Lesson 17:The First Emperor

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

y Ann Siano
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS: 4 Joe LeMonnier / Melissa Turk; 5, 10 Ron Himler c /o Kirchoff/Wohlberg
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Cover © Private Collection / The Bridgeman Art Library; 1 Getty; 2 © dk / Alamy; 3 © Private
Collection / The Bridgeman Art Library; 6–7 © Getty; 9 © Gavin Hellier / Alamy; 11 © Keren Su / China Span / Alamy;
12–13 © Keren Su/China Span / Alamy; 14 © Jose Fuste Raga / Corbis; 9, 11 (bkgrnd) PhotoDisc / Background Series;
Bkgrnd PhotoDisc / Background Series
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A Boy King
Over two thousand years ago, there were seven
distinct kingdoms that made up ancient China. These
kingdoms fought constantly with each other.
In 246 b.c.e., a young boy became the king of
Qin (chin), the strongest kingdom. He was only
thirteen years old, but already he had big plans. He
not only wanted to rule his country, but all the others
around him as well. So, he set out to conquer the world!
He led a fierce army into battle after battle. His
soldiers numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Most
belonged to the infantry. These foot soldiers looked
like waves of the ocean when they marched onto the
field. The cavalry officers on small, sturdy horses rode
beside them.
Some of the
soldiers wore
armor made of small,
linked squares of iron
or leather. Most dressed in
simple tunics. They all carried
weapons.
The Chinese were the first
to invent the crossbow.
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Infantry with crossbows would
precede the other soldiers. Their short
heavy arrows caused panic among the
enemy. Then the rest of the infantry
charged. These soldiers fought handto-hand
combat with bronze swords
or halberds. These were sharp
blades on poles. Meanwhile,
the cavalry raced all over
the battlefield, attacking
wherever possible.
The king of Qin
would become
China’s first emperor.
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A United Kingdom
By 221 b.c.e., the king was the ruler of all of
China. It had taken him over twenty years, but he had
done it! His work was not finished yet, however. China
was big. Mountains, deserts, river valleys, and plains
separated parts of it from each other.
How could he unify his empire? How would he keep
order? These were the challenges facing Qin Shihuang
(chin shir hwong), the first emperor of China.
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Farmers worked from dawn to dusk. They pedaled a machine
to move water uphill to their fields.
Building China’s Foundations
For many years before Qin Shihuang rose to
power, a feudal (FYOOD uhl) system had been in
place. Under feudalism, nobles owned great tracts of
land. Peasants farmed it for them. Nobles were loyal
to their king. Peasants were loyal to the nobles.
Qin Shihuang wanted the Chinese people to be
loyal only to him. So, he forced the nobles to move to
the capital city. They were not pleased about this at all!
The peasants remained on the land.
5

They farmed as before. Instead of paying their
taxes to the local lords, however, they paid them to the
emperor’s officials.
Then Qin Shihuang divided China into districts. He
chose a governor to supervise each one. The governors
reported back to him. This gave him total control.
Just to make sure that no one thought about
rebelling, Qin Shihuang also collected all of the
weapons. Only his soldiers could keep theirs.
According to one account, he had the rest melted
down to form huge bells and statues.
But, remember, these were the days long before
cell phones and the Internet! Qin Shihuang had to
figure out how to keep in touch with all parts of his
huge empire. He also needed to move goods and
soldiers around. He decided to build a network of
roads. Of course, he did not do any of the labor.
The Great Wall
of China
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Peasants did it for him. Thousands upon thousands
of men had to leave their farms and travel miles away
to work for the emperor. Many never returned home.
A Complex Man
Qin Shihuang’s character was full of
contradictions. He had been a brave military leader.
Yet now, as a powerful emperor, he had many fears. He
worried that if people learned new ideas, they would
revolt. To stop this from happening, he destroyed
entire libraries of books. He also killed hundreds of
scholars because they criticized the way he ruled. Soon,
no one dared speak out against the emperor.
Qin Shihuang was also afraid of invaders. He built
a great wall to protect the northern border. Several
short walls already existed. He had workers join them
together. They also added watchtowers.
7

