Qi The state of Qi was located in northeastern China, centered on the modern provinces of Shandong and Hebei. The Ji River flowed through this region, and it was one of the richest of the Warring States of China, in terms of both agriculture and marine and mineral resources. Qi, as had several other states that came to the fore politically during the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 b. c.e.), had its origins in the wars of succession that followed the death of KING wu (d. c. 1043 b. c.e.), the first ruler of the western ZHOU dynasty. The succession should have passed to his oldest son, Song, who under the name Cheng was to rule from about 1042 until 1006 b. c.e. However, a younger brother of King Wu, Zhou Gong Dan, declared himself regent instead, on the grounds that Song was too young to rule alone. This fomented a civil war between the forces of Zhou Gong Dan and Cheng on the one hand and those of Dan’s brothers on the other. Zhou Gong Dan fought successful campaigns to the east of the capital and greatly expanded the area under Zhou control. In time-honored tradition, rulers of the new territories were found among the loyal members of the ruling lineage or powerful supporters, and Tai Gong Wang, a leading military commander, was granted the fief that was to develop into the state of Qi, with LINZI as its capital. While under the Western Zhou such fiefs owed fealty to the emperor; they assumed independence with the end of the Western Zhou dynasty in 771 b. c.e. Qi thus became an independent state during the period of the eastern ZHOU dynasty (770-221 b. c.e.).
Qiemo (Cherchen) Qiemo was one of the major sites of the SHAN-SHAN kingdom in northwest China, which controlled the silk road as it traversed the southern margin of the TARIM basin. The cemetery of Zaghunluq lies in the area of Qiemo, and excavations there in 1985 uncovered burials in which textiles had been exceptionally well preserved. The bodies themselves were amazingly intact. The grave of a man interred about 1000 b. c.e. is particularly important, for it provides evidence of the ethnic group that contributed to the development of the first oasis states of the Tarim Basin a millennium later. The body lay in a pit almost 3.5 meters (12 ft.) deep, cut into salty soil that through desiccation would have contributed to the preservation of organic remains. The mouth of the grave contained a woolen blanket, the man’s saddle, as well as a felt blanket, layers of reeds and tree branches, and tanned horse hides. The man himself had been laid out on top of mats woven from willow branches. He wore a short beard, and his hair was braided. His clothing was woven from sheep’s wool and was dyed in a wide variety of colors. He wore woven trousers and a shirt made of lengths of cloth stitched together, while his leggings were brightly colored strips of wool wrapped around his lower legs. His boots were of deer leather, and he held an enigmatic strip of leather in his left hand. Ten hats were found in the grave, one in the form of a beret, another with a peak similar to those worn by the Phrygian people who had settled in northern Turkey at about the same time as the Qiemo burials. One of the WOMEN found in the same grave also wore white deerskin boots and a large woolen shawl; another had yellow leggings with red spiral decoration. This tomb seems to have contained the members of a family, for their clothing shows many similarities in manufacture and color. It is notable that the man wore trousers and was interred with his saddle, two vital constituents to life in this open region, while his ancestors are most logically sought in the expansion of agriculturalists from the west into the Tarim oases.
Qiemo was to become the major center of the state of Shan-shan. It was particularly prosperous during the second and third centuries C. E., when Chinese power in the area encouraged peaceful conditions and favored trade. Indeed, Qiemo was the base for the Chinese administration in their western regions during the Western HAN DYNASTY. Exposure to new ideas also saw the establishment of BUDDHISM. Qiemo was, according to the surviving documents of Shan-shan, formerly known as Cala-madana. Because the ancient site is occupied today, little is known of the layout of Shan-shan Qiemo, but one stupa foundation was noted by sir aurel stein. The surviving documents in the KHAROSHTHI script of Shan-shan, however, do illuminate aspects of life in ancient Qiemo. One text relates how wine must be packed, sufficient to be carried by five camels and transported to Calamadana on the fifth day of the fourth month. slavery was also part of life in this site. Thus on the fourth year of the reign of the great King Mairi, the son of heaven, it is recorded that foreigners named supis entered Cala-madana, plundered the country, and seized the inhabitants. One of the captives is named as the slave Samprina.
