Qin China Essay

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Michael Feingold AP World History 2/10/12 Mrs. Sokol Compare and Contrast Essay In 201 BC Qin Shihuangdi united China and started the Qin dynasty, a powerful Dynasty that lasted until about 207 BC. It was succeeded by the Han Dynasty, a strong empire started by Liu Bang in 206 BC. Both were successful empires that made China a great nation. They had similar legal systems and government, and differed in their achievements. The Qin dynasty had a legalist government, which was highly bureaucratic. The Han also had a legalist belief system, which they adopted from the Qin, but they also mixed in some Confucian ideologies and beliefs. The Qin also had a more centralized government than the Han, with more power belonging to a single person. The two governments also had a lot in common, including different laws. The Han used many statutes of the Qin law code, when Xiao He, a Chinese statesman during the early Han dynasty, created a new written code of laws for the Han Empire. The Han dynasty’s government was split into three kingdoms, which strayed from the Qin’s centralized imperial bureaucracy. Both dynasties had major achievements that changed Chinese culture greatly. The Qin was the first to unite China after the period of the warring states, and had large public works projects. One huge accomplishment of Qin Shihuangdi and the Qin dynasty was the precursor to the Great Wall of China, a huge defensive wall protecting the northern border of China from Mongolian attacks. They also built a strong military and established a powerful Bureaucracy. The Han dynasty had accomplishments that were based more on arts, education, and literature. There were many Chinese scholars and important texts that came from this period of time, including Yang Xiong, Huan Tan, Wang Chong, and Wang Fu. The Han even created a
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