Emperor Shi Huangdi Research Paper
Name: Cherry Chu
“Emperor Shi Huangdi or Emperor Hadrian:
Who kept control of their Empire most effectively?”
Shi Huangdi, China’s first Emperor, and Emperor Hadrian, perhaps the Roman’s greatest Emperor, both tried to control their empires they succeeded. They used various methods such as building roads for ease of travelling, training a strong army with clever military tactics, building frontiers to keep out invaders, dividing their country into different states and introducing government systems with officials to look after the state. Each head of official of the state would report back to the central government under the emperor and many other ways. Above all, Emperor Shi Huangdi was the most effective in controlling his empire …show more content…
in that he also managed to create magnificent and enormous construction projects, inflicting both incredible cultural and intellectual growth within China during the time he ruled.
Shi Huangdi had a useful crew which includes the merchant, Lu Buwei who helped him very much in building his empire. Qin’s methods were very harsh and cruel. If somebody broke a law, that person and all of his relatives would be completely executed. Shi used ways which were very straight of ruling and even burnt books which oppose his government or that he didn’t agree with. Ordinary people obeyed the emperor but there were still some scholars who criticized him, so Shi Huangdi buried alive the scholars in order to avoid their criticism and rule the empire much easier. Shi did not indeed quite care about the opinions and ideas of his people although listening to them could sometimes be benefit to the country. Hadrian on the other hand, was kind and he gave rewards to people who did well. He got rid of old laws that were cruel such as masters killing slaves. He travelled around his empire to be with his people to see their problems. He made many different kinds of weapons and buildings and he even built houses for his people! After comparing these two Emperors, I think that Emperor Hadrian was a better Emperor because he kept his country in control by generosity but didn’t need to fear his people and wasn’t any worse than Emperor Shi Huangdi.
The Roman and Chinese armies were both useful in helping the Emperors to keep control of the country. For example, all Roman citizens that are physically fit and 1.6m tall were expected to stay in the army for 16 years and they were mostly volunteers, not conscripts; while Qin used Conscription, which was a system that would force people to serve in the army. All males who reached the age of 23 would be conscripted in the army. Besides, the Roman army was divided groups of 5000 men under the command of the Legate. Legionaries wore the same basic armour, must be born roman citizens, and receiving the pension on retirement after serving in the army for 20 years; Similarly, the Chinese army was divided into five soldiers formed a unit called Wu, and was led by a Captain called Wuzhang; one hundred soldiers formed a battalion called Zu, and was commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel called Zuzhang. Moreover, most people in the Roman Army fought with a sword and a short spear; the Chinese used bow, crossbow, spear, dagger axe, sword, halberd, armour and axe. These were made by bronze. Furthermore, the Roman Army, conquered what we now call England/Wales, Spain, France, most of Germany, the northern coast of Africa, the Middle East and Greece. The Qin army managed to kill 1.6 million soldiers from the 6 states in their expansion war, and unified the 7 states into one country: Qin. I think the Chinese Army was the best because Shi Huangdi managed to unify the 7 kingdoms of China into a whole – he was intelligent and had used smart techniques when dealing with his army.
The transport networks were important in helping to keep control of the empire. Shi Huangdi had built 6800 km of new roads and made the roads wider for heavy carts during his eleven years’ reign as Emperor. He also ordered to build five major road, “Speedways” linking the capital of China to the North, North- east, East, South-east of the Empire together with the Canals being built to improve long distance transport. In comparison, the Romans had built 5984 km of roads in their empire between 50 BC and 150 AD, The Roman roads were famous for their running straight in long stretches. The roads were built by digging two ditches on either side of the road and stones were then laid down until they formed a hard surface that could take the weight of heavy carts. The surface was then shaped into a camber so that rain water would run off into the ditches. The Roman built good roads so that they could move quickly to areas of trouble and the orders could be sent to the soldiers stationed far away. Supplies of food and weapons to the soldiers could be made easily. This could mean more trade and thus more taxes for the Emperor during the time of peace. In all, the Chinese roads were of nine carriage width roads which were a lot larger than those of the Roman roads and Shi Huangdi has indeed a better and effective transport network in comparing to the Roman Emperor.
Keeping control of the frontiers of the Empires was important because both empires needed strong defense in order to defend invaders effectively. Both emperors built a wall as their strongest frontier. In the AD 120s, the Emperor Hadrian ordered the building of a wall stretching from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the East to Bowness on the Solway Firth in the west. The Wall ran for 117 km. It was used as frontier control separating the Romans from the Barbarians and defend the people from the northern attacker in Scotland. The whole wall was built of stone by soldiers and it took 6 years to build from AD 122 to AD 128. The wall itself was 4.75m high and 3 m, wide.Similarly, early in 221 BC, Shi Huangdi also strengthened and extended the walls previously established by the former Kings to build a single Great Wall of China. This wall was roughly 4.100km long. It linked previous frontier fortresses and stretched across wild country. The Wall was made of stones and clay with watch towers every 200 metres to alert an enemy’s invasion. The width of the Wall could carry 2 chariots side by side or 8 men marching together. The Great Wall was built with human power and thousands were forced to work using only buckets and ropes in the cold North, but many died in the end. Comparing these two walls, the Great Wall is really magnificent. It is long and successfully defended the northern invaders – Xiongnu. It’s even longer than Earth’s diameter!
