History Of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi

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The entombed warriors, created to guard the entrance of the first Chinese emperor Qin Shihuangdi, reflect the importance the ruler placed upon securing his existence in the afterlife. In life he had been an all-powerful figure in Chinese society and in death he expected protection for eternity. Introduction: The rule of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi from 246BC was a revolutionary dynasty for China. With its unification Shihuangdi’s rule, China established many innovative system such as a new currency and governmental system. Though Shihuangdi was a clever ruler he was also a leader who built his empire on fear and was often referred to in the past as a tyrant. As the first emperor of China as a united front he shaped many beliefs. One of these was …show more content…

As a child, Qin Shihuangdi went by the name Ying Zheng. He was well educated and was destined to rule the state of Qin. He was the first emperor of China from 221BC to 210BC but his power was given to him at the age of 13 when he became the King of the Qin region in 246BC. When he had control of the Qin region, he manage to unify all the seven states that, at the time, China comprised of. After unifying these regions, he gave up his own region’s name (Qin) which may be where the name ‘China’ originated from. He then adopted the name Qin Shihuangdi which roughly translates to ‘First Emperor’ (British Museum, n.d., Qin Shihuangdi – The Rise to Power). In his 35 year reign as emperor, he implemented many reforms that ensured China ran smoothly for years to come. These modifications included establishing a governmental system, new currency (the banliang coin), a common standard of writing and infrastructure such as roads and buildings throughout the empire. Although he was an accomplished leader, Qin Shihuangdi had an insatiable desire for power. He had a god complex and as quoted by the British …show more content…

Their accidental discovery in the spring of 1974 by three farmers led to a massive excavation of the site located in the Shaanxi Province near the city of Chang’an (Jane O’Connor, 2002, page 7). With this excavation came the discovery of approximately 6,000 soldiers. Archaeologists nowadays can be sure that the purpose of the soldiers was to protect Emperor Qin Shihuangdi in his afterlife as it was a common Chinese belief, at the time, to think that there was an afterlife for people of all classes. Villagers were also said to have found clay parts from time to time but thought nothing of it (unknown, n.d., Entombed Warriors). Each figurine is life size replica of the Chinese army in the Qin Dynasty created more than 200 years ago. All the warriors are completely different with diverse facial and uniform features and are all hand made from terracotta (unknown, 26/07/2015, online). In the tomb, there are more than just the terracotta army of the army. Included in the tomb there are other statues such as horses, chariots, bowmen and archers (see appendix1) along with the warriors as well as approximately 40,000 bronze weapons (see appendix 2) (unknown, 27/07/2015, online). When excavated properly, it was found that the army was divided into four pits. Each pit was large in size, pit one being the biggest, and contained a

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