Qijia culture The Qijia culture is a regional variant of the LONGSHAN CULTURE, which succeeded the Machang phase of the yangshao culture in Gansu province, northeast China. The sites have been dated between 2300 and 1700 b. c.e. Their interest lies in the fact that although located in the remote northwest, they have furnished the earliest group of bronze artifacts in China. It might at first seem surprising to find the earliest evidence for bronze in remote Gansu rather than the home of the SHANG civilization on the central plains. However, the Gansu corridor is China’s natural route to the steppes of Central Asia and beyond, to India, the Near East, and Rome. In later years, this was named the silk road, but recent archaeological research has stressed its early beginnings. The movement of people and spread of ideas most probably introduced to western China a knowledge of copper-based metallurgy, which is manifested in the finds from the settlements and associated cemeteries of the Qijia culture. The Qijia sites are of central importance in any consideration of the origins of the Chinese Bronze Age; the weight of evidence now points to the transmission of knowledge across the steppes ultimately from the Near East.
At Qinweijia, rows of graves have been unearthed, together with a series of pits. The dead were interred with pottery vessels, pigs’ jaws, and bone artifacts. The pits have yielded copper or bronze implements, including an ax, awl, disks, and rings. The ax, after being cast in a stone mold, was heated and hammered repeatedly, a process known as annealing, to harden it. This is a technically sophisticated procedure. Dahezhuang is a second site to reveal the presence of bronze and copper artifacts. One knife was recovered from near the foundations of a house, with millet still adhering to it. There were also knives, chisels, awls, and rings, in contexts radiocarbon dated to about 2000 b. c.e. Excavations at Huangniangni-angtai have uncovered the remains of houses, pits, and burials, as well as 32 bronzes from occupation contexts and burials. Some were cast from copper, others from a tin bronze, and the preferred artifacts were knives, awls, chisels, and a ring.
Qin The state of Qin in central China was the ultimate victor during the warring states period (475-221 B. C.E.). The political situation in 361 b. c.e. included seven major states; Qin ranked equally with the others, but also with many smaller states. sima qian describes how the feudal lords were ruling by force and attempting to subdue and annex one another. in these conflicts, Qin consistently showed itself superior to the state of WEI, defeating it in 354 b. c.e. and taking its former capital, Anyi, two years later. These two victories were instigated by SHANG YANG, who persuaded the duke Xiao of the dangers presented by the state of Wei. His Machiavellian approach to diplomacy and war is well illustrated in the deceitful methods he employed. After inviting the general of the Wei forces to parley and agree to a truce, he had the general arrested and then destroyed the Wei army. After victory the Qin rulers had to devise some means of ruling a huge area of former rivals, populated by subjugated and disaffected populations. The king of Qin first chose a new name, qin shihuangdi (259-210 b. c.e.). This is a highly symbolic title, meaning “august emperor.” Administratively, the Qin authorities devised a series of policies to unify the newly created empire, one that the emperor planned should last for limitless generations. The legal system, based on the tenet of mutual responsibility, was applied uniformly. This meant that a misdemeanor by an individual would involve punishment for his extended family The sentences were also designed to ensure that there would be no repeat offense. Some were draconian: being boiled alive, cut in two, torn apart by chariots, or castrated as a commutation for the death sentence. The burning of the books was the most notorious of the policies promulgated under the Qin dynasty. After a court intrigue, the legitimate successor to the first emperor was ordered to commit suicide on the basis of a forged directive, and the throne passed to the second emperor huandi, who was then aged 21. His reign was brief. Rebellions broke out in 209 b. c.e., and the second emperor committed suicide two years later, bringing the Qin dynasty to an early end.
Qin was located in the valley of the Wei River, known as the Guanzhong, “land within the passes.” This name recognized its ideal defensive position, with access restricted to the Wu pass to the southeast and the Hangu
Pass on the eastern border. Qin came to prominence at the beginning of the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 B. C.E.) of the eastern zhou dynasty, after the capital was moved to luoyang. Over a period of four centuries, its capital was moved on at least seven occasions, and archaeological investigations have traced the remains of at least three centers. They were invariably large and imposing, containing palaces and large domestic residences, as well as manufacturing facilities, within walls of stamped-earth construction. Yong, the capital founded in 677 by Duke Degong, covered an area of 4.5 by two kilometers (2.7 by 1.2 mi.). Under Duke Xiangong in 383 B. C.E., the capital was located at Yueyang. It covered 1.8 by 2.2 kilometers, and, according to the excavations, six gates severed its walls. The final capital at xianyang was the biggest of all, and its foundation reflects a major political move. Not only was Xianyang strategically placed for trade, but it was also closer to the rival states that were to assume such a prominent position during the Warring States period. It provided a clean slate to work out new social and political agendas, free of the dynastic and lineage loyalties that encumbered the previous capitals, particularly Yong.
