This administrative structure has served as a model for government in China to the present day. Shihuangdi sought to standardize numerous aspects of Chinese life, including weights and measures, coinage, and the writing system.
These standards would last for centuries after the fall of his short-lived dynasty. He also ordered many construction projects. He expanded the network of roads and canals throughout the country.
Search for:. The Qin Dynasty. Learning Objectives Describe the establishment of the first imperial dynasty of China and the architecture, literature, weaponry, and sculpture it produced.
Key Takeaways Key Points In the mid and late 3rd century BCE, the Qin accomplished a series of swift conquests, eventually gaining control over the whole of China and creating a unified nation. During its reign , the Qin Dynasty achieved increased trade, improved agriculture, and revolutionary developments in military tactics, transportation, and weaponry, such as the sword and crossbow.
The Dynasty is known for several impressive feats in architecture, sculpture, and other art, such as the beginnings of the Great Wall of China, the construction of the Terracotta Army, and the standardization of the writing system.
Architecture of the Qin Dynasty Qin architecture is characterized by defensive structures and elements that conveyed authority and power, as exemplified by the early beginnings of the Great Wall. Learning Objectives Examine the characteristics of architecture created under the Qin Dynasty. Qin Shihuang , the self-proclaimed first Emperor, is responsible for the initial construction of what later became the Great Wall of China, which he built along the northern border to protect his empire against the Mongols.
Great Wall of China : A series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China to protect the Chinese states and empires against the raids and invasions of the nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe. Learning Objectives Discuss the goals of literature produced during the Qin Dynasty.
In BC, Qin Shihuang , the first Qin emperor, conquered all of the Chinese states and governed with a single philosophy known as legalism. An attempt to purge all traces of the old dynasties and their philosophies led to the infamous burning of books and burying of scholars incident in BCE. In an attempt to consolidate power, Qin Shihuang ordered the burning of all books on non-legalist philosophical viewpoints and intellectual subjects; scholars who refused to submit their books were executed.
Key Terms logographic : A writing system based on characters that represent a word or phrase, such as Chinese characters, Japanese kanji, and some Egyptian hieroglyphs. Learning Objectives Evaluate the sculpture of the Qin Dynasty. Key Takeaways Key Points The Qin, under the leadership of emperor Qin Shihuang , accomplished a series of swift conquests and gained control over all of China, unifying it as a country for the first time.
The Terracotta Army consists of more than 7, life-size terracotta figures of warriors and horses, buried with Qin Shihuang after his death in — BCE. Originally, the figures were painted with bright pigments of pink, red, green, blue, black, brown, white, and lilac; however, much of the color coating flaked off or faded.
Key Terms terracotta : A type of earthenware, clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic, in which the fired body is porous. Licenses and Attributions. Learn more about Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, politician, and teacher. Hundreds of thousands of men served in Qin armies, mobilized to defend against Xiongnu nomads in the north and other tribes in the south. Hundreds of thousands more toiled to build palaces, canals, and roads.
The whole line of defenses stretched over 10, li [more than 3, miles]. Did the Great Wall of China work? Not surprisingly, the autocratic emperor was the target of several assassination attempts. Perhaps in response, Shi Huangdi became obsessed with the idea of immortality. As Sima Qian records, his advisers counseled him that the herbs of immortality would not work until he could move about unobserved.
Accordingly, he built walkways and passages connecting his palaces so that he could move about in seeming invisibility. Doubtless the most megalomaniacal of his projects was his enormous tomb and buried terra-cotta horde , constructed at tremendous cost by , forced-labor conscripts.
The thousands of life-size figures included infantrymen, archers, chariots with horses, officials, servants, and even entertainers, such as musicians and a strongman. Arrayed in military formation, the soldiers bore traces of the bright paint that must have once enlivened them.
Although formed from standardized pieces—with solid legs and hollow torsos—they were evidently finished by hand so that no two figures looked exactly alike. Figures of acrobats and musicians would entertain the emperor through eternity. Find out what happened when an American stole a warrior's thumb. All rights reserved. In contrast, in line with his attempt to impose Legalism, Qin Shi Huang strongly discouraged philosophy particularly Confucianism and history—he buried Confucian scholars alive and burned many of their philosophical texts, as well as many historical texts that were not about the Qin state.
This burning of books and execution of philosophers marked the end of the Hundred Schools of Thought. The philosophy of Mohism in particular was completely wiped out. Finally, Qin Shi Huang began the building of the Great Wall of China, one of the greatest construction feats of all time, to protect the nation against barbarians.
Seven hundred thousand forced laborers were used in building the wall, and thousands of them were crushed beneath the massive gray rocks.
The wall was roughly 1, miles long, and wide enough for six horses to gallop abreast along the top. The tomb was filled with thousands and thousands of life-sized or larger terracotta soldiers meant to guard the emperor in his afterlife. This terracotta army was rediscovered in the twentieth century. Each soldier was carved with a different face, and those that were armed had real weapons. The Terracotta Army.
0コメント