The Decision is Made: Wall to Separate China from Barbarians

April 23, 220 BC

Sof♥Times

News Article

         

XINGYANG--  After Many attacks from the Mongols up north of China , The Emperor has had enough. Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi has already conquered all of China. The Mongols are his biggest and only threat. The Emperor has decided to build a great wall. This wall will cover most of Northern China, protecting it from Northern invasions and preventing invaders from bringing in horses or taking stolen goods out.

 

          Emperor Qin says, “I have decided to have the wall built to stop these Northern invaders and barricade China. This job will not be a quick one; therefore we will need as much men as possible to work on it.” Many people are unhappy about this decision. When winter comes the workers will most likely freeze and not see their families. Wu Liu has been a rice farmer for 10 years. People like him will be forced to work on the great wall year round. “I can’t believe this!” says Liu. “It is freezing cold up in the mountains during the winter. We are all bound to die! I will never see my family again! Is a wall that is thousands of kilometers long really necessary?” Many agree with Liu but many also disagree.

         

          Hu Hai, the Emperor’s 18^th son says, “I agree with my father. I think we really need to stop those invaders, and people should really stop complaining because it’s for their own families’ safety. This wall will be like no other.” Hu Hai will also supervise the workers on the great wall to make sure they’re doing their job. 

 

          Many architects are also going to be very involved with this project. Architect Bao Xu has been helping to make the design of the great wall and says, ‘This is a massive project. The wall is designed to go up mountains, and down valleys. Its definitely possible, but it will take many, many years.”

 

Overall, the Emperor’s decision is final. It will take many years to complete

Work will start early next week. Many agree and many disagree with him. Those who disagree cannot do anything about it.

http://www.viewzone.com/china.html
By Catherine Lamb

Stop the Great Wall!

Stop The Great Wall!

By Sofia

 

        The Emperor has just finalized his decision to have the great wall built. The purpose of this wall will be to stop the Barbarians from invading China. The wall will extend for thousands of Kilometers. It will take years to build and thousands of full time workers. This is not the right choice! The workers will be forced to leave their families and work all day and all night. Through freezing weather and shortages of food. They are bound die! All for just a wall.

 

This wall will cover most of Northern China and will be built over all kinds of landforms, such as mountains and valleys. During the winter, the tops of the mountains are freezing. The workers will not have the proper clothing and will freeze to death! Also the giant stones are extremly heavy. The workers will eventually die of exhaustion if they do not get the right amount of rest. Yes the wall will protect China. But is it really worth it? 

Although this wall will protect China, and stop the Barbarian invaders, make China more powerful, and will represent China.I  believe it is not worth the sacrifice of hundreds of our people. It’s just not fair.  It won't actually keep invaders out. Someone could easily climb over the wall. Their are many other ways we can protect China that don’t involve as much sacrifice.

 

China should be a free country, not one where some people have to suffer, and others don’t. Everybody should be equal, and with the building of The Great Wall, they're not.



http://www.einfopedia.com/the-great-wall-of-china.php
By Mohsin Ali

Map of the Qin Dynasty

http://www.chinahighlights.com/map/ancient-china-map/qin-dynasty-map.htm

This map shows how the land under the rule of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC) was less than half the size of modern day China. The Qin rule covered most of Eastern China and bordered the East China Sea. Modern day China covers most of Eastern Asia and borders many countries such as India and Mongolia.

The blue dotted line indicates the Great Wall of China during the Qin rule. That wall was built to block out Mongolians from the north.

The capital of Qin was Xianyang. It was also Capital of 12 other dynasties such as the Zhou, Han, and Tang.

Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi Revealed: An Interview with Emperor Qin

Q: How old were you when you first became emperor? Do you think you were ready?
A: I was thirteen when I first took the throne. I believe I was ready. I had watched my father rule for so many years. But when I started out, it was very difficult. The seven warring states were all fighting for power. It was hard, but I worked through it and learned as I grew.

Q: Why did you order all books not related to your reign to be burned?
A: Well, during the Waring States Period, there really wasn’t any control or rules. Therefore, people started to develop creative thinking. Naturally people are bad and if you let their minds get too far ahead of them, they will turn evil. I ordered these books to be burned to stabilize their minds, so they won’t turn evil.

Q: What are some of your greatest achievements? Why?
A: I would say during my reign, I have accomplished 2 major things:
1-The great wall of China, and
2- My tomb

The Great Wall is probably my biggest and wisest achievement. Although it is still incomplete, it will do a remarkable job of protecting China, and keeping out invaders. It will also show the power of this dynasty.

My tomb is my personal favorite, and great accomplishment. It is very big and it will have sculptures of every soldier in my army there to protect me in the afterlife. It has taken years to build, and is also currently incomplete. I believe a great emperor like me should be remembered forever. This is why I had the tomb built.
Q: Why did you decide to unify China?
A: Before I came into power. Our people were savages. No discipline, no set rules, no communication, no unification. I wanted to unify China by putting one unit of measurements, one language, one way that everyone from all parts of China could understand. Then I set laws, and I believe I changed China for the better.

Q: Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy day to take this interview. Which son will take your place when you can no longer?
A: Thank you for having me. I will most likely pass the throne to my eighteenth son, Hu Hai. He is very knowledgable and a great warrior. As for when I die. That day will hopefully not happen, because I plan on becoming immortal.  

Painting of Emperor Qin Shi HuangDi

chinapage.com

Trust No One: Belief System of Legalism

In the Qin Dynasty(221-207 BC) the main belief system was legalism. The reason for this was because when Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi came into power, he believed in it and thought everybody else should, so he enforced it. Those who did not follow were severely punished.

He believed that all people are bad and every minute of a person’s life needs to be controlled in order for them to be disciplined so they can work hard.

 

The main point of legalism is that naturally, humans are evil and selfish criminals. If they are not controlled it will lead to a lot of big problems in society. Emperor Qin agreed and therefore made it China’s new belief system and abolished all other beliefs. In order to control his people he established extremely strict laws, rewarded those who followed and punished, or even killed those who didn’t. The laws of legalism were endless and had rules for every little thing.

 

Another main concept of legalism is not to trust anyone. Han Fei, a Chinese philosopher who practiced legalism once said, “It is dangerous for a ruler to trust others. He who trusts others can be manipulated by others.” This means that because everyone is bad, you cannot trust anyone. If you trust someone you could be controlled by them.

 

 

 

fatmaoasis.blogspot.com
From Fatma Ferdj's Blog

Ban Liang: China Introduces It's New Currency

In 221 BC Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi unified all of China during the Qin dynasty. One of the ways he unified China was he standardized Chinese currency. He wanted all of China to have the same monetary unit. He got rid of all coins with odd shapes, and introduced a new kind of coin that was round, with a square hole in the center.

This coin is called the Ban Liang, it was developed so people from all over China would easily be able to purchase or exchange things with each other. The Ban Liang was only used in China.

Today, the Ban Liang is no longer used, but even after the Qin Dynasty, it was still used in future dynasties such as the Han. The new coin changed many people’s lives. It allowed them to make easy transactions with people from all over China, not just their area.

http://chinesecoins.lyq.dk/Banliang.html

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