CHANGES OF SHANG YANG
These basic social changes were in many respects inspired by the reformer Shang Yang. He hailed from the state of Wey and after traveling to Qin gained the ear of Duke Xiao Gong. He set aside the old feudal order and its serf labor, freeing farmers to become tax-yielding citizens. Shang Yang further instituted changes vital to securing the power of Qin. His policies enforced military conscription and, through changes in the administration of the kingdom, called on people of talent rather than those owing their position to hereditary titles and place in the hierarchy. His new laws were dedicated to cementing the king as the unrivaled head of state. Hints as to the importance of the new laws are found in the documents recovered from a tomb at Yunmeng, dated to 217 B. C.E. The statutes set out the proper duties and behavior of state officials and the way in which they communicated information from the outlying districts to the capital. The social changes of Shang Yang were accompanied by a policy of centralized organization of arms production so that the most up-to-date weaponry was available for the army. With such backing, the Qin became a formidable and powerful state that was ultimately to forge rivals into a unified empire.
The capital was not walled, but stretched along the bank of the Wei River. The historian Sima Qian states that it was decided not to build, according to tradition, an ancestral temple as the first construction in the new capital, but rather two imposing halls called the Ji wue. This probably reflected the practice of posting imperial edicts on palace gate towers. The Jique palace followed. Excavations have revealed a massive structure raised high on stamped-earth foundations. It stood three stories high, the lower story dominated by a long colonnaded hall. The interior chambers, covered in plaster, were decorated with painted scenes that included a four-horse chariot and elegant women. Roof and floor tiles were embellished with geometric images and pictures of exotic birds. The Jique palace was but one of up to 300 palaces that describe in microcosm the successful military campaigns waged by successive Qin rulers.
QIN EXPANSION
The pattern of expansion of the Qin state from its Wei Valley heartland began in the mid-fifth century, when it moved southwest against the smaller states of BA and SHU in Sichuan. This was a vital strategic move, because the Shu, who had long since been established in the vicinity of Chengdu, controlled the rich rice-growing land of this region. Swallowing the Shu state, however, was a long and difficult task, and only after a century did the Qin reenter the struggle for power in the central plains. The takeover of Sichuan was a seminal move for Qin, because it made available a vast area of rich agricultural land as well as mineral resources. It also outflanked the mighty state of CHU on its western boundary. From 316 B. C.E. when the decisive move south commenced, there developed a most intriguing political situation in which one of the world’s earliest totalitarian states was faced with the task of imposing its governance on a large, sophisticated, powerful, but alien society At first, administration was imposed through the appointment of the son of the former king as a marquis subservient to the Qin court. But real power in Sichuan lay in the hands of the appointed administrator and military commander, both of whom moved from Xianyang to take up their posts.
This device was a failure, because not only the new line of marquises, but also the first administrator rebelled against the Qin authority. In due course, many new bureaucrats were appointed, and major centers were fortified. The walls of Chengdu, the capital of the now dependent commandery, were raised to a height of 23 meters (76 ft.), around a city extending more than 250 hectares (625 acres). A mint was established to expedite commercial development, and according to a series of important bamboo slips or tomb texts, thousands of new settlers were dispatched south, and the rigorous Qin system of land tenure was established. Some of the immigrants are recorded to have branched out successfully into salt production, iron smelting, and mining of cinnabar. Absorption took several generations, but the grain and other goods, not to mention the increased population that became available to the rulers of Qin, played a major, perhaps decisive, part in the wars that lay ahead.
In 364 B. C.E. Qin defeated the forces of Wei at the battle of Shimen. This was described by Sima Qian in his history: “Qin fought with Jin at Shimen and cut off sixty thousand heads. The Son of Heaven congratulated Qin with an embroidered sacrificial garment.” On this occasion, Sima Qian still described Wei as Jin despite the fact that Jin had by then split into three states. Four years later, Qin again defeated Wei at the Battle of Shao Liang and took its general captive.
