Rise and Fall of the Qin/Han Dynasties

Brutal, superior, powerful great leaders, describes some characteristics of the emperors who ruled the states Qin and Han. They attributed to the rise and fall of each empire politically, economically, and socially. The rise and fall of an empire is also contributed by the emperors who rule over each dynasty (the Qin and the Han). In addition new technology and developments influence the rise and fall of the empires to.

What really lead to the rise of Qin conquering China and the fall of the empire? Politics took a big role in the rise and fall of the Qin dynasty. Between 402 B.C.E and 201 B.C.E the large states of China were fighting to gain control over the entire area during the period of the Warring States. The Qin dynasty was the only state that managed conquering the other warring states, unifying China for the first time. At that time Qin was considered a powerful state, mainly due to its powerful army which utilized new technology in combat, and was made up of horse archers (cavalry). Shi Huangdi (first emperor) at the time was the emperor of Qin. He was a cruel, but efficient ruler who brought China under a single overbearing rule. He stressed central authority.

“Shi Huangdi knew that the end of aristocratic rule would solve China’s dilemma. Aristocrats that were gaining power over feudal provinces were sentenced to appear at Shi Huangdi’s court and leave their states. Once this event occurred the emperor then appointed bureaucrats to rule the provinces” (Stearns, et. al., p. 38). The rise of the Qin dynasty was at its highest power when Feudalism (military based government) was overrun by a bureaucratic government (hierarchical based government with a system of ranking and organization of people/things). The fall of Qin dynasty was very sudden and as a result of Shi Huangdi’s death many revolts and civil wars started. Invasions of outlying states brought the Qin dynasty to a fall.

There was a positive outcome resulting from these revolts and civil wars. That outcome was the rise of the Han dynasty that was established by Liu Bang. Later on Wu Ti became the emperor of the Han dynasty. “The Han dynasty was developed from what was already left of the Qin dynasty. They got rid of the stress for central authority and expanded upon the need for bureaucracies because it provided a check system on the emperor’s power. In addition, the act of Confucianism (a system of ethics) was influenced in the Han government tremendously” (Stearns, et. al., p. 39). Of Course, this ideal empire did not last too long. It eventually fell when there were invasions from Asia and central control was damaged.

The rise and fall of the Qin and Han dynasty was not only affected by politics, but also economics. Especially in the Qin dynasty the construction of the Great Wall took a big part in the rise and fall of the empire. The purpose of the Great Wall was to keep barbarians from attacking the empire and moving into the empire. This was effective, however; frequently workers were attacked by the barbarians, and the process of the Great Wall was very slow. Additionally, at this time currency became standardized utilizing a circular copper coin with a square hole in the middle known as a yen. A system of weights also became standardized around the same time. Some of the greatest inventions that evolved during the empire of Han, included paper, the sun dial and porcelain. Although, the rise of the Qin and Han dynasty were affected by the economy it did not particularly contribute to the fall of each empire.

Lastly, the rise and fall of each empire was also due to social aspects. “At the time of Shi Huangdi’s reign legalism was introduced to the people and they got rid of Confucianism. Eventually, it was accepted as their philosophy, which was founded by Han Feizi. Legalism introduced rewards and a way of punishment to keep order at the time” (Stearns, et. al., p. 39). Another social aspect is that the Qin standardized the language and writing of China, which varied greatly from region to region. This was done so that there was a consistent language to communicate across the country. Qin wasn’t the only empire that rose because of social aspects, but also the Han empire. Philosophy during the Han empire was adopted to be Confucianism and some Legalism still. Mostly these philosophies were used to base their government. However, these social aspects not only affected the rise of both of these empires, but also affected the fall because of the different beliefs of all the Qin and Han people.

If an empire rises it is bond to fall down which is contributed by the political, economical and social aspects of the empires. The results of the falling and rising of the Qin and Han dynasties are greatly contributed by the Emperors at the time, since they had superior authority. In addition new developments and technology also support the rise and the fall of each empire to.