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• Introduction
• A Great Wall and a Guarded Tomb
• Excavation of Qin Shih Huangdi's Tomb Continues
• The Qin Dynasty: The Great Wall and the Unification of China
• Discussion Questions
• Web Resources

Introduction

One of the most impressive and intriguing discoveries in recent Chinese archaeological work has been the army of 7,500 life-size clay warriors and horses buried to protect the tomb of the Qin (pronounced "Chin") emperor in 206 B.C. This army provides an excellent focus for a discussion of China's history. The very short-lived Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.), ruled by the Qin emperor, unified China for the first time and established the centralized, bureaucratic system that is the hallmark of the Chinese governmental system. In the succeeding Han dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.), the Confucian philosophic system affected the development and conduct of this centralized imperial bureaucracy.

During the reign of this emperor, old segments of wall were first connected to form the Great Wall - one of the wonders of the world and a model of the massive public works carried out under the Chinese rulers.

A Great Wall and a Guarded Tomb

Once the battle cry was given, archers moved with speed. One by one the neighboring states fell to the wild charges of the Qin horsemen. At their head was a young prince who was later recognized as China's most brutal but powerful ruler.

Who Was He?

The founder of the great Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty was but a boy of thirteen when officials placed him on the throne in 247 BC. Twelve years later, his armies had massacred his most serious opponents and had received obeisance from all the nearby states.

Without further ado, the prince proclaimed himself not just king of Qin but emperor, or huang-ti, of the newly formed Chinese empire. Thereafter he was known as Qin, a family name, Shi, the first, and Huangti, emperor: Qin Shi Huangti (Ch'in Shih Huang-Di, pronounced: chin sher hwang dee)

Qin Shi Huangti's Accomplishments were Legion

• Unification: Under this emperor's rule, forty provinces were organized under a central, unified administration. Each was to be administered by non-hereditary officials appointed by the emperor: a civil governor, a military governor and a supervising official.
• Standardization of money, weights, and measures: Under his rule, coins and other forms of money were made uniform. Weights and measures also had to conform to a single standard.
• Highway construction: Under his rule, wide highways were constructed, all leading to the capital of Xianyang near today's city of Xian (Sian). The roads were raised at places where flooding might occur, bridged when possible and lined with shade trees. Along these sturdy throughways, couriers sped with their messages and grain (taxes) was brought by carts to the imperial treasury.
• Common written language: Under his rule, the written symbols then in use were collected from each area. In time, a uniform system of writing was proscribed.
• The Great Wall: Under his rule, what has become known as the Great Wall was constructed by linking former walls which had protected separate states. Artisans flocked to the capital, which soon lay resplendant with fine palaces, gardens and great public halls.

But...His Tyranny Destroyed The Dynasty

Following the advice of the Legalists, the authoritarian politicians supporting the emperor, books were burned. The single copies remaining in the State Library were destroyed in the disorder which followed the dissolution of the dynasty.

To pay for the extravagances of the Emperor, taxes were raised. Soon the peasants faced poverty which they could not endure. The dynasty was doomed.

Death And Burial

Several years before his death in 210 B.C.E., Emperor Qin Shi Huangti provided himself with a massive tomb and a clay army to protect him in afterlife. His constant search for eternal life had failed and so he prepared to enter an unseen realm in a tomb befitting an emperor.

THE TOMB itself has not been excavated, though its mound and four mile long wall, 25 miles east of Xian, is highly visible.

Near the tomb are three pits, where 7,500  LIFE-SIZED CLAY FIGURES have been found. Though somewhat crushed by the fallen mat ceiling and the huge planks which supported both ceiling and seven feet of soil, the figures are being reconstructed and replaced to form a sunken, silent, underground army. There is evidence of former looting, possibly in 206 B.C.E., for weapons which had been placed in the hands of kneeling archers and fierce charioteers are missing and the infantry figures no longer clasp crossbows.

