Qin Shi Huang, First Emperor of China Essay

Qin Shi Huang (or Shi Huangdi) was the First emperor moth of a structured China, who ruled from 246 BCE to 210 BCE. In his 35-year reign, he managed to create magnificent and enormous construction projects. He in any case drivingd both incredible cultural and intellectual growth, and much destruction at bottom China. Whether he should be remembered more for his creations or his tyranny is a amour of dispute, only when everyone agrees that Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor moth of the Qin Dynasty, was one of the most important rulers in Chinese history.Connect with over 120,000 suppliers from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan Fall of outstanding of ItalyLondon Family HistoryChinese WarriorsTerracotta ArmyDynastyEarly Life fit to legend, a rich merchant named Lu Buwei befriended a prince of the Qin State during the last mentioned years of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BCE). The merchants lovely married woman Zhao Ji had just gotten pregnant, so he arranged for the prince to meet and steady down in love with her. She became the princes concubine, and then gave birth to Lu Buweis child in 259 BCE. The baby, born in Hanan, was named Ying Zheng. The prince believed the baby was his own. Ying Zheng became pansy of the Qin call down in 246 BCE, upon the death of his supposed father. He ruled as Qin Shi Huang, and interconnected China for the first time.Early ReignThe childly king was whole 13 years old when he took the throne, so his prime parson (and probable real father) Lu Buwei acted as regent for the first eighter years. This was a difficult time for any ruler in China, with seven-spot warring states vying for control of the land. The leaders of the Qi, Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, Chu and Qin states were former dukes low the Zhou Dynasty, but had each proclaimed themselves king as the Zhou swing apart. In this unstable environment, warfare flourished, as did books like Sun Tzus The wile of War. Lu Buwei had a nonher problem, as well he feared that the k ingwould tell on his true identity.Lao Ais RevoltAccording to the Shiji, or Records of the Grand Historian, Lu Buwei hatched a new scheme to say Qin Shi Huang in 240 BCE. He introduced Zhao Ji to Lao Ai, a man famous for his large penis. The queen dowager and Lao Ai had two sons, and in 238 BCE, Lao and Lu Buwei decided to launch a coup. Lao raised an troops, back up by the king of nearby Wei, and tried to seize control art object Qin Shi Huang was traveling outside of the area. The young king cracked down backbreaking on the rebellion Lao was executed in a mordant fashion, along with his family. The queen dowager was spared, but spent the rest of her days under house arrest.Consolidation of PowerLu Buwei was banished after the Lao Ai incident, but did non lose all of his influence in Qin. However, he lived in constant fear of execution by the mercurial young king. In 235 BCE, Lu committed suicide by drinking poison. With his death, the 24-year-old king assumed full command over the kingdom of Qin. Qin Shi Huang grew increasingly paranoid (not without reason), and banished all foreign scholars from his court as spies. The kings fears were sensible in 227, the Yan state sent two assassins to his court, but he fought them off with his sword. A musician also tried to kill him by bludgeoning him with a lead-weighted lute.Battles with Neighboring StatesThe assassination approachs arose in part because of desperation in beside kingdoms. The Qin king had the most powerful army, and neighboring rulers trembled at the thought of a Qin invasion. The Han kingdom fell in 230 BCE. In 229, a devastating earthquake rocked another powerful state, Zhao, leaving it weakened. Qin Shi Huang took advantage of the disaster, and invaded the region. Wei fell in 225, followed by the powerful Chu in 223. The Qin army conquered Yan and Zhao in 222 (despite another assassination attempt on Qin Shi Huang by a Yan agent). The final independent kingdom, Qi, fell to the Qin in 221 BCE.China UnifiedWith the chastise of the other six warring states, Qin Shi Huang had unified northern China. His army would continue to expand the Qin conglomerates southerly boundaries throughout his lifetime, driving as far south as what is in a flashVietnam. The king of Qin became the Emperor of Qin China.As emperor, Qin Shi Huang reorganized the bureaucracy, abolishing the existing nobility and renewal them with his appointed officials. He also built a net go away of roads, with the capital of Xianyang at the hub. In addition, the emperor simplified the written Chinese script, standardized weights and measures, and minted new copper coins.The Great Wall and Ling Canal despite its military might, the newly unified Qin Empire faced a recur threat from the north raids by the nomadic Xiongnu (the ancestors of Attilas Huns). In hostel to fend off the Xiongnu, Qin Shi Huang ordered the construction of an enormous defensive wall. The work was carried out by hundreds of thous ands of slaves and criminals between 220 and 206 BCE untold thousands of them died at the task. This northern fort formed the first section of what would become the Great Wall of China. In 214, the Emperor also ordered construction of a canal, the Lingqu, which linked the Yangtze and bead River systems.The Confucian PurgeThe Warring States Period was dangerous, but the lack of underlying authority allowed intellectuals to flourish. Confucianism and a number of other philosophies blossomed prior to Chinas unification. However, Qin Shi Huang viewed these schools of thought as threats to his authority, so he ordered all books not related to his reign burned in 213 BCE. The Emperor also had well-nigh 460 scholars buried alive in 212 for daring to disagree with him, and 700 more kill to death. From then on, the only approved school of thought was legalism follow the emperors laws, or face the consequences.Qin Shi Huangs Quest for ImmortalityAs he entered middle age, the First Emperor grew more and more afraid of death. He became obsessed with finding the elixir of life, which would allow him to live forever. The court doctors and alchemists concocted a number of potions, many of them containing quicksilver (mercury), which probably had the ironic effect of hastening the emperors death rather than preventing it. Just in case the elixirs did not work, in 215 BCE the Emperor alsoordered the construction of a jumbo tomb for himself. Plans for the tomb included flowing rivers of mercury, cross-bow booby traps to thwart manque plunderers, and replicas of the Emperors earthly palaces.The Terracotta ArmyTo guard Qin Shi Huang in the afterworld, and possibly allow him to conquer heaven as he had the earth, the emperor had a terracotta army of at least 8,000 clay soldiers placed in the tomb. The army also included terracotta horses, along with real chariots and weapons. Each soldier was an individual, with peculiar facial features (although the bodies and limbs were ma ss-produced from molds).The Death of Qin Shi HuangA large meteor fell in Dongjun in 211 BCE an ominous indication for the Emperor. To make matters worse, someone sculptured the words The First Emperor willing die and his land will be divided onto the stone. Some saw this as a sign that the Emperor had lost the Mandate of Heaven. Since nobody would fess up to this crime, the Emperor had everyone in the vicinity executed. The meteor itself was burned and then pounded into powder. Neverthe slight, the Emperor died less than a year later, while touring eastern China in 210 BCE. The cause of death most likely was mercury poisoning, due to his immortality treatments.Fall of the Qin EmpireQin Shi Huangs Empire did not outlast him long. His second son and tip Minister tricked the heir, Fusu, into committing suicide. The second son, Huhai, seized power. However, widespread unrest (led by the remnants of the Warring States nobility) threw the imperium into disarray. In 207 BCE, the Qin army was defeated by Chu-lead rebels at the Battle of Julu. This defeat signaled the end of the Qin Dynasty.SourcesMark Edward Lewis, The Early Chinese Empires Qin and Han. Cambridge Harvard University beg (2007). Lu Buwei, The autobiography of Lu Buwei, trans. John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel. Stanford Stanford University Press (2000). Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, trans. Burton Watson. New York Columbia University Press (1993).