Qin dynasty

Qin 秦
221 BC–206 BC
Heirloom Seal of the Realm
Territory controlled by the Qin dynasty c. 210 BC
Capital	Xianyang
Common languages	Old Chinese
Government	Absolute monarchy
Emperor
• 221–210 BC	Qin Shi Huang
• 210–207 BC	Qin Er Shi
Chancellor
• 221–208 BC	Li Si
• 208–207 BC	Zhao Gao
Historical era	Imperial
• Accession of Qin Shi Huang	221 BC
• Death of Qin Shi Huang	210 BC
• Surrender to Liu Bang	206 BC
Area
220 BC[1]	2,300,000 km2 (890,000 sq mi)
Currency	Ban Liang
Preceded by Succeeded by Zhou dynasty Qin (state) Eighteen Kingdoms Han dynasty Nanyue
Today part of	China

Qin dynasty
"Qin" in seal script (top) and regular (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese	秦
Hanyu Pinyin	Qín
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qín Bopomofo ㄑㄧㄣˊ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Chyn Wade–Giles Chʻin2[2] Tongyong Pinyin Cín Yale Romanization Chín IPA [tɕʰǐn] Wu Romanization Zin Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Chèuhn Jyutping Ceon4 IPA [tsʰɵn˩] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Chîn Tâi-lô Tsîn Old Chinese Baxter–Sagart (2014) *[dz]i[n]

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The Qin dynasty (/tʃɪn/^[3][4]) was the first dynasty of Imperial China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, which was a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty which had endured for over five centuries—until 221 BC, when it assumed an imperial prerogative following its complete conquest of its rival states, a state of affairs that lasted until its collapse in 206 BC.^[5] It was formally established after the conquests in 221 BC, when Ying Zheng, who had become king of the Qin state in 246, declared himself to be "Shi Huangdi", the first emperor.

Qin was a minor power for the early centuries of its existence. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the reforms of Shang Yang in the fourth century BC, during the Warring States period. In the mid and late third century BC, the Qin state carried out a series of swift conquests, destroying the powerless Zhou dynasty and eventually conquering the other six of the Seven Warring States. Its 15-year duration was the shortest major dynasty in Chinese history, with only two emperors. Despite its short existence, the legacy of Qin strategies in military and administrative affairs shaped the consummate Han dynasty that followed, ultimately becoming seen as the originator of an imperial system that lasted from 221 BC with interruption, evolution, and adaptation through to the Xinhai Revolution in 1911.

The Qin sought to create a state unified by structured centralized political power and a large military supported by a stable economy.^[6] The central government moved to undercut aristocrats and landowners to gain direct administrative control over the peasantry, who comprised the overwhelming majority of the population and labour force. This allowed ambitious projects involving three hundred thousand peasants and convicts: projects such as connecting walls along the northern border, eventually developing into the Great Wall of China, and a massive new national road system, as well as the city-sized Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor guarded by the life-sized Terracotta Army.^[7]

The Qin introduced a range of reforms such as standardized currency, weights, measures and a uniform system of writing, which aimed to unify the state and promote commerce. Additionally, its military used the most recent weaponry, transportation and tactics, though the government was heavy-handed and bureaucratic. Qin created a system of administering people and land that greatly increased the power of the government to transform environment, and it has been argued that the subsequent impact of this system on East Asia's environments makes the rise of Qin an important event in China's environmental history.

When the first emperor died in 210 BC, two of his advisors placed an heir on the throne in an attempt to influence and control the administration of the dynasty. These advisors squabbled among themselves, resulting in both of their deaths and that of the second Qin Emperor. Popular revolt broke out and the weakened empire soon fell to a Chu general, Xiang Yu, who was proclaimed Hegemon-King of Western Chu, and Liu Bang, who founded the Han dynasty. Han Confucians portrayed the Qin dynasty as a monolithic, legalist tyranny, notably citing a purge known as the burning of books and burying of scholars. But its account first appears in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. Some modern scholars dispute its veracity.^[8]