THE CLAY ARMY was not made of one mold. Each figure has been individually shaped of coiled clay. Each hollow torso stands or kneels on solid columnar legs. Both through sculpturing and by the addition of fine, wet clay, individualized features were marked and impressive details added.

ONCE FORMED, the figures were fired, cooled, painted and placed in position. Two thousand years later, they can be seen, noiselessly proclaiming the vigor, the wealth and the fearlessness of that past age.

NOT UNTIL 1974, when workmen searched in a field for water, digging a well deep into the earth, were these warriors found. Today they are protected in their original location under sheds where visitors may wonder as they wander.

For More Details Read

• Maxwell K. Hearn's article in Smithsonian November 1979
• Ancient China by Cornelia Spencer
• National Geographic April 1978 Vol. 153

Adapted from: Bobbie Carlson, ed., Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 3 (March 1980) East Asian Studies Center, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio 44074.

Excavation of Qin Shih Huangdi's Tomb Continues:
"Life-Size Bronze Horses and Chariots Found in Chinese Tomb"

The continuing excavation of the tomb of China's first emperor which startled the archeological world in 1974 with the discovery of the ruler's life-size pottery army, has yielded another spectacular find: two full-scale bronze chariots drawn by life-size bronze horses and driven by bronze charioteers.

Chinese archeologists estimate that the figures are only the vanguard of a chariot procession, perhaps containing hundreds, if not thousands, of replicas of ceremonial chariots carrying images of the crown prince, the empresses, royal concubine, noble families and court officials.

They were created 2,000 years ago to accompany the dead emperor on his celestial journey and were buried in an underground vault near a subterranean palace containing the magnificent sepulcher of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

In 221 B.C. Qin unified China, built the Great Wall, burned the books valued by Confucius and declared himself China's first sovereign emperor. He asserted that his dynasty would rule for 10,000 years, but it turned out to be the shortest dynasty in the history of China. He ruled for only 14 years but in that time he accomplished sweeping changes that made his dynasty a turning point in history.

Not the least of his monumental projects was the building of his own tomb, which is said to have taken 700,000 conscripts 36 years to build. It lies near Xian in Shaanxi province in the Yellow River valley where China's earliest emperors lived and died.

Since the terra cotta figures of soldiers and horses that made up the emperor's legions were found entombed in a vault east of the tumulus where the emperor himself was buried, archeologists have speculated that in keeping with Chinese ideas of symmetry, an equally valuable treasure house may lie west of the tomb.

After some five years of searching, the discovery was made in December l980. It was not made public until earlier this month after two chariots, eight horses and two drivers had been completely unearthed. The find proved to be beyond all expectations. Descriptions of the ancient figures were printed in the May issue of the Chinese magazine  China Reconstructs.

The ceremonial procession contains the oldest bronze chariots and horses ever found in China. The horses are harnessed, tour abreast, before their royal chariots. They have the same classic simplicity and smooth, pure lines as the military horses, but unlike their pottery counterparts, which had been broken by marauders, the bronze statues remained intact. In 22 centuries, their original coat of white paint has faded to gray but their bodies, including their halters decorated with gold and silver head ornaments, were all found in remarkably good condition.

Each chariot contained a bronze box about 39 inches wide, 47 inches long and 17 inches deep for the passenger to ride in. It was shaded by an awning made of thin sheet bronze, elaborately painted in color with symbolic cloud formations and geometric designs. The ornate many-spoked bronze wheels are 23 inches in diameter.

Guarding Emperor After Death

Like the horses, the charioteers were first modeled in clay, then cast in bronze with handcrafted overlays and painted. One of the men is kneeling with the reins in his hands while the other is standing. Their garments show them to be "dafu" or court officials of the ninth rank. Both faces have distinct characteristics indicating that the artists had been ordered to model realistic portraits of each live person represented in the bronze procession.

This was also done with each soldier in the emperor's clay army, so they could continue to guard him after his death. Part of the sculptor's inspiration, and certainly the models' willingness to pose, must have lain in the knowledge that the finished creations would be buried, instead of the people themselves.

