<P> Historians often refer to the period from Qin dynasty to the end of Qing dynasty as Imperial China . Though the unified reign of the First Qin Emperor lasted only 12 years , he managed to subdue great parts of what constitutes the core of the Han Chinese homeland and to unite them under a tightly centralized Legalist government seated at Xianyang ( close to modern Xi'an ) . The doctrine of Legalism that guided the Qin emphasized strict adherence to a legal code and the absolute power of the emperor . This philosophy , while effective for expanding the empire in a military fashion , proved unworkable for governing it in peacetime . The Qin Emperor presided over the brutal silencing of political opposition , including the event known as the burning of books and burying of scholars . This would be the impetus behind the later Han synthesis incorporating the more moderate schools of political governance . </P>
<P> Historians often refer to the period from Qin dynasty to the end of Qing dynasty as Imperial China . Though the unified reign of the First Qin Emperor lasted only 12 years , he managed to subdue great parts of what constitutes the core of the Han Chinese homeland and to unite them under a tightly centralized Legalist government seated at Xianyang ( close to modern Xi'an ) . The doctrine of Legalism that guided the Qin emphasized strict adherence to a legal code and the absolute power of the emperor . This philosophy , while effective for expanding the empire in a military fashion , proved unworkable for governing it in peacetime . The Qin Emperor presided over the brutal silencing of political opposition , including the event known as the burning of books and burying of scholars . This would be the impetus behind the later Han synthesis incorporating the more moderate schools of political governance . </P>
who founded the first real centralized empire in china
who founded the first real centralized empire in china
First Qin Emperor
First Qin Emperor