Qin and Han

Examples of Qin and Han in the following topics:

• Ceramics and Bronze in the Yayoi Period

  • Artifacts brought to the Japanese islands by the Yayoi people bore Chinese and Korean influences and ushered Japan into the Iron Age.
  • Chinese expansion under the Qin (221-206 BCE) and Han (206-220 CE) Dynasties is said to have been one of the primary impetuses for migrations to the Japanese archipelago.
  • Along with introducing bronze casting and other technologies into the islands, the Yayoi people brought cultural influences from China and Korea.
  • Artifacts brought to the islands at this time had a powerful effect upon the development of Japanese art by presenting objects to imitate and copy, such as bronze mirrors and swords in the Chinese and Korean styles.
  • Discuss how Chinese expansion under the Qin and Han Dynasties contributed to the migrations to the Japanese archipelago during the Yayoi period.

• The Rise of the Han Dynasty

  • In many ways, the Han carried on policies that began in the Qin.
  • Confucianism was banned during the Qin, but resurrected during the Han.
  • Throughout the Western Han period, the Han largely continued the governing policies of the Qin, continuing to expand the bureaucracy and encouraging a centralized state.
  • There were, however, differences between the two dynasties, and it was perhaps these differences that allowed the Han to rule for so much longer than the Qin.
  • Compare the Han Dynasty with the earlier Qin Dynasty, and explain the Western Han period

• The Qin Dynasty

  • The Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), though short-lived, is known for its military strength and its unification of China.
  • During its reign over China, the Qin Dynasty achieved increased trade, improved agriculture, and revolutionary developments in military tactics, transportation, and weaponry.
  • The advisers fought among themselves, however, which resulted in both their deaths and that of the second Qin emperor.
  • Popular revolt broke out a few years later, and the weakened empire soon fell to a Chu lieutenant, who went on to found the Han Dynasty.
  • Despite its rapid end, the Qin Dynasty influenced future Chinese empires, particularly the Han, and the European name for China is thought to be derived from it.

• The Qin Dynasty

  • The Qin Dynasty saw rich cultural and technological innovation, but brutal rule, and gave way to the Han Dynasty after only 15 years.
  • When the Qin state emerged victorious from the Warring States period in 221 BCE, the state's leader, King Zheng, claimed the Mandate of Heaven and established the Qin Dynasty.
  • Today he is known as Qin Shi Huang, meaning First Qin Emperor.
  • In 207 BCE, Qin Shi Huang's son was killed, and the dynasty collapsed entirely.
  • Chaos reigned until 202 BCE, when Gaozu, a petty official, became a general and reunited China under the Han Dynasty.

• Philosophy and Art of the Han Dynasty

  • The Han Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty (221–207 BCE) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms (220–280 CE).
  • This interregnum separates the Han into two periods: the Western Han (206 BCE – 9 CE) and the Eastern Han (25–220 CE).
  • To this day, China's majority ethnic group refers to itself as the "Han people," and Chinese characters are referred to as "Han characters".
  • The Han Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty (221–207 BCE) and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms (220–280 CE).
  • Discuss the influence of Han philosophy and art on what would be considered a golden age in Chinese history.

• Sculpture of the Qin Dynasty

  • The Qin Dynasty is perhaps best known for the impressive Terracotta Army built to protect Qin Shihuang in the afterlife.
  • The Dynasty followed the Warring States Period and ended after only 15 years with the Han Dynasty.
  • The Qin, under the leadership of its first self-proclaimed emperor Qin Shihuang, accomplished a series of swift conquests, first ending the powerless Zhou Dynasty and eventually destroying the remaining six of the major states, thus gaining control over the whole of China and resulting in the first-ever unified China.
  • The "army" of sculptures consists of more than 7,000 life-size tomb terracotta figures of warriors and horses that were buried with Qin Shihuang after his death in 210–209 BCE.
  • The Terracotta Army consists of more than 7,000 life-size tomb terracotta figures of warriors and horses, buried with the first Emperor of Qin in 210 BCE.

• The Eastern Zhou Period

  • The period from 685-591 BCE was called The Five Hegemons, and featured, in order, the Hegemony of Qi, Song, Jin, Qin, and Chu.
  • By the end of 5th century BCE, the feudal system was consolidated into seven prominent and powerful states—Han, Wei, Zhao, Yue, Chu, Qi, and Qin—and China entered the Warring States period, when each state vied for complete control.
  • This period, in the second half of the Eastern Zhou, lasted from about 475-221 BCE, when China was united under the Qin Dynasty.
  • After a series of wars among these powerful states, King Zhao of Qin defeated King Nan of Zhou and conquered West Zhou in 256 BCE; his grandson, King Zhuangxiang of Qin, conquered East Zhou, bringing the Zhou Dynasty to an end.
  • Qin has expanded southwest, Chu north and Zhao northwest.

• Architecture of the Qin Dynasty

  • Qin architecture is characterized by defensive structures and elements that conveyed authority and power, as exemplified by the early beginnings of the Great Wall.
  • The Dynasty followed the Warring States Period and resulted in the unification of China, ending 15 years later at the introduction of the Han Dynasty.
  • During its reign over China, the Qin sought to create an imperial state unified by highly structured political power and a stable economy able to support a large military.
  • The Qin central government sought to minimize the role of aristocrats and landowners and have direct administrative control over the peasantry, who comprised the overwhelming majority of the population and granted the Qin access to a large labor force.
  • The initial construction of what would become the Great Wall of China began under Qin Shihuang during the Qin Dynasty.

• Literature of the Qin Dynasty

  • As a result, coaches, roads, currency, laws, weights, measures, and writing were systematically unified under the Qin.
  • Characters which were different from those found in Qin were discarded, and Li Si's small seal characters became the standard for all regions within the empire.
  • This policy came into effect around 220 BCE, the year after Qin's unification of the Chinese states, and was introduced by Li Si and two ministers.
  • In 221 BC, Qin Shihuang, the first Qin emperor, conquered all of the Chinese states and governed with a single philosophy known as legalism.
  • Qin Shihuang, in an attempt to consolidate power, ordered the burning of all books on non-legalist philosophical viewpoints and intellectual subjects.

• Burial Goods of the Han Dynasty

  • The period has been divided into the Western Han (206 BCE – 9 CE) and the Eastern Han (25–220 CE) periods.
  • One of the most well-known styles of art during the Han Dynasty was burial art, which evolved between the Western and Eastern Han periods.
  • During the Western Han period, burial goods consisted of wares and pieces of art that were used by the tomb occupant when they were alive.
  • During the Eastern Han period, however, new stylistic goods, wares, and artwork found in tombs were usually made exclusively for burial and were not produced for previous use by the deceased when they were alive.
  • A Han ceramic tomb model of a multiple-story residential tower with a first-floor gatehouse and courtyard, mid-floor balcony, windows, and clearly distinguished support brackets.