Skeletons found in royal tombs of the Shang dynasty (1,700 - 1,100 B.C.) show that live warriors, women, servants and horses had been buried with kings and high officials. Although this practice had been stopped for centuries, Qin Shi Huang revived it symbolically.

The similarity of artistic technique used in both the east and west vaults also leads to speculation that because the soldiers carries real swords, spears crossbows and other weapons, the ladies and official of the court will be realistically adorned with authentic jewels, jades and other ceremonial paraphernalia.

It is not yet known how many figures will be found in the grand procession in the west vault but it is expected at least to equal the number in the east vault, which contained more than 6,000 statues of warriors, servants and horses interred standing in battle formation, 15 to 20 feet underground. They occupied a roofed-over area extending 700 feet east to west and 200 feet north to south. They were arrayed in the same way that the emperor's live honor guard used to line up before it set off on a military campaign.

The incredible size and magnificence of the tomb is documented by historical records that indicate that Qin Shi Huang began building his tomb when he became king of the warring state of Qin at the age of 13, 12 years before he unified China and declared himself emperor. He continued construction until his death in 210 B.C., when he was buried in his elaborate tomb.

It is situated under an earth mound, 15 stories high, called Mount Li. Today visitors see only a green hill, slightly off balance from perfect symmetry. It stands unimposingly to the middle of a millet field belonging to the Yen Tsai commune in Lin Tung county.

Historian Describes Tomb

The mound's exterior gives no hint of the mysterious interior, which was described by Ssu-ma Chien, China's great historian, about 100 B.C.:

As soon as the First Emperor became king of Qin, excavations and building had been started at Mount Li, while after he won the empire, more than 700,000 conscripts from all parts of the country worked there. They dug through three subterranean streams and poured molten copper for the outer coffin, and the tomb was filled with models of palaces, pavilions and offices as well as fine vessels, precious stones and rarities. Artisans were ordered to fix up crossbows so that any thief breaking in would be shot. All the country's streams, the Yellow River and the Yangtze were reproduced in quicksilver and by some mechanical means made to flow into a miniature ocean. The heavenly constellations were above and the regions of the earth below. The candles were made of whale oil to insure the burning for the longest possible time.

Chen Hsueh-hua is one of the six archeologists directing work on the excavation site. During a visit to the site in 1975, Mr. Chen said the tomb mound was originally built in the center of an enclosed area, a "spirit city." It contained sacred stone tablets, inscribed soul towers and prayer temples. All these structures were deemed to be in the "inner city," within a walled square more than a quarter mile on each side. Beyond lay an "outer city," guarded by a high, rectangular stone wall, 23 feet thick at the base, with watchtowers at the corners. The total area enclosed was more than 500 acres.

The walls and temples have almost completely disappeared and the sacred objects above ground have long since been carried away by vandals and invading armies, but the earth still protects the silent splendor of the underground palace.

No one knows for certain if the huge tumulus still encloses this microcosm of China, where the emperor was interred in his dragon-shaped sarcophagus. The only recorded doubt is cast by Ssu-ma Chien, the historian, who wrote of a "desecration" of the emperor's grave four years after his death by troops of General Hsiang Yu. It is known, however, that no excavation has been attempted before this one.

By Audrey Topping

The New York Times, Tuesday, May 26, 198l ©: 1981 by the New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission.

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The Qin Dynasty:
The Great Wall and the Unification of China

It was during the Qin (Chin) Dynasty (221-207 B.C.) that the protective walls of preceding states were linked, repaired and extended to form the Great Wall of China. The Wall is a very tangible symbol of the significance of the Qin. The great importance of the dynasty lay in its unification of China and the establishment of central administrative rule.

