Summary History of the Reign o/t Qin (Ch'In) Dynasty (221 BC

The Preceeding Historic Period - Warring States Period 476 BC to 221 BC

The Warring States Period is often taken to directly follow upon the Spring and Autumn Period, the Great difference between the two being that in the Warring States Period larger States started annexing the smaller States surrounding them. In and around the 3rd Century BC only 7 States remained, These States were Qi (齊/齐), Chu (楚), Han (韓/韩), Wei (魏), Yan (燕), Zhao (趙/赵) and Ch'In (Qin (秦)). To mark the difference in attitude of the Rulers of these States, the ultimate sovereigns of these States beforehand considered as Dukes and subservient to the Zhou King, changed their Titles and became Kings of their own right.

The Warring States period is the Time of the military strategist Sun Tzu (Sun Zi) who -from his own experiences- wrote the legendary book "The Art of War", which would become one of the main literary classics of this Era.

Military tactics changed considerably in the Time of the Warring States. Unlike the Spring and Autumn Period, most armies in the Warring States Period made combined use of infantry and Cavalry. Meanwhile the use of chariots gradually fell into disfavor. Bronze Weapons quickly disappeared due to the fact that Iron Weapons are considerable stronger and thus by far superior. In response to the large scale use of Cavalry along with the massed infantry armed with bows and cross-bows, the Ch'In developped the Pike, a classic anti-cavalry defense weapon necessary to protect infantry from storming hordes of horses and riders.

The Second anti-cavalry weapon of the Time, and most popular, was the Dagger-Axe. The Dagger-Axe is basically a thrusting spear with a slashing blade appended to it and a weapon derived from the Pike..

At long range the Crossbow was the preferred weapon of this period, superior in fire power due to a variety of reasons. First of all the crossbow could be easily mass-produced, secondly using a crossbow effectively was much easier than the use of the long bow and other bows. Mass training of peasants into crossbowmen was thus possible. Furthermore, the crossbow bolt was one of the few weapons sure to penetrate even the new iron armour of the Period. These qualities made it a powerful weapon against any enemy.

Armies fielded during the Warring States Period ever increased in size. Where in the Spring and Autumn Period 10.000 Men were gathered for a superior military force, in the later Battles massed armies of over 100.000 Men on each side battled eachother. By then, War was equal to wholesale slaughter steared and supplied for by efficient administrative machines.

The full history of the Warring States Era is an intriguing story of mutual wars, allegiances, spying and deceit. During a rapid succession of changes of fortune at first the State of Jin was most powerful. Jin however was splintered by infighting of 4 major ruling Families in 430 BC. Not much later it appeared the Wei were facing final defeat at the hands of the States of Zhao and Han, however, indecisive on who should gain most, both armies miraculously retreated leaving the Wei to redevelop and in Revenge nearly gain the upper-hand. However, through clever strategies of Zun Bin (a student of Tzun-Zu's Art of War) the Qi intervened and prevented the Rise of Wei over Zhao and Han respectively. Defeated multiple times and thus weakened, the State of Wei then fell prey to the State of Ch'In, leaving Wei mortally wounded with a large scale invasion (340 BC) and making Qi and Qin (Ch'In) the dominant states within the Chinese Cultural Sphere.

The Zhou Dynasty was dead in all respects. In the year 334 BC, the rulers of Wei and Qi had agreed to recognize each other as Kings (王). This formalized the independence of the first of the 7 Warring States and lead the other Dukes of Qin, Han, Yan, Song to reconsider their own Statuses. In the period from 325 BC, through 318 BC the Qin (Ch'In), Han, Yang and Song National Leaders declared themselves King rather than Duke or Marquis putting a final end to the slow but steady loss of power of the Zhou throne since the beginning of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Zhao joined the ranks of the independents last in the year 299 BC

The State of Chu rose to its peak in 334 BC, when after it was attacked by Yue, it counter-attacked and subdued the State of Yue. Yue was consequently annexed and added to the territory of Chu, leaving only 6 remaining States. Chu however would not hold out the last.

Driven from backwardness into s state of sudden modernity by the new Philosophy of Legalism, the State of Qin rapidly developed its strength. Although the 5 States opposing Ch'In were alerted by its militarism and expansionist nature, they failed to align themselves successfully against the mutual threat. The Leaders of Ch'In gained the upper-hand by the strategy of divide and conquer, driving a wedge between allies on multiple occasions.

