Chu-Han War

The Portrait of Liu Bang

The Chu-Han War took place from 206 BC to 202 BC between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, both of whom tried to claim power after the collapse of the Qin Dynasty. Both have rebelled against the Qin Dynasty's rule the moment two peasants, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, rose up. Xiang Yu, on the one hand, was the grandson of a general in the Chu State whilst Liu Bang was the son of a peasant living in the present Jiangsu Province.
It was Liu Bang who first led his army into Xianyang (capital city of the Qin Dynasty) after defeating the Qin's army. According to King Huai's promise, the first to enter Xianyang would be regarded as the King. However, Xiang Yu killed King Huai of the Chu State and proclaimed himself the King of West Chu. At the same time, tens of kings were designated by him, amongst whom Liu Bang was proclaimed as the King of Han. The latter accepted without objection since he felt inferior to Xiang Yu then. However, Liu Bang built up his power secretly in his land. He developed agriculture and trained soldiers by accepting the advice of his two advisers, Xiao He and Zhang Liang. As a result, his power became stronger and grew very quickly indeed.

The Portrait of Xiang Yu

Constant battles occurred the following years between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, with the latter having the advantage at first. However, Liu Bang managed to turn the tide against his enemy because he was good at picking the right person and effective military strategies for the war. Knowing his defeating position, Xiang Yu quickly proposed to divide the country into two with a boundary called Honggou. The western part of Honggou was assigned to Liu Bang (Han) and the east to himself (Chu). Not long after that, however, the former broke the agreement and Xiang Yu's troop was chased out of the Chu State. Eventually, the latter committed suicide at Wujiang River (the present northeastern part of He County, Anhui Province), thus ending the four years' war. Liu Bang then set up the Western Han Dynasty.

Ying Zheng

The Portrait of Emperor Qin Shi Huang

Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 BC - 210 BC) fascinates people when they talk about the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors and Horses - his two greatest achievements to China. As the first emperor of China, he indeed has a profound influence on Chinese history and culture.

How did he come to the throne?
Emperor Qin Shi Huang, born as Ying Zheng in 259 BC, was the son of the king of the Qin State. At the age of thirteen, he succeeded his father's regality. Ying Zheng was very aggressive and ambitious at an early age. He assumed full power at 22 by ridding himself of his premier, Lu Buwei, who acted as regent while he was a minor. He wanted to unify and subjugate all the states like Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan and Qi by the powerful political, economic and military strength of the Qin State. Ying Zheng realized his ambition and built the first feudal and centralized empire in Chinese history in 221 BC. This was what we called - the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC). Ying Zheng was the first emperor of a united China, so he proclaimed himself Qin Shi Huang.

"Qin Shi Huang"  
When Ying Zheng unified China, he considered his achievement surpassing the legendary "San Huang (three emperors)" and "Wu Di (five sovereigns)". He created a new title for himself: "Huangdi" together with "Shi (means the first)", hence get the name "Qin Shi Huang" or "Qin Shi Huangdi", which means he was the first emperor of China. He hoped his descendants would follow in his steps to rule China for eternity.


Achievements and Defects
In order to consolidate the nascent empire, Qin Shi Huang reformed politics, economy and culture. In politics, he abolished the hereditary vassal enfeoffment system and established prefectures and counties, ruled directly by the emperor. Based on the original rules of the Qin State, the emperor adopted some regulations of other rival states to form a workable law of the Qin Dynasty. In economy, he claimed that both the agriculture and commerce were very important. People should have them developed together. Besides, tax system began to function and coinage and metrology were all standardized. In culture, the emperor unified the Chinese characters in writing, which promoted the development of the Chinese culture. However, he also suppressed scholars who were not to his liking. Consequently, many scholars involved were killed in Xianyang.

elixir of immortality

The symbol of the Chinese ancient civilization, the Great Wall bears witness to Qin Shi Huang's centralism. He ordered conscript laborers to link together the defensive works against marauding nomads already built by the former states. That was the forerunner of the modern Great Wall. Another world-famous achievement is the Terracotta Warriors and Horses in Xian, which was discovered nearby the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Both are the wonders of China. But during their construction, countless conscripts lost their lives. It's really wasting manpower and resources.
 
Decline of the First Emperor
Qin Shi Huang longed for longevity, so he sent his ministers to go on quests seeking for an elixir of immortality. However, death claimed him before he could find success on that matter. The emperor departed from the world of the living in 210 BC while traveling. The Peasant Uprising led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang broke out soon after Hu Hai, the second generation, got onto the throne. Accordingly, the Qin Dynasty came to an abrupt end in 206 BC. Qin Shi Huang is truly an epoch-making historic emperor in China's history.

