Qin Dynasty
Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC)
After nearly 500 years of constant interstate wars, the Qin state gained control of the smaller states in central China in 221 BC. The Qin dynasty was the first real dynasty of Imperial China. Despite that it only lasted for 15 years, only had two emperors and was the shortest dynasty in Chinese history, it initiated an imperial tradition that lasted without interruption until the republic was founded in 1912.
The founder was Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of Qin, hereby the origin of the name China. All previous rulers from the Shang and Zhou dynasties had called themselves kings or “sons of heaven”. Even Qin was a king in the early days, but after having defeated the other dynasties during the Warring States period, he introduced a new higher rank called emperor (Huangdi).
The emperor Qin Shi Huang has gained tremendous national importance after the archeologic excavations of his city-sized mausoleum in Qian in 1974, uncovering more than 8000 terracotta soldiers and horses. From being only a legend, he is now the symbol of the start of the long lasting Chinese history.
The Qin sought to create a state unified by structured political power and a large military supported by a stable economy. To achieve this, the central government moved to undercut aristocrats and landowners to gain direct administrative control over the peasantry, who comprised the overwhelming majority of the population and labour force. This allowed ambitious projects, such as road building and connecting walls along the northern border eventually developed into the Great Wall of China. Big parts of the Wall was made during the Warring states period but needed constantly adjustments as the empire expanded. These projects involved over three hundred thousand peasants and convicts. The Qin introduced a range of important reforms such as standardized currency, weights, measures, and a uniform system of writing, which aimed to unify the state and promote commerce. Additionally, its military used the most recent weaponry, transportation, and tactics, though the government was heavy-handedly bureaucratic. The Qin were not doctrinaire: Confucian and Legalist philosophies coexisted during the reign of the First Emperor.
When the first emperor died in 210 BC, two of his advisers placed an heir on the throne in an attempt to influence and control the administration of the dynasty. These advisors rivalled among themselves, resulting in both of their deaths and that of the second Qin emperor. Popular revolt broke out and the weakened empire soon fell to a Chu lieutenant, Liu Bang, who founded the Han dynasty.
It is obviously very few artifacts that can be considered typical Qin objects except for the items found in the Xian tomb and terracotta army. But emperor Qin sat the standard for tomb rituals in many dynasties to come. One of the rituals adopted from the Zhou Dynasty was to bury the dead with precious jade stones.
Artifacts from this short Dynasty is hard to determine and will normally be categorized as Han-Dyansty. The most famous objects are of course the terracotta warriors from Emperor Qin own Tomb.
Emperor Qin Sui Huang ruled only for 15 years but is considered the founder of the Chinese nation and the first Han ruler. He was the first Great Wall builder.
The construction methods in this period were relatively basic compared to later constructions. The workers used local materials; in areas where there was plenty of soil, the wall was often built using earth filling – a technique where the soil was tamped between the wooden forms to create solid walls. In mountainous areas, the wall could consist of stone and earth. The material used depended on what was available nearby, as transporting building materials over long distances was logistically challenging and expensive.
The original Qin Dynasty Great Wall no longer exists, as most of the surviving parts of the Great Wall that can be seen today were built during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD), thousands of years later. The Ming Dynasty's walls were much more advanced, built of brick and stone, and form the most famous part of the wall we know today.