57
Confucius is generally considered
to be the most influential philosopher
in Chinese history. His teachings
emphasized the importance of morality,
integrity, humility, and self-discipline.by deep-seated resentment over
the brutal extortions of money and
the many years of forced labor, plus
bankruptcy as a result of over-
ambitious civil works, combined
to undermine the carefully ordered
administration of the emperor and
his leading counselors, chief among
them the chancellor Li Si.
When the First Emperor died
in 210 bce his youngest son, Hu Hai,
under the influence of advisor and
former tutor Zhao Gao, seized
the throne and exiled—and later
executed—Li Si. Hu Hai was
subsequently murdered after just
three years of being in power and
his successor, Zi Ying, found his
authority so reduced that he adopted
the title of king, rather than emperor.The Han Dynasty
China collapsed into rebellion and
civil unrest, and a few days after Zi
Ying’s accession, the Han general
Liu Bang marched into Xianyang.
The following year, in 206 bce, he
declared himself emperor of the
Han dynasty, which would go on
to rule China for 400 years, shaping
its subsequent history to such an
extent that the main ethnic group
in China is now known as the Han.
The Han expanded Chinese
territory in all directions—west
to Xinjiang and Central Asia,northeast to Manchuria and Korea,
and south to Yunnan, Hainan, and
Vietnam. Most importantly, they
consumed the powerful Xiongnu
Empire in the north. They also
reintroduced Confucianism as the
official state philosophy: Confucian
education and ethics soon became
the cornerstones of the scholar-
bureaucracy, eventually forming
the basis for the all-important civil
service examination system, which
would give a meritocratic basis to
imperial institutions and combat
the power of the aristocracy for
millennia to come.
Han success in building and
maintaining a unified, centralized
China was based on the foundations
that had been laid down by the
First Emperor. The Han dynasty
finally collapsed in 220 ce, amid a
foment of civil unrest and natural
disasters that convinced the
Chinese that their dynasty had lost
“the mandate of heaven,” giving
way to the violent and chaotic era
known as the Three Kingdoms and
Six Dynasties Period. Despite the
devastating cost of this breakdown,
which saw the Chinese population
plummet from 54 million in 156 ce
to 16 million in 280 ce, the concept
of a unified China survived 360
years of division, enabling the Sui
dynasty to reunify China in 581.ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
The influence of the First Emperor
is still felt in modern China, and
Chairman Mao Zedong (1893–1976)
explicitly drew on the emperor for
inspiration. “You accuse us of
acting like Qin Shi Huangdi,” Mao
thundered in a 1958 tirade against
intellectual critics. “You are wrong.
We surpass him a hundred times.
When you berate us for imitating
his despotism, we are happy to
agree! Your mistake was that you
did not say so enough.” ■Large region
comprises many
small, culturally
diverse states.Seven major states
emerge and engage in frequent
warfare to gain power
and territory.Qin state
conquers the
other six states.Chinese unity is
strengthened further.Qin Shi Huangdi
imposes unification,
standardization, and
homogeneity.US_054-057_First_Emperor_China.indd 57 15/02/2016 16:40