Two Sons of Emperor Qin Shi Huang
Fu Su
Hu Hai

Great Wall

The Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure that is visible from the distance of about 300,000 Km from earth i.e. from the moon. Truly speaking, Great Wall of China is one of the wonders that man ever have created.
The Great Wall extends from the Jiayu Pass in Western Gansu Province to the Eastern mount of the Yalu River in Liaoning Province. The Great Wall measures more than 6000 Km in length. The height of the Wall is approximately 7.8 meters and the width is about 5.8 meters at the top. A strongly build battle fort accompanies each section of the wall, from which the soldiers can protect the wall and stop the attacks of the invaders.
Although, archaeologists are trying to confirm which section of the Great Wall was built first, it is said that the first section was constructed in the central area of Chin around 200 B.C. The remaining section of the Wall took many years to complete the entire Wall. The Great Wall Society of China thinks that the Chu people (who once ruled the states of chin) can be considered as father of the Great Wall. Initially, the wall was not built directly, in stead, there were smaller sections of the walls; each section was raised to protect the state it surrounded. The northern states which came under Chou Dynasty are said to have built these sections of walls to defend their states from the neighboring states and also from the tribal invaders.
According to the director of Institute of Archaeology of the Henan Academy of Social Science, Xiao Luyang said that the earliest section of the Great Wall that was built was an inverted "U" shaped wall with a length of about 500 miles and was across the counties of Yexian, Fangcheng, Lushan and Nanzhao in southwest Henan.
Some sections of the Great Wall are built up only using stones and no mortar at all and some sections are built using the combination of stones and bricks. The Great Wall runs through the mountains portion and even deserts. A battle fort or tower (which was built for the surveillance purpose) was built at the regular distance (about 50 meters) with the Great Wall. The battle forts served the purpose of aiding the soldiers for watching and shooting at the invaders.
Today, the Wall stands at its place even after hundreds of years of its construction. The size, shape and strength of the Wall have not deteriorated too much. The credit of it goes to each dynasty that ruled the states of Chin. Each dynasty that ruled the states of Chin showed high interest in keeping the Great Wall stronger which defended them from the invaders. It is said that the Ming Dynasty which ruled in 13th century, undertook a huge repairing work of the wall and it took nearly two centuries to complete the task. Ming Dynasty also built a huge section of the Great Wall which runs along the mountains northwest of Beijing.
The decision of joining the sections of Walls was taken when all the states unified near 200 B.C. A strong and longer Wall was made by joining all the section of the walls to defend Chin from the invaders from the Tsongnoo Tribes from the north side. The actual length of the Great Wall has not yet known because small sections of Walls are being discovered today also in excavation.

Qin Dynasty

Qin Dynasty Map

Qin Dynasty was the first unified, multi-national and power-centralized state in the Chinese history. It lasted from 221 BC to 207 BC. Although surviving only 15 years, the dynasty held an important role in Chinese history and it exerted great influence on the following dynasties. Only two emperors, Yingzheng - Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor in the Chinese history, and Emperor Hu Hai ever ruled the state, which was finally overthrown by the people's uprising.

Political History
During the late Warring States Period (476 BC - 221 BC), the state of Qin was in its full development. When Emperor Yingzheng was in his reign, he defeated the other six states (Han, Zhao, Wei, Yan, Chu and Qi), from 230 BC to 221 BC. So ending the chaos caused by wars among vassals that had lasted over 500 years. He established a unified and centralized country and declared Xianyang, in Shaanxi Province, the capital city of the Qin.

A series of effective measures has been taken during the reign of Yingzheng. The Emperor contributed much to the development of his country. However, during the late period of his reign, he was cruel and oppressive to his people, and caused dissatisfaction. After he died, Hu Hai succeeded him. However, he was so fatuous that caused the uprising led by peasants, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. Later the insurgency was led by Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. In 207 BC, Xiang Yu's army defeated the Army of Qin and Liu Bang swept into the capital which finally ended the Qin Dynasty.

At the end of the Qin Dynasty in 207 BC, war broke out between Liu bang and Xiang Yu. It was known as the Chu-Han war, and it lasted for four years, ending with the victory of Liu Bang, who later established the Western Han Dynasty.

Measures Taken by Emperor Qin

Qin Terracotta Army

To strengthen the unity of the nation to perpetuate the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Qin carried out many reforms in politics, economy, military affairs, and culture.

In politics, he declared himself the Emperor of the state. All major powers including politics, economy, military affairs were in his hand. Executive organizations both in the central and local places were systematically reorganized and local counties were restructured.

In his economy, the Emperor standardized weights and measures and he stipulated that the round coin with square hole (Ban Liang Coin) should be the coin used in the country.

 In Addition, The Emperor standardized the written character, making the Qinzhuan the standard font. He also placed great importance on infrastructure: irrigation works and road building projects. The miracle of the world, the Great Wall of China, was built under his order. All that he achieved had promoted the development of Qin's economy.

Emperor Qin Shi Huang was a tyrant despite his contributions to the country. To prevent his people to think freely, he burnt many books which he feared would affect people's thinking. Worse, in his second year, after he learnt some scholars' discussions about his arrogance, he buried 460 of them alive. In history, these two events are called 'To Burn the Books and Bury the Scholars Alive'. And yet, at the same time, the Emperor built luxurious palaces, the Great Wall, the famous Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses, together with his own mausoleum, by imposing on the masses, through hard labor, heavy taxes, and rigorous law and military service, giving the community a difficult and arduous existence.
 

Terracotta Warriors and Horses	Bronze Chariot and Horses

Bronze Warrior in Qin Dynasty

Qinshihuang's underneath grave imagination