Other factors that helped in keeping control of the empire include economy, money, systemizing, division, identification etc., and these are all related to the reforms made by both emperors.
Hadrian changed the law so that a bankrupt would be flogged in the amphitheater and then released. He made the baths separate for men and women. He restored many building, including the pantheon, and moved Nero 's colossus. Hadrian created the post of treasury counsel and when he traveled to other cities, he implemented public works projects. He also granted Latin rights to many communities and took away their obligation to pay tribute. On the other hands, Shi Huangdi standardized the Chinese units of measure such as weights, measurements, and currency. The currency of different states was also standardized to Ban liang coin. Further, the Chinese script was unified and the seal script of the state of Qin was standardized. This seal script was thus made as the single official language for all of China. Shi Huangdi also eliminated hundreds of schools of thought, including Confucian ideologies. As a result, he created legalism as the universal ideology in China. Shi Huangdi made a lot of different changes to improve the lives of people in his empire and went even further than Emperor Hadrian, I think he had managed the country more effectively with a wide range of different reforms and
changes.
Shi Huangdi was more effective at gaining and keeping control of his empire than Emperor Hadrian because Shi Huangdi had made a much larger step and had contributed quite a lot to the Ancient Chinese. While Emperor Hadrian reformed his empire quite effectively with different laws for his people, Shi Huangdi had made even more improvements to his empire which include wide range of reforms on money, writing (characters), laws and currency, roads, education, language, economy and business, cultural developments etc. His greatest achievement was the unification of China for the first time ever after conquering the seven kingdoms in 221BC. This proved that he was a clever as well as a strong leader. However the aggressiveness of Qin made the people in his empire work really hard although he made China a powerful and wealthy country at the time.
Word count: 1, 500
Bibliography:
(BB) Imperial China, Carol Gleisner, OUP, 1993
(YB) Imerpial China, Josh Brooman, Longman Group 1991 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/hadrian/p/Hadrian.htm http://asianhistory.about.com/od/profilesofasianleaders/p/qinshihungbio.htm
“Emperor Shi Huangdi or Emperor Hadrian:
Who kept control of their Empire most effectively?”
Shi Huangdi, China’s first Emperor, and Emperor Hadrian, perhaps the Roman’s greatest Emperor, both tried to control their empires they succeeded. They used various methods such as building roads for ease of travelling, training a strong army with clever military tactics, building frontiers to keep out invaders, dividing their country into different states and introducing government systems with officials to look after the state. Each head of official of the state would report back to the central government under the emperor and many other ways. Above all, Emperor Shi Huangdi was the most effective in controlling his empire …show more content…
in that he also managed to create magnificent and enormous construction projects, inflicting both incredible cultural and intellectual growth within China during the time he ruled.
Shi Huangdi had a useful crew which includes the merchant, Lu Buwei who helped him very much in building his empire. Qin’s methods were very harsh and cruel. If somebody broke a law, that person and all of his relatives would be completely executed. Shi used ways which were very straight of ruling and even burnt books which oppose his government or that he didn’t agree with. Ordinary people obeyed the emperor but there were still some scholars who criticized him, so Shi Huangdi buried alive the scholars in order to avoid their criticism and rule the empire much easier. Shi did not indeed quite care about the opinions and ideas of his people although listening to them could sometimes be benefit to the country. Hadrian on the other hand, was kind and he gave rewards to people who did well. He got rid of old laws that were cruel such as masters killing slaves. He travelled around his empire to be with his people to see their problems. He made many different kinds of weapons and buildings and he even built houses for his people! After comparing these two Emperors, I think that Emperor Hadrian was a better Emperor because he kept his country in control by generosity but didn’t need to fear his people and wasn’t any worse than Emperor Shi Huangdi.
The Roman and Chinese armies were both useful in helping the Emperors to keep control of the country. For example, all Roman citizens that are physically fit and 1.6m tall were expected to stay in the army for 16 years and they were mostly volunteers, not conscripts; while Qin used Conscription, which was a system that would force people to serve in the army. All males who reached the age of 23 would be conscripted in the army. Besides, the Roman army was divided groups of 5000 men under the command of the Legate. Legionaries wore the same basic armour, must be born roman citizens, and receiving the pension on retirement after serving in the army for 20 years; Similarly, the Chinese army was divided into five soldiers formed a unit called Wu, and was led by a Captain called Wuzhang; one hundred soldiers formed a battalion called Zu, and was commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel called Zuzhang. Moreover, most people in the Roman Army fought with a sword and a short spear; the Chinese used bow, crossbow, spear, dagger axe, sword, halberd, armour and axe. These were made by bronze. Furthermore, the Roman Army, conquered what we now call England/Wales, Spain, France, most of Germany, the northern coast of Africa, the Middle East and Greece. The Qin army managed to kill 1.6 million soldiers from the 6 states in their expansion war, and unified the 7 states into one country: Qin. I think the Chinese Army was the best because Shi Huangdi managed to unify the 7 kingdoms of China into a whole – he was intelligent and had used smart techniques when dealing with his army.
