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Qin dynasty

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Not to be confused with the Qing Dynasty, the last dynasty of China.
The Qin Dynasty
秦朝
221 BC–206 BC
Qin empire in 210 BC
Qin empire in 210 BC
CapitalXianyang
Common languagesChinese
Religion
Taoism
GovernmentMonarchy
Emperor 
History 
• Unification of China
221 BC
• Death of Qin Shi Huangdi
210 BC
• Surrender to Liu Bang
206 BC

The Qin Dynasty (Chinese: 秦朝; pinyin: Qín Cháo; Wade–Giles: Ch'in Ch'ao) (221 BC - 206 BC) was preceded by the feudal Zhou Dynasty and followed by the Han Dynasty in China. The unification of China in 221 BC under the First Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (or Shih Hwang-Tih) marked the beginning of Imperial China, a period which lasted until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912. The Qin Dynasty left a legacy of a centralized and bureaucratic state that would be carried onto successive dynasties. At the height of its power, the Qin Dynasty had a population of about 40 million people.

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Second Emperor

During his reign Qin Shi Huangdi. During the last trip with his second son Huhai (胡亥) in 210 BC, Qin Shi Huang died suddenly at Shaqiu prefecture. Huhai, under the advice of two high officials — the Imperial Secretariat Li Si(李斯) and the chief eunuch Zhao Gao, forged and altered Emperor's will. The faked decree ordered Qin Shi Huang's first son, the heir Fusu (扶蘇), to commit suicide, instead naming Huhai as the next emperor. The decree also stripped the command of troops from Marshal Meng Tian (蒙恬) — a faithful supporter of Fusu — and sentenced Meng's family to death. Zhao Gao step by step seized the power of Huhai, effectively making Huhai a puppet emperor. Hubai did not care much about Zhao Gao taking over his family 's ruling power, since Huhai cared much more about playing with himself in the palace. From this point on, Qin starts to decline.

Within three years of Qin Shi Huangdi's death, widespread revolts by peasants, prisoners, soldiers, and descendants of the nobles of the Six Warring States sprang up all over China. Chen Sheng (陳勝) and Wu Guang (吳廣), two in a group of about 900 soldiers assigned to defend against the Xiongnu (匈奴), became the leaders of the first revolution by commoners.

Huhai lived to see the Battle of Julu, the major defeat of the Qin army in the hands of the rebels, which marked the end of the Qin Dynasty.

Third Emperor

In the beginning of October 207 BC, Zhao Gao forced Huhai to commit suicide and replaced him with Fusu's son, Ziying (子嬰). Note that the title of Ziying was "king of Qin" to reflect the fact that Qin no longer controlled the whole of China. The Chu-Han contention ensued. Ziying soon killed Zhao Gao and surrendered to Liu Bang (劉邦) in the beginning of December 207 BC. But Liu Bang was forced to hand over Xianyang and Ziying to Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu then killed Ziying and burned down the palace in the end of January 206 BC. It is said the fire lasted two months before the inferno died down. A recent archeology survey of the ruin palace determined it to be roughly the size of Manhattan island of New York City. The palace is supported with thousands of pillars made from prehistoric lumbers growing to up to 115 meters (375 ft) high. One single pillar requires a team of a thousand workers a life time to harvest.[citation needed] Due to the weight and scale of each lumber, cutting the lumber can take weeks if not months, transporting from the prehistoric forest to the lumber mill requires certain weather so the river can be flooded to even move the massive lumber down river. The captain of each team is rewarded with imperial rank, their goal in life is to acquire one of these prehistoric lumber for the construction of the palace. It is said each pillar sacrificed the lives of a hundred men. Xiang Yu's controversial action sets the stage for the legendary battles between Xiang Yu, the warrior king and Liu Bang, the people's king. The Qin dynasty came to an end, three years after the death of Qin Shi Huang, and less than twenty years after it was founded.

Although the Qin Dynasty was short-lived, its legalist rule had a deep impact on later dynasties in China. The imperial system initiated during the Qin dynasty set a pattern that was developed over the next two millennia.

Sovereigns of Qin Dynasty

Note: King Zhaoxiang of Qin (秦昭襄王) had already been ruling Qin for 51 years when Qin annihilated the Zhou Dynasty; however the other six warring states were still independent regimes. Historiographers thus used the next year (the 52nd year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin) as the official continuation from Zhou Dynasty.

Qin Shi Huang was the second Chinese sovereign to proclaim himself "Emperor", after reunifying China in 221 BC. That year is therefore usually taken as the start of the "Qin Dynasty".

Posthumous names / title Chinese family names and given names Period of Reigns
Convention: "Qin" + posthumous name
Zhaoxiang (昭襄 Zhāoxiāng) 嬴稷 yíng jì) 306 BC250 BC
Xiaowen (孝文 Xiàowén) Ying Zhu (嬴柱 yíng zhù) 250 BC
Zhuangxiang (莊襄 Zhuāngxiāng) Ying Zichu (嬴子楚 yíng zi chǔ) 249 BC247 BC
Shi Huangdi (始皇帝 Shǐ Huángdì) Ying Zheng (嬴政 yíng zhèng) 246 BC210 BC
Er Shi Huangdi (二世皇帝 Èr Shì Huángdì) Ying Huhai (嬴胡亥 yíng hú hài) 209 BC207 BC
Ziying was often referred using personal name or

Qin Wang Ziying (秦王子嬰 qín wáng zi yīng)

Did not exist Ying Ziying (嬴子嬰 yíng zi yīng) 207 BC

During the Qin Dynasty, starting with Qin Shi Huang, there were no posthumous names. The title of Shi Huangdi ("Commencing Emperor") and Er Shi Huangdi ("Second Generation Emperor") were used during the rulers' lifetimes.

Preceded by Qin Dynasty
221 – 206 BC
Succeeded by