HIS 105 Chapter 7

1. HIS 105Chapter 7 China’s First Empire

2. China

3. Qin and the Legalists • Innovative and ruthless • Controlled area around the Wei, Yellow, and Yangtze Rivers • Passed harsh laws that gave stability and order

4. Shi Huangdi • Came to the throne in 246 B.C.E. at the age of 13 • Liked Legalist approach • Became vigorous, ambitious, intelligent, and decisive • In 232 B.C.E., at age of 27, he unified China • In 221 B.C.E. he gave himself the title of Emperor

5. Shi Huangdi had all the protective walls in the north connected into one Great Wall of China • It extended 1400 miles from the Pacific Ocean into central Asia

6. Public Works Projects: • Built canals • Built roads • Built palaces • All built using forced labor

7. Shi Huangdi was a strong Legalist • Passed strong laws • Enacted harsh punishments • Burned Confucian texts • Repressed ideas • Death to those who arrived late for work • Many peasants and shi revolted • Within months, the Qin fell

8. Accomplishments of the Qin • Road system • Canals • Great Wall • Improved communications • Unified currency

9. Great Wall

10. Changes in Warfare • Traditionally, a combination of ritual and brawl • Could only fight at certain times of the year • A ruler announced his intention to attack well in advance • Priests tried to predict the outcome before the fight

11. Battles were duels of the well-trained in the midst of the not so well-trained • Duelists followed rules • The defeated were given great respect • Death of a commander meant the end of the fight • Most battles of Shang and Zhou were fought this way • This style was criticized

12. The Art of War by Sunzi • A classic of military science • Sunzi was an advisor to a warring monarch • He opposed ritualized war • Said war should not be a macho contest • War should only be fought to increase territory, wealth, and power • Fight quickly with little damage

13. He praised generals who could win without battles, were good at organization, supplying what was needed including spies, propaganda, and psyching out the enemy • Fighting should be done under a chain of command • Sunzi’s tactics are still studied today

14. Sunzi

15. Han Dynasty • Ruled China for 400 years • After Qin fell, a rebel general of peasant birth gained control of China • He became the first emperor of the Han dynasty • His name was Liu Bang and his official name was Gaozu • He reigned from 206 -195 B.C.E.

16. Liu Bang

17. He and his successors tried to avoid using the tactics of the hated Qin • They : • Made punishments less severe • Reduced taxes but had a large cash reserve • Had strong central government • Improved the economy • Filled the granaries

18. Early Han rulers have been singled out as Model Sage Rulers • Liu Bang was succeeded by Han Wudi • He took the throne at the age of 16 in 140 B.C.E. and remained for 54 years • Had strong central government • Was daring, vigorous, and intelligent • Also suspicious and vengeful

19. Han Wudi

20. Broke the feudal system in China – domains had to be divided among sons; if there were no sons, the government took the estate • Expanded China’s borders into northern Vietnam, across Manchuria, and into northern Korea • Defeated the Hsiung-nu, nomads from the north on the other side of the Great Wall, and took their pasture land

21. The Han banned the works of the Legalists and tried to have a milder regime • Confucianism became the dominant thought system in China and lasted for 2,000 years • Knowing Confucian teachings was a pre-requisite for employment • A University at Xian taught Confucianism and began turning out bureaucrats in 124 B.C.E. • You needed money to attend

22. This created divisions within society • Peasants could go to the university if they found sponsors • Students who passed exams competed for a small number of government jobs • Beginnings of civil service and stratification • Educated shi • Ordinary but free subjects • The underclass called mean people

23. In upper classes, arranged marriages worked to increase land holdings or prestige • This gave rise to the scholar gentry who were higher than the shi because they also had land • Lived a very good life

24. Women • Arranged marriages • Love didn’t enter into it • Woman’s father paid a dowry to the family of the groom • Her powerful relatives could ensure she received good treatment after she moved in with her husband’s family • She could take along a servant or her sister

25. Widows could remarry • All women could participate in family ceremonies • During the Han, women were poets and historians • ALL women were subordinate to men • Households run by older men • Male children inherited more than women

26. Politics were for men; although, women could have an influence • Mothers ruled over daughters and daughters-in –law • Women in peasant households worked in the fields • All women were expected to marry and have children, male children

27. Peasants • Worked in fields • Made enough to pay taxes and live a meager life • Had little • Those who worked other’s land were worse off • Had new devices to help with work: shoulder collar for horses, wheel-barrow, new cropping patterns • They also had to donate a certain number of days per year to work on public works projects

28. Peasants were also drafted into the army • Many joined secret alliances which offered them help during hard times: Ex.- the Red Eyebrow • Secret societies also helped start and spread rebellion

29. Xian • Imperial capital • Laid out on a grid pattern • Protected by fortification wall • Population: 100,000 lived within the walls and 150,000 living outside of the walls • Emperor lived in the inner forbidden city • Had palaces, towers, gateways, audience halls, banquet rooms, gardens, and fish ponds

30. Xian

31. Emperor lived there with his wife, his concubines, and his children • There was also a zoo

32. Invention and Artistry • China already had • Huge irrigation systems • Canals • Massive fortification walls • New cropping techniques During the Han Dynasty, China became the most technologically advanced of all the classical civilizations

33. Had brush pen and paper came into use during the 2nd century B.C.E. • Developed water mills to grinding grain and rudders and compasses for ships • Had new mining techniques • Developed refined silk making • Created lacquer ware and porcelain

34. Arts and Sciences • Art showed great skillcalligraphy became an art form • Bronzes, ceramic figures, and vases were created to a high standard • Had jade and ivory carving • In the sciences, there was an emphsis on the practical

35. By 444 B.C.E. – had an accurate calendar of 365.5 days • Plotted movement of planets • Viewed sunspots • Used astronomy for predictions • Invented seismographs • Improved ability to diagnose diease • Used acupuncture

36. In math, they focused on how things worked: in music and acoustics • Had standard measures for distance, volume, and weight

37. Decline • Han Dynasty began its decline by the end of the 1st century B.C.E. • Han Wudi was their last powerful leader • His successors neglected their duties and indulged themselves • 9 C.E. there was an attempt to change the family in power, and Wang Mang came to power but only until 23 C.E. when the Hans were restored

38. Wang Mang

39. This later Han Dynasty lasted another 200 years • The later Han went through a steady decline • The capital was moved to Loyang • Rulers were challenged by the families of their wives and by eunuchs • Eunuchs increased in number and in power • They were used to keep in check the power of their wives’ families

40. So there was a 3-way contest for power: the scholar gentry -- wives’ families – eunuchs • These divisions weakened the empire • Dynasty was overthrown in 220 C.E. • This began 400 years of turmoil that would only end with Sui Dynasty at the end of the 6th century C.E.

41. Accomplishments of Han • Philosophically – Confucius, Mencius, Lao-tsu, Xunzi, and the Legalists • Art • Sciences and Math • Spread of Buddhism • Han rule seemed to have established the basic parts of civilization that would last for thousands of years