Works Cited

Art, Suzanne Strauss. The Story Of Ancient China. Lincoln, Massachusetts: Pemblewick Press, 2001. Print.

“Mr Donn Qin Dynasty.” Mr. Donn. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2012. <http://china.mrdonn.org/​qin.html>.

“Qin Dynasty.” TravelChinaGuide.com. China Travel Service, 2012. Web. 1 Feb. 2012. <http://www.travelchinaguide.com/​intro/​history/​qin/>.

Wikipedia. N.p., 25 Jan. 2012. Web. 4 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/​wiki/​Qin_Dynasty>.

Emperor Qin’s tomb is in progress!

By:Billy MacDonald

Qin Times

218 B.C.

East of Xianyang: It is now 218 B.C. but Emperor Qin Shi Huang doesn’t want to take any chances so he is not stopping until the tomb is finished. The workers are building his tomb east of our capital Xianyang. Once Emperor Qin united China into one big empire people started to notice his belief in immortality. Emperor Qin thinks that whatever was in your tomb would be carried along with you to the afterlife.

Emperor Qin wants his tomb to be huge so that he can take many things with him. The tomb is two million one hundred and eighty thousand square meters. Emperor Qin wants an army to go with him to the afterlife because he wants to conquer many lands in the afterlife just like he did when he unified China. He has ordered many workers to build the Terra-Cotta Warriors. All together their are more than seven thousand warriors, horses and chariots all made out of clay. Emperor Qin doesn’t only want an army to go with him to the afterlife he wants all types of things. Inside his tomb their are models of palaces, pavilions and offices, fine vessels, and precious stones and rarities. Their are also replicas of the area’s rivers and streams made out of mercury flowing through hills and bronze mountains.

One witness, an Artisan who is a friend of Li Si(Emperor Qin’s chancellor), De Huang said that he loves Emperor Qin’s tomb because it is a huge piece of art. “I find it very interesting that Emperor Qin believes in immortality but I love the design of the tomb and the creativity of the Terra-Cotta warriors.”

Another witness, a worker on Qin’s tomb, Li Chang said that he hates working on the tomb, and that Emperor Qin is stupid for believing in immortality. “There is no point in building this tomb. I mean he actually thinks that all off these warriors will go with him to the afterlife. Yeah right!”

Too Many Workers. Too Many Risks

            As you know Emperor Qin is huge on immortality and believes that whatever is inside your tomb will go with you to the afterlife. The tomb is estimated to be about 2,180,000 meters big. That’s huge. Emperor Qin wants and army to go with him to the afterlife to conquer many lands. He has ordered thousands of workers to build not only the Terra-Cotta Warriors but the whole tomb. This is not right! Emperor Qin also wants models of palaces, pavilions and offices, fine vessels, and precious stones and rarities. As well of rivers filled with mercury. Emperor Qin should stop work on the tomb as soon as possible. People are dieing every single day but it’s not like Emperor Qin cares he just keeps on working. He needs to know when to stop. The work is killing to many people.

The tomb is estimated to be around 2,180,000 meters squared. That is just to much land to give up for our farmers. Plus if Emperor Qin cared about his people he would care more about his people than himself. Emperor Qin should also stop working on his tomb because the workers are dieing everyday during the hard construction. It’s not all about the people in the afterlife. What about the people in the real world? The last reason why Emperor Qin should stop construction on his tomb is because it is taking to much time. It has already been three years and this is all of his focus. God only knows how long it’s going to take.

Although people are dying each day and the tomb is all of Emperor Qin’s focus, building the tomb has some benefits for China. The tomb is a great piece of art. There are thousands of sculptures of warriors, horses and chariots all in the tomb. There are also replica rivers and lakes of mercury from the area. Some people are also working on the tomb to repay a debt. It would be good to repay a debt, but not doing something that you could die over. People die every day because of the hard construction. Emperor Qin should stop being so selfish. Also, art doesn’t matter when your people are dieing over someones stupid obsession of immortality.

Emperor Qin should have never even started building this tomb. He should stop construction on it right now. If Emperor Qin wasn’t so full of himself, people could start farming in that site again. All of those people working on the tomb would be saved right at this instant.

