Shi Huangdi: The First Emperor

1. Shi Huangdi: The First Emperor

2. The First United Empire • The first united empire in Chinese history was founded in 221 BC, when Ying Zheng, king of Qin, conquered the 5 other warring Chinese states. • Approximately 1 500 00 people were killed in the process. The Qin were known for their ruthless fighting and custom for beheading. • Zheng's empire put an end to 400 years of war.

3. King Zeng becomes Shi Huangdi • King Zeng eventually gave himself the title Shi Huangdi, which meant "First Emperor". • Zheng had actually been given the throne when he was only 13, after the death of his father. • Due to his age, his mother ruled for him. His mother however had an affair with a man who eventually tried to overthrow the king. • King Zheng banished his mothered and executed her lover.

4. Government Rulings Shi Huangdi controlled the entire government. The emperor and his officials made all the rules. Some examples include: • People were grouped in households. If people knew that someone in their household was a criminal and did not report this to authorities, they were chopped in two. • People who fought bravely in wars could become rich and join the noble class. • Idle and poor men could have their wives and children taken away and sold into slavery. • Hardworking farmers and weavers who produced many goods did not have to pay levies or taxes.

5. Threat to power? To remove threats to his power, Shi Huangdi took several measures: • He banished many of the former nobles of the conquered states • Forced opposing families to live in his capital (Xianyang) in provided palaces where they could be watched. • Had all 'weapons’ held by his people collected and destroyed.

6. End to Feudalism The old system of power and property in China had been a feudal system. Shi Huangdi changed this by dividing the country into 36 local government areas that were administered by his own officials. Three departments were organised in each area. • 1) Was in charge or military • 2) Civil issues • 3) The inspection department. This department controlled all the officials and made sue they were conforming to the emperor's will. Shi Huangdi also allowed farming land to be freely bought and sold.

7. Keeping Control Shi Huangdi tried to control the way people thought. He rejected ideas he believed might encourage rebellion. • People who talked of old ways were publicly executed. • Scholars who refused to conform had their faces tattooed and were sent to work as slave labour on the Great Wall. • In 213 BC, Shi Huangdi ordered a public burning of books. Only books on farming, medicine or foretelling the future were spared. • Nearly 500 were buried alive.

8. Cause for Change He standardised many things including: • Dress • The calendar • Cart axles • System of weight and measures.

9. He also introduced: • A single form of writing • A single currency (basic coin called the banliang) throughout the empire. Craft workers made coins out of bronze. Holes in the coins allowed people to keep their money on a string. . • Highways were built from it to link the country and new trading cities were founded. • More canals and better irrigation systems were also built.

10. Building Program Shi Huangdi and his successor, the Second emperor used the people's labour for massive construction schemes. About 700 000 men were conscripted to build palaces and about another 700 000 were used to build his tomb. Hundreds of thousands were conscripted to build roads or serve in the army. People who were Conscripted were not paid. In fact Shi Huangdi taxed everyone very heavily to pay for his palaces, public works and army.

11. The Great Wall • Other farmers, as well as slaves, prisoners of war and criminals were conscripted to link up walls in northern China to prevent invasion. The result was the Great Wall of China, which stretched for about 2400 kilometres. It can even be seen from outer space • Originally made from earth but replaced by bricks, in later centuries. • It was topped by a highway studded with lookout towers and was wide enough to carry an army of chariots. • Historians believe the wall cost maybe a million labourers lives. • To finance these works, as much as two thirds of the peasants' harvested crops were taken from them as land rent.

13. Capital Punishment • Devised different ways of giving capital punishments including: • Chopping in two at the waist • Decapitation • Drowning, • Boiling to death • Killing the rest of the criminal’s family in front of the criminal and then killing him. Mutilation • Imprisonment • Exile and hard labour on public works as punishment