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108-602: Yiyang county was founded in 221 BC after Qin conquest Chu state . It is designated Yiyang as the county seat was situated at the north bank of the Yi River (modern Zi River). Then the present-day jurisdiction mostly became a part of the Principality of Changsha commandery during the Western Han . Yiyang administers two districts , one county-level city , and three counties . The information here presented uses

216-494: A 200,000 strong army to attack Chu. Wang Jian claimed that he was ill and retired to recuperate at home. The Qin armies scored initial victories as Li Xin's army conquered Pingyu ( 平輿 ; north of present-day Pingyu County , Henan) while Meng Tian's captured Qinqiu ( 寢丘 ; present-day Linquan County , Anhui). After conquering Yan ( 鄢 ; present-day Yanling County, Henan ), Li Xin headed west to rendezvous with Meng Tian at Chengfu ( 城父 ; east of present-day Baofeng County , Henan). On

324-516: A Zhao minister, to sow discord between King Qian of Zhao ( 趙王遷 ) and Li Mu. The king doubted Li Mu's loyalty and ordered Li Mu to hand over his command of the Zhao army to his deputies, Zhao Cong ( 趙蔥 ) and Yan Ju ( 顏聚 ). When Li Mu defied the order, the king became more suspicious of him and ordered his men to take Li Mu by surprise and arrest him. Li Mu was executed in prison later on King Qian's order. In 228 BC, after learning that Li Mu had been replaced,

432-525: A canal to the south, which they used heavily for supplying and reinforcing their troops during their second attack to the south. Building on these gains, the Qin armies conquered the coastal lands surrounding Guangzhou , and took the provinces of Fuzhou and Guilin . They may have struck as far south as Hanoi . After these victories in the south, Qin Shi Huang moved over 100,000 prisoners and exiles to colonise

540-610: A fight. The former Qi territories were reorganized to form the Qi and Langya commanderies. In 221 BC, after the conquest of Qi, Ying Zheng declared himself to be Qin Shi Huang —the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty . The Qin Empire was divided into 36 commanderies, with Xianyang (present-day Xi'an ) as the imperial capital. The emperor's expansionist ambitions did not end with

648-455: A future sage of "benevolence and righteous", which the First Emperor declares himself to be. Regardless, in the Qin and early Han, criminals may be given amnesties, and then only punished if they did it again. While Dong Zhongshu claimed that Qin officials and taxes were harsh, he did't specifically claim that punishments were harsh for their time: in fact he claimed that the Qin failed to punish criminals. Penal law actually develops more in

756-417: A hierarchy of officials, all serving the First Emperor. The Qin put into practice the teachings of Han Fei , allowing the First Emperor to control all of his territories, including those recently conquered. All aspects of life were standardised, from measurements and language to more practical details, such as the length of chariot axles. The states made by the emperor were assigned to officials dedicated to

864-442: A permanent system of ranks and rewards, consisting of twenty ranks based on the number of enemies killed in battle or commanding victorious units. Ranks were not hereditary unless a soldier died heroically in battle, whereby the soldier's rank will be inherited by his family. Each rank was assigned a specified number of dwellings, slaves and land, and ranks could be used to remit judicial punishments. The form of government created by

972-399: A result of their art – Luan Da , a Han dynasty medium, was granted rule over 2,000 households. Han historian Sima Qian was scornful of such practices, dismissing them as foolish trickery. Divinations to predict or influence the future were another form of religious practice during the Qin, including the ancient practice of cracking bones or turtle shells to gain knowledge of

1080-485: A result, men from all over China revolted, attacking officials, raising armies, and declaring themselves kings of seized territories. During this time, Li Si and Zhao Gao fell out, and Li Si was executed. Zhao Gao decided to force Qin Er Shi to commit suicide due to Qin Er Shi's incompetence. Upon this, Ziying , a nephew of Qin Er Shi, ascended the throne, and immediately executed Zhao Gao. Increasing unrest spread amongst

1188-450: A revulsion against the Qin developed over the course of the Han dynasty, centring on Shang Yang and Han Fei as espousing rigorous law and punishment. While Shang Yang, and maybe Han Fei , may have been influential for Qin administration, the Qin otherwise abandoned the harsh penal policy of Shang Yang before its founding. The Qin government was highly bureaucratic , and was administered by

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1296-412: A sacrifice to further blur his senses and increase the likelihood of perceiving otherworldly phenomena. Other participants were similarly prepared, though not as rigorously. Such blurring of the senses was also a factor in the practice of spirit intermediaries, or mediumship . Practitioners of the art would fall into trances or dance to perform supernatural tasks. These people would often rise to power as

1404-547: A series of military campaigns launched in the late 3rd century BC by the state of Qin against the other six powers remaining in China ;– Han , Zhao , Yan , Wei , Chu and Qi . Between 247 and 221 BC, Qin had developed into one of the most powerful of China's Seven Warring States that coalesced in the wake of the Zhou dynasty 's decline, by now retaining a weak and merely ceremonial position among

1512-586: A state in such turmoil could not hold for long. Ziying was defeated near the Wei River in 207, and surrendered shortly after; he was executed by the Chu leader Xiang Yu . The Qin capital was destroyed the next year, and this is considered by historians to be the end of the Qin Empire. Liu Bang then betrayed and defeated Xiang Yu, and on 28 February 202 BC declared himself Emperor Gaozu ("High Progenitor") of

