1. NAME: NANCY KWELAGOBE
STUDENT ID: 201102635
PROGRAMME: BAH 230
COURSETITLE: CHN 103
COURSECODE: INTRODUCTIONTO CHINA
LECTURER: MS C. MOGAE
QUESTION3
DISCUSS THE ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE QIN AND THE HAN DYNASTIES,
AND HOW SUCH CONTRIBUTED TO THE BUILDING OF A COHENSIVE CHINA.

2. INTRODUCTION
THE QIN DYNASTY (221-206BC)
The Qin dynasty refers to the first Dynasty of China’s Imperial period. The very first change
carried out by the Qin Dynasty was to create a new title and model for the ruler, unlike the past
dynasties who named their rulers “kings” the ruler of Qin Dynasty was called the
“Emperor”.The first Emperor of the Qin dynasty was Shi Huang Di, (246-210BC), conquered the
six states of Han, Zhao, Chu Yan and Qi.
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS
Shi Huang Di put an end to the independent, disunited feudal states which had existed for over
800 years and founded the first centralized, autocratic feudal empire in Chinese history in 221
B.C .The existence of this empire was a historic victory for the new landlord class. During the
Warring States period this class had obtained the right to own land and had gradually secured
control of the principal branches of the social economy. It now demanded an end to the
division of the country by the nobles and sought to establish a centralized government under its
own domination.
Emperor Shi Huang Di adopted a new system of prefectures and counties to replace the old
system of feudal fiefs. He replaced the system of ownership of land by the nobles and replaced
it by one of the free trade in land. His contributions towards unifying the country and removing
local differences and peculiarities include standardization of weights and measures,the length
of the axles of carts, type of dress and the calendar and the initiation of a single currency
,nationally enforced laws and a unitary script. All the walls and fortifications and barriers
between the former states were demolished. Xianyang, in Shaanxi the capital became the
metropolitan Centre and a network of broad highways linked in the whole country. Water-
borne traffic extended as far as present day Guangdong Province*. Many large commercial
cities came into being,the improved communication system enabling merchants and traders to
travel freely between them. (Roberts, 1999)
In order to consolidate his new regime Shi Huang Di had all the arms and weapons held by
people collected and destroyed. He banished some of the former nobles and wealthy gentry of
the six conquered states to frontier regions, and forced others to reside in the capital Xianyang
near the present day Xian. He sought to stamp out there old aristocratic culture and ideas. In
213 B.C there was a public burning of books in which an enormous number of books were
consigned to flame, only books on medicine, pharmacy, astronomy and agronomy were exempt
from this destruction. Scholars and students who were hostile to the new regime and who
denounced the present and praised the past were buried alive in groups.

3. Shi Huang Di and his successor, the second Emperor (reigned 209- 207 B.C) both exploited the
labour power of the people without scruples. They collected as much as two-thirds of the
harvested crops as the land rent and as a result, large tracts of land belonging to the peasants
fall into the hands of the landlords and the merchants. An additional 700,000 men were used to
build palaces and equal number to erect Shi Huang Di’s mausoleum, and myriads more were
conscripted to build roads. As a result taxation and enforced labour service became so onerous
that the peasants had no time to till their fields and their women folks had no time for spinning
or weaving. It was literally impossible for the peasants to survive under such burdens. The
inevitable happened, In 209 B.C the peasants led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rose in revolt.
Armed only with hoes and clubs the destroyed the role of the Qin Dynasty.1 In 230 Qin started
the series of campaigns which led to the unification of China. In 221 B.C the king of Qin
assumed the title of Qin Shi Huangdi. It was suggested to him that the newly acquired
territories should be distributed to a feudal nobility, but in an outspoken memorial Li Si (Li Si
was a practical politician who had studied under Xunzi). Instead the Empire was divided in 36
commanderies and prefectures under officials appointed by central government
MILITARY
The Emperor and Li Si’s distrust of those who served them was apparent in the arrangement in
which military and civil authority was separated and a third supervisory official was appointed
to each commandery, thus initiating a pattern of control through division of authority which
was to survive through the Imperial period. State control of the people enhanced Qin’s military
power. The state exalted its administrators and its farmers (who were potential soldiers) and
downgraded merchants and artisans. Against other states Qin’s defensible position on the west
in the area of today’s Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces and also in Sichuan, its first content, was
strengthened economically by building canals and irrigation networks.
In the warfare, horse chariots of antiquity had now been supplanted by cavalry and massed
infantry armed with bronze or iron weapons and especially the crossbow.300,000 men to were
forced build the great wall and dispatched 500,000 to garrison Lingnan (Guangdong), which
were defensive walls.
WRITING
The architectural assertions of the Emperor were accompanied by institutional programs that
aimed to centralise and unify all aspect of the Chinese life. The most important lay in the
intellectual sphere. Whereas each of the warring states had its own writing system, the Qin
government created a new, simplified non-alphabetic scripts be used throughout the empire.
Writting was standardised and unified under two forms, the so- called small seal (actually
rather complex-looking) script, used for inscriptions on stone and formal engravings, and a
more cursive and simple clerical script used for everyday business and I was essential for

4. Imperial record keeping. The latter won out when it was written lay a brush on bamboo slips or
the strips of silk and then on paper (which was developed gradually during the first century
AD).(Fairbank, 1991)
It was progated across the empire through public display of graphs on stone inscriptions,on
objects manufactured in government workshops, and in official documents. The result was a
graphic koine- a language shared by diverse peoples without being the first language of any of
them. It allowed communication between people who would not have been able to
communicate orally because they would have interpreted the graphs differently. The
development of a pan-imperial writing system led to the foundation of an imperial academy
intended to control the dissemination of texts and the interpretation of their meanings.
Above is a picture of the Qin writtings.