The transport networks were important in helping to keep control of the empire. Shi Huangdi had built 6800 km of new roads and made the roads wider for heavy carts during his eleven years’ reign as Emperor. He also ordered to build five major road, “Speedways” linking the capital of China to the North, North- east, East, South-east of the Empire together with the Canals being built to improve long distance transport. In comparison, the Romans had built 5984 km of roads in their empire between 50 BC and 150 AD, The Roman roads were famous for their running straight in long stretches. The roads were built by digging two ditches on either side of the road and stones were then laid down until they formed a hard surface that could take the weight of heavy carts. The surface was then shaped into a camber so that rain water would run off into the ditches. The Roman built good roads so that they could move quickly to areas of trouble and the orders could be sent to the soldiers stationed far away. Supplies of food and weapons to the soldiers could be made easily. This could mean more trade and thus more taxes for the Emperor during the time of peace. In all, the Chinese roads were of nine carriage width roads which were a lot larger than those of the Roman roads and Shi Huangdi has indeed a better and effective transport network in comparing to the Roman Emperor.
Keeping control of the frontiers of the Empires was important because both empires needed strong defense in order to defend invaders effectively. Both emperors built a wall as their strongest frontier. In the AD 120s, the Emperor Hadrian ordered the building of a wall stretching from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the East to Bowness on the Solway Firth in the west. The Wall ran for 117 km. It was used as frontier control separating the Romans from the Barbarians and defend the people from the northern attacker in Scotland. The whole wall was built of stone by soldiers and it took 6 years to build from AD 122 to AD 128. The wall itself was 4.75m high and 3 m, wide.Similarly, early in 221 BC, Shi Huangdi also strengthened and extended the walls previously established by the former Kings to build a single Great Wall of China. This wall was roughly 4.100km long. It linked previous frontier fortresses and stretched across wild country. The Wall was made of stones and clay with watch towers every 200 metres to alert an enemy’s invasion. The width of the Wall could carry 2 chariots side by side or 8 men marching together. The Great Wall was built with human power and thousands were forced to work using only buckets and ropes in the cold North, but many died in the end. Comparing these two walls, the Great Wall is really magnificent. It is long and successfully defended the northern invaders – Xiongnu. It’s even longer than Earth’s diameter!
Other factors that helped in keeping control of the empire include economy, money, systemizing, division, identification etc., and these are all related to the reforms made by both emperors.
Hadrian changed the law so that a bankrupt would be flogged in the amphitheater and then released. He made the baths separate for men and women. He restored many building, including the pantheon, and moved Nero 's colossus. Hadrian created the post of treasury counsel and when he traveled to other cities, he implemented public works projects. He also granted Latin rights to many communities and took away their obligation to pay tribute. On the other hands, Shi Huangdi standardized the Chinese units of measure such as weights, measurements, and currency. The currency of different states was also standardized to Ban liang coin. Further, the Chinese script was unified and the seal script of the state of Qin was standardized. This seal script was thus made as the single official language for all of China. Shi Huangdi also eliminated hundreds of schools of thought, including Confucian ideologies. As a result, he created legalism as the universal ideology in China. Shi Huangdi made a lot of different changes to improve the lives of people in his empire and went even further than Emperor Hadrian, I think he had managed the country more effectively with a wide range of different reforms and
changes.
Shi Huangdi was more effective at gaining and keeping control of his empire than Emperor Hadrian because Shi Huangdi had made a much larger step and had contributed quite a lot to the Ancient Chinese. While Emperor Hadrian reformed his empire quite effectively with different laws for his people, Shi Huangdi had made even more improvements to his empire which include wide range of reforms on money, writing (characters), laws and currency, roads, education, language, economy and business, cultural developments etc. His greatest achievement was the unification of China for the first time ever after conquering the seven kingdoms in 221BC. This proved that he was a clever as well as a strong leader. However the aggressiveness of Qin made the people in his empire work really hard although he made China a powerful and wealthy country at the time.
Word count: 1, 500
Bibliography:
(BB) Imperial China, Carol Gleisner, OUP, 1993
(YB) Imerpial China, Josh Brooman, Longman Group 1991 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/hadrian/p/Hadrian.htm http://asianhistory.about.com/od/profilesofasianleaders/p/qinshihungbio.htm