The Ch'in Empire (221-206 B.C.)

The Ch'in state

The history of the Ch'in dynasty may be traced back to the 8th century BC. When the Chou royal house was reestablished at the eastern capital in 770 BC, the Ch'in ruling house, according to the Ch'in historical record, was entrusted with the mission of maintaining order in the previous capital. This may be an exaggeration of the importance of the Ch'in ruling house, and the Ch'in may have been only one of the ruling families of the old nations who recognized Chou suzerainty and went to serve the Chou court. The record is not clear. In the old annals Ch'in did not appear as a significant power until the time of Mu Kung (reigned 659-621 BC), who made Ch'in the main power in the western part of China. Although Ch'in attempted to obtain a foothold in the central heartland along the Huang Ho, it was blocked by the territories of Chin. After a number of failures to enter the eastern bloc of powers, Ch'in had to limit its activities to conquering, absorbing, and incorporating the non-Chinese tribes and states scattered within and west of the big loop of the Huang Ho. Ch'in's success in this was duly recognized by other powers of the Ch'un-ch'iu period, so that the two superpowers Ch'u and Chin had to grant Ch'in, along with Ch'i, the status of overlord in its own region. The eastern powers, however, regarded Ch'in as a "barbarian" state because of the non-Chinese elements it contained.

Ch'in played only a supporting role in the Ch'un-ch'iu power struggle; its location made it immune to the cutthroat competition of the states in the central plain. Ch'in, in fact, was the only major power that did not suffer battle within its own territory. Moreover, being a newly emerged state, Ch'in did not have the burden of a long-established feudal system; this allowed it more freedom to develop its own pattern of government. As a result of being "underdeveloped," it offered opportunity for eastern-educated persons; with the infusion of such talent, it was able to compete very well with the eastern powers, yet without the overexpanded ministerial apparatus that embarrassed other rulers. This may be one reason why Ch'in was one of the very few ruling houses that survived the great turmoil of the late Ch'un-ch'iu period.

A period of silence followed. Even the Ch'in historical record that was adopted by the historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien yields almost no information for a period of some 90 years in the 5th century BC. The evidence suggests that Ch'in underwent a period of consolidation and assimilation during the years of silence. When it reemerged as an important power, its culture appeared to be simpler and more martial, perhaps because of the non-Chinese tribes it had absorbed.

Struggle for power

Until the 5th century BC China was dominated by the central-plain power Wei, a successor to Chin, and by the eastern power Ch'i, a wealthy state with a new ruling house. Ch'in remained a secondary power until after the great reforms of Hsiao Kung (361-338 BC) and Shang Yang (Wei Yang).

Shang Yang, a frustrated bureaucrat in the court of Wei, went westward seeking a chance to try out his ideas. In the court of Ch'in he established a rare partnership with the ruler Hsiao Kung in the creation of the best organized state of their time. Shang Yang first took strong measures to establish the authority of law and royal decree. The law was to be enforced impartially, without regard to status or position. He convinced Hsiao Kung that the rank of nobility and the privileges attached to it should be awarded only to those who rendered good service to the state, especially for valour in battle. This deprived the existing nobility of their titles and privileges, arousing much antagonism in the court.

One of his most influential reforms was the standardization of local administration. It was a step toward creating a unified state by combining various localities into counties, which were then organized into prefectures under direct supervision of the court. This system was expanded to all China after unification in 221 BC.

Another measure taken by Shang Yang was the encouragement of production, especially in agriculture. Farmers were given incentive to reclaim wasteland; game and fishing reserves were also opened to cultivation. A shortage of labour was met by recruiting able-bodied men from neighbouring states, especially from Han, Chao, and Wei. This policy of drawing workers to Ch'in had two consequences: an increase of production in Ch'in and a loss of manpower in the neighbouring states. In order to increase incentives, the Ch'in government levied a double tax on any male citizen who was not the master of a household. The result was a breakdown of the extended-family system, since younger children were forced to move out and establish their own households. The nuclear family became the prevalent form in Ch'in thereafter. As late as the 2nd century BC, Han scholars were still attacking the Ch'in family structure as failing to observe the principle of filial piety, a cardinal virtue in the Confucian moral code. Shang Yang also standardized the system of weights and measures, a reform of some importance for the development of trade and commerce.

Under the joint labours of Hsiao Kung and Shang Yang, Ch'in grew wealthy and powerful. After Hsiao Kung's death, Shang Yang was put to death by enemies at the Ch'in court. Tablets of the Ch'in law substantiate the survival of Shang Yang's policies after his death.