The new era of struggle between the contending states saw further rapid changes in military organization and tactics. There were now universal military conscription and an increasing reliance on large bodies of well-trained and equipped infantry, in place of the former dominance of chariots. New weaponry included the replacement of the old traditional longbow with the powerful crossbow, which fired a triangular-headed bolt. There were also bronze swords and iron swords. With the proliferation of defensive walls and walled cities scaling ladders and tunneling to take enemy strongholds were developed. The Qin leaders were foremost in developing such new techniques for total warfare. As the fourth century b. c.e. progressed, they consolidated their hold over the Shu in the Sichuan Basin and began to develop major irrigation schemes there. Another major rival to the south was the state of Chu, which commanded rich agricultural land and mineral resources. In 312 B. C.E. General Zhang defeated the Chu at the Battle of Danyang on the Chang (Yangtze) River, captured his opposing leader Chu Gai, and allegedly cut off 80,000 heads. This effectively ruled Chu out of further serious contention for supremacy.
The next phase of warfare saw the dominance of a QI-led alliance, but by 294 b. c.e. Qin armies were again on the move. By 288 b. c.e. the dominance of Qin to the west and Qi in the east encouraged a pact whereby the two rulers assumed the divine title of DI. This truce was of brief duration. The power of Qi was virtually extinguished by alliances of rival states, leaving Qin free to overwhelm Chu. The general Bo Qi attacked and occupied its capital, Ying, and converted the area into a Qin province. With Qi and Chu defeated, only ZHAO and HANN stood between Qin and total dominance. In this period the rise to prominence of Fan Sui (d. 255 b. c.e.) occurred. He became the chief minister of Qin and established a policy of total wars of annihilation. In the final locking of horns, a three-year struggle between Qin, led by Bo Qi, and the combined forces of Hann and Zhao occurred. It ended with the Zhao army encircled, then starved into submission, and finally, its soldiers buried alive.
THE FIRST EMPEROR’S REFORMS
The first king of Qin resolved not to follow the Zhou precedent of providing kingdoms within the empire for relatives, because this system historically had held the seeds of disaffection and rivalry. Rather, he created 36 provinces, or commanderies, each subdivided into counties. These provinces were placed under the rule of three centrally appointed and salaried bureaucrats. There was a shou, or governor; a wei, or military commander; and an inspector, who ensured that the central directives were enforced, known as a jian yushi. With additions and minor modifications, this provincial system has continued to the present. There was, however, the problem of dealing with the leaders of the former rival kingdoms. This was resolved by moving them and their entourages to the Qin capital, where a series of replicas of their palaces were constructed to house them. In the meantime, their former capitals had their defenses razed to the ground to remove any likelihood of local rebellions.
The emperor’s ambition proved unsuccessful, although the Qin dynasty lasted about 15 years. The reforms involved first the script. For a millennium, the Chinese script had developed strong regional characteristics. Under the Zhou, it was known as the large seal script, and the Qin reformers found that many of the graphs had grown obsolete as objects or ideas were consigned to history. These were removed from the lexicon, and uniformity was then applied to the remaining variants under the new small seal script. This was a vital step in consolidating hold over a unified state. The same policy was applied to weights and measures and sensibly even to the gauge of wheeled vehicles. Many different forms of currency had existed during the Warring States period, but these were set aside in favor of coinage in gold and bronze. The coins themselves, of circular form with a central square hole, set the style of Chinese currency for the next 20 centuries.
The burning of the books involved specifically the destruction of historical texts, which could be employed by academics to criticize the Qin legalist regime, such as the Book of Documents and the Book of Songs. It also extended to any historic tract describing former rival states. The order to destroy these historic documents was sent out to all the commanderies, linked with the command to punish severely those who ignored it or connived at the retention of the proscribed texts.
STATE LABOR PROJECTS
Under strong encouragement of agriculture at the expense of trade, the state disposed of sufficient surpluses to maintain huge resources of labor. These were deployed on massive construction projects designed to knit together the regions and defend the state against external threats. The road system, for example, radiated out from the capital, with a standard form in which the thoroughfares were lined with trees. A force estimated at 300,000 was set to work on the construction of the great wall, which stretched like a shield along the northern frontier, while more than twice that number were, by 212 b. c.e., engaged on building the great tomb of the first emperor. As part of his military expansion, transport also involved the cutting of canals to permit the passage of bulky goods. This move involved a canal across the watershed that had separated the Chang River catchment from the rivers flowing south to Lingnan.
