The Qin dynasty is one of the most well known dynasties. They were led by the first emperor Qin Shi Huang, who was one of the most powerful emperors in imperial history. Although he was a cruel ruler, he did achieve many great accomplishments for his country. He standardised weights, measures, laws, scholarships and currency. The Qin dynasty was well known for creating massive historical fortifications, such as the Great Wall of China.
How did Qin Shi Huang unify China?
Once Qin Shi Huang had full control on the state of Qin, he set out to conquer and unite the other six Chinese states one by one. First he conquered the Han state. Then, quickly conquered the Zhao and Wei states without difficulty. At last, he defeated the strongest dynasty of all, Chu. Therefore, the remaining states, Yan and Qi fell easily. To officially unite China, Emperor Qin standardised all written language, built a system of roads and changed the monetary system.
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Did standardising written language help to unify China?
Standardising the written language did unify China in some ways, because before all 6 states in China were united by Qin Shi Huang, it was split into sections where the 7 states would constantly have battles between each other. Once China was unified, standardising the language had brought the country even closer together, since the different regions hardly had anything in common. Though, historians have argued that standardising the written language had only improved the communication of the wealthy and educated, but did not make an impact or difference to the people in poverty and unschooled citizens since had a limited knowledge on reading material. To conclude, it is still proven that standardising written language had still significantly helped unify China, because after all it had improved the communication of all 7 states, no matter educated or non-educated, since it was one of the only things that the unified regions had in common.
Tomb of Qin Shi Huang:
The exact tomb of the First Emperor is still a mystery to all historians and archeologists. His tomb took around 38 years to build and took more than 700,000 men to construct. However, a record and description of Qin Shi Huang’s tomb was included in the 'Records of the Grand Historian'. Which gives archeologists and historians a brief idea of how the tomb is constructed. To guard and protect the tomb, functioning traps were made to shoot fire arrows at any invaders. The wide ceiling of the tomb was delicately enhanced with elegant heavenly constellations. This was for Qin Shi Huang to continue to look over and rule his country even after his death. The two most well known rivers in China (Yellow River and Yangtze) were built, and the other important features of the land were also in his tomb alongside everything else. Lastly, 2000 clay soldiers, also known as the Terracotta Army, were also incorporated in his tomb.
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The main religion in the Qin dynasty and why the people believed it:
In China, the main belief was Confucianism until Emperor Qin united China, came under the rule and founded the Qin dynasty. His ways of ruling were diverged greatly compared to the previous rulers. He burned many Confucian texts and killed scholars because they were criticising his new ways of ruling.
Therefore, instead of the main belief being Confucianism during the Qin dynasty, it became Legalism and Chinese folk religion. Legalism was in place during much of the warring states period, and ending up enduring into the Qin dynasty. And the Chinese folk religion, unlike other religions, it is not a unified system with practices or beliefs. N.d. Religion.Facts. Web. <goo.gl/kpifb7>.
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