In the Year 318 BC the State of Shu fell to the Ch'In.

Later, around 300 BC the State of Qi was destroyed by an attack from the 5 allied opposing States led by Yan. Next was an all out battle between Yan and Wei (293 BC), in which they mutually destroyed each other leaving them weak and unable to further influence the rapidly developing power situation within the realm. This last event, in fact, would prove to be a victory only for Ch'In, which once more saw two opponents removed.

In 287 BC, furthering its ambitions at total dominance Qin invaded the neighboring State of Chu advancing to and taking the Capital of Ying. Although the King of Chu managed to flee and establish a smaller Kingdom and Capital elsewhere, the military strength of Chu was broken and Ch'In power rose to an even higher level. Chu was to linger on to the end of the Warring States Period beiung the last State to Fall to Qin, but it would only be a spectator to the conquests of Qin.

At Last, in 260 BC, the State of Ch'In attacked the still powerful State of Zhao, leading to the epic battle of ChangPing (near GaoPing in Shanxi Province). After the initial battle the war would continue for three long years, leaving both States Militarily and Economically exhausted. However, Zhao was broken and Ch'In prevailed. The Zhao State was finally conquered, 30 years after this war, establishing absolute economic and military dominance of Ch'In.

In the End, after 50 more years of military struggles and intrigue, the State of Chin is victorious and will unite all. The Chin Dynasty, first to rule all is established by Ch'In Shi Huangdi.

It is known that in this period huge armies of laborers descended on the Capital Xianyang, building a splendid palace inside an Imperial pleasure Garden and Park along the river Wei. New palaces were built and the old ones fully refurbished and redecorated.

As many as 700 thousand, mostly prisoners and criminals were forced to do the hard labor, completing no less than 270 Palaces within the Capital of Xianyang and in its vicinity. The bronze weapons taken from vanquished enemies were piled together to be melted down, having them recast as giant bronze "glory bells" used to eutolise the glory of the one Emperor.

Soon, yet more workers would be employed to start of the construction of the staggeringly lavish Royal Tomb of Qin, which today is renowned as the "Army of Terracotta Warriors", a collection of clay statues that is but a small part of the entire complex built to house the body of the Emperor once he passed to another realm. The tomb, built due East of Xi'an near the spa resort town of Lintung consists a vast Tomb Mound surrounding which lie various shallow pits in which up to this day, various staggering finds have been done. The discoveries done at the site famously began whenn two farmers dug into what would prove to be an underground pit filled with the guardian armies of the deceased first Emperor Qin, a find as yet unsurpassed. Inside were placed 1000's of life-sized terracotta statues of armed soldiers, their officers and even horses and carriages.

As excavations have since revealed, the entire army of the Qin mperor had been copied in real, and cast in clay sent to protectt the Emperor in eternity.

Furtermore, in 1981 previously undetected pits were revealed lying hidden in the vicinity, yielding yet more treasures among which superbly rendered life-sized bronze statues of waterbirds and cranes, giving evidence of bronze-working skills previously unseen froom this period. The stunning bronze statues themselves were part of a full ceremonial funeral procession, which further included real life copies of horses and chariots - each with their own bronze, not terracotta, drivers.

With research and restoration work continuing even today at the site

near Lintung and the main Tomb Mound remaining unexcavated, more secrets of the Qin Emperor may yet come to light.

Needless to say, the entire collection of finds was unprecendented in any way imaginable, yielding countless new historic insights and providing a glorious proof of the greatness of the culture, the technological advances and the talents employed by this early Chinese Empire.

Today the Tomb Site of Emperor Qin remains among the top cultural highlights of the country, its statues and other finds being sent around the world to be displayed in Museums.

Apart from having himself a lavish tomb built, Emperor Qin also ordered the construction of long roads on the side of which trees should be planted. Along them, at strategic points steles were placed large stone steles to eulogize the great deeds and virtues of the in Emperor in as large a caracter as possible. It was all propaganda. Other voices, whenever they appeared, were drowned out, or otherwise particularly harshly dealt with. There was opposition to the new rule, yes. However, under the new philosophy of legalism the state sanctioned what one should think, say and most of the times, do. So, those who did not like the new society and spoke out were simply condemned as criminals and subsequently sent off to work as slaves, or simply to be executed as a public example.