1620-440: A state unified by structured centralised political power and a large military supported by a stable economy. The central government moved to undercut aristocrats and landowners to gain direct administrative control over the peasantry, who comprised the overwhelming majority of the population and labour force. This allowed ambitious projects involving three hundred thousand peasants and convicts: projects such as connecting walls along

1728-400: A surprise attack. Lord Changping's forces followed suit from behind and joined Xiang Yan's army in attacking Li Xin. Most of Li Xin's forces were destroyed in the battle. Upon learning of Li Xin's defeat, Ying Zheng personally visited Wang Jian, who was in retirement, apologised for not heeding Wang Jian's advice earlier, and invited him back to serve in the army. He put Wang Jian in command of

1836-437: A trip to the eastern frontiers in 210 BC, Qin Shi Huang died in an attempt to procure an elixir of immortality from Taoist magicians, who claimed the elixir was stuck on an island guarded by a sea monster. The chief eunuch , Zhao Gao , and the prime minister, Li Si , hid the news of his death upon their return until they were able to alter his will to place on the throne the dead emperor's most pliable son, Huhai, who took

1944-402: A working crossbow. The Qin also used improved methods of transportation and tactics. The state of Zhao had first replaced chariots with cavalry in 307 BC, but the change was swiftly adopted by the other states because cavalry had greater mobility over the terrain of China. The First Emperor developed plans to fortify his northern border, to protect against nomadic invasions. The result

2052-473: Is twinned with: White Deer Temple is a popular attraction. The Former Residence of Zhou Libo is a well known tourist spot. Qin dynasty This is an accepted version of this page The Qin dynasty ( / tʃ ɪ n / ; CHIN ) was the first dynasty of Imperial China . It is named for its progenitor state of Qin , which was a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty that had endured for over five centuries. Beginning in 230 BC,

2160-598: Is "Yiyong-Wa" ( Yiyang Dialect ), which belongs to New Xiang dialect of the Chinese language. This dialect is very prevalent in all of Yiyang. But the western area of Anhua County of Yiyang has a slightly different accent, which is close to the Old Xiang accent of the Loudi District. Yiyang Dialect retains many ancient words and pronunciations and is influenced surprisingly little by Mandarin Chinese. Consequently,

2268-568: Is very famous for its spicy food made from pure chili peppers . Yiyang has many famous people in the modern time of China. Ho Feng-Shan is very famous in the history of Chinese foreign affairs since he had saved many Jewish families in Europe and China when he worked as a diplomat for China during World War II. Libo Zhou is a well-known writer in China, who was born in Yiyang. The language in Yiyang

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2376-557: The Liaodong Peninsula towards the west of Lop Nur to prevent the nomadic tribes from returning again. In the south, a Qin army comprising some 500,000 troops attacked Yue and subjugated the Baiyue peoples who inhabited the areas around present-day Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong. During the battle, another project was announced with the construction of a massive canal from the Qin imperial capital, Xianyang, towards

2484-558: The Liaodong Peninsula . A Qin army led by Li Xin pursued the retreating Yan forces to the Yan River ( 衍水 ; present-day Hun River , Liaoning) and destroyed the bulk of the Yan army. Later, King Xi ordered Crown Prince Dan's execution and sent his son's head to Qin as an "apology" for the assassination attempt. Qin accepted the "apology" and did not attack Yan for the next three years. In 222 BC, Qin forces led by Wang Ben and Li Xin invaded

2592-566: The Mandate of Heaven , as the Zhou kings had claimed, nor that he had the right to offer sacrifices; they left this to the Zhou rulers. Before their conquest in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, the Qin suffered several setbacks. Shang Yang was executed in 338 BC by King Huiwen due to a personal grudge harboured from his youth. There was also internal strife over the Qin succession in 307 BC, which decentralised Qin authority somewhat. Qin

2700-530: The Shangdang region of Han state. The governor of Shangdang refused to surrender and presented it to the King of Zhao. The Qin and Zhao armies were locked in a 2-year siege at Changping , which culminated in a decisive defeat of Zhao by the Qin army. In 257, the Qin army was defeated by the allied force of Zhao, Wei and Chu after failing to capture the Zhao capital at Handan . At the time of King Nan of Zhou ,

2808-525: The Spring and Autumn period ( c.  770  – c.  481 BC ), the prevalent philosophy had dictated war as a gentleman's activity; military commanders were instructed to respect what they perceived to be Heaven's laws in battle. For example, when Duke Xiang of the rival state of Song was at war with the state of Chu during the Warring States period, he declined an opportunity to attack

2916-425: The Wei River canal built in 246 BC was particularly significant in this respect. During the Warring States period preceding the Qin dynasty, the major states vying for dominance were Yan , Zhao , Qi , Chu , Han , Wei and Qin. The rulers of these states styled themselves as kings, rather than using the titles of lower nobility they had previously held. However, none elevated himself to believe that he had

3024-538: The Xiongnu in the north, in order to counter the Qin invasion. However, Crown Prince Dan felt that the alliance strategy was unlikely to succeed, so he sent an assassin, Jing Ke , to assassinate King Ying Zheng of Qin . Jing Ke pretended to be an envoy from Yan to Qin and brought along with him a map of Dukang and the head of Fan Wuji, a former Qin general who had since betrayed them. Jing Ke failed and died in his attempt to kill Ying Zheng. In 226 BC, Ying Zheng used

