Unification Under the Qin Dynasty: The Idea of China is
Born
by Ted Thornton, Oak Meadow School Social Studies
Terracotta Warriors, 3rd c. BCE, near Xian
Historical Note
221-206 BCE — Qin Dynasty and Emperor Qin Shihuangdi: Many credit Emperor
Qin with conceiving the idea of China as we know it and creating it through unification of the
warring states. He did it employing a mix of autocracy, terror, censorship, and what has been
described as a “Machiavellian” exercise of power (“the ends justify the means”). Qin’s China
was an unabashedly totalitarian state. Construction of Great Wall began under his reign. In
addition, Qin embarked upon a campaign to standardize weights and measures. Qin died in
210 BCE and was buried in a tomb along with his terracotta army (see above). The dynasty
quickly collapsed four years later in 206 BCE with the overthrow of Qin’s son, Li Si.
The Great Wall
In The Book of the Lord Shang, written by a government official, we gain a picture of Qin’s
philosophy of governance (which he aptly and simply called “Legalism.”)
Excerpts:
“Kung-sun Yang’s law says: ‘Punish severely light crimes. People do not easily commit
serious crimes, but light offences are easily abandoned by people. To cause people to
abandon what they regard as easy and not to stay away from what they think difficult, is the
way of good government. Now, if small offences do not arise, big crimes will not come and
thus people will commit no crimes and disorder will not arise….
A state where uniformity of purpose has been established for one year, will be strong for ten
years; where uniformity of purpose has been established for ten years, it will be strong for a
hundred years, where uniformity of purpose has been established for a hundred years, it will
be strong for a thousand years; and a state which has been strong for a thousand years will
attain supremacy…
The things which the people desire are innumerable, but that from which they benefit is one
and the same thing. Unless the people be made one, there is no way to make them attain
their desire. Therefore, they are unified; as a result of this unification, their strength is
consolidated, and in consequence of this consolidation, they are strong; if, being strong, they
are made use of, they are doubly strong. Therefore, a country that knows how to produce
strength and how to reduce it is said to be one that attacks the enemy, and is sure to become
strong. It bars all private roads for gratifying their ambition, and opens only one gate through
which they can attain their desire; thus, without doubt, it can make the people first do what
they hate, in order thereafter, to reach what they desire; and so their strength will be great. If
their strength is great, but not made use of, ambition is gratified; and this being so, there will
be private interest and in consequence there will be weakness…
It is necessary to examine this: if you establish what people delight in, then they will suffer
from what they dislike; but if you establish what the people dislike, they will be happy in
what they enjoy.”
J. J.-L. DUYVENDAK . The Book of Lord Shang
http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/duyvendak_jjl/B25_book_of_lord_shang/duyvlord.pdf
Accessed: July 22, 2012
Rhoads Murphey comments:
“The Qin believed firmly that their new order was progress; they had a visionary conviction
that they were creating a better society. The parallels with Communist China were striking,
and indeed Qin Shi Huang Di was praised as a model during the Cultural Revolution in the
late 1960s. Sacrifice for an inspiring national goal has its own appeal; the end is seen to
justify the means, including treachery, cruelty, and inhumanity toward the people, who are
nevertheless seen as supposedly the beneficiaries of the new order.”
Rhoads Murphey. A History of Asia (Fifth edition).New York: Pearson-Longman, 2006, p.
100
Photographs: Ted Thornton (March, 2007)