This great wall took thousands of men many years
to construct. In some places, they had to make the
wall out of gravel, water, and twigs. Other parts were
carved out of rock or made of packed earth. Laborers
suffered through bitter cold winters and worked under
terrible conditions. Because so many died and are
buried next to the Great Wall, it is sometimes called
“the longest graveyard in the world.”
An Emperor’s Fears
Qin Shihuang’s greatest fear was death. He sent
groups to look for mythical potions that might help
him live forever. Of course, these did not exist. He
also forced workers to build him an elaborate tomb.
This tomb looked like a royal city, only underground.
It covered over 20 square miles. It was stocked with
everything the emperor might need in the afterlife. It
even held clay replicas of his soldiers. Remarkably, it
remained hidden until 1974.
When Qin Shihuang died in 210 b.c.e., some of
his other fears came true, too. The empire fell apart.
Civil war broke out. This ended only when another
strong leader, Liu Bang (loo bawng), defeated his
opponents. His reign began the Han Dynasty.
8

Ancient China
475 B.C.E.
Seven states fight
to rule China.
206 B.C.E.
The Han Dynasty begins.
551 B.C.E.
Confucius is born.
221 B.C.E.
Qin Shihuang unifies China.
Some great leaders have cruel temperaments.
Qin Shihuang was one such leader. His methods may
have been harsh, but they unified China. Before Qin
Shihuang, people thought of themselves as belonging
to the state of Qin or Wei (way) or Chu. Afterwards,
they thought of themselves as Chinese. This is part of
the legacy he left to later dynasties.
A New Era Begins
The first emperor of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang,
was not born a king. He was a peasant. He was not well
educated or very dignified. He used rude language.
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He didn’t sit on his throne when he met with advisors.
Instead, he crouched on the floor, peasant-style. But,
Liu Bang was smart. He knew that Qin Shihuang’s
strong central government was good for China.
In fact, he and later Han emperors improved the
government by creating a civil service. Under this
system, men who wanted an official job had to take
tests. Those who did the best were hired.
The Han leaders also tried to follow the teachings
of Confucius (kuhn FYOO shuhs). Centuries before,
this philosopher had advised rulers to act like fathers
to their subjects. As a result, the lives of the common
people under the Han emperors improved somewhat.
Only the most qualified
candidates passed the
civil service test.
10

Confucius
The most influential philosopher in Chinese history
was born over 2,500 years ago. Confucius worked in
government positions throughout his life. But, he
attracted followers because of his teachings.
One of his strongest beliefs was in the
value of education. He felt that learning
about classical subjects helped build
people’s character.
He also thought that certain rules
of behavior should be followed in
relationships. For example, children
should respect their fathers. Fathers
should act wisely on behalf
of their children. These
ideas applied to rulers
and subjects as well.
Confucius believed
that proper relationships
formed the basis
of order in society.
Confucius is known as
one of the greatest
teachers who ever lived.
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Opening Up to the Outside World
Unlike Qin Shihuang, the Han emperors did
not fear the outside world. They began to trade
with other countries. The Chinese held the secret of
making lustrous, shimmering silk. They wove it from
the cocoons of silkworms. Many people wanted this
material, no matter how much it cost! Huge bolts
of silk were shipped to Indians, Romans, Arabs, and
others. In return, the Chinese received gold, silver,
and wool.
Merchants and camels laden with goods traveled
to and from China by way of the Silk Roads. These
were rough roads or paths that stretched for over
4,000 miles. They wound through deserts and over
mountains from China to the Mediterranean region.
The Silk Roads also brought the Chinese into
contact with the ideas of other people. Their years of
isolation were over. One result was that the Buddhist
religion spread from India to China. It became an
important part of Chinese culture.
Silk Road, Xinjiang Province
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About 8,000 terra cotta soldiers guard
the tomb of Qin Shihuang.
Part of History
Throughout time, the Chinese kept accurate
records of what happened and what they did. The
work of archaeologists also provides us with a great
deal of information about China. They continue to
excavate sites that have been discovered in recent
decades. From the items they dig up, we can see how
the ancient Chinese lived and what they valued.
So why is it important to learn about people from
long ago? Knowing about the past can help us to
understand the present. The past is an earlier chapter
of an ongoing history of the world. And it is not
finished yet! We still have our own chapters to write.
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Responding
TARGET VOCABULARY Word Builder Make
a word web around the word elaborate. What
words do you know that have the same meaning?
Copy the diagram and add more words.
decorate ?
elaborate
? ?
Write About It
Text to Self Write a paragraph explaining how
the emperor’s lifestyle was different from the
lives of his subjects. Include two words from the
Word Builder in your explanation.
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TARGET VOCABULARY
archaeologists
dignified
distinct
elaborate
excavate
lustrous
mythical
precede
replicas
temperaments
TARGET STRATEGY Question Ask questions
about a selection before you read, as you read, and
after you read.
A unicorn is an example of a
________ creature.
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Level: W
DRA: 60
Social Studies
Strategy:
Question
Word Count: 1,619
6.4.17 Build Vocabulary
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