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| Chinese
History |
Imperial
China - Qin
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Qin (221 to 206
BC)
The Qin Empire is regarded as being the first Chinese
Empire, and throughout this short time of war, modern
China came into being
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang is responsible for uniting China under
one flag and leader. He is regarded as the first Emperor
of all China, and to Chinese, he is a far more important
world figure than Julius Caesar. He warred against
6 other notable kingdoms and won control and Sovereignty.
Below is a map of his lands (Kindly reproduced from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Dynasty )
Foreigners from all over the world would naturally
pronounce ‘Qin’ as ‘Chin’.
The intimate form of this word is to add ‘ah’,
therefore they became widely known as the ‘Chin-ah’
people = China.
What can lead to confusion, is that Qin Shi Huang
created the title of Emperor ( ).
This would not be a problem were it not for coincidence
(?) that when spoken, this name sounds like Huang
Di. This is the name of The Yellow Emperor of course
( )
. Huang means 'Yellow' and has the character  .
However, this‘huang’ character is different,
and means "sovereign" (huang  )
and "god-king" (di  )
= Emperor
You should consider that he gave China its Birthright
by consolidating various disparate factions, and creating
what would later evolve into Modern China –
and a governmental hierarchy system (Empire) that
would not be broken for 2, 166 years
His reign was brief and it is recorded he died from
madness induced by Mercury poisoning, a supposed cure
for ailments at that time. But his legacy is still
lives-on in the daily lives of all Chinese peoples
today. China only exists because of this person
This Empire was centred on the Yellow River and Yangtze
River, but included places like modern Shanghai, Hangzhou,
Beijing, and even Guangzhou (Canton [Nanhai {Modern
Foshan}]) far away to the south
What is remarkable is what Qin Shi Huang achieved:
Factfile:
• Repelled (But did not defeat) the Northern Xiongnu
Tribes, the forefathers of The Huns that later terrorised
Eastern and Central Europe for many centuries
• They in turn were being pressurised by what
we would today regard as the forefathers of The Mongols.
The Xiongnu went West, the Mongols went South
• Built the first versions of the Great Wall
of China (To keep out the Xiongnu)
• Built a canal to link the Yangtze and Yellow
River’s
• Created the first National road system in
China
• His self-inspired mausoleum is now the home
of the unearthed Terracotta Warriors (Xi’an)
• He was probably driven quite ‘mad’
by his daily ingestion of Mercury
• In latter years he had Confucius buried alive,
instigated a policy of book-burning, and had most
Confucians also buried alive.
• The Qin Dynasty left a legacy of a centralized
and bureaucratic state that would be carried onto
successive dynasties.
• At the height of its power, the Qin Dynasty
had a population of about 40 million people, Circa 210
BC
• He standardised the width of axles on carts,
thus making trade easy in all parts of the Empire
• The influence of Qin spread into Korea and
Vietnam, but they never became under direct political
control. Similarly, the Qin control of a small trading
port in the far distant South called Nanhai (Modern
Foshan), can be viewed better as an alliance, not
a conquest. Refer to ‘Yue’ history for
this
Note:
• The first Chinese Empire is called ‘Qin’.
The last is called ‘Qing’.
• The forefather of China is called ‘Huang
Di’ (),
and is known as The Yellow Emperor
• Qin Shi Huang is The First Emperor of China,
also often vocalised as ‘Huang Di’ ().
• Huang (Cantonese: Wong), character means
‘Yellow’
• Huang (Cantonese: Wong), character means
‘Sovereign’
Do not confuse these
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This information is as supplied by Wikipedia, as dated
March 2009 or later, and/or other reliable sources.
Maps (Unless stated otherwise) are provided
in association with Thomas Lessman
Web: www.worldhistorymaps.info
Disclaimer:
Please check this information yourself as it may alter
without notice, and whilst we try our best to ensure
it is correct, please do not hold us responsible for
any errors - this is intended as a simple guide only |
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