Zhou, Han, And Qin Dynasties
The Zhou dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that accompanied the Shang dynasty and preceded the Qin dynasty. The Zhou dynasty lasted for more than any dynasty in Chinese records (790 years).
However, the control of the army over China by the royal house surnamed Ji lasted initially from 1046 till 771 BC for a duration referred to as the Western Zhou, and the political sphere of influence it created endured nicely into the Eastern Zhou duration for another 500 years.
During the Zhou dynasty, centralized power was lesser around the Spring and Autumn period till the Warring States duration in the ultimate centuries of the dynasty.
In the latter duration, the Zhou court had very little control over its constituent states that were in conflict with each other till the Qin state merged power and formed the Qin dynasty in 221 BC.
The Zhou dynasty had officially collapsed the best 35 years prior, although the dynasty had the best nominal power at that point.
On this page, we will understand in detail about Shang, Zhou, Qin, And Han. Along with the rise of dynasties in China, we will get to learn about Zhou, Han, And Qin Dynasties.
The Period Of Warring States: Why Zhou Dynasty Collapsed?
The Zhou Dynasty gradually collapsed over a period of hundreds of years, because the feudal rulers of outlying provinces gained greater authority. Eventually, these states gained efficient power than the king, starting a period of war that is known, appropriately, as the Warring States Period.
This duration lasted from approximately 475 BCE to 221 BCE, while the western state of Qin conquered its neighbours and installed the Qin Dynasty. Qin rule was the prime time all across China was united beneath an emperor.
Many philosophies approximately life and governance appeared during the period of warring States. However, three philosophies that came to prominence were as follows:
Confucianism,
Legalism, and
Daoism.
These three philosophies are covered in intensity later in "Philosophers of the Warring States," however for right now, let's sum them up this way:
Confucianism: Obeying your elders and social foremen is the greatest civic virtue; preserving morality, respect, and activism is what maintains a society's functioning.
Daoism: People ought to obey the unyielding will of the universe, literally the Dao—the way. Rather than contain themselves in the complicated workings of the state, Daoists advised detachment, self-sufficiency, and deliberate ignorance of worldly things.
Legalism: The state's functions are more crucial than personal liberty, and adherence to the law is the most crucial thing. Apply and uphold the regulation in any way necessary.
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Following a prolonged and successful campaign to win over his neighbours, King Zheng of the state of Qin established a despotic, centralized rule over his six neighbor states, claimed the Mandate of Heaven, and declared himself Qin Shi Huangdi, the primary Emperor of the Qin Dynasty. His dominance from 220 to 210 BCE was brutal and the Qin Dynasty did not long outlive him. The subsequent Qin Emperor, Qin Er Shi, reigned for three tumultuous years, and Ziying, who observed Qin Er Shi, held onto power for only 46 days.
So, the duration of Chinese records produced what many consider the zenith of Chinese bronzeware making. The latter duration of the Zhou dynasty is likewise well-known for the beginnings of 3 major Chinese philosophies: Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism. The Zhou dynasty additionally spans the duration in which the written script advanced from the oracle script and bronze script into the seal script, and then ultimately into an almost-modern form with the use of an archaic clerical script that emerged during the late Warring States duration. Now, let us understand the warring period.
The Qin Dynasty: Removal Of All Proofs By Historians
Qin Shi Huangdi was a Legalist, and it appeared. Soon he assumed power, he clamped down on freedom of expression. The Han Dynasty historian Sima Qian, who wrote roughly a century after the founding of the Qin Dynasty, quoted the emperor as saying:
Historians hold it as a recognition to defy the ruler, regard it as lofty to take a dissenting stance, and that they lead the lesser officers in fabricating slander. If behaviour such as this isn't always prohibited, then in upper circles the authority of the ruler will be compromised, and in lower ones, cliques will form. Therefore it needs to be prohibited. They, therefore, request that all information of the historians apart from those of the state of Qin be blazed.
With the anomaly of the academicians whose duty it's far to own them if there are persons anywhere in the empire who have of their own copies of [Zhou texts], or the writings of the hundred faculties of philosophy, they shall in all instances deliver them to the governor or his commandant for burning.
Anyone who ventures to talk about the Odes or Documents will be accomplished in the marketplace. Anyone who makes use of antiquity to criticize the present will be accomplished along with his family. And, indeed, there was a clampdown on the scholars of China.
Many texts from non-Legalist philosophies were set fire to, and tradition holds—in keeping with Sima Qian—that Qin Shi Huangdi ordered 460 Confucian scholars buried alive. This mass burial may not have found as discussed, however. Sima Qian, as a devoted Confucian, may have embellished the fact of it to make Qin Shi Huangdi appear more immoral.
Fact 1: Shang, Zhou, Qin, And Han: Timeline Of Chinese Dynasties
Xia Dynasty - 2100-1600 BCE
Shang Dynasty - 1600-1050 BCE
Zhou Dynasty - 1046-256 BCE
Western Zhou - 1046-771 BCE
Eastern Zhou - 771-256 BCE
Qin Dynasty - 221-206 BCE
Han Dynasty - 206 BCE-220 CE
Western/Former Han - 206 BCE-9 CE
Eastern/Later Han - 25-220 CE
Fact 2: The names of rulers in the Zhou dynasty along with their posthumous names and the period of reign:
Overview Of Zhou, Qin, And Han Dynasties
The Zhou Dynasty paved a way for the confusion of the Warring States Period, disordered out of which some foundational Chinese philosophies were framed.
The Warring States period had a consequence in the creation of the first united Chinese state under the Qin Dynasty.
After the longer-lived Han Dynasty, the reign of the Qin Dynasty started, which expanded territory, centralized governmental authority, and originated a bureaucracy that had an influence for two millennia.
FAQs on Rise Of Chinese Dynasties: Zhou, Qin, And Han Dynasties
1. How did Zhou come to power?
He Zhou came to power when Emperor Wen led a rebellion in opposition to the Shang dynasty. His son Emperor Wu was the first official Zhou emperor. Zhou emperors were priest-kings who regarded themselves as "Sons of Heaven" with a "Mandate from Heaven" to rule. In approximately 1050 B.C. the Shang dynasty was defeated in struggle via means of armies from Zhou, a rival state to the west, which appears both to have inherited cultural customs from the Neolithic cultures of the northwest and to have engulfed the maximum material culture of the Shang. The conquerors kept their native land in the Wei River valley in present-day Shaanxi province and portioned out the relaxation of their territory amongst their relatives and local chiefs, developing some of the nearby courts or principalities.
2. List some facts on the Shang dynasty.
Some of the facts on the Shang dynasty are:
Shang dynasty is sometimes called the Yin Dynasty.
The most famous king of the Shang was Wu Ding who ruled over this dynasty for 58 years.
The city of Yin Xu was the last capital of the Shang.
It is also known that most of the oracle bones discovered at this place have been the shoulder blades of oxen or turtle shells.