THE ROYAL TOMB
Qin Shihuangdi made many progresses through the empire on what today are termed fact-finding missions. These led to new policies, not least the resettlement of his subjects in thinly populated regions to strengthen defense and increase agricultural production. It was on one such progress that he died when aged only 49. In 11 years he had transformed China from a series of powerful rival states into a unified empire, but it was the Han emperors rather than his own dynasty that reaped the rewards of this achievement. His body was returned to the capital, where it was interred at Mount Li. His mortuary complex is the largest known. Early Chinese records describe its extent, and it is known from archaeological excavations. The records describe the layout and contents of the interior of the great pyramid that dominates the aboveground portion of the site. Evidently—for it has never been examined scientifically—the interior held a tomb chamber filled with the emperor’s personal belongings. The roof displayed the heavens, while the ground displayed the extent of the empire and was ringed by rivers of flowing mercury. Great lamps with walrus oil were lit to burn for a very long time. For the last known time in Chinese history, members of his harem were immolated within the tomb, while the construction workers who would know the internal layout and contents were butchered. Crossbows were placed with tripwires to kill unwanted intruders. Whether this tomb survived the destruction of the capital that accompanied the wars that followed the collapse of his dynasty is not known, but it is extremely unlikely. However, the subterranean chambers that surrounded the pyramid, although damaged during those wars, have survived sufficiently to allow reconstruction. Some of these were filled with terra-cotta replicas, cast at life-size, of the emperor’s armies, including the infantry, chariots, cavalry, and a command center. Each soldier, individually modeled, was painted and armed. There were also the imperial zoological garden and a half-sized replica in bronze of the royal chariot resplendent with four horses and charioteer.
Further reading: Li Xueqin. Eastern Zhou and Qin Civilizations. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1985; Loewe M. A Biographical Dictionary of the Qin, Former Han and Xin Periods (221 BC-AD 24). Leiden: Brill, 2000; Loewe, M., and E. L. Shaugnessy, eds. The Cambridge History of Ancient China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Qin Shihuangdi (259-210 b. c.e.) Qin Shihuangdi is renowned as the first emperor of China, responsible for the largest mortuary complex known.
He was born with the name Zheng toward the end of the WARRING STATES PERIOD (475-221 B. C.E.). The circumstances of his birth are rather mysterious. His father was King Zhuang Xiang of qin, and when still a prince,
Zhuang Xiang was sent as a hostage to the court of the state of Zhao. While restricted there, the prince had a relationship with a concubine, and it was uncertain whether the father of the future emperor was Zhuang Xiang or one LU buwei, who supplied the concubine, possibly already pregnant. Zhang Xiang in due course ruled Qin, and Zheng succeeded him in 246 b. c.e., at the early age of 13. He followed the legalist doctrine of centralized autocratic authority, increasing the efficiency of agriculture and training his troops to be brutally efficient in war. They never took prisoners. By 221 b. c.e., Qin finally triumphed over its rival states, and King Zheng took the new title of Shihuangdi, “august emperor.” The irony of the career of Qin Shihuangdi is that with furious energy he forged an empire from previously warring states, but his career as emperor spanned only 11 years, and his dynasty barely outlived his death. But it is in death that he is now best known, through the incredible remains of his tomb.
QIN SHIHUANGDI’S REFORMS
His brief period of imperial rule, which lasted 11 years, produced the most rapid and drastic reforms in the history of China. He standardized the script, which had developed along several distinct paths over the preceding millennium, and ordered that there be only one official currency. The legal system was systematized, and he decreed savage punishments for transgressors on the principle of joint responsibility. This meant that the relatives of a criminal were deemed equally guilty. Axle widths were set at the same gauge throughout the empire, and new roads and canals ensured rapid and efficient transport.
There was also a massive building program at the capital, Xianyang, where his own palaces and those of conquered rulers spread along the margins of the Wei River. The latter were constructed to house former sovereigns and their families were moved to Xianyang to reduce the risk of provincial insurrections. The GREAT WALL of China was begun with a force of conscripted labor, and it is recorded that nearly 750,000 workers were eventually deployed in the construction of the royal tomb. When certain scholars used ancient texts to criticize the legalist regime, the emperor ordered that they be branded and dispatched to help build the Great Wall and that the books they quoted be burned. Some scholars were also put to death.
We know little of the emperor’s personal life, except that he engaged soothsayers and medical specialists in an attempt to secure immortality. It was, however, on one of his imperial progresses that he died and was returned to Xianyang for burial. By the time of his death, he had transformed China from seven major competing states to a unified empire divided into 36 commanderies, or provinces, each governed by central appointees. The succeeding Western HAN DYNASTY inherited this unified state, which was to endure for more than four centuries.
World History
