Fall of Qin

Ambitious policies

Military campaigns

Northern Campaign

"300,000 soldiers"

Southern Campaign

"500,000 soldiers"

Building projects

Defensive walls

"1 million" die

Capital at Xianyang

120,000 feudal families as hostages

New Palace

Roads

4,000 miles (6,800 km)

Imperial tours

Inscriptions on stone pillars

Mount Langya, 219 BCE

"The merit of the August Emperor lies in diligently fostering basic concerns, exalting agriculture, abolishing lesser occupations, so the black-headed people may be rich. All Under Heaven are of one mind, single in will. Weights and measures have a single standard, words are written in a uniform way. Wherever sun and moon shine, where ships and wheeled vehicles bear cargo, All people fulfil their allotted years, none do not attain their goal." Source: Sima, Qian. Records of the Grand Historian. Translated by Burton Watson. Hong Kong: Columbia University Press, 1993. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed February 28, 2017).

Imperial tomb

"700,000 laborers"

Qin Shi Huangdi’s Tomb and Army

Rapid Fall of Qin

Death of First Emperor in 210 BCE

Zhao Gao, eunuch (d. 207 BCE)

Li Si, Chancellor (d. 208 BCE)

Suicide of crown prince

“Second Emperor of Qin” (r. 210-207 BCE)

Rapid Fall of Qin: Reasons?

Traditional (Li Feng, p. 258)

Rebellion of Chen Sheng & 900 conscripts, 209 BCE

Hansen’s revisionist ideas, pp. 103-105

What is your opinion?

Qin legacy to Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty 202 BCE-220 CE

Western Han (202 BCE-9 CE)

Xin (9-23)

Eastern Han (25-220)

Ideal of unified empire ruled by an emperor (Huangdi)

Centralized and/or uniform:

Administrative bureaucracy

Law code

Written script

Monetary system

Weights and measures

What are the areas of continuity and discontinuity with the Warring States period (480-221 BCE)?