3132-531: The Xiongnu tribe living in the Ordos region in northwestern China often raided them instead, prompting the Qin to retaliate. After a military campaign led by General Meng Tian , the region was conquered in 215 BC and agriculture was established; the peasants, however, were discontented and later revolted. The succeeding Han dynasty also expanded into the Ordos due to overpopulation, but depleted their resources in

3240-651: The methods of the Mohists and school of names . Confucius 's school of thought, called Ru ( 儒 ), was also influential beginning in the Warring States period, and throughout the imperial periods. Beginning in the subsequent Han dynasty, this school of thought developed a canon of literature thought to represent and preserve the ways of Zhou, called the Six Classics: the Odes , Documents , Ritual , Music , Spring and Autumn Annals , and Changes . Qin law

3348-451: The state of Wei accused the Qin state of being "avaricious, perverse, eager for profit, and without sincerity. It knows nothing about etiquette, proper relationships, and virtuous conduct, and if there be an opportunity for material gain, it will disregard its relatives as if they were animals." This, combined with a strong leadership from long-lived rulers, openness to employ talented men from other states, and little internal opposition gave

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3456-400: The zhu zhu of the musics, Which purifies and refines human feelings. Suddenly the spirits ride off on the darkness And the brilliant event finishes. Purified thoughts grow hidden and still, And the warp and weft of the world fall dark. Book of Han , p. 1046 The dominant religious belief in China during the reign of the Qin, and, in fact, during much of early imperial China,

3564-406: The "Records of Officialdom". A commander named Hu ordered his men to attack peasants in an attempt to increase the number of "bandits" he had killed; his superiors, likely eager to inflate their records as well, allowed this. Qin Shi Huang also improved the strong military, despite the fact that it had already undergone extensive reforms. The military used the most advanced weaponry of the time. It

3672-462: The 13th king in that line. As a reward, Zhuang's son, Duke Xiang, was sent eastward as the leader of a war expedition, during which he formally established the Qin. The state of Qin first began a military expedition into central China in 672 BC, though it did not engage in any serious incursions due to the threat from neighbouring tribesmen. By the dawn of the 4th century BC, the neighbouring tribes had all been either subdued or conquered, and

3780-641: The 600,000 troops he had requested earlier, and assigned Meng Wu to serve as Wang Jian's deputy. Wang Jian knew that Ying Zheng did not fully trust him because he could easily turn against Qin with such a massive army under his command. Thus, in order to reduce the king's suspicions, he frequently sent messengers to maintain contact with the king, and request that the king reward his family after he had conquered Chu for Qin. In 224 BC, Wang Jian's army passed through Chen ( 陳 ; present-day Huaiyang County , Henan) and made camp at Pingyu ( 平輿 ; north of present-day Pingyu County , Henan). The Chu army led by Xiang Yan assaulted

3888-553: The Chu side, the Chu general Xiang Yan ( 項燕 ) had been avoiding using the bulk of the Chu army to resist the Qin invaders while waiting for an opportunity to launch a counterattack. During this time, a Qin noble with ties to the related to the Chu royal family named Lord Changping incited a rebellion in a city previously conquered by Li Xin. Changping also had begun preparing a surprise attack on Li Xin that would follow. The Chu army led by Xiang Yan secretly followed Li Xin's army at high speed for three days and three nights before launching

3996-409: The Han dynasty. The Qin often expelled criminals to the new colonies, or pardoned them in exchange for fines, labour, or one to several aristocratic ranks, even up to the death penalty. While the penal laws would still be considered harsh compared to the modern day, they were not very harsh for their time, and often not actually enacted. Villainising the first Emperor while adopting Qin administration,

4104-557: The King of Dai. In 222 BC, Dai was conquered by the Qin army led by Wang Jian's son, Wang Ben . Prince Jia was taken captive. Han was the weakest of the seven states and had previously been attacked several times by Qin. In 230 BC, the Qin army led by Neishi Teng ( 內史騰 ) moved south, crossed the Yellow River , and conquered Zheng ( 鄭 ; present-day Xinzheng , Henan), the capital of Han, within one year. King An of Han surrendered and Han came under Qin control. The territory of Han

4212-543: The Liaodong Peninsula and destroyed the remnants of Yan forces, and captured King Xi. Former Yan territories were partitioned and reorganized to form the Yuyang , Beiping , Liaoxi and Liaodong commanderies of the Qin Empire. In 225 BC, a 600,000-strong Qin army led by Wang Ben conquered more than ten cities on the northern border of Chu as a precautionary move to guard the flank from Chu attacks while Qin

4320-543: The Qi chancellor , to dissuade the Qi state from helping the other states while they were being attacked by Qin. By 221 BC, Qi was the only state yet to be conquered by Qin. Even though its troops were not well-equipped and morale was low, Qi hurriedly mobilized them to the western border to guard against a Qin invasion. In the same year, Ying Zheng used Qi's rejection of a meeting with a Qin envoy as pretense for an attack. The Qin army led by Li Xin avoided direct confrontation with

4428-417: The Qi forces stationed on their western border, and advanced into the Qi heartland via a southern detour from the former Yan state. The Qin forces encountered little resistance as they passed through Qi territories and eventually showed up at the gates of Linzi (north of present-day Zibo , Shandong), the Qi capital. Caught off guard, Tian Jian heeded Hou Sheng's advice and surrendered to Qin without putting up

