Chapter 9 - The Chinese Empire

Chapter 9 - The Chinese Empire
Qin ShiHuangDI
- Unified China under one currency
- Built a huge canal to open up trade
- Began work on The Great Wall of China to keep nomadic invaders out of his lands
Unity under Qin
- Qin defeated all the kingdoms during the Warring States Period and united China under his leadership
- He started the Qin dynasty
- He renames himself " Shi Huangdi" or First Emperor
- Standardized daily life:
- Transportation vehicles had to be the same width, so that roads would be easier to construct
- standard set of characters in writing
- His rule was based on Legalism
- divided China into 36 provinces with leaders for each county
- all noble familes were forced to move to the capital to prevent rebellions
- He placed heavy taxes and required labor service from the people
- Believed in Han Feizi's teachings of harsh punishments (examples pg. 276)
- Decided to censor ideas he believed were dangerous (pg. 277)
The Fall of the qin dynasty
- a soldier started a rebellion, and soon had thousands of followers
- Qin could not control the uprisings, and China again went into chaos
Section 1
Terracotta Warriors
Section 2
- The dynasty had only 1 emperor who ruled for 3 years
Han Dynasty
- A rebel named Liu Bang gained control of China and began the Han Dynasty (which lasted about 400 years)
- He got rid of Qin's harsh laws, lowered taxes and encouraged learning
- He kept many of Qin's standard laws/polices
- The 5th Emperor (Han Wudi) expanded China's territory and ruled for over 50 years
The Han Dynasty started an organized bureaucracy within their government
Civil Service
- Definition: system of government employees mainly selected for their skills and knowledge
- The Han wanted only talented people running the government, so they made applicants:
1. take exams
2. have a recommendation
The Silk Road
Section 3
Inventions and achievements
wheelbarrow
acupuncture
calligraphy
papermaking
lacquer
seismometer