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Compare And Contrast Qin Dynasty And Han Dynasty

Decent Essays

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

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