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4536-414: The Qin a strong political base. Another advantage of the Qin was that they had a large, efficient army and capable generals. They used the newest developments in weaponry and transportation as well, which many of their enemies lacked. These latter developments allowed greater mobility over several different terrain types which were most common in many regions of China. Thus, in both ideology and practice,

4644-572: The Qin army to attack the Wuyue region (covering present-day Zhejiang and Jiangsu ), which was inhabited by the Baiyue , and captured the descendants of the royal family of the ancient state of Yue . The conquered Wuyue territories became the Qin Empire's Kuaiji Commandery . In 264 BC, Tian Jian became King of Qi . However, as he was too young to rule, his mother, the Queen Dowager, became his regent. The Qin state bribed Hou Sheng ( 後勝 ),

4752-544: The Qin as a monolithic, legalist tyranny, notably citing a purge known as the burning of books and burying of scholars ; however, the earliest account of this event is in Sima Qian 's Shiji ( c.  91 BC ), and some modern scholars dispute its veracity. According to the Shiji ( c.  91 BC ), during the 9th century BC, Feizi , a supposed descendant of the ancient political advisor Gao Yao ,

4860-453: The Qin camp but failed to push back the Qin forces. When the Chu army tried to lure the Qin forces to attack them, Wang Jian ordered his troops to hold their positions and forbid them from attacking the enemy. After some time, Xiang Yan gave up and ordered the Chu army to retreat. Wang Jian then seized the opportunity to order his troops to launch an all-out offensive while the Chu army was retreating, taking them completely by surprise and routing

4968-540: The Qin forces attacked, defeated the Zhao army and conquered Dongyang ( 東陽 ; located east of the Taihang Mountains ). Zhao Cong was killed in action while Yan Ju escaped after his defeat. Seven months later, Qin forces occupied Handan and captured King Qian, bringing an end to Zhao's existence. Prince Jia , King Qian's brother, escaped from Handan and retreated to Dai (around present-day Yu County, Hebei ). With help from some Zhao remnants, he declared himself

5076-401: The Qin forces besieged and captured Langmeng ( 狼孟 ; present-day Yangqu County , Shanxi), and soon afterwards proceeded to attack Fanwu ( 番吾 ; present-day Lingshou County , Hebei), but were once again defeated by the Zhao army led by Li Mu. However, sources claims that after this battle, the Zhao forces also sustained heavy losses and could only retreat to defend Handan and its nearby areas. In

5184-432: The Qin to an end. Some of the victorious rebels claimed to be restoring the former states that had been conquered by Qin, and numerous pretenders to the vacant thrones began to emerge. That same year, while still under occupation by Liu Bang, the city of Xiangyang was attacked and overrun by the forces of Xiang Yu , who was a descendant of the Chu general Xiang Yan. Xiang and Liu proceeded to struggle for control over China in

5292-427: The Qin to attempt to conquer the other states. The Qin were swift in their assault on the other states. They first attacked the Han, directly east, and took thir capital city of Xinzheng in 230 BC. They then struck northward; the state of Zhao surrendered in 228 BC, and the northernmost state of Yan followed, falling in 226. Next, Qin armies launched assaults to the east, and later the south as well; they took

5400-409: The Qin under King Ying Zheng engaged in a series of wars conquering each of the rival states that had previously pledged fealty to the Zhou. This culminated in 221 BC with the successful unification of China under Qin, which then assumed an imperial prerogative—with Ying Zheng declaring himself to be Qin Shi Huang , the first emperor of China . This state of affairs lasted until 206 BC, when

5508-719: The Qin were militarily superior. Finally, Qin possessed geographical advantages, with the fertility and strategic position of its territory protected by mountains making the state a natural stronghold. This was the heart of the Guanzhong region, as opposed to the Yangtze drainage basin, known as Guandong. The warlike nature of the Qin in Guanzhong inspired a Han dynasty adage: "Guanzhong produces generals, while Guandong produces ministers." Its expanded agricultural output helped sustain Qin's large army with food and natural resources;

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5616-537: The Wei city of Daliang (now called Kaifeng) in 225 and forced Chu to surrender by 223. Lastly, they deposed the Zhou dynasty's remnants in Luoyang and conquered Qi, taking the city of Linzi in 221 BC. Upon the completion of Qin's conquests in 221 BC, King Zheng  – who had first assumed the throne of the Qin state at age 9  – became the effective ruler of China. The subjugation of

5724-463: The Xirong state of Yiqu . After the last horizontal alliance to punish Qi ended in 284, Qin fought multiple wars against the northern state of Zhao in 283, 269, and 265 BC. In 269 BC, Fan Sui became chief advisor to Qin. He advocated authoritarian reforms, irrevocable expansion and an alliance with distant states to attack nearby states. In 265, King Zhaoxiang of Qin made the first move by attacking

5832-557: The Yiyang Dialect is very hard to understand for outsiders, although its speakers can communicate well with the speakers of other New Xiang dialects. Historically, Buddhism and Taoism both played very important roles in the life of Yiyang people. In modern times, both of these religions experienced a decline, as in many other places in China. But nowadays, however, Buddhism and Christianity have many adherents in Yiyang, respectively 340,500 and 238,100 registered members. Yiyang

