Difference between revisions of "Qin Dynasty"

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-The '''Qin''' replaced the [[Zhou dynasty]] in 221 BC and ruled until 206 BC.  It was the first unified [[Chinese]] empire, and utilised the key classical Chinese philosophy known as [[Legalism]] to great effect in amassing its force and overriding all the other states of the [[Warring States]] period.
-The Qin dynasty was founded by the ruler of the Zhou vassal state Qin, Prince Ying Zheng.  The Qin dynasty was excellent in battle and conquered all the the states, unifying the country.  The state of Qin was originally a fief of the Zhou state, a military province intended to provide a buffer against western "barbarians" and to produce horses; it was in an out of the way area, and the region was part-desert.  There was little indication that this state would prove to be the most powerful, or that it would unify China in the end.  However, victories at such key battles as [[the battle of Changping]], the bloodiest engagement in history until the [[Second World War]], against the [[state of Zhao]], allowed Qin to develop and conquer the other 6 states by 221BC under Ying Zheng.
-The Qinn dynasty began building the [[Great Wall of China]], although this was a much earlier wall, made of tamped earth, not the more modern stone structure constructed under the Ming dynasty, over 1500 years later.  The wall was a large project, and produced by corvee labour, but it built on earlier structures produced by various states in the [[Warring States]] period to keep out the nomads of the steppes to the north and west.
-The Chi'in dynasty's highly legal approach led to a rebellion which replaced it with the [[Han dynasty]], although many modern scholars agree that it was not the tight rule of Ying Zheng (or "Qin Shi Huang Di") that was unpopular; rather, it was the breakdown of the law instituted by the Qin under Ying Zheng's successor that caused unrest and rebellion in 206 BC.  The period following the Qin was a short period of warlords, the two most famous being [[Liu Bang]], the governor of Pei, and [[Xiang Yu]], a nobleman of the former state of Chu.  Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu and founded the [[Han dynasty]], although both are famous in Chinese history and culture, with Xiang Yu being the subject of much of Chinese opera, the famous aria, "Xiang Yu bids farewell to his [[concubine]]" being based on an event in his life according the famous Chinese history, the [[Records of the Historian]] by [[Sima Qian]] of the Han.
-[[Category:Chinese History]]
-[[Category:Chinese dynasties]]

Difference between revisions of "Qin Dynasty"

Revision as of 01:01, September 13, 2007

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