty, but the first emperor of all of …show more content…
As an uniformed China was his ultimate goal, he standardized currency, weight, measures, and writing script. He was able to construct a highway system and repair The Great Wall. Legalism also helped build a strong army, an efficient bureaucracy, a compliant populace, and showed the importance of a strong central government. Ultimately though, the harshness of Legalism is what killed the Qin empire. Thousands who fled from punishment under the Qin Dynasty revolted after King Zheng’s and his heirs deaths. Army generals defected and former nobles raised armies. Eventually, a man of modest background, Liu Bang, became the new emperor of
With China united, Qin became the first emperor of United China (China) and created the Qin dynasty, surpassing the long-lasting and powerful Zhou dynasty. He then established his own form of government. He removed Feudalism, where the people had to listen to the nobles. Instead, he split his empire into 36 provinces, each one having two government officials
Although the foundation of both empires was built upon political integration, their organization of government differed. The Han Dynasty’s centralized power and administration was based on a bureaucratic system while the Roman Empire’s imperial power was based on a one-man sovereign. In order to improve Chinese society, which was under tyrannical rule under the Qin Dynasty, the Han Empire centralized their government with the synthesis between an imperial family and the new scholar-gentry class under a bureaucratic system. By securing power to overthrow the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang provided lands to those military supporters who helped with the task. From the land grants given, the royal families and supporters were entitled
As you can see the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire possessed many differences both politically and through their accomplishments. That being said, they also shared an extensive variety of similarities. They varied in government, but
Qin Shi Huang (or Shi Huangdi) was the First Emperor of a unified China, who ruled from 246 BCE to 210 BCE. In his 35-year reign, he managed to create magnificent and enormous construction projects. He also caused both incredible cultural and intellectual growth, and much destruction within China.
Following the collapse of the Han Dynasty in 220, China declined into an elongated term of division. China was divided and in a time of war, with a lack of leadership. It was only in the Sui Dynasty (589-618) reunited North and South China as one. The Tang (618-906) and Song (960 - 1279) Dynasties that followed created the “Golden Ages of China”. Although the Tang and Song Dynasties existed in a similar time and had a similar economy, there are also many differences between the influential dynasties such as certain aspects of their society and politics.
The idea of ruling a powerful government based on the principle of using two conflicting ideologies at the same time appeared foreign to most dynasties of early China. In early Chinese times, after the Period of the Warring States, two ideologies emerged: Legalism and Confucianism. Legalism stressed a strong central government that expressed harsh laws while Confucianism had a decentralized government, placing trust in conscientious and learned individuals to work together to solve political issues. These two schools of thought were in stark contrast to each other and, up until the Han dynasty, had never been combined with each other through government policy. The Qin dynasty, for example implemented a strict Legalist government while the
Despite being the shortest ruling dynasty at fifteen years, the Qin dynasty served a vital role in the development of China’s civilization (51). The Qin dynasty was prefaced by a period of instability caused by an ineffective political system and war between several regions all vying to overtake the others. After the Qin kingdom rose as the victor, King Cheng established for himself the title of Shi huangdi, or emperor, and looked to create a political system that would prevent the empire from fragmenting again. To achieve such a centralized government, Shi Huangdi sacrificed his people’s intellectual freedom and lives and produced a connected and standardized China, whose efficiency and strength still impacts the vision
Before 221 BC, China was separated into different states, and there was great conflict between them. This was the Warring States Period (475 - 221 BC) Qin Shi Huangdi, then known as Ying Zheng, was made ruler of the Qin district, and made many great changes to society. He created a fair military system, built one of the worlds most iconic national structures, and unified the warring states that would come to be known as China. Qin was a highly regarded leader, and changed China for the better.
Within the years of 221-206 BCE, the Qin Dynasty rose as a superpower. During this time period, the Warring States Era, Chinese civilization was impacted tremendously in almost every aspect. These hallmarks in history vary from the spreading of Legalism to the birth of the Great Wall of China. Through these countless contributions, the Qin Dynasty was able to revolutionize the Chinese civilization in such a short period of time.
Qin Shi Huangdi (Born 259 BCE), initially named Ying Zheng, was the founder of the Qin dynasty, and the first emperor of a unified China. He took the throne of the state of Qin at the juvenile age of 13 years old (246 BCE) after his father passed away. He proceeded to play a vital role in national-decision making, and later prevailed over 6 rival states. Under his rule, Qin’s most prominent impact was unifying China, including building projects, new forms of government control, and standardisation. He will always be deemed for becoming the first emperor of China, and for his prevalent efforts in unifying the country. Despite thwarting two assassination attempts, and two of his own advisers attempting to overthrow him, he passed away due to
Even though the Qin dynasty was seen as barbaric and brutal, the Han did implement some of the old Qin institutions into their new government. One of these institutions were the Commanderies. These were administrative divisions of land in which a governor would be appointed by the government and run it as the government or emperor wants it to be ran. This is institution is very useful for knowing how many people you have. When war comes and you need to draft able bodied men to go fight, you will know just how many you will be able to get. Another reason would be for tax purposes. It is also very useful to regulate the trade and growing of certain crops. Even more in depth than that the government can control what the children in the commanderies are taught and what propaganda they are seeing. Qin law is another thing that the Han used from the former dynasty. One example of this practice was the fact that women could bring up cases against men even though the women did not have the same rights as men. Punishments were also
The Qin and Han dynasties changed many things regarding how China was governed. Like when Qin Shi Huang standardized the units of measurement, currency, and the width of roads to ease trade within his country, strengthening the unity between areas. Another change is the Han dynasty’s usage of education. They let all boys receive an education to a certain extent, however, if they wanted to further their education more they would have to travel to the capital. One of the several changes Qin Shi Huang changed how dictators controlled China in many ways how he distributed his land and power. Many of the changes he implemented were used by Chinese rulers for over 2000 years, these changes created a lasting effect on how China was ruled. The Qin
Although the Qin and the Han are different in how they governed after gaining new territory, there are still similarities such as, how both dynasty’s expanded their borders and then used isolation to keep the people in line.
Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi ruled Ancient China from 221 till 210BC and was the founder of the Qin Dynasty. He came into ruling at the young age of thirteen after his father’s death. He was a very effective ruler who during his reign accomplished unifying China and building monuments such as the Terracotta warriors and the Great Wall of China. Although Shi Huangdi did numerous things to help China and make it better, he also burnt books to destroy records of the past and punished those who did not follow his rules. Even though some of Qin Shi Huangdi’s methods were questionable he impacted China in many ways and was an effective leader because of his desire to unify China and make it better.
The unification of China was under the dynasties Qin and Han. There were formed schools of thought called Confucians, Daoists, and Legalists. These school of thoughts worked to bring political and social stability to China during the rule of the late Zhou dynasty which were chaotic years. Legalist principles and imposed centralized imperial rule were adopted by rulers of the Qin and Han dynasties. Political stability was the foundation of economic prosperity for the Han dynasty. There was a search of political and social order, unification of China, and a transition from economic prosperity to social disorder.