5940-490: The Yue state. It was a major key to victory for the Qin conquest of the southern kingdom, and the Yue state became a vassal of the Qin Empire for over a decade. After these two victorious battles, Qin Shi Huang was able to create a centralized empire that would become the bedrock of future Chinese dynasties. Although the Qin dynasty lasted only 15 years, its influence on Chinese history lasted for centuries to come. In 209 BC, during

6048-526: The Zhou dynasty to an end more than eight centuries after their overthrow of the Shang . In 238 BC, King Ying Zheng of Qin took the reins of power after eliminating his political rivals in Lü Buwei and Lao Ai . With help from Li Si , Wei Liao , and others, Ying Zheng formulated a plan for conquering the other six major states and unifying China. The plan, which focused on annexing each state individually,

6156-481: The assassination attempt as a casus belli to order Wang Jian and Meng Wu to lead the Qin army to attack Yan. The Qin forces defeated the Yan army and Yan's reinforcements from Dai in battle on the eastern bank of the Yi River ( 易水 ; in present-day Yi County, Hebei ) and pressed on to conquer Ji ( 薊 ; present-day Beijing ), the Yan capital. King Xi of Yan, Crown Prince Dan and the surviving Yan forces retreated to

6264-436: The attack on Handan, meanwhile Qin general Li Xin led two forces from Taiyuan and Yunzhong to attack Dai County in the north. On the Zhao side, Li Mu and Sima Shang ( 司馬尚 ) were put in command of the Zhao army. Li Mu ordered his troops to build defensive structures and avoid direct confrontation with the enemy. The Qin forces were unable to advance further and both sides reached a stalemate. The Qin state bribed Guo Kai ( 郭開 ),

6372-573: The city walls. The Wei troops used the opportunity to strengthen their fortifications and defenses. Wang Ben came up with the idea of directing the waters from the Yellow River and the Hong Canal to flood Daliang. His troops labored for three months to redirect the water flow while maintaining the siege on Daliang, and succeeded in their plan. Daliang was heavily flooded and over 100,000 people died, including civilians. King Jia of Wei ( 魏王假 ) surrendered and Wei came under Qin control. Qin established

6480-486: The commanderies of Dang and Sishui in the former Wei territories. In 226 BC, Qin forces led by Wang Ben attacked Chu and conquered 10 Chu cities. Two years later, King Ying Zheng of Qin , called for a meeting with his subjects to discuss the Qin invasion of Chu. Wang Jian felt that they needed at least 600,000 troops for the campaign, while Li Xin claimed that 200,000 men would suffice. Ying Zheng dismissed Wang Jian's idea and ordered Li Xin and Meng Tian to lead

6588-530: The common enemies of Qin against one another. In 316 BC, Qin expanded south towards the Sichuan Basin by conquering the states of Ba and Shu . In 278, the Qin under general Bai Qi attacked Chu from land they had recently conquered land in what is now Sichuan. The Chu capitals of Ying and Chen ( 陳 ) were captured, and all of Chu's possessions west of the Han River were lost. In 272, Qin conquered

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6696-401: The dead journeyed and stayed in the other realm, and to receive blessings from the spirit realm. Religious practices were usually held in local shrines and sacred areas, which contained sacrificial altars. During a sacrifice or other ritual, the senses of all participants and witnesses would be dulled and blurred with smoke, incense, and music. The lead sacrificer would fast and meditate before

6804-507: The different districts. Versatility in federal structures was emphasised, to create a sense of authority and absolute power. Architectural elements such as high towers, pillar gates, terraces, and high buildings amply conveyed this. The written language of the Qin was logographic , as that of the Zhou had been. It was more conservative of earlier graphic forms than more evolved local scripts in other regions. As one of his most influential achievements in life, prime minister Li Si standardised

6912-508: The dynasty collapsed in the years following Qin Shi Huang's death. Qin was a minor power for the early centuries of its existence. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring States period . In the mid- and late 3rd century BC, the Qin state carried out a series of swift conquests, destroying the powerless Zhou dynasty and eventually conquering

7020-402: The early period as the source of the name. Qin Shi Huang was the first Chinese sovereign to proclaim himself "Emperor", after unifying China in 221 BC. That year is therefore generally taken by historians to be the start of the "Qin dynasty" which lasted for 14 years until 207, when it was cut short by civil wars. Qin%27s wars of unification Qin's wars of unification were

7128-484: The enemy force, commanded by Zhu, while they were crossing a river. After allowing them to cross and marshal their forces, he was decisively defeated in the ensuing battle. When his advisors later admonished him for such excessive courtesy to the enemy, he retorted, "The sage does not crush the feeble, nor give the order for attack until the enemy have formed their ranks." The Qin disregarded this military tradition, taking advantage of their enemy's weaknesses. A nobleman in

7236-422: The enemy. The Qin forces pursued the retreating Chu forces to Qinan ( 蕲南 ; northwest of present-day Qichun County , Hubei) and defeated them. Xiang Yan was killed in action. In 223 BC, Qin forces conquered Shouchun ( 壽春 ; present-day Shou County , Anhui), the Chu capital. Lord Changping , the King of Chu, was killed by Meng Wu and Chu was completely subjugated by Qin. The following year, Wang Jian and Meng Wu led

