Ch'in Dynasty China

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Not everyone liked Ch'in though. In order to stay in power, Ch'in was often cruel to his subjects. He always suspected everyone of wanting to revolt. Ch'in was especially afraid of the scholars who knew philosophy and wrote books. He thought they wanted to break up his empire. So Ch'in had many scholars killed or exiled (sent out of China). And Ch'in also burned all the books he could find.

Tomb of Ch'in, the first Emperor

When Ch'in got old, he was also afraid of dying. He was afraid someone would try to kill him, so he lived the last part of his life hiding all the time. And he was always looking for the secret of how to live forever. He even travelled far away, to Shandong Province, looking for a medicine to make him live forever - and that's where he died, in 210 BC.

Clay soldiers from Ch'in's tomb.

His successor built Ch'in a huge tomb, where he was buried along with thousands of life-size clay soldiers to accompany him to the next world.

But after Ch'in died, assassins killed his successor, and they put a new emperor on the throne who was not very strong. He was not able to hold China together. Almost immediately all the different parts of China began rebellions against the Emperor. In four years, these rebels beat Ch'in's huge army and destroyed the capital at Xianyang. Then the two main rebel leaders, Hsiang Yu and Liu Pang, fought over who would be the next emperor.

To find out more about the Ch'in dynasty in China, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:

Eyewitness: Ancient China, by Arthur Cotterell, Alan Hills, and Geoff Brightling (2000). For kids.

China (History of Nations), by Greenhaven Press (2002). For middle schoolers. The negative review on Amazon is actually for a different book - don't be alarmed!

The Cambridge History of China: Volume 1, The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC-AD 220, edited by Denis Twitchett, Michael Loewe, and John K. Fairbank (1986).

Ancient Sichuan and the Unification of China, by Steven F. Sage (1992). Lots of detail, for those who need to know EVERYTHING about the Ch'in dynasty.

Chin Dynasty Art
Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220)
Main Chinese History page
Main China page
History for Kids home page

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