And this rule not only went for the commoners, it went for everyone of the subjects of the God-Emperor Qin.

And so came about the Great book burning and the killing of a 100's of the top Confucian scholars at the Court. They, the opposing faction were simply wiped out, their memories, their lessons and everything else they stood for were burnt. As historic records reveal, who refused to follow the Imperial Decree of burning the books were tattood or branded on their cheeks, then formed into chain gangs to perform slave labor for the State. Even worse, as can be told today, at least 460 of the most recalcitrant Confucian teachers, those who had reservations about the values of Legalism and had tried to advize the Emperor against it, were buried alive in pits never to be heard of again.

Thus, the "home front was pacified", or so it seemd for the time being. With the Capital depleted of any political opposition and the Confucian forces of the old society seemingly banned and done away with, the Emperor could continue the work of the building of his never before seen Empire.

Next up was the undertaking of large scale infra-structure projects, most particularly, the construction of the Great Wall of Qin, what today is thought of as the first continuous version of the Great Wall of China and perhaps the greatest achievement of the Qin Emperor. Staggeringly, the construction of this immense fortification, measuring at least 1400 miles in length, took only 12 short years. Many of the condemned Confucian scholars and other political opponents were to die along this wall.

While the Northern Borders were being secured by means of the rising of the Great Wall of China, the Qin Armies were active along the Southern Borders of the Empire, each year securing more and new territory to be added to the one Realm of the Emperor of Qin. Victories were booked against the wild tribes of mountainous but fertile lands in the center of today's Sichuan Province, and Qin troops made it across the Yangtze River to travel as far South as Changsha, today the Capital of Hunan Province.

No matter however how ambitious the plans of Qin Shi, and however speedy the execution of all of it, time was catching up to the now aging Emperor. As it is remembered today, the greatest fear that the fearless Emperor held was simply death. Death was unpredicatble, uncontrolable, and it seemed indefeatable or at least for normal mortals - and this was to become an obsession.

In the end, Qin Shi Huangdi the magnificent, died far away from his powerful Capital, while conducting one of his official inspection tours, although it is said that the Emperor was out looking for the elusive "Elixir of Life". Dead on the spot, hidden inside his private carryage, an opportunity them arose for the cunning Courtiers. Along for the ride on this tour, where was the masters powerful, cunning and ambitious Eunuch Chao Kao, a man who immediatly set to work on realizing his own dreams and wishes.

Keeping "Eunuchs" castrated men, by the way, were already an established practice during the Qin Dynasty. It was an effective method of humiliating enemies, who so prevented from having any offspring, could be kept to be made useful for whatever skills they possed. Some eunuchs were mere house-maids and errant runners, however some Eunuchs were claimed by the court, giving some opportunity to rise to considerable social status and more importantly, power and influence in the highest spheres of decision making. At the time of the Qin Emperor already, euncuhs were the only "men" to be allowed within the Emperors "family quarters", the inner home of the Imperial Clan, where the wives, concubines and children lived.

As for the case of Chao Kao, he had been apparently been hoping to rule the Qin Realm upon the death of his immediate master, the Emperor of Qin. That is, as it is now known, the death of the Emperor in the field, was hidden from the court and Empire by means of falcified documents. Then, while the caravan holding the body of the deceased Emperor was slowly transported back to the Capital, the death of the Emperor was kept hidden from all so preventing political chaos in the Capital and leaving opportunity for Chao Kao to assume command upon the return in the Capital Xianyang. What exactly occured must remain unclear through the haze of time, however it known that Chao Kao promoted himself to be the Palace Chamberlain, holding all powers over the day to day runing of the Court (and Empire) until the completion of the funeral rites and ceremony of burial of the great Emperor Qin within his prepared resting place near Lintung.

Subsequently, Chao Kao eliminated all of the Emperor's lineage, starting with his eldest brother, who besieged, committed suicide rather than face even worse. 12 more brothers of the Emperor were executed along with their families, wiping most of the Imperial Family from power. Then, with only the functioning Government standing between him and absolute powers (or so he thought), Chao Kao had the Grand Minister Li Ssu arrested, subsequently having him executed by cutting him in half at the waist. It was a terrible death for the inventor of the malicious system which, by and large, still rules China today. Li Ssu's vision of unified rule through the practice of Legalism remained a leading line of of thought for generations of Emperors to come, and their generals, administrators and subjects, and it had eventually trampled upon its inventor and implicator.