7344-454: The first emperor and his advisors was used by later dynasties to structure their own government. Under this system, both the military and government thrived, as talented individuals could be more easily identified in the transformed society. Later Chinese dynasties emulated the Qin government for its efficiency, despite its being condemned by Confucian philosophy. There were instances of abuse, however, with one example having been recorded in

7452-680: The first sovereign over a unified China under the imperial Qin dynasty . Over the course of the Warring States period , and especially following Shang Yang 's administrative reforms during the mid-4th century BC, the state of Qin had grown to become the most powerful of the Seven Warring States that remained in China. The others repeatedly adopted a policy of "vertical alliance" ( 合縱 ; hézòng ) where they all joined in as allies against Qin. However, Qin sometimes maneuvered itself into alliances of its own among these states, forging "horizontal alliances" ( 連橫 ; liánhéng ) that pitted

7560-480: The following two years, Zhao was struck by two natural disasters — an earthquake and a severe famine. In 229 BC, Qin took advantage of the situation to launch a pincer attack from the north and south on Handan, the Zhao capital. Three Qin armies embarked from Shangdi ( 上地 ; present-day Shaanxi), Jingxing ( 井陉 ; present-day Jingxing County , Hebei) and Henei (present-day Xinxiang , Henan), respectively led by Wang Jian, Qiang Lei/Hui ( 羌瘣 ) and Yang Duan He, to coordinate

7668-557: The future. The forms of divination which sprang up during early imperial China were diverse, though observing natural phenomena was a common method. Comets, eclipses, and droughts were considered omens of things to come. The name Qin is believed to be the origin of the modern name for the country in many European languages, China . The word probably made its way into the Indo-Aryan languages first as Cina or Sina , and then into Greek and Latin as Sinai or Thinai . It

7776-520: The kings of Zhou dynasty had lost almost all political and military power, their remaining crown land was split into two states: West Zhou, centered in Wangcheng , and East Zhou, centered at Chengzhou . Qin forces conquered West Zhou in 256 BC, claiming the Nine Cauldrons and thereby symbolically becoming The Son of Heaven. In 249, the new Qin king Zhuangxiang conquered East Zhou, bringing

7884-423: The majority (500,000 men) of his army south to conquer the territory of the southern tribes . Prior to the events leading to Qin dominance over China, they had gained possession of much of Sichuan to the southwest. The Qin army was unfamiliar with the jungle terrain, and it was defeated by the southern tribes' guerrilla warfare tactics with over 100,000 men lost. However, in the defeat Qin was successful in building

7992-400: The metric system and data from 2010 national census. Yiyang has many hilly farmlands in its vicinity. The primary crop around Yiyang is rice , with tea , and bamboo is also grown. The current CPC Party Secretary of Yiyang is Qu Hai and the current mayor is Zhang Zhiheng. Huaguxi , the local Hunanese opera is very popular in Yiyang. The cuisine of Yiyang (a species of Xiang cuisine )

8100-489: The most recent weaponry, transportation and tactics, though the government was heavy-handed and bureaucratic. Qin created a system of administering people and land that greatly increased the power of the government to transform environment, and it has been argued that the subsequent impact of this system on East Asia's environments makes the rise of Qin an important event in China's environmental history. When Qin Shi Huang died in 210 BC, two of his advisors placed an heir on

8208-429: The name of Qin Er Shi . They believed that they would be able to manipulate him to their own ends, and thus effectively control the empire. Qin Er Shi was, indeed, inept and pliable. He executed many ministers and imperial princes, continued massive building projects (one of his most extravagant projects was lacquering the city walls), enlarged the army, increased taxes, and arrested messengers who brought him bad news. As

8316-441: The new Han dynasty . Despite the short duration of the Qin, it was very influential on the structure of future dynasties. The Qin aristocracy were largely similar to the Zhou in culture and daily life, with regional variation generally considered a symbol of the lower classes – and ultimately as contrary to the unification that the government strove to achieve. Commoners and rural villagers, who made up over 90% of

8424-428: The new name "Shi Huangdi", meaning 'First Emperor'. The newly declared emperor ordered all weapons not in the possession of the Qin to be confiscated and melted down. The resulting metal was sufficient to build twelve large ornamental statues at the Qin's newly declared capital at Xianyang . In 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang secured his boundaries to the north with a fraction of his large army (roughly 100,000 men) and sent

8532-477: The newly conquered area. In terms of extending the boundaries of his empire, the First Emperor was extremely successful in the south. However, while the empire at times was extended to the north, the Qin could rarely hold on to the land for long. The tribes of these locations, collectively called the Hu by the Qin, were free from Chinese rule during the majority of the dynasty. Prohibited from trading with Qin peasants,

8640-555: The northern border, eventually developing into the Great Wall of China , and a massive new national road system, as well as the city-sized Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor guarded by the life-sized Terracotta Army . The Qin introduced a range of reforms such as standardised currency, weights, measures and a uniform system of writing, which aimed to unify the state and promote commerce. Additionally, its military used

8748-509: The other six of the Seven Warring States . Qin's 15-year existence was the shortest major dynasty in Chinese history, with only two emperors. However, the legacy of Qin strategies in military and administrative affairs shaped the consummate Han dynasty that followed, ultimately becoming seen as the originator of an imperial system that ultimately lasted in various forms until the Xinhai Revolution in 1911. The Qin sought to create

