Qin Dynasty 221BCE - 207 BCE

The Rise of Qin Dynasty

Qin dynasty would not have succeeded if not for their leader, Qin Shi Huang, the emperor of Qin dynasty. Qin Shi Huang founded the first dynasty of Imperial China. Qin Shi Huang was revered by his people at that time as seen from the terracotta army that was prepared for his afterlife. Qin was successful with its strong army and Qin Shi Huang maintained his sovereignty by executing anyone who went against the regime.

Philosophy was significant to the people of China and Legalism was adopted as state philosophy during the Warring States Period of China (476 - 221 BCE) (“Qin Dynasty”, n.d.). People would start doing more wrong as long as they gained benefits for it (Mark, 2016).

Wang Mang Knife Coin. Image by Gary Lee Todd. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:S-119_Wang_Mang_knife_coin.jpg

Qin ended Zhou dynasty and conquered 6 of the 7 warring states. Qin dynasty had structured political power and its good economy supported their military. Qin removed aristocrats and people with high status to gain direct control over peasantry. Terracotta Army is a collection of sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang. They are said to protect the emperor in his afterlife. The terracotta figures are life-sized. They change in uniform, height, and hairstyle in accordance with rank (“Terracotta Army”, n.d.). This shows the reverence and respect the Qin dynasty soldiers have for Qin Shi Huang.

Terracotta Warriors Image by Public Domain Pictures. CC0 Creative Commons. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/terracotta-warrior-china-soldier-164169/

During the Qin Dynasty, the people started to execute ambitious projects such as the Great Wall of China with 300,000 peasants and convicts. People standardized currency, weights, measures, and had the same system of writing ("Qin Dynasty", n.d.). To position the empire against the Xiongnu people from the north, however, Qin Shi Huang ordered the building of new walls to connect the remaining fortifications along the empire's northern frontier (“Great Wall of China”, n.d.). Many people have died from building this wall, however, more would have died from Xiongnu invaders.

In summary, the rise of Qin Dynasty is due to the legalism philosophy, strong military strength and their resilience in protecting their state from invasions with the Great Wall of China. The rise of Qin Dynasty was due to a strong leader who made use of the strengths of his people to build Qin dynasty. The advancement of military weapons also led to increase in military power and strength, leading to the success of Qin Dynasty.

---

The Fall of Qin Dynasty

The Xiongnu were a threat to Qin Shi Huang's power and autonomy. "Qin and Han would trade silk textiles and floss to the nomads and trade for horses. Some silk were more valuable and would be used for nobles or farm women (Liu, 2010). There was a high demand for such exotic goods. Obtaining horses were not easy as they can be breed in large pastures. Luo, one of the nomads made a fortune by trading horses with silk. Qin Shi Huang favored him and gave him the same rank as the highest ministers in the court. Soon later, the people were exhausted and tired from projects such as the Great wall.

There were turmoil and unrest after Shi Huangdi died. After Shi Huangdi died in 210 BCE, his advisors put an heir to control the administration. Chu rebels attacked from Liu Bang, the ruler of Han dynasty, and weakened the Qin armies. This led to the death of the advisors and the second Qin Emperor. Chu weakened and fell to Xiang Yu, a Chu general.

The fall was caused by greed and obsession to take over the throne. Shi Huangdi has an untrustworthy Prime minister, Li Si and chief eunuch, Zhao Gao who kept the death of Shi Huangdi from people to make his incompetent son, Qin Er Shi take over the throne. Later on, Qin Er Shi did not handle the affairs properly, increasing taxes and lost respect from ministers. He committed suicide and Li Si’s nephew took over and executed the chief eunuch.

In summary, Qin fell because of greed and disloyalty by the ministers and the lost of respect for their ruler.

---

Summarized points

Reasons for rise

1. Legalism

• Lord Shang Yang introduced legalism and made advantageous military reforms

• Qin fought with self-interest and eager for profit without sincerity

• Legalist thought and strong leadership led to strong political base

2. Large and efficient army

• Invention of the sword during the Warring States period was a great advance. It was first used mostly in bronze form, but by the third century BC, the Qin were using stronger iron swords

• Crossbow more accurate than composite bows

• Newest weaponry and transportation (calvary over chariots greater mobility over terrain of China)

• Terracotta Army (protect the emperor after his death)

3. Geographical advantage due to fertility and strategic position

• Protected by mountains

• Expanded agricultural helped with their food resources

• Fortify northern border (protect from nomadic invasions) with Great Wall of China

4. Conquest of Warring States

• Shang Yang was executed, internal strife over succession

• Qin was defeated by State of Zhao and many other states

• Attacked Han and took their capital city of Xinzheng in 230 BCE and conquered Qi, taking the city of Linzi in 221 BC.

5. Southward expansion

• Sent armies to conquer territories in the South

• Qin armies conquered the coastal lands surrounding Guangzhou, and took the provinces of Fuzhou and Guilin. They struck as far south as Hanoi. After these victories in the south, Qin Shi Huang moved over 100,000 prisoners and exiles to colonize the newly conquered area. In terms of extending the boundaries of his empire, the First Emperor was extremely successful in the south.

Reasons for fall

1. Untrustworthy political figures

• 3 assassinations attempts to kill the emperor, he was obsessed with immortality

• Chief eunuch Zhao Gao and the Prime Minister Li Si hid the news until they changed for Qin Er Shi to be placed on the throne because they knew he would not do his job well.

2. Incompetent second emperor

• Qin Er Shi did not do his job well, increasing taxes and executed many ministers. They revolted against him and Zhao Gao forced him to commit suicide due to his incompetence.

3. Political unrest and turmoil

• Ziying, Li Si’s nephew took over and executed Zhao Gao.

• In 209 BCE, revolt broke out and Chu Rebels from Liu Bang attacked, there was unrest and turmoil

• Xiang Yu, Chu leader executed Ziying in 207 BCE and Qin capital was destroyed.
  

Reference

[Cover Image] Mausoleum Terracotta Army Qin China Xi'an Emperor. Image by Max Pixel. Creative Commons Zero - CC0. Retrieved from https://www.maxpixel.net/Mausoleum-Terracotta-Army-Qin-China-Xian-Emperor-1269568 Mark, E. (2016, January 31) Legalism. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from

https://www.ancient.eu/Legalism/

Liu, X. (2010). The Silk Road in world history. Oxford University Press.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Qin Dynasty. In Wikipedia, retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Terracotta Army. In Wikipedia, retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.) Great Wall of China. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China#Early_walls