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Qin Dynasty
Learn Chinese - History and Culture

         
Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.)

In 221 B.C., Ying Zheng (yíng zhèng 嬴政), ruler of the State of Qin (qín guó 秦国) and a man of great talent and bold vision, ended the 250-odd years of rivalry among the independent principalities during the Warring States Period (zhàn guó shí qī 战国时期), and established the first centralized, unified, multi-ethnic feudal state in Chinese history — the Qin Dynasty (qín cháo 秦朝, 221-206 B.C.).

He called himself Qin Shi Huang (qín shǐ huáng 秦始皇) or "First Emperor of Qin." He standardized the written script, weights and measures, and currencies, and established the system of prefectures and counties. The sovereigns of the next 2,000-odd years followed the feudal governmental structure established by him. He mobilized more than 300,000 people over a period of a dozen years to build the Great Wall (cháng chéng 长城), which stretches for 5,000 km in north China. Qin Shi Huang had the work on his enormous mausoleum started early in his reign. When they were unearthed in 1974 in Xi'an (xī 'ān 西安), the terracotta warriors (bīng mǎ yǒng 兵马俑) of the "underground army" of some 8,000 vivid, life-sized pottery figures, horses and chariots guarding the mausoleum at the Qin Shi Huang tomb site amazed the world.


秦始皇(公元前259—前210年)和他的帝国

      公元前221年,秦始皇嬴政结束了长达250多年诸侯纷争的战国时期,建立了中国历史上第一个统一的、中央集权的多民族封建国家——秦。秦始皇统一了文字,统一了度量衡,统一了货币,建立了郡县制度。由他奠定的封建国家框架在以后的2000多年中一直被人们沿用着。他在十几年的时间里组织30多万人在中国北部修建了绵延5000公里的长城,并生前就开始修筑庞大的坟墓。1974年发现的、守护秦始皇陵的秦兵马俑震惊了世界。8000个如真人大小的陶俑、陶马和战车栩栩如生,被誉为“世界第八大奇迹”。

 

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