8856-418: The people, largely caused by regional differences which survived despite Qin's attempt to impose uniformity, and many local officials had declared themselves kings. Given this climate, Ziying attempted to cling to his throne by declaring himself one king among all the others. He was undermined by his ineptitude, and popular revolt broke out in 209 BC. When Chu rebels under the lieutenant Liu Bang attacked,

8964-444: The population, very rarely left the villages or farmsteads where they were born. Forms of employment differed by region, though farming was almost universally common. Professions were hereditary; a father's employment was passed to his eldest son after he died. The Lüshi Chunqiu gave examples of how, when commoners are obsessed with material wealth, instead of the idealism of a man who "makes things serve him", they were "reduced to

9072-402: The process. Indeed, this was true of the dynasty's borders in multiple directions; modern Xinjiang , Tibet, Manchuria , Inner Mongolia, and regions to the southeast were foreign to the Qin, and even areas over which they had military control were culturally distinct. Three assassination attempts were made on Qin Shi Huang, leading him to become paranoid and obsessed with immortality. While on

9180-447: The reign of Qin Er Shi , Chen Sheng and Wu Guang staged an uprising to overthrow the Qin dynasty due to the Qin government's brutal and oppressive policies. Although the revolt was crushed by Qin imperial forces, several other rebellions erupted throughout the Qin Empire over the next three years. Ziying of Qin would be the third and final Qin emperor; he surrendered to a rebel force led into Xianyang by Liu Bang in 206, bringing

9288-468: The service of things". Peasants were rarely figured in literature during the Qin dynasty and afterwards; scholars and others of more elite status preferred the excitement of cities and the lure of politics. One notable exception to this was Shen Nong , the so-called "Divine Father", who taught that households should grow their own food. "If in one's prime he does not plow, someone in the world will grow hungry. If in one's prime she does not weave, someone in

9396-419: The six states was done by King Zheng who had used efficient persuasion and exemplary strategy. He solidified his position as sole ruler with the abdication of his prime minister, Lü Buwei . The states made by the emperor were assigned to officials dedicated to the task rather than place the burden on people from the royal family. He then combined the titles of the earlier Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors into

9504-459: The stage was set for the rise of Qin expansionism. During the Warring States period ( c.  475  – 221 BC), the Qin statesman Shang Yang introduced a series of advantageous military reforms between 361 BC and his death in 338 BC. Yang also helped to construct the Qin capital at Xianyang , a city that ultimately resembled the capitals of the other states. Qin engaged in practical and ruthless warfare. During

9612-461: The task rather than placing the burden on people from the royal family. Zheng and his advisors also introduced new laws and practices that ended aristocratic rule in China, fully replacing it with a centralised, bureaucratic government. A supervisory system, the Censorate was introduced to monitor and check the powers of administrators and officials at each level of government. The Qin instituted

9720-405: The throne in an attempt to influence and control the administration of the dynasty. These advisors squabbled among themselves, resulting in both of their deaths and that of the second Qin emperor. Popular revolt broke out and the weakened empire soon fell to Chu general Xiang Yu , who was proclaimed Hegemon-King of Western Chu, and Liu Bang , who founded the Han dynasty. Han Confucians portrayed

9828-457: The unification of China. In 215, he ordered Meng Tian to lead more than 300,000 troops to march towards the steppe to drive away the Xiongnu, who had been encroaching territory throughout the Warring States period . Following a major victory against the Xiongnu under Touman , Qin forces reinforced and built a fortification, which became the Great Wall of China , stretching across the east from

9936-481: The warring states. In 230 BC, King Ying Zheng of Qin began the sequence of campaigns that would bring the Warring States period to a close, setting out to conquer each remaining sovereign one by one. This was completed in 221 BC with the fall of Qi, leaving the former Zhou sphere unified under a more centralized Qin control. Ying Zheng declared himself the First Emperor , or Qin Shi Huang —becoming

10044-458: The world will be cold." The Qin encouraged this; a ritual was performed once every few years that consisted of important government officials taking turns with the plough on a special field, to create a simulation of government interest and activity within agriculture. Warring States-era architecture had several definitive aspects. City walls, used for defence, were made longer, and indeed several secondary walls were also sometimes built to separate

10152-662: The writing system to be of uniform size and shape across the whole country. This would have a unifying effect on the Chinese culture for thousands of years. He is also credited with creating the small seal script style, which serves as a basis for modern Chinese and is still used in cards, posters, and advertising. During the Warring States period, the Hundred Schools of Thought comprised many different philosophies proposed by Chinese scholars. These largely lacked coherence until much later taxonomy imposed by Han dynasty librarians. Contemporary institutions descended in part from

10260-426: Was attacking Yan, Qin used the opportunity to send two separate forces to invade Zhao. The Qin army led by Wang Jian conquered the Zhao territories of Eyu ( 閼與 ; present-day Heshun County , Shanxi) and Liaoyang ( 撩陽 ; present-day Zuoquan County , Shanxi), while the other Qin army under the command of Huan Yi , Qiang Lei and Yang Duanhe ( 楊端和 ) captured Ye and Anyang . Zhao lost nine cities and its military prowess

10368-546: Was based on " allying with distant states and attacking nearby ones ", one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems . Its key steps were to ally with Yan and Qi , deter Wei and Chu , and conquer Han and Zhao . From 283 to 257 BC, Qin and Zhao had engaged in bloody warfare against one another, and Zhao's defeat in the Battle of Changping in 260 BC had severely weakened their ability to fight. In 236 BC, while Zhao

