Click on the red link to read about the Qin dynasty. In bullets below, summarize the important points from the Qin dynasty.

CLICK HERE: A 9-part documentary about the Qin Dynasty

Qin 221-207 B.C.

Qin - Why they conquered China:

• Utilized cavalry
• Had better agriculture with technology (led water from river into the desert area which created a big farmland available for farming)
• Were in better shape and had better order among the army.
• greater amount of food to support a strong military and also the rest of the people in the country.
• Soldiers were motivated by the incentive. The more you killed, the higher social status you will become and since most soldiers were poor farmers, they had less amount of land so they wanted the reward to get a higher social status.
• Psychological defeat - Recorded 400,000 prisoners of war executed by their own hand. was to scare the enemy army and lose morale.

DISCUSS: Was the Qin dynasty overall a positive or a negative influence on China's history?

Positive:

• Unified China
• Standardized many things such as: language, currency, and axle length of wheels.
• Social mobility
• Created some sort of order so things are well organised and not all over the place.

Negative:

• Harsh rules
• Cruel punishments
• Forced population to labor (wasted)
• High taxes
• Burned books (loss of historic records) and killed scholars (loss of great minds)
• Groups consisting of five to ten families will get in trouble if one individual does wrong. This caused great mistrust and suspicion even within family units.
• Many people hated the emperor
• Nobles lost their power and were moved to the capital so the emperor could keep an eye on them
• When any nobles had to leave the capital, a family member would have to stay as a "guest" - or really, a hostage
• No one could criticize, question, or oppose the government in any way
• The government strived for the good of the state and didn't care for you as an individual
• Projects that wasted resources and peoples' time (Great Wall, tomb, Terracotta Warriors)
• Rewards for informing government of others' crimes/harsh punishments breeded mistrust among people
• five to ten families were grouped together to form a unit. Each group were responsible for the wrongdoings of any individual within the group.
• Scarred the history and future of China