To see just how important the Qin Dynasty was, we must look back to the time before the Qin. Beginning with the Zhou (Chou) Dynasty in 1027 B.C., about the time David was said King of Israel, China consisted of an amalgam of feudal states loyal to a supreme Zhou king. The rulers of these states were originally related to the king through birth or marriage but over the course of several centuries these kinship ties became increasingly weak. The weakening ties and the decline of the Zhou administrative and military authority combined and the feudal states, in which lords had control over their land but owed loyalty to the Zhou king, gradually evolved into semi-independent states. This created a political and military situation similar to Europe in the 15th and 16th century A.D. In Europe, this situation eventually resulted in the establishment of individual, smaller countries as we know them today. In China, however, this did not happen and therein lies the significance of the Qin.

By the 5th century B.C. in China, seven major states vied for control of the country. They were the states of Qi (Chi), Yan (Yen), Zhao (Chao), Wei, Qin (Chin), Chu and Han. The period of fighting from the 5th century B.C. to the establishment of the Qin in 221 was known as the "Warring States Period." The conflict among the states increased in severity over the years and individual states took measures to consolidate their internal authority and external defenses. Some important measures included an overall strengthening of central administration, political division into counties and prefectures to facilitate rule, and a move towards a relationship between king and official based on a system of wages rather than patronage. Feudal ranks were weakened as states became more autocratic in nature with one supreme ruler who held equal authority over all. External defensive measures consisted of the establishment of fixed boundaries between states along which walls were constructed.

For two centuries, a stalemate among the seven states existed. No one state had enough power to overcome all others. It was a time of shifting alliances, complicated diplomacy and intrigue. A turning point, however, came in about 300 B.C. when the most powerful state in the east - Qi - was surprised by its northern neighbor - Yan- and virtually destroyed. The Qin in the far west was able to take advantage of the resulting imbalance and confusion and it attained a measure of ascendancy in the fighting. While there were setbacks over the next 50 years, the Qin gradually overcame the other states one by one. By 249 B.C. it had conquered the armies of Han, Wei, Chu and Zhao, and between 230 and 221 it annexed the states of Yan and Qi, emerging undisputed victor.

The Warring States Period was one of incredible drain and hardship as individual states were depleted more and more of men for armies and resources to feed, clothe and equip them.

After 300 B.C. and the defeat of Qi, however, the fighting took a particularly vicious turn that ranks with the most intense warfare in the history of mankind. After 300 B.C., states no longer sought to assume the status of a Zhou king as they once had - that is, of a supreme ruler among other, lesser feudal rulers. They sought instead to gain undisputed control over their opponents and to establish a different kind of order. One example of the scale and brutality of conflict is seen in the battle of Chanping, located in present day Shanxi (Shansi) province. The primary protagonists in the battle which lasted from 262 to 259 B.C. were the states of Qin and Zhao. In this extended period of fighting and after prolonged stalemate, Qin was able to deceive an inexperienced young Zhao commander into leading his forces into a trap. The entire Zhao army, surrounded and in defeat, surrendered to the Qin commander, Bo Qi (Bo Chi). But Bo Qi showed no mercy. Except for a very small number of the youngest recruits, the entire Zhao force of 400,000 men was buried alive. It is difficult to imagine, in view of the lack of modern communications techniques, how a state in this time could have fielded and supplied an army of this size. That such armies existed is an indication of the scale of organization possessed by these early Chinese conquerors. It is also an indication of the organization that must have existed during the Qin Dynasty to carry out projects like the construction of the Great Wall. The Battle of Chanping is an almost unbelievable example of the scale of organization and warfare that existed during the end of the Warring States Period. The ruthless prosecution of this war by the Qin state led to the eventual elimination of rivals and the founding of a completely different kind of dynasty.

