Introduction
Today, China is a very high society. With a population of 1.3 billion people (ranking the most populated country in the world) they are very rich with growing technology and power. They are also one of the oldest civilizations in our world, while the United States is nearly 300 years old China is thousands of years old. Some may wonder why China is such a high society. One question that really helps with it is: How did the emperors and culture of Ancient China affect China today? That way, we can possibly see how we (the Americans) can become one of the most powerful societies. While we have grown tremendously as a society, there are many things that older civilizations have that we don't. There have been many powerful dynasties in China's history. From different time periods different things come from it, good and bad.
Ancient China
Back in 1,700 B.C. during the Shang Dynasty the kings would sacrifice many people as tributes. They would use the tributes as offerings to obtain wisdom from the ancestral spirits. That is why there are many old bronze creations from that dynasty. That created a bronze age where bronze was more valuable than gold. On some of the bronze there was Chinese characters to haunt and scare the people. To keep the bronze creations safe, they would make large towers. During this dynasty there were many rulers, some desperately wanted dynasty; they would do many harsh things like burning innocent victims on hot cylinders to obtain it.
There were some places like Sanxingdui (pronounced: Sane-shin-dwee) that weakened the Shang, creating Zhou (pronounced: Jo) Dynasty. At 1,000 B.C., 300 years before Rome was established, the Zhou Dynasty expanded. King Wu created the first justice system, like Hammurabi from Egypt. There would be a bronze, bowl-like figure with the rules and punishments written on it. |
Then they started to raise armies of their own, causing the dynasty to struggle. That caused fierce fighting, and larger states would take over smaller ones. From 481 B.C. to 221 B.C. (dates may range) there was the Warring States Period where the states battled for supremacy. While there was a lot of destruction it also inspired a lot of creativity. The Qin (pronounced: chin) Kingdom was the most resourceful of them all. They developed agriculture to go along with their great army.
Towards the end of 300 B.C. Qin ministers convinced a young prince that China's competing states were his. He followed their advice which resulted in him becoming the most powerful ruler in the world. |
He was called the "Son of Heaven" or the "Lord of Everything Under the Sky." He soon became the first emperor of China, going by the name Qin Shi Huang (pronounced: Chin-she-who-ong). After winning many battles and defeating two thirds of the enemies' population he became the first successful ruler of China.
Later Nomadic Mongolians raided Qin's settlements. So Qin responded by making the Great Wall of China. It was like the Great Pyramid of Giza because it required a lot of labor and it took decades to create. Some of the workers died in the process. It was created to be a warning to outsiders that China is a unified kingdom. At some points, the wall surpassed 6,000 feet in elevation. The new wall connected barriers of early dynasties that spans over 2,600 miles, but it is a total of 5,500 miles long. It is even visible from astronauts in space.
In this time they created a currency system. The Chinese written language was standardize. During this dynasty, there was the world's first book burning. The civilians of China burned ancient scrolls. Later, there were three people who tried to kill Qin three different times. So he tried to create potions so he could become immortal. One potion turned out to be poisonous, so he died in 210 B.C. There were fifteen years of chaos after Qin's death and in 206 B.C. the Han Dynasty began.
Later Nomadic Mongolians raided Qin's settlements. So Qin responded by making the Great Wall of China. It was like the Great Pyramid of Giza because it required a lot of labor and it took decades to create. Some of the workers died in the process. It was created to be a warning to outsiders that China is a unified kingdom. At some points, the wall surpassed 6,000 feet in elevation. The new wall connected barriers of early dynasties that spans over 2,600 miles, but it is a total of 5,500 miles long. It is even visible from astronauts in space.
In this time they created a currency system. The Chinese written language was standardize. During this dynasty, there was the world's first book burning. The civilians of China burned ancient scrolls. Later, there were three people who tried to kill Qin three different times. So he tried to create potions so he could become immortal. One potion turned out to be poisonous, so he died in 210 B.C. There were fifteen years of chaos after Qin's death and in 206 B.C. the Han Dynasty began.
The soldiers of China were forced to have a stone statue made of them to show China's power. If they didn't they were killed. There were over 8,000 warriors made, along with hundreds of horses and chariots. These were called the Terracotta (pronounced: tear-uh-cot-uh) Warriors. They were buried after a lot of chaos, and it wasn't for another 2,000 years that they were found in 1974.
The Ancient Chinese created many things during their ancient civilization. They created the rudder, paper, and the compass. Without any of these, America would not have been found. In 1908 A.D. Puyi (pronounced: Poo-ee) became the last emperor of China, then they became a republic. |
Modern China
Today, the Great Wall of China is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world. With over 9 million annual visitors it ranks just below the Louve in Paris, France. It is one of the most popular things in China. There is a very big annual marathon racing on part of the wall. It is a big part of today's Chinese culture.
The terracotta warriors can have up to 40,000 visitors a day. Maybe some people wouldn't remember the name of them but if you showed a picture to almost anyone they would be familiar with these, possibly being able to identify their location.
While the other landmarks may be not as well known there are still many cities visited just for tourism and education. China is a country with a lot of different cultures; from acres of rice fields to some of the tallest skyscrapers. Without the emperors of China ruling it the way they did China wouldn't be close to how it is today.
The terracotta warriors can have up to 40,000 visitors a day. Maybe some people wouldn't remember the name of them but if you showed a picture to almost anyone they would be familiar with these, possibly being able to identify their location.
While the other landmarks may be not as well known there are still many cities visited just for tourism and education. China is a country with a lot of different cultures; from acres of rice fields to some of the tallest skyscrapers. Without the emperors of China ruling it the way they did China wouldn't be close to how it is today.
Sources:
- "Lost Civilizations (History Of Ancient China Documentary) - YouTube." 2013. 12 Dec. 2014 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZHU9jm2Wbg>
- "The 50 most-visited tourist attractions in the world revealed..." 2014. 16 Dec. 2014 <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2598724/The-50-visited-tourist-attractions-world-revealed.html>
- "How to visit Terracotta Army in Xian - Beijing Tour." 2012. 16 Dec. 2014 <http://www.tour-beijing.com/blog/shaanxi-travel/xian-travel/how-to-visit-terracotta-army-in-xian/>