What remained of the Chou royal court still survived, ruling over a fragmentary domain: poor, weak, and totally at the mercy of the contending powers. It was commonly felt that China ought to be unified politically, although the powers disagreed as to how it was to be done and on who was to be the universal king. Hui-wang, son of Hsiao Kung, claimed the royal title in 325 BC. The adoption of the royal title by Ch'in, of course, was a challenge to Ch'i and Wei. Ch'in pursued a strategy of dividing its rivals and individually defeating them. Ch'in appealed to the self-interest of other powers in order to keep them from intervening in a military action it was taking against one of its neighbours. It befriended the more distant states while gradually absorbing the territories of those close to it.

Within half a century, Ch'in had acquired undisputed predominance over the other contending powers. It continued maneuvering in order to prevent the others from uniting against it. A common topic of debate in the courts of the other states was whether to establish friendly relations with Ch'in or to join with other states in order to resist Ch'in's expansion. The Ch'in strategists were ruthless: all means, including lies, espionage, bribery, and assassination, were pressed into the service of their state.

For a time the eastern power Ch'i had seemed the most likely to win. It defeated Wei, crushed Yen in 314 BC, and annexed Sung in 286 BC. But Ch'i was overturned by an allied force of five states, including Ch'in. Chao, the power with extensive territory in the northern frontier, succeeded Ch'i as the most formidable contender against Ch'in. In 260 BC a decisive battle between Ch'in and Chao destroyed Chao's military strength, although Ch'in was not able to complete its conquest of Chao for several decades.

The empire

When Ch'in succeeded in unifying China in 221 BC, its king claimed the title of first sovereign emperor, Shih huang-ti. He was a strong and energetic ruler, and, although he appointed a number of capable aides, the emperor remained the final authority and the sole source of power.

Shih huang-ti made a number of important reforms. He abolished the feudal system completely and extended the administration system of prefectures and counties, with officials appointed by the central government sent into all of China. Circuit inspectors were dispatched to oversee the local magistrates. China was divided into some 40 prefectures. The empire of Shih huang-ti was to become the traditional territory of China. In later eras China sometimes held other territories, but the Ch'in boundaries were always considered to embrace the indivisible area of China proper. In order to control this vast area, Shih huang-ti constructed a network of highways for the movement of his troops. Several hundred thousand workers were conscripted to connect and strengthen the existing walls along the northern border. The result was a complex of fortified walls, garrison stations, and signal towers extending from the Po Hai (Gulf of Chihli) westward across the pastureland of what is today Inner Mongolia and through the fertile loop of the Huang Ho to the edge of Tibet. This defense line, known as the Great Wall, marked the frontier where the nomads of the great steppe and the Chinese farmers on the loess soil confronted each other. Yet the Emperor failed in another great project, the digging of a canal across the mountains in the south to link the southern coastal areas with the main body of China. Shih huang-ti, with his capable chancellor Li Ssu, also unified and simplified the writing system and codified the law.

All China felt the burden of these 11 or 12 years of change. Millions of men were dragooned to the huge construction jobs, many dying on the long journey to their destination. Rich and influential men in the provinces were compelled to move to the capital. Weapons were confiscated. Hundreds of intellectuals were massacred for daring to criticize the Emperor's policies. Books dealing with subjects other than law, horticulture, and herbal medicine were kept out of public circulation because the Emperor considered such knowledge to be dangerous and unsettling. These things have contributed to make Shih huang-ti appear the archtyrant of Chinese history.

Some of the accusations leveled against him by historians are perhaps exaggerated, such as the burning of books and the indiscriminate massacre of intellectuals. Shih huang-ti himself claimed in the stone inscriptions of his time that he had corrected the misconduct of a corrupted age and given the people peace and order. Indeed, his political philosophy did not deviate much from that already developed by the great thinkers of the Chan-kuo period and adopted later by the Han emperors, who have been generally regarded as benevolent rulers. Shih huang-ti was afraid of death. He did everything possible to achieve immortality. Deities were propitiated, and messengers were dispatched to look for an elixir of life. He died in 210/209 BC while on a tour of the empire. Excavation of his tomb, near modern Sian (ancient Ch'ang-an), revealed more than 6,000 life-sized statues of soldiers still on guard.

His death led to the fall of his dynasty. The legitimate heir was compelled to commit suicide when his younger brother usurped the throne. Capable and loyal servants, including Li Ssu and Gen. Meng T'ien, were put to death. Ehr-shih ti, the second emperor, reigned only four years. Rebellion broke out in the Yangtze River area when a small group of conscripts led by a peasant killed their escort officers and claimed sovereignty for the former state of Ch'u. The uprising spread rapidly as old ruling elements of the six states rose to claim their former titles. Escaped conscripts and soldiers who had been hiding everywhere emerged in large numbers to attack the Imperial armies. The second emperor was killed by a powerful eunuch minister, and in 206 BC a rebel leader accepted the surrender of the last Ch'in prince. (Encyclopaedia Britannica Article)