2,000 Years of Chinese History!
Crash Course World History (John Green, "2000 Years of Chinese History!") |
Qin Shi Huang was an impressive leader and has left behind an interesting legacy. As the first emperor of China, he had a lot of power and respect. People say that respect is not given but earned and Qin Shi Huang did just that. After rising to power as King of the Qin State, he had a vision of a complete and unified China with him as the leader. He commanded his troops of peasants and a small military into battles and even fought in some of them that eventually led to the reunification of China. When he was young and first came to power as a king, he had advisers who helped him and taught him the wisdom that he would use to conquer the other states. When the last battle was won and Qin Shi Huang ascended to the throne in 221 BC, the population of China was around 20 million people.
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Qin Shi Huang used his leadership skills to control his subjects and complete monumental feats, such as starting construction on the Great Wall of China and building the Lingqu canal, which was a major waterway. Some of his greatest reforms were unifying China, reinforcing legalism within the Chinese administrative system, standardizing different Chinese writings into a single script, and building the overall structure for the national economic development.
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By looking at Qin Shi Huang analytically, we can see that his achievements are extraordinary and has had a long lasting impact on the history of China. However, by looking at him from a more human perspective, we can see that his faults, such as burning books and killing people, outweigh his achievements. His legacy as the leader of China is often viewed from an ambivalent thought because of his great achievements but harsh rules. Most people will look at him from a humanaitary point of view and find that he was not a benevolent person. His crimes and punishments, as well as the monumental construction of the great wall, cost many lives. Still, despite the short-lived dynasty, his achievements were very significant to the development of Chinese culture and history and, on a long term scale, outweigh his faults.