Was Emperor Qin cruel or nice?

I believe that Emperor Qin was a very cruel ruler in that he forced everybody to do very hard labor like for his tomb and the great wall.  To build the Great Wall (long wall)  he forced over 300,000 soldiers, peasants, slaves, etc. to build in extreme weather conditions in mountains, deserts, quicksand filled jungles.  Many people died and were buried in the wall which is why it is called the longest graveyard in the world.  He also had people executed in extremely torturous ways including being pulled in four directions by chariots until you break into pieces or being chopped in half at the waist with a hatchet.  Another thing he did is that he would arrest or kill people for the slightest disrespect.  Overall Emporer Qin was very cruel.

Standardizations During the Qin Dynasty

In the Qin dynasty Emperor Qin Shi Huang standardized many things including currency, and writing. The currency was bronze or gold coins with a hole in the middle so you could put them on a cord around your neck.  there were many shapes of coins too.  Some examples are shaped like knives attached to a circle with a hole in the middle others are just a plain circle with a square-like hole in the middle. Emporer Qin Shihuang also standardized the writing by using all the widely used writing symbols.  This has been used for thousands of years since then and is still used today in letters and other small things.

Interview With the Amazing Emporer Qin

Max: Hello how is it going

Qin: Very fine thank you

Max: So what was your favorite project?

Qin: My favorite project I forced my subjects to do was my huge tomb it is beautiful so far and there are many terracotta soldiers.  Also there is a bronze city.  Another thing in my tomb is a map of my empire with rivers and seas of mercury.

Max: So if you want to be immortal then why did you have them make a tomb?

Qin: The tomb was started before I wanted to be immortal.

Max: What do you take to become immortal.

Qin: Mercury pills.

Max: Didn't you know that mercury is very poisonous and will kill you.

Qin: Really that sucks.

Qin: Why cant I see?

Qin: Why do I feel really weak?

Qin: why do i feel like there is a million needles stabbing me

Qin = dead on the ground.

Max: well it looks like he died from mercury poisoning.

Taoism and Legalism in the Qin Dynasty

The Qin dynasty started off with complete Legalism but then became more and more Taoist.  People who believed in Legalism believed that everybody was basically bad but could become good through laws and harsh punishments. Taoism is about yin yang and the five elements. The Qin dynasty was the water element on the five elements cycle.  This meant that their emotion in the cycle was fear.  This picture is of the yin yang universal balance symbol.  According to the textbook.  The Qin dynasty became more and more Taoist because Qin started to believe the five elements system and yin yang.  Then it became more Taoist because he believed in the Taoist Elixer.  The Taoist Elixer was a potion that was supposed to make people immortal.

The Amazing Terracotta Army

The Terracotta army which was made in the Qin dynasty and is an army of clay warriors.  The Terracotta Army was made from unbaked clay.  The word terracotta literally means unbaked clay.  They were also covered in beautiful paint that falls off right when they come out from the ground.  So now it is highly illegal to dig them out of the ground until  better technology is found.  The Terracotta Army was supposedly built to lead Emperor Qin Shi Huang into the afterlife.  They were also built to protect him in the afterlife.  Also each one of them have a different face, expression, and hairstyle to represent that each one of them is a different person.  This picture is of pit number one of the Terracotta Army.  There are three pits. Pit one is the biggest.  Pit two is the middle one.  Pit three is the smallest.  Archaeologists found bronze weapons including spears and swords.  They also found other weapons including bows and crossbows.  The Terracotta Army is sometimes called the eighth wonder of the world.

Qin Verses Modern China

   This map shows how the Qin dynasty is tiny compared to modern China and that China has grown since the Qin dynasty. It also show where the great wall that Qin built is.  There have been ten dynasties of growth in between these two times.  The Chinese have also captured Tibet since then.  Modern China has expanded greatly in the west, some in the south, and some in the north since the Qin dynasty. The map also shows the border of Mongolia.  The blue line which is the great wall was built to keep out the Mongolians.

Introducing the New Magnificent Great Wall of China

It was reported that the great wall that was built in the Qin dynasty was one of the 7 wonders of the world.  This is an amazing achievement because there is only 7.  It is also reported that it was 5000 km long.  It was made by connecting and extending multiple walls on the northern border of China made in the warring states period.  This wall was made along multiple treacherous terrains including mountains, deserts, jungles with quicksand.  The area it was built in had huge weather extremes like in the summer it was scorching, and the winters were frostbitten.  The wall was also built with multiple materials including dirt, bricks, stone, mud, and wood.  It was made to keep the invaders and barbarians out so we could all be safe.  There were 700,000 people building the wall including soldiers, slaves, workers, and prisoners.  One of the toughest soldiers was complaining about the conditions they were working in what he said was "I wish I never had to do that, building the wall was more dangerous than any war even if we got to pick whatever we wanted from the land and got to make our own houses it was backbreaking, hand blistering, insanity inducing work."  Now that is some scary stuff.