6. THE HAN DYNASTY
The Han dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE) follows the short-lived Qin and rules China for 300 years. The
Han greatly expands the Chinese empire. The map above shows the location of the Han. The
Han expanded its boards to include is now known as Tibet, North Korea and northern
Vietnam.(Weebly, 2014)
The Han dynasty retains the centralized bureaucracy and unified political system of the Qin but
adopts and grafts upon this the Confucian view that government should be run by educated,
ethical men.It was a dynasty that epitomized accomplishments that have impacted the world. It
was an era that the dynasties that followed tried to emulate it. The Han Dynasty brought China
to new heights, politically, socially and militarily.
ECONOMICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Economically, the Han dynasty regained its foothold despite a decline that occurred during the
Qin dynasty, it overlapped over the early Han period. The creation of irrigation and water
conservation projects made this possible. Improvements in the making of farming tools
contributed greatly to the increase in agricultural revenues which helped boost the Han

7. economy. Other programs were commissioned to enable increased farming efficiency.Iron and
Bronze metallurgy also became an important achievement during the Han Dynasty. The Central
Asians used iron metallurgy to create strong weapons and agricultural tools, as opposed to the
wooden tools they used before.(Lewis, 2007)
According to (Fairbank, 1991), all urban trading was in the government markets where officials
set commodity prices and collected taxes that went directly into the court treasury. The
registered shop merchants in the cities were actively discriminated against; they were not
allowed to own land, become officials, or enjoy a fine lifestyle.
THE SILK ROAD
It was during the Han period that contact with the West through the Silk Road was first
established. Chinese borders were expanded to include Vietnam and North Korea, making the
Han dynasty the largest empire to date. The world of arts, science and literature saw a rise in
popularity as advances in technology were made. One of its greatest achievements was the
invention of paper, leading to an increase in the already vast amount of literature produced
during this era. Sima Qian’s detailed account included events and people that shaped the great
achievements during the Han Dynasty. Formal education was based on this school of thought.
One of the most prominent achievements of the Han Dynasty, created by Liu Bang, was the Silk
Road, which stretched from Central Asia (present-day China) to the Greek empire which was
farther East, however, the Silk Road also branched out to places like the location of the Indian
empire. The Silk Road eventually caused to the downfall of the Roman and Asian empires
because disease was spread by the roads.They mostly traveled by boat across the many ancient
Chinese rivers, such as the Huang Jang and the Xi Jang. Also, the Yellow River was a main way of
transporting goods. The biggest route for trade was the Silk Road, which expanded from China
all the way to Ancient Rome and Egypt. For the Silk Road, they would either travel by foot, cart,
carriage, or chariot.
RELIGION
Another achievement of the Han dynasty were developments in religion. Confucianism was the
main philosophical way of thinking, but Buddhism, which lost its popularity in India, was
brought to Central Asia by merchants travelling along the Silk Road. The Central Asians liked
Buddhism because it didn't recognize the Caste system(social classes such as Emperor -> Elites
-> Merchants -> Peasants ... etc.), and most of the Central Asian peoples were lowly merchants
or peasants. More importantly, the Han dynasty established the social and moral basis of
Chinese society for years to come by making Confucianism the official state ideology.(Twitchett
& Loewe, 1986)
. All of these achievements are only a few of the important contributions of this era. The Han
dynasty was able to find ways to improve their economy, promote art, science and literature to

8. a new level. All this has took place during the Han dynasty, a period of advancement and
organization. By the end of its rule, the Han achieved amongst others;
- developed a sundial
- developed acupuncture
- invented the seismograph
- Cast iron technology
- glazed pottery
- Wheelbarrow
- Embroidery for decorating garments
- Hot air balloon
- made decorated mirrors, lamps, and burners
- installed a state academy to educate and train individuals for state service
CONCLUSION
According to(Lewis M. E., 2007), When the Qin collapsed after two decades, it was succeeded,
after several years of civil wars, by the Han dynasty. Since the Qin had been the first state to
impose its rule on the whole Chinese world, it remained the unique model of how an empire
should be administered. The Han thus inherited many Qin practices. However the long term
survival of the Han depended on alteration, usually groping and gradual, of these Qin practices,
and the adoptation, often unwilling of new modes of control.Taken together the Qin and Han
empires constitutes the classical era of Chinese civilization.

9. Bibliography
Fairbank,J.k. (1991). China. London,Massachusetts,England:HarvardUniversityPress.
Lewis,M. (2007). The Early ChineseEmpire. London,England:Harvard UniversityPress.
Lewis,M. E. (2007). The Early Chinese Empire. London,England:Harvard UniversityPress.
Roberts,J.(1999). A concisehistory of China. London,England:HarvardUniversityPress.
Twitchett,D.,& Loewe,M. (1986). The Ch'in and Han Empires. New York,England:Cambridge University
Press.
Weebly. (2014). RetrievedfromAncientChinaDynasties:
http://ancientchinesedynasties.weebly.com/the-han-dynasty.html