Having murdered his way to the Throne and absolute powers, Chao Kao too was to be disappointed. While he had been grasping at power from within the Capital, the populace and peasantry, discontent after years of abuse and state sanctioned killings arose in rebellion, leading them within no time to the Palace Gates in the Capital of Xianyang. What followed was an orgy of destruction, which can still vividly impress the hatred felt for the now dead Emperor of Qin.

Chao Kao himself was assassinated by others at court, while rampaging rebel forces ransacked the Capital leveling everything that represented the hated rule of Qin. Testimony to emotions of the time, the sacred Tomb of the Emperor was broken open and much of its content attacked and destroyed leaving most of the terracotta statues in shards, a gargantuan puzzle for archeologists to recompose.

Finally, out of the turmoil a rebel leader emerged to bring back some sort of normalcy and eventually a new Dynasty. A peasant from eastern China, his name was Liu Pang. Once a minor official, during the descend into chaos he had turned into a bandit leader, leading the peasantry against some of their former corrupt officials. Made popular by his "righteous cause", the bandit gang then joined up with the larger rebel army that was heading for the Capital of Xianyang and eventual take-over of the Han Chinese realm.

As described, the rebel forces descended on the Capital in rage, burning or destroying most of its Palaces and executing the 2nd Emperor of Qin, summarily. With Xianyang leveled to the ground, a new Capital was set up across the river Wei at a location known as Chang'An, near Xianyang and upstream from the earlier Zhou Dynasty Capital of Luoyang (in Henan Province).

Chang'An was established in the year 207 A.D., becoming the Capital of the succesful Han Dynasty (207 B.C. - 220 A.D.) that would rule China for the next 4 centuries leaving a rich cultural heritage, contacts with newfound cultures and the establishment of the earliest historic Silk Road(s) to Central Asia and beyond. Chang'An was perhaps the largest and finest city in the world when it was the Han Capital. During the Han Dynasty Era, the first contacts with visitors from the West would be made, with the Han Capital of Xi'An becoming the Eastern counterpart of mighty Rome in the West, a city in many ways more sophisticated, with better organized education and thus technologically more advanced than the Roman Capital.

During the Tang Dynasty Era (618 A.D. - 907 A.D.) it was no doubt the largest and most international city in the entire world. Today, the old Han Dynasty Capital of China lives on as the City of Xi'An, the Capital of Shaanxi Province.

As can be concluded from the above history, the great achievements of the Qin Dynasty, were in fact also the great achievements of the Emperor Qin, for, as soon as he died his Empire started to unrevel, coming down faster than any Dynasty previously or since. Eventhough the Dynasty had but a short span of around 11 years, and most of its glorious Palaces and structures were torn apart, it leaves a legacy.

Damming works in Sichuan.

First settling of Ningxia Plain laying foundations for later Han Dynasty Conquests.

Tomb of Qin Shi.

Great Wall of China.

Interesting Facts about the Qin Dynasty:

From historic documents and archeological digs it is known that brocades of the Tujia People, today a minority peoples of the Peoples Republic of China, were already in use and popular at the Qin Court. The popularity of these colorful clothes continued during the succeeding Han Dynasty.

the massive works of defense it from its enemies, and the splendid works of art that would proclaim its unparalleled culture. The Tiger of Qin and his successors in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.) would lay the foundations for continued unison of the newly founded state, developing its roads, its civil service and its trade. A newly educted Elite helped to administer the State, organized the mutual defenses as well as the slave labor force and supply chain to build and maintain it all. Another feature was a system of State Patronage of artists and artisans.

In all, the nation planned by Qin Shi Huangdi and by and large built by the succeeding Han Dynasty was the most advanced Civilization of its time, remaining a important power in Asia and the world to this very day.

The Young King of Qin possessed great courage and energy, as well as a renowned and notorious strength of will. At the beginning of his rule, the state of Qin ruled by Qin Shi covered roughly what today are the provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi in North-West China. As written in ancient historical records: "It was suspended 1000's of feet above the rest of the Empire (i.e. the State of Qin lay upon the Loess Plateaux of Central China, about 1000 meters above sea level). With 20 thousand men it could hold back 100 thousand spearmen. " Qin, further protected by Wall defenses and a well organized and disciplined army, was thus a formidable military power, who, upon the final orders of their Emperor, descended upon their neighboring states with mounted spearmen, crossbow archers, battering rams and scaling ladders, soon overwhelming them one by one.

