Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty who brought peace during the warfare between the Warring States of China, uniting China for the first time. The Qin Dynasty endorsed a system of Legalism which was basically a belief that all human beings are inherently selfish, and people are required to follow the stringent laws and be punished accordingly. The Qin Dynasty was indeed the shortest in all of dynasties in China, lasting only about fifteen years, but it was one of the most momentous events in the Chinese history. Although Qin Shi Huang established firm policies along with ruthless punishments that instilled many in fear, his contributions to enhancing infrastructure, reinforcing military force and protection, and bettering the economy immensely improved China. In short, his achievements overrode his crimes.
Prior to the Qin Dynasty, China was separated into regions under each sovereign states as shown in the map of the Warring States of China in c. 260 BCE. But as Qin Shi Huang unified China, the standardization of materials vastly improved and prospered the economy of the empire. In an article from Timesonline, it is said that Qin Shi Huang had “standardized Chinese script (writing), weights and measures, and even the length of cart axels so that every cart could run smoothly in ruts”. Additionally, currency was also unified as shown in an image of a bronze Ban Liang coin. Hence, trade became more easily accessible and there were no more loss of value or time consumption through conversions of currency. Not only that, traders and nomads were able to travel through China with the vehicles of the same track. These standardized systems allowed efficient trades and the Chinese economy to thrive with wealth.
Qin Shi Huang built network of roads and canals that improved the overall infrastructure of China. After the unification of China, Emperor Qin Shi Huang assigned Shi Lu to build a canal as shown in a photo of Lingqu Canal taken in 2009. The canal was initially built for grain transport but it has also “directly secured the South China with military significance”. Furthermore, the canal has been in service for over 2000 years “as the major transport route between Lingan and Central China”. An orderly transportation was paramount to the ancient Chinese empire because of the large scale of land. These quotes suggest that such conducive canal has been utilized for a long period of time by the subsequent generations/dynasties.
Regardless of Qin Shi Huang’s developments, he executed numerous scholars and burned books – as depicted in a painting by Hung Wu – that opposed his Legalist system; he was merciless in every way. According to a historical account of the emperor’s opposition by Sima Qian, it is stated: “Anyone who is not a court scholar dares to keep the ancient songs, historical records or writings of the hundred schools, these should be confiscated and burned. Those who in conversation dare to quote the old songs and records should be publicly executed; those who use old precedents to oppose the new order should have their families wiped out”. Thus, people were controlled under the absolute power of Qin Shi Huang and people were killed solely because they were willing to have their own say. Qin Shi Huang was definitely not a beloved ruler as Xu Jia, courtier of the state of Wei comments that “Qin (is) greedy, violent, keen for profit and untrustworthy. It knows nothing about the traditional etiquette, proper relations, and virtuous conduct”.
Qin Shi Huang began the construction of the Great Wall of China which provided an excellent protection for the empire against the incessant invasions. The Great Wall of China, almost 4,000 miles long, was originally designed to protect China from the Mongols and the northern barbarians. However, during the construction, “seven hundred thousand forced laborers were used in building the wall, and thousands of them were crushed beneath the massive gray rocks”. Although countless laborers were sacrificed just to be buried underground, the empire and even the future Chinese dynasties were protected along with “the first standing army, possibly consisting of millions” guarding the wall from northern invaders.
While it is true that Qin Shi Huang was not the greatest ruler that China could’ve had, his reforms hugely impacted China people know of today. Without the protection from the Great Wall of China, the empire would have experienced tremendous difficulties defending the nation. Qin Shi Huang provided facilities and systems that made ancient Chinese peoples’ lives much simpler.