There were several noteworthy characteristics of the Qin state. Militarily, the Qin held certain advantages over its opponents in geographic location which may have been a factor in its success. The Qin was located on the westernmost edge of China at that time, or present day central China around Shaanxi (Shensi) and Siquan (Szechuan) provinces. A major threat was from the nomadic peoples to the north and it built defensive walls to keep them out. If attack came from the other states it would be from the east or south. Both east and south were well protected, however, by the Yellow River, the Wei River and the Qinling (Chinling) Mountains. The most important break in this natural protection is the Hangu Pass where the Yellow River flows between the mountains. There are also smaller passes in the mountains and this area has always been a strategic one in Chinese history. Whatever state held this area was at an advantage over others. The area is called "guan nei" or "Land within the Passes". Its importance was well realized by the Qin, for even after its conquest the imperial capital was maintained in this area and the imperial troops were stationed there. The Qin was guided in administrative structure by the reforms of its 4th century prime minister, Shang Yang. Shang Yang was of the Legalist school of thought and under his advisement and 359 B.C. reforms, the Qin state regulated its economy, strengthened central administration, eliminated powerful local rulers who were seen to threaten the Qin internally, and developed an ultra-efficient military machine. Laws were stringently enforced, systems of weights, measures, currency and taxation were standardized, and the Qin prospered under a tightly controlled central government.

At its point of undisputed victory, the Qin could have re-established feudal states along the lines of the Zhou Dynasty but with strengthened central controls. Instead, it embarked on a totally unprecedented path -- that of total unification into one political and administrative entity. Though this unification was accomplished by the sword, it ended the drain on life and resources that had resulted from the Warring States Period and established conditions for the improvement of production, transportation, communications, administration, and cultural mingling among the different parts of the country. The Qin achieved the unification of China and the dynasty which followed it, the Han (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.) is considered the height of ancient Chinese civilization, much as we consider Imperial Rome to have been the height of ancient Western culture.

The rule of the state of Qin from 246 on had belonged to a man named Ying Zheng. After the conquest of the other states, Ying Zheng declared himself emperor of the Qin empire embracing the former seven states and, hoping that the rule of his dynasty would be long-lived, gave himself the title Qin Shihuang (Chin Shihhuang) or "First Emperor of Chin."

As the first step in the plan for unification, defensive wall structures between states were destroyed. Only the northernmost walls which were protection against the nomadic tribes were retained. Weapons were confiscated and feudal lords of the former states were brought to live in the Qin capital of Xianyang (Hsienyang), northwest of present-day Xian (Sian) in Shaanxi province. The Qin emperor pursued a policy of national integration and for the first time in Chinese history, administration was centralized and standardized from the Qin capital to the remotest regions. The prime minister and other ministers, censors who handled important documents and supervised other officials, military commanders and governors of jails were all appointed by the emperor and absolute obedience was demanded of them. Local government structure was standardized. The country was divided into 36 (later 40) prefectures with counties below each. The prefects and county magistrates were directly appointed by the emperor. Thus tax collection and conscription of men for the army and labor on government projects and all other important functions were centralized. Taxes were systematized by requiring landlords and landholders to register the size of their holdings and pay accordingly. The individual systems of weights, measures and currency which had existed in each of the Warring States were changed to conform to the Qin state standard. Qin Shihuang had his government mint a round coin with a square hole in it as the official national currency, and this coin was to serve as a model for other dynasties in following centuries. He also standardized the written language on the basis of the script used in the former state of Qin, which later became known as xiao zhuan (lesser seal) style of writing. The official color of clothing was set at black, and even the axle length of carts was made uniform. This was to enable carts to travel in the wheel ruts made by others when travelling in more remote areas of the country.

Many of Qin Shihuang's political measures were opposed by Confucian scholars. Many spoke against his laws and measures, especially those concerning central administration of local counties and prefectures, and wrote commentaries, poems and articles to criticize and satirize them. Qin Prime Minister Li Si (?-208 B.C.) contended that such activities would weaken the rule of the state and urged the burning of the histories of all the former states except Qin, folk collections of poetry and articles and books by scholars of schools with views different from those of the Qin. Qin Shihuang ordered this done, but books on medicine, agriculture, and copies of condemned books were preserved in the Imperial capital. A year later he arrested some 400 Confucian scholars, the most active of whom had continued to attack him, and had them buried alive.

