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China was eventually united under one of the regional kings, the first
emperor Qin Shi Huang, in 221 BC. During the Qin Dynasty he founded
only lasted for 12 years but the emperor wielded absolute power over all of
China. The emperor was despotic, ordering the burning of books to remove
all evidence of any earlier dynasties and burying many scholars alive by
ceiling them in a room. His tight control of China allowed him to conscript
massive labor forces, allowing him to construct ambitious projects like the
Great Wall of China. The workers died by the thousands in harsh
conditions, but the nomadic tribes they protected the population from where
skilled horse archers and ruthless invaders. These nomads also killed
thousands of Chinese soldiers in massive bloody battles, the Qin generals
using massed levies like pawns. The Qin Dynasty had gained control over
the mass of peasants by abolishing the landowning lords who they had
formerly served. The abolishing also agricultural output and allowed for
larger military forces. The Qin also standardized weights and measures,
and even standardized axel lengths for carts to ensure their roads were the
right width. This increased all had the effect of increasing trade.
The Han Dynasty that followed the Qin ruled over a golden age in Chinese
history. There aggressive policy towards the barbarian nomads greatly
expanded their frontiers in all directions. They had used the nomads
mounted strategies against them, pushing into central Asia and making
contact with the Persians. This connected the Roman, Persian and
Chinese trade routes, creating the great Silk Road. Chinas traders and
government prospered from the government held monopoly on silk. Secrets
of silk making were protected by law and breaching a law would mean
canning or death.
During the Stone Age, people in China lived in small villages and had big
men in charge, and then chieftains. But by the time of the Shang Dynasty,
about 1800 BC, China was united into an empire and there was an
emperor or empress who ruled over many smaller kings.
Under these kings were a bunch of less powerful lords, and these lords
ruled individual farmers. The lords collected taxes from the farmers, and
passed some along to the kings, who passed some along to the emperor.
Under the Ch'in dynasty, about 200 BC, the emperors managed to get a lot
more power and control of the government. Instead of letting local kings run
local government, Ch'in sent out governors and judges that he had chosen
himself, who were loyal to China and not to the local king. During the Han
Dynasty, the emperors began to use examinations to choose the smartest
men to be their governors and judges (they lost out on a lot of good
governors by refusing to pick smart women though).
By the time of the Sui Dynasty, about 600 AD, the emperors ordered
systematic census-keeping so that they would know how much taxes
everybody should pay, and it would be more fair. They used those taxes to
fight wars, and to dig big canals for transportation and irrigation. The T'ang
Dynasty emperors continued the examinations and the census, but they
also worked to promote trade as the Silk Road of Central Asia became
more important. They fought more wars, and made China much bigger than
before. Near the end of the T'ang Dynasty, the emperor Wuzong
persecuted Buddhists and Manichaeans for their religion.
Under the Song Dynasty the government examinations became more and
more important, but with the collapse of the Song Dynasty the
Mongols invaded China from the north and Kublai Khan set up his own
government. He put his own people - Arabs and Mongols and
Jews and Christians - into power instead of Chinese people. Kublai
Khan brought a lot of new ideas to China. He used tax policy and laws to
encourage Chinese farmers to grow cotton for clothing instead of hemp.
When the Mongol Empire collapsed in the 1300s because of the plague,
the Ming Dynasty brought back the old government examinations, but
many Muslims continued to work in the Ming government too.
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