In previous times, before the influential rule of its Tiger of Qin, the people of the Qin State had been among the poorest in the Nation. Much of the land inhospitable and unsuitable for agriculture, many of the Qin people were not much more nomadic tribesmen. By the time of the rise to the Throne of Qin Ying Zheng (the later Qin Shi Huangdi) however, the State had already lived through the bloody "Warring States Period", subduing less powerful neighbors, and learning and adapting in the process. By the time of the crowning of the Prince Qin Ying Zheng into the King of Qin, many of the technologies and cultural traits of the absorbed neighbors had been adopted, a well trained army had been established and, among things by developing irrigation sytems on a large scale for the first time, the Qin economy had been brought to bloom.

Well to do as they may have become, the Qin people however had none of their early virocity and mercilessness in battle and beyond of that.

In the 3rd Century B.C. a traveling Confucian Philosopher praised their simple and natural demeanor, their sober clothing, their respect for precedent, and the authority of their "honest" and "worthy" officials. To him indeed, the Qin people seemed destined for greatness.

At the same time that Qin Ying Zheng was crowned to the King of the Realm, an aspiring young man named Li Ssu, a disciple of the earlier mentioned traveling Confucian Scholar, turned hos eyes in hope to the Qin Capital Xianyang, sitauted near what today is the City of Xi'An in Shaanxi Province.

Li Ssu had been born in the in Shang T'sai in the State of Chu (in today's Sichuan Province), at about 280 B.C. Although a devoted Confucian, he did not subscribe to all of the Confucian principles and beliefs. In brief, Li Ssu seems to have agreed that one man could aquire goodness and achive things by sticking to the Confucian plan. However, he had no belief in the Confucian precepts for the State. In his idea's, simply the following advice would not result in harmonious society, instead he believed some sort of Government dispensed force would be needed to keep everything and evryone in check.

Li Ssu belived that people needed to be coerced into proper discipline, and not simply led. Thus, he viewed the ideal State as thoroughly autocratic.

And thus, Li Ssu was drawn to the State of Qin, for it was there where that the philosophy of "Legalism", as it is now called had its strongest influence at court. Legalist State advisors taught that men's actions are dictated by self-interest, in their eyes subjects obeyed the Law not out of reverence but mostly out of fear. This idea had a great influence of Government Policy for decades to come.

Soon Lis Ssu's name became noticed of the close advisors of the King Of Qin, Qin Ying Zheng (嬴政 yíng zhèng), a group of scholars to whom he expressed his great admiration for the way the King of Qin had subdued the Feudal Warlords, as the Qin preferred to see it, the less powerful neighboring states. According to Li Ssu, it was the King who had made the Empire of Qin the most powerful and sucessful State. Not much later Li Ssu was given a job at the court, promoting him to senior scribe and in a short period he was even promoted to be Minister of Justice.

When in 221 B.C. the Great King declared himself to be Qin Shi Huangdi, the first divine Emperor to rule all of the Han Chinese Realm, it was to Li Ssu who he posed the question of how to Govern his newly created realm. According to historic records (dating to the much later years of the Han Dynasty) Li Ssu advized that the Empire should be divided into 36 provinces, each to be Governed by Men who were to be chosen for their merit and loyalty, rather than their family background, heritage or social rank. This was a complete break with previous practices in which the "nobles" took the military jobs and thus later enjoyed the fruitful spils of victory and success.

A second advize that Li Ssugave was to have the ruling class families of all the outlying provinces rounded up and subsequently seent to live in the Capital Xianyang under the watchful eye of the Emperor and his apparatus. Instead of ruling and administering their realms, the "ruling class" was now expected to become an Elite infatuated with the arts and vying for more knowledge through the sciences.. Those who protested found themselves without much communication with their families and power bases in the provinces, and were thus left to be crushed under the Emperor's heel with eager help from his close advizors.

Furthermore, in the case of the building of an Empire, Li Ssu was perhaps the earliest Chinese spin-doctor, as he believed and thus advized that the Emperor should be glorified as no King had before him. In the effort of unifying the nation, there must be but one leader, and scores of artisans; sculpters, painters carftsmen, artisans, smiths, and other workers were employed in order to build the finest Temples, Palaces and Gardens imaginable.