China, up until the Qin Dynasty, consisted of independent states controlled by kings fighting each other for land and power. This time period was called The Era of Warring States, which lasted two hundred years. After this time, the Qin Dynasty rose to power. They conquered all other dynasties, and established a centralized government, unifying China for the first time. The dynasty that succeeded the Qin, the Han, continued the centralized government and they started a westward expansion that would encourage trade and cultural diffusion.
The Qin society also emphasized the loyalty to the ruler. In summary, living under the Qin dynasty decreased the chance of being harmed by the invaders and because the government is so imposing, it would be the same with the safety from fellow citizens. The disadvantage of this kind of governance is that some officers were afraid to report the failures of their respective areas in a fear of the punishment. This is one of the reasons behind the fall of the Qin dynasty. The supposedly great dynasty that could last for thousands of years fell just four years after the emperor (Shi Huangdi) died.
Confucianism became popular during the Zhou and the rulers expected their citizens to follow the rules and values accordingly. Confucianism was unusual because it was the belief that emperors were above all, scholars were second, then farmers, merchants, and lastly slaves and women. This is different from the typical social structure that started with emperors first as well, but followed with merchants then scholars and farmers and again, slaves last. This unique social hierarchy could have been another contributing factor to the length of the Zhou
The changes made by Qin Shi Huang are what made him successfully unify China. Qin Shi Huang made many changes to how he wanted to rule China, however, some of the most important and famed revisions were his different methods of managing his land. Distribution of lands during previous dynasties, like the Zhou dynasty(1046 BCE-256 BCE) (Britannica, Zhou dynasty, 2016, 2018), was too lax compared to the Qin; because they allowed pre-existing rulers to maintain their land. “Zhou kings sent members of their family to set up fortresses and rule new territories in the conquered lands. They also made local rulers into feudal lords who ruled for them.
1. Before the rise of the Han Empire, the Qin was empire was the ruling state. The Qin Empire was ruled by Shi Huang Di rigidly. He forced people into different constructions like The Great Wall of China and assassinated those who opposed him (Smith et.al, 191). The Qin Empire lasted 221 B.C.E -210 B.C.E.
While Legalism shaped the empires that endorsed it in becoming a powerful central state centered on law, and created a sense of fidelity to laws rather than to morals in the society through famous political reforms like Lord Shang 's Reform, and rejected the competing ideology of Rujia, Confucianism influenced the empire with an emphasis on humanism, morality, and societal order, leading the empire to become less centralized and the society to become centered on Confucianism-learning. Contrary to these two ideologies, Buddhism during the Tang Dynasty gained its popularity as a religion for the people to guide them on thoughts over the afterlife as well as guidance on filial
Emperor Tang Gao Zu, also known as Li Yuan, was a successful leader. He was the first ruler from the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Emperor Tang was very effective with the choices he decided to make for the military and taxation systems that later on paved the way for the oncoming emperors. It will be argued that Tang Gao Zu was a successful leader because he was a the one who established the Tang Dynasty The next reason why Emperor Tang was a successful leader was because he re-established a powerful military. The most significant is that he re-established a stable taxation system.
For instance, the Gupta administration was a monarchy which offered the most remarkable public services. For this system, they had selected a few people from the highest class in their society to form a number of administrative units who come up with the laws. The administrators would discuss issues that affected the citizens and leave it to the King (Mookerji, 95). On the other hand, unlike the Gupta, Han China’s emperor set a curriculum which was taught at special rich schools and even to some other few poor schools and to talented men who wished to become bureaucrats in the future. The people of China had little or even nothing to say about the laws carried out by the bureaucrats.
Especially in his time, when nothing like China had ever been created before, his unification and reformation of China into a lasting country is inspiring. Qin is sometimes credited “with establishing the world’s first truly centralized bureaucratic empire” (Gracie). Furthermore, his format of a centralized bureaucratic empire would be the basis for many other empires and countries that would
The political and governmental institutions established during this short period prepared the foundation for the growth and prosperity of the succeeding Tang dynasty. Marked by a strong and great rule, successful diplomatic