10476-469: Was defeated by an alliance of the other states in 295 BC, and shortly after suffered another defeat by the state of Zhao, because the majority of their army was then defending against Qi. The aggressive statesman Fan Sui ( 范雎 ), however, soon came to power as prime minister even as the problem of the succession was resolved, and he began an expansionist policy that had originated in Jin and Qi, which prompted

10584-431: Was first used mostly in bronze form, but by the 5th century BC, kingdoms such as Chu and Qin were using iron and/or steel swords. The demand for this metal resulted in improved bellows . The crossbow had been introduced in the 5th century BC and was more powerful and accurate than the composite bows used earlier. It could also be rendered ineffective by removing two pins, which prevented enemies from capturing

10692-416: Was focused on the shen (roughly translating to 'spirits' or 'gods'), yin ('shadows'), and the realm they were said to live in. The Chinese offered animal sacrifices in an attempt to contact this other world, which they believed to be parallel to the earthly one. The dead were said to have simply moved from one world to the other. The rituals mentioned, as well as others, served two purposes: to ensure that

10800-549: Was granted rule over the settlement of Qin ( 秦邑 ) (present-day Qingshui County in Shaanxi ). During the rule of King Xiao of Zhou , the eighth king of the Zhou dynasty, this area became known as the state of Qin. In 897 BC, under the Gonghe Regency , the area became a dependency allotted for the purpose of raising and breeding horses. One of Feizi's descendants, Duke Zhuang , became favoured by King Ping of Zhou ,

10908-521: Was inconspicuous due to its underground location, and was not discovered until 1974. Floating on high in every direction, Music fills the hall and court. The incense sticks are a forest of feathers, The cloudy scene an obscure darkness. Metal stalks with elegant blossoms, A host of flags and kingfisher banners. The music of the "Seven Origins" and "Blossoming Origins" Are intoned as harmonious sounds. Thus one can almost hear The spirits coming to feast and frolic. The spirits are seen off to

11016-498: Was invading Wei . Wang Ben then led his forces north to attack and besiege Daliang ( 大梁 ; northwest of present-day Kaifeng ), the Wei capital. As Daliang was situated at the concourse of the Sui and Ying rivers and the Hong Canal ( 鴻溝 ), its geographical location gave it a natural defensive advantage. Besides, the moat around Daliang was vast and all the city's five gates had drawbridges, making it even more difficult for Qin forces to breach

11124-402: Was killed in action. In 233 BC, Huan Yi's army crossed Mount Taihang and conquered the Zhao territories of Chili ( 赤麗 ) and Yi'an ( 宜安 ), both located southeast of present-day Shijiazhuang , Hebei. Then, the Qin army under Huan Yi engaged the Zhao army commanded by General Li Mu at the Battle of Fei in which the Qin sustained a massive defeat and nearly lost all their forces. In 232 BC,

11232-903: Was primarily administrative, and included penal law alongside ritual orthopraxy , comparative model manuals in the Qin empire guided penal legal procedure and application based on real-life situations, with publicly named wrongs linked to punishments. While some Qin penal laws deal with infanticide or other unsanctioned harm of children, it primarily concerned theft; it does not much deal with murder, as either more straightforward or more suitable to ritual. By contrast, detailed rules and "endless paperwork" tightly regulate grain, weights, measures, and official documents. Like most ancient societies, tradition China did not divide administration and judiciary, but it did include such concepts as intent, judicial procedure, defendant rights, retrial requests and distinctions between different kinds of law ( common law and statutory law ). The Book of Lord Shang prophecies

11340-429: Was reorganized to form the Qin Empire's Yingchuan Commandery , with the commandery capital at Yangdi ( 陽翟 ; present-day Yuzhou, Henan ). In 228 BC, after the fall of Zhao, Wang Jian led the Qin army stationed at Zhongshan ( 中山 ; around present-day central Hebei ) to prepare for an offensive on Yan . Ju Wu ( 鞠武 ), a Yan minister, proposed to King Xi of Yan to form alliances with Dai, Qi and Chu, and make peace with

11448-483: Was the initial construction of what later became the Great Wall of China , which was built by joining and strengthening the walls made by the feudal lords, which would be expanded and rebuilt multiple times by later dynasties, also in response to threats from the north. Another project built during Qin Shi Huang's rule was the Terracotta Army , intended to protect the emperor after his death. The Terracotta Army

11556-530: Was then borrowed into English and French as China and Chine . This etymology is dismissed by some scholars, who suggest that Sina in Sanskrit evolved much earlier before the Qin. However, the preceding state of Qin was itself founded in the 9th century BC. Jin , a state during the Zhou dynasty until the 4th century BC, is another possible origin. Others argued for the state of Jing ( 荆 , another name for Chu ), as well as other polities in

11664-426: Was weakened. Two years later, Qin planned to attack Han but feared that Zhao might support Han, so the Qin general Huan Yi was ordered to lead an army to attack the Zhao territories of Pingyang ( 平陽 ; southeast of present-day Ci County , Hebei) and Wucheng ( 武城 ; southwest of present-day Ci County, Hebei). More than 100,000 soldiers were killed in the battle. The Zhao army was defeated and its commander, Hu Zhe ( 扈輒 ),

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