After rising to power and putting an end to the Warring States period, Qin Shi Huandi united all of China, and attempted to create one unified state. This marked the beginning of the Qin Dynasty, which only lasted for 15 years, yet it is one of the most famous dynasties in ancient Chinese history. Emperor Qin ran his dynasty with absolute control. Punishment for those who disagreed with him was swift and harsh. You could be put to death simply by suggesting another way to do things. These strict rules were meant to restore peace in China, but they didn’t actually work out the way they were meant to work, which also led to the downfall of the Qin. But they did this all by claiming the Mandate of Heaven, and the empire took a bad turn when they lost the mandate of heaven. Now, we are going to be examining how the Qin came to unified China under one rule.
The Qin had all of the resources and advantages but what finally gave them victory over the other states was their ruthlessness in battle. The Qin statesman Shang Yang advocated total war and a disregard for the polite policies of battle which Chinese generals had always adhered to. His lessons were implemented by Ying Zheng, King of Qin, who emerged victorious from the Warring States period and proclaimed himself Shi Huandi – first emperor – of China in 221 BCE. “The Qin Dynasty established the first empire in China, starting with efforts in 230 B.C. during which they engulfed six Zhou Dynasty states.” (History.com) About 230 BCE, when the final campaign to unify China began, it is estimated that Qin controlled one-third of all the land under cultivation in China and one-third of China’s total population. When Shih Huang Di became the first emperor of the Qin dynasty, he made many Legalist and militaristic reforms. By improving and simplifying the Chinese language. It improved trade, and create a strong sense of unity throughout the entire state of Qin.
Qin Shi Huandi was against Confucianism because he believed in legalism. Many Confucian scholars strongly disagreed with his reforms and disciplines. Shih Huang Di saw this as a threat to his power and the state of Qin and ordered 460 Confucian scholars to death. Even after killing the Confucian scholars, people still disagreed with his reforms. To achieve absolute control over the entire state, he commenced the Burning of the Books. He burned all Confucian texts to try to end all Confucian hate. “Emperor Qin Shi Huang was a tyrant despite his contributions to the country. To prevent his people to think freely, he burnt many books which he feared would affect people's thinking. Worse, in his second year, after he learnt some scholars' discussions about his arrogance, he buried 460 of them alive. In history, these two events are called 'To Burn the Books and Bury the Scholars Alive.” (Travel China Guide) As well as doing this, he took power away from the rich by either killing or forcing them to give up their land and move to the capital, where they would have no power and pose no threat. This made all the Confucian scholars against the Qin Dynasty. In the year 210 BCE emperor Shi Huandi died on a journey through the realm. Then the prime minister decided to place Hu Hai on the throne. Hu Hai was the weak second son of Shi Huandi. Due to the weakness of Hu Hai, the oppressed people of China grew bolder and soon began to revolt. Through a series of uprisings and rebel alliances, Qin authority was overthrown in the year 206 BCE in the capital of Xianyang.
The Mandate of Heaven (Tianming), also known as Heaven’s Mandate, was the divine source of authority and the right to rule of China’s early kings and emperors. The ancient god or divine force known as Heaven or Sky had selected this particular individual to rule on its behalf on earth. An important element of the mandate was that although the ruler had been given great power he also had a moral obligation to use it for the good of his people, if he did not then his state would suffer terrible disasters and he would lose the right to govern. “When the Qin state emerged victorious from the Warring States period in 221 BCE, the state’s leader, King Zheng, claimed the Mandate of Heaven and established the Qin Dynasty.” (Lumen – Boundless World History) In this quote, I explain how the Qin dynasty took control of the Mandate of heaven because the Zhou started doing bad things that angered the gods. So, the Qin claimed the Mandate of Heaven and ruled China. The same thing happened with the Qin dynasty, because they angered the people, so they rebelled and took control of China by starting the Han Dynasty.
Even though the Qin Dynasty Didn’t last as long as all the other Dynasties, they did influence how China was going to be ruled for the next 2000 years. They claimed the Mandate of Heaven by overthrowing the Zhou. They unified China under one rule and became China’s first empire. They came up with legalism, which was used back in the Qin Dynasty period all the way to Communist China. They Started the Great Wall of China which was later completed to protect them invaders from the north and now turned into one of the most visited tourist location in the whole wide world. But soon after, they angered the people and were overthrown by the Han and lost the Mandate of Heaven, but they sure were an influential dynasty.