From the Warring States to The Qin Dynasty

Before the Qin Dynasty(221 B.C. - 207 B.C.) there was a period called the Warring States Period or the Zhou Dynasty. In the Warring States Period there were twelve different states each with their own piece of land. Surrounding the states were the Di tribes, the Rong tribes, the Man tribes, and the Min tribes. To the East of the States were the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. Qu had the biggest piece of land but that didn’t mean that it couldn’t be taken over. Xu and Cao had the smallest pieces of land. Each state wanted all of China to themselves so their was war. Qin was most dominant and effective and in the end Qin was successful in uniting China. When he united China Emperor Qin also conquered many tribes along the border of his Empire. When Qin united China he named Xianyang the capital. Xianyang was the center of politics and culture during the Qin Dynasty. Some differences from the Qin Dynasty and modern China is that in the Qin Dynasty their was only the Long wall. Over a long period of time, throughout dynasties people added on to it and it is now the Great Wall. Another difference is in size. China is now triple the size of the Qin Dynasty with new cities and more land.

My Interview With Emperor Qin

Q: How do you feel knowing that you unified China?

A: Truthfully, I feel great. For the rest of my life I will always have that feeling inside of me knowing that I did something not only for myself but for all the people in China. I made this Empire a great place for China and all of it’s people. That will stay with me forever and never be taken away.

Q: What gave you the idea of building The Long Wall?
A: As you should know the Mongols are a threat to our empire. I want to protect our empire and the best way to do that is to build better defenses. Our people don’t deserve to be over run by the Mongols. They deserve better than this and better is what they will get. Everyone just wait and see I always have a trick up my sleeve.

Q: After you united, what made you standardize and add many things so quickly?
A: I felt a surge of energy running through my body telling me that I had to make decisions quick. After I united China, I thought why stop now. Now I have nothing to lose, no one to fight. I standardized our writing system, made a network of roads extending to 4,000 miles, and many others things. I standardized the writing system so that no matter who you talked to you could understand each other. I did the same thing with measurements. I could finally do what was right for my empire.

Q: How do you feel about you chancellor Li Si?
A: I feel pretty good about my Chancellor Li Si. He comes back with excellent reports. Li Si is also doing a great job overseeing the construction of the huge network of roads. He has been my chancellor for over ten years and I have full faith in him.

Q: Thank you for your time. Just one last question. What are you plans for the future?
A: As you should already know I believe in immortality. Right as we speak someone is making me a pill for me to take that will make me live forever. One thing inside of it is mercury. Once it does it’s job I will be able to live forever. I will be China’s Emperor for all eternity. Thank you for interviewing me.

Legalism During The Qin Dynasty

            Legalism was a big part of what Emperor Qin did in the Qin Dynasty. The founder of Legalism was a Chinese man named Han Fei. He lived during the Zhou Dynasty from around 280 to 233 B.C.E. Surrounded by many states fighting for power under a weak empire, Han Fei questioned if Confucianism would really solve society’s problems. Han Fei didn’t agree with with the Confucian teachings so he made a book called “Basic Writings.” The book told the rulers yo have strict laws, with clear punishments and rewards. Han Fei hoped that the rulers would follow his teachings and some day make China a better place to live.

            Emperor Qin strongly enforced Legalism in his government. Emperor Qin wanted a powerful and strong government. In his eyes he thought Legalism would be a perfect fit for what he wanted to do with his Empire. Emperor Qin taught his people to not be loyal to their family and to trust no one. Emperor Qin did this so people would only be loyal to him. Emperor Qin also forbidd people to criticize the government. Anyone who criticized Emperor Qin’s government could be burned alive, boiled to death in huge pots, or their hands cut off.

One very important event in Emperor Qin’s Dynasty is when he buried the scholars alive and burned all the Confucian books. This proved that Emperor Qin wasn’t all talk. If someone criticized his government or didn’t believe in his ways they would have some serious problems. Emperor Qin was serious in what he did and didn’t back down to anyone.

Billy MacDonald

2/2/12

Red

Literature/Art/Music In The Qin Dynasty

After Emperor Qin united China he standardized many things. One of them was the writing system. He wanted people in china to know the same language when they talked to each from all different parts of the empire. Emperor Qin also cut down about one sixth of the Chinese letters to make it easier for his people.

            Art was not really popular during the Qin Dynasty but pottery was used throughout the whole empire. Pottery was used all the way from pots and bowls to the Terra-Cotta Warriors in Emperor Qin’s tomb. The Terra-Cotta Warriors were the biggest form of pottery in the Qin Dynasty. These warriors meant more then the world to Emperor Qin. The warriors were each different. Each warrior was unique in it’s own way, not one looked like the other. This must have been pretty hard to do knowing that there was more than 7,000 warriors, horses, and chariots. The Terra-Cotta Warriors were each made out of clay and hand made. It took more than five years to do this.

            Music was also barely known in the Qin Dynasty. T he Lute(Pipa) was created in the Qin Dynasty. The Pipa is a pear shaped instrument that was used by everyone from low class laborers to high class officials. It was used at all different types op places.