Province. Th e fi rst half of this period, the Eastern Zhou, is
called the Spring and Autumn Period (722–481 b.c.e.). During
this time the central government lost the power it had gained
during the Western Zhou period. Smaller city-states led by
dukes began acting on their own again, going to war with one
another and annexing weaker neighbors. Dukes had the power
to collect their own taxes and raise armies. Several powerful
states emerged; the most important were Qin, Jin, Qi, and Chu.
Eventually, the overlords of these states stopped recognizing
the nominal authority of the king and instead concentrated on
running their own states and local administrations. Th e over-
lords promised military aid to smaller neighboring states and
gradually ended up annexing most of their smaller neighbors.
Th ese states appointed offi cials who handled internal adminis-
tration, particularly the taxation of territories.
During the fourth and third centuries b.c.e. seven strong
states emerged as major powers: Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao,
Wei, and Qin. Th eir leaders began to call themselves kings
instead of dukes, declaring themselves equal to the Zhou
king. Th is period, called the Warring States Period, saw end-
less confl ict between the seven major states. Rulers built walls
around their kingdoms to keep out invaders. States formed
alliances with one another in the hope of defeating common
enemies. Th e overlords of this period carried out various re-
forms to strengthen their governments. Th e state of Qin did
away with the older feudal system by getting rid of hereditary
ranks. It abolished the well-fi eld system and legalized private
land ownership. It created counties to replace the feudal land-
management practices that had accompanied the well-fi eld
systems; counties answered to the state government instead of
to hereditary feudal lords. Th is new stronger government was
able to organize large-scale agriculture and irrigation proj-
ects. By the end of this period the state of Qin had emerged
as the most powerful of the states and the house of Zhou was
nearly extinct From 230 to 221 b.c.e. Qin marched through
the other six states, conquering them one by one. By 221 Qin
was in control of all China.
Th e Qin Dynasty was short-lived, lasting from 221 until 207
b.c.e., but it left a lasting impression on Chinese government;
for the next two millennia China followed the pattern of rule
set up during this time. Th e ruler Qin Shi Huang turned China
into a true empire. He set up a centralized government with
uniform laws and procedures, specifi c weights and measures,
standardized road widths and axle sizes, and unifi ed coinage.
He organized the empire into 36 prefectures, each of which was
further divided into counties. Each prefecture had both a civil
and a military governor. Counties were likewise ruled by a pair
of magistrates, a civil one and a military one. County magis-
trates owed allegiance to their prefectural governors.
Qin Shi Huang even defi ned the types of philosophy that
were acceptable. He embraced the school of thought known as
legalism, which taught that laws must be clearly written and
uniformly enforced. Legalism taught that rulers must ensure
that others do not take control of the state away from them.
Qin Shi Huang took this advice to heart, to the extent that
many people, particularly former ruling nobles, considered
him a ruthless tyrant and hated him. He had a very hands-
on governing style and did not tolerate criticism or rivals.
He banished critical Confucian scholars, burned Confucian
books, forced his former enemies to deliver their weapons to
the capital city, and destroyed most of the defensive walls that
his rival states had built during the Warring States Period; the
ones on the northern border he kept and connected together
to fend off northern barbarians. He set up a system of na-
tional conscription to keep his own army fi lled with soldiers;
conscripts were also forced to work as laborers on projects
such as the Great Wall and his mausoleum. He made several
trips around the country to inspect conditions with his own
eyes. When Qin Shi Huang died, his son lost control of the
kingdom, the disgruntled nobles of the other six states began
fi ghting again for several years, and people of all social levels
rose up against their rulers.
Th e Han Dynasty (202 b.c.e.–220 c.e.) restored order
and prosperity to the empire. Th e dynasty’s founders, the
Liu family, immediately went to work to reclaim control of
China and to restore the people’s faith in their rulers. Th ey
renounced legalism and its harsh controls and replaced it
with Confucianism as the state philosophy. Confucian schol-
ars were allowed to return, and criticism of the government
was no longer punished harshly. Confucianism taught that
the king should be the calm and virtuous center of the king-
dom; if the king was stable, the whole kingdom should run
smoothly. Confucianism encouraged the king to do as little
as possible, in contrast to the micromanagement of legalist
rulers. Confucianism also encouraged promotion based on
merit; an ideal king was supposed to pass down the throne to
the most qualifi ed of his sons, not the oldest.
Th e Han reduced taxes, got rid of the harsher Qin laws,
and removed some of the restrictions the Qin had placed on
individual speech and actions. Th e Han did not entirely end
conscripted labor, but they did not require nearly as much of
the people as the Qin had. Th ey kept most of the governmen-
tal institutions implemented by Qin Shi Huang, but they gave
up some central control and allowed vassal states to govern
themselves to a greater extent. Th e emperor himself main-
tained control of much of China, including the region around
the capital city, which continued to be governed by the Qin
system of governors and magistrates.
Th e region directly around the capital was run by three
governors, called the Th ree Guardians. Th e central govern-
ment was headed by one or two chancellors, several dukes,
and a board of secretaries that handled administrative mat-
ters. Law enforcement and the running of the imperial house-
hold were delegated to a chamberlain and the Nine Courts.
Th e army was divided into several branches, each headed by
a general; a single general in chief was in charge of them all.
Th e general in chief gained increasing infl uence with the em-
peror as the Han Dynasty progressed.
Outlying states were given to the princes of the imperial
family; these states were run as vassal states of the emperor.520 government organization: Asia and the Pacific