Expert: Jennifer - 4/21/2005

Question
I am teaching a unit on Ancient China.  What are the most important impacts that the Qin and Han dynasties had on Chna as it is today?

Answer
Hi!

It was during the Qin dynasty when China had their first emperor. His name was Qin Shihuang and his method of ruling brought about a lot of hardship on the Chinese. The Great Wall of China existed in many bits and pieces before he came into power. However, he was the one who commanded his troops and civilians to join the various walls up to form the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall of China is now considered as one of the seven wonders in the world and billions of visitors vist it each year.

Perhaps a more important contributtion was the unification of the Chinese language. The emperor instructed his subordinates to burn all books that were not written in Chinese. Many dialects were eliminated as a proces which was unfortunate. However, that process actually made it easier for the government officials to communicate to the people. The fact that the Chinese language is one of the most widely spoken language today can be attributed to Qin Shihuang.

The Han dynasty was famous for its numerous contributions to Science and Technology. Paper, seismograph and the compass are just some examples of objects invented during htat time. The seismograph is able to both predict where an earthquak will occur and it will be able to tell if an earthquake has indeed occured. As for paper, it is the most widely common used product today. After the compass was discovered, China went on trips overseas to look for greener pastures.