Chapter 9 Chinese Empire

Great Wall

• 277 years after his death, his teachings finally brought peace to China
• A barrier made of walls across China's northern frontier.
• A philosophy that emphasized harsh laws and that people are naturally selfish.

standardize

• person who holds a government job
• a philosophy adopted by many Han dynasty rulers. Knowledge of it was required to get a job in the civil services
• to set rules that make things similar.

Legalism

• a philosophy adopted by many Han dynasty rulers. Knowledge of it was required to get a job in the civil services
• caterpillars whose silk could be harvested and turned into cloth
• A philosophy that emphasized harsh laws and that people are naturally selfish.

censor

• style of cooking
• To ban ideas, especially in writing, that one finds offensive or unwanted.
• a valuable cloth, originally made only in China from threads spun by caterpillars called silkworms

Shi Huangdi (Qin Dynasty)

• 277 years after his death, his teachings finally brought peace to China
• Government employees hired and promoted based on merit, not political connections.
• "first emperor," title the Qin ruler gave himself when he unified China.

The Fall of the Qin Dynasty

• caterpillars whose silk could be harvested and turned into cloth
• After the death of the emperor, rebellion broke out and many were too afraid of failing to stop it that they joined it.
• agriculture increased, and was owned by the government. All extra crops had to be sold to the government, who would sell it back in lean years

official

• caterpillars whose silk could be harvested and turned into cloth
• person who holds a government job
• "first emperor," title the Qin ruler gave himself when he unified China.

civil service

• Government employees hired and promoted based on merit, not political connections.
• respect shown by children for their parents and elders
• scholars and officials were at the top, laborers and tradesman were in the middle, merchants and slaves were at the bottom

Silk Road

• A network of trade routes that connected China to Central and Southwest Asia and the Middle East.
• 277 years after his death, his teachings finally brought peace to China
• To ban ideas, especially in writing, that one finds offensive or unwanted.

envoys

• The first Han emperor, who unified China after the fall of the Qin
• representatives of the emperor
• when a single group controls a good or service.