China is a country full of might, great wonders and important inventions. Its history was formed by different dynasties throughout history. One of the most effective and popular dynasty’s in China was the Qin Dynasty. Qin is pronounced as chin and it is the reason why the western name for the country became China. Previous to its rise in popularity, Qin was just a small state located in the northwest of China. But, by the mid-third century, it seized the other territories and small states on the southern and western part of the country.
The Rise of the Qin Dynasty
The callous policy of the Qin Dynasty aimed at consolidating and maintaining power during their reign. A nine year old boy named Ying Zheng (259-210 B. C.), came to the throne of Qin dynasty and reunited China. He was able to capture the 6 remaining militaristic states and expand his rule. The expansion of Qin dynasty covered eastward and far south up to the Yangzi River. Ying Zheng proclaimed himself as the first emperor (Qin Shihuangdi) of one of the greatest dynasties in China, the Qin Dynasty.
During his rule, Ying Zheng continued to expand the territory, with his military power and innovation in terms of weaponry and a centralized command. He eventually reached the south of Vietnam. His huge empire was divided into prefectures or regions and administered with combined civil and military official under the command of a vast central bureaucracy. This kind of administrative structure was practiced and served the government of China until its downfall in 1911.
The Inventions of the Qin Dynasty
As a powerful dynasty, Qin has a lot of achievements and inventions that played great contributions in changing the face of ancient China and the world. Until now, their achievements can be experienced not only by the Chinese people but almost everyone in this world.
The Qin dynasty was well known for its various advances. Qin Shihuangdi standardized money/universal coinage, currency and script. He ordered to reproduce coins that were made of copper. It looked similar to the common old coin but had a square hole in the middle. He standardized the system of the government, the language and the system of weights and measurement as well. The reason of standardizing the language and the writing is to make the communication easier for them considering that the dynasty’s territory is vast.
He made almost everything consistent. He changed the face of China geographically by extending a network of roads and canals throughout the land. This is the reason why he was credited for building the Great Wall of China. He united several pre-existing defensive walls in the northern frontier by building additional defensive walls that will link them to each other. The purpose of the great wall was to protect the dynasty from foreign invaders.
In 1974, an excavation begun and brought to surface over 6,000 life size terracotta army. It was an army of thousands of life size sculpture guarding the tomb of Ying Zheng. This discovery marks a spectacular breakthrough in archeology in mainland China. Other achievements of Qin dynasty include legalism, multiplication table, crossbow, and irrigation.
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