Shi Huangdi Punishments

It was 221 BCE in the complex society of China. For over two hundred years the states have been fighting each other over land and power. The whole country is in chaos, until a man named Shi Huangdi conquered the states. He was bringing order to the chaos, and taking over one state after the next. He had become successful in uniting China under the Qin Dynasty, making him the most appreciated person in the Qin Dynasty, but not for long. Shi Huangdi won the affections of the people right after the Warring States period. He had brought peace throughout the country, and controlled rivers through irrigation. He started several public works projects to help the country and please the people. Huangdi gave peasants land from nobles who had died,
Shi Huangdi now began to show the other half of legalism, punishment. Those who disobeyed the emperor were tortured beyond belief. Huangdi ruled through fear, any who did not bow down to the supreme ruler would have at least one of the five punishments used on them. Whether it was the most “tame”, mo, which tattoos one’s face, or the most extreme, da, where the rebel was pulled apart by horses. No one could stand up to the emperor, especially not the nobles whose power was taken away at the beginning of Huangdi’s rule. Shi drew them in with gifts and then trapped them with threats of severe
Huangdi was obsessed with becoming immortal and would try anything to live forever. Ironically, his own vanity had killed him, as his way of living forever was consuming mercury. The mercury eventually killed him leaving only his will behind. The original will was destroyed and a new one was created, so the power would be passed to Li Si, a greedy man who wanted all the power. This led to major conflict into who would lead after the death of the emperor. The lack of institution of government was the cause of the fall of the Qin Dynasty. Shi Huangdi was very strategic in his control over the Qin Dynasty, by bringing peace to the chaos and gifts to those often looked down upon. His rule was then solidified by making all the citizens too scared to stand up to him. Shi’s main flaw was, ironically, his obsession with immortality, which led to his untimely death. Since there was no concrete institution of government, his empire he spent so much time creating, quickly fell