Ancient China had always been a collection of more or less
independent states in the north of China. The Shang and the Chou dominated the
political landscape as the most powerful of those states, but they did not
exercise uniform rule over neighboring regions. When the Chou began to weaken
around 500 BC, these independent states began to war among themselves over
territory and influence. So chaotic was this period that the Chinese refer to it
as The Warring States period, and it did not end until the whole of north
China was unified under a single empire, the Ch'in dyansty.
In Chinese history, the Ch'in are the great, evil
dynasty, but Western historians often stand in awe of the Ch'in. They were
repressive, autocratic, and frequently cruel, but they were also brilliant
political theorists and reformers who historically brought about one of the most
energetic periods of Chinese government. Their story, however, is a very brief
one. For from the time the Ch'in unified China in 221 BC, to the time of their
fall fifteen years later in 206 BC, not even a generation had passed. For all
that, so massive was their accomplishment that our name for China is derived
from the Ch'in.
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The Ch'in were a small state in the western reaches of the Wei River. As with all states during the Warring States period, the Ch'in pursued an aggressive policy of territorial expansion. The Ch'in, however, had one great advantage: they had adopted a new style of government based on the principles of the Legalists. Ultimately based on Confucianism, Legalism held that human beings were fundamentally base and selfish and had to be strictly controlled through laws. These laws were effective only if punishments were severe and certain, so the Ch'in kingdom was frighteningly autocratic. But Legalist philosophy also demanded a strong central government, a strong military, a tightly controlled economy, and the strict regimentation of the citizens of the state. As a result, the Ch'in kingdom grew powerful and wealthy in a very short time. |
China Atlas
The
Ch'in Unification
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We traditionally date the start of the Ch'in dynasty to 256
BC, although the unification of China did not occur until 221 BC. By 256 BC, the
Ch'in had become the most powerful state in China, and in 246 BC, the kingdom
fell to a thirteen year old boy, Ch'eng. As a young man, he surrounded himself
with brilliant Legalist ministers. His most powerful and trusted advisor was
Li Ssu, one of the foundational theorists of Legalism. Under their
advice, in 232 BC, King Ch'eng, at the age of twenty-seven, began a vigorous
campaign to unify and centralize all the northern kingdoms. The surrounding
kingdoms were no match for the wealth and military power of the Ch'in, and by
221 BC, Ch'eng conquered all of the northern kingdoms.
He assumed the title, Ch'in shih-huang-ti, or "The
First Exalted Emperor of the Ch'in." Under his guidance, and the advice of Li
Ssu, Ch'in shih-huang-ti created the form of government which served as the
model for all future Chinese dynasties. First, the government was centralized
around the emperor and his ministers. In order to facilitate that
centralization, the Ch'in replaced the old, feudal system in which territory was
controlled by more or less independent nobility with a strong, hierarchical
bureaucracy. All the members of this bureaucracy, as well as the ministers of
the state, would be appointed by the central government. In order to break the
power of the aristocracy, he confiscated their lands and distributed them to the
peasants. To facilitate the taxation process, government taxes were taken
directly from the peasants rather than passing through the hands of the
aristocracy.
In order to cement the centralization of
government, Ch'in shih-huang-ti embarked on an ambitious campaign of
standardizing money and weights and measures. The Ch'in emperor also put the
most severe of Legalist doctrines into practice as well. The laws of the unified
empire were strict and harsh, particularly if you were in government. The
penalty for any corruption at all among government servants was death. The
Legalists also believed in centralization of thinking, fearful that any
non-Legalist ways of thinking could lead to disruption and revolution. So all
the other schools of philosophy were outlawed, especially Confucianism, and
their books were burned and their teachers were executed. The Ch'in were also
hard on commerce. Seeing it as a form of infection or parasitism, the Ch'in
severely restricted trade and mercantilism, taxed the merchants heavily, and
executed merchants for the most trivial offenses.
The
Ch'in, however, set their eyes on more than the administration of the northern
territories. They turned south and steadily conquered the southern regions of
China all the way to the Red River in north Vietnam. Their greatest enemy,
however, was to the north. Called the Hsiung Nu, these nomadic, Hunnish people,
had been making constant incursions into the northern territories all during the
Chou period. The peoples north of China had originally developed as hunters and
fishers, but when the region began to dry out and the forests receded, they
turned to keeping flocks. As a result they learned horsemanship and began to
wander nomadically; they also began to fight among themselves. This constant
fighting made them highly skilled at fighting on horseback, and when they began
to wander into the northern states of China, they made extremely formidable
opponents for the infantry-based northern states. In response to these
incursions, the northern kingdoms all during the Chou period built walls and
fortifications along their northern borders. The Ch'in began a massive project
of joining many of these walls and fortifications. Although the Ch'in did not
build the "Great Wall" as historians used to claim (the Great Wall was built
during the Ming dynasty), this fortification and building project during the
Ch'in period was in itself truly amazing.
Ch'in shih-huang-ti died in 210 BC at the age of
forty-nine; the amazing thing about the empire he had founded is that it
collapsed only four years after his death. While the Legalist government of
Ch'in shih-huang-ti was ruthlessly efficient in its control over the state and
the bureaucracy, that ruthlessness proved to be its undoing. The emperor, who
had hoped to found a dynasty lasting over ten thousand years, had alienated many
people, particularly the landed aristocracy. The building projects of the Ch'in
demanded forced labor and heavy taxation; people all throughout the empire were
on the verge of revolt. Finally, the Ch'in had created a government that
virtually ran without the emperor, who remained aloof from day to day governing.
Upon Ch'in shih-huang-ti's death, the two most powerful administrators, Li Ssu
and Chao Kao, covered up his death and took over the government. They installed
a puppet emperor, but for the most part all Chinese government rested in their
hands. Both Li Ssu and Chao Kao ruthlessly enforced penalties on lower
administrators; because of this, regional administrators kept secret the revolts
and uprisings in their territories for fear of punishment. Eventually, Chao Kao
eliminated Li Ssu, and the territorial uprisings became so severe that they
could no longer be kept secret. By that point, it was too late, and the dynasty
that was to last ten thousand years disappeared only four years after its
founder died.
©1996, Richard Hooker
For information contact:
Richard Hines
Updated 6-6-1999