Over the years when the states were conducting their endless wars, the nomadic people living on the Mongolian plateau to the north had been growing in strength. They were called the Xiongnu (Hsiungnu) and they are very probably related to the Huns who sacked Rome in the 5th century A.D. Xiongnu nobles often led their horsemen southward to plunder, seizing both captives and livestock. Threats like this had caused the states of Qi, Yan, Zhao and Qin to construct defensive walls along their northern borders as early as 450 3.C. to keep the Xiongnu out.

The Xiongnu continued to threaten the newly-unified country under the Qin by seizing the area where the Yellow River makes its northern bend. In response to this threat, Qin Shihuang sent General Meng Tian with an army of 300,000 to recapture the area. To strengthen this border region the Qin government set up an administration of 44 counties and moved many people from other areas to settle there. In a further defensive measure, Meng Tian's troops, reinforced by many more conscript laborers, were ordered to repair and connect previous built defensive walls, construct new walls where needed, and form one continuous defensive barrier over the northern border against the Xiongnu.

Although the Great Wall protected the Qin empire from attack from the outside, its construction and defense were causes of great discontent within the empire. Although the exact number of men conscripted to work on the Wall is not known, nor the method of conscription and the exact working conditions, it is very likely that many thousands died while building the Wall and other major projects of the Qin like the Emperor's 140 palaces north of Xianyang. In 209 B.C., one year after Qin Shihuang's death, the first Chinese peasant rebellion broke out and its immediate spark was supplied by work on the Wall.

Laws and punishments were extremely strict during the Qin and one of these was that if a work team did not arrive at the work site at an appointed time, all in the team would be put to death. In 209 B.C. a laborer named Chen Sheng was called up with a group of men to guard the Great Wall northeast of present-day Peking. On the way in Anhui (Anhwei) province, heavy rainfall made further travel impossible and the group knew it could not make the Wall on schedule. Knowing that they faced death no matter what they did, Chen Sheng and another man named Wu Guang killed the officials in charge of the group and called on the conscripts to revolt. The rebellion soon spread and the land which had constituted the old state of Chu was shortly re-captured by rebel forces. Although Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were both dead before the fall of the Qin, the rebellion continued and two of its military leaders, Liu Bang (Liu Pang) and Xiang Yu (Hsiang Yu) became the main forces in resisting the Qin armies. In 207 B.C. the Qin empire fell, and in 202 B.C. Liu Bang became the first emperor of the Han Dynasty.

The Qin was a short-lived yet highly important dynasty in Chinese history. It achieved the unification of China, and though the country would again go through periods of division, the Qin unification was significant because it was a truly unprecedented and therefore historic act. The Qin is also important for the administrative reforms and huge public works projects it undertook which resulted in a centralized state bureaucracy and development of communications, transportation and commerce throughout the country. And, of course, it is remembered for its construction of the Great Wall of China, a lasting reminder of the height and fall of the Qin Dynasty.

Wang Peijin

US-China Peoples Friendship Association
The Center for Teaching About China
407 S. Dearborn, Suite 945
Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 663-9608

Discussion Questions

1. When was the Warring States Period? When was the Qin Dynasty?
2. What events were happening in Europe and other parts of the world at this time?
3. Think about the construction of defensive walls starting in the fifth century B.C. What was the purpose of these walls?
4. How did the work on the walls done during the Qin differ from previous work? What do you think was the most significant aspect of this difference?
5. Describe some of the accomplishments of the Qin. Include a discussion of administrative practices.
6. What is the importance of the change from relationships between ruler and official based on patronage to relationships based on salaries? What do you think was the significance of the standardization of weights, measures, language, etc. that occurred during the Qin?
7. Do you think the Qin Dynasty was beneficial to China? Why do you suppose it lasted for only 14 years?

US-China Peoples Friendship Association
The Center for Teaching About China
407 S. Dearborn, Suite 945
Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 663-9608

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Web Resources

The Chinese Emperors' Eternal Armies: Text about and pictures of the life-size clay warriors near Qin Shi Huangti's tomb
Qin Dynasty On-Line Source Book: Articles, illustrations, and updates about Qin Shi Huangti's tomb area and the Great Wall

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