Concept

Qin's wars of unification

Overview

Qin's wars of unification (c. 230 - 221 BC) were a series of military campaigns launched in the late 3rd century BC by the state of Qin against the other six states remaining in China – Han, Zhao, Yan, Wei, Chu and Qi. Qin developed into the most powerful of China's Seven Warring States that coalesced in the wake of the declining Zhou dynasty, which had been reduced to a weak and merely ceremonial position during the Warring States period. In 230 BC, Ying Zheng, the King of Qin, began the sequence of campaigns that would bring the Warring States period to a close, setting out to conquer each of the six states one by one. This was completed in 221 BC with the fall of Qi, which further led to a more centralised form of government replacing the fengjian system of the Zhou dynasty. Ying Zheng declared himself the First Emperor – or Shi Huangdi – of a unified China under the Qin dynasty.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Possible passages

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1. The warrior-class attains a perfect separation from classes devoted to the cultivation of the soil or other occupations regarded as servile. And there arises a priesthood that is defined in its rank, its functions, its privileges.

   Herbert Spencer, First Principles

   States what Qin's wars of unification is.

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2. Yuan Shih-k'ai was, of course, supported by the Legations, being what is called a "strong man," _i.e._ a believer in blood and iron, not likely to be led astray by talk about democracy or freedom. In China, the North has always been more military and less liberal than the South, and Yuan Shih-k'ai had created out of Northern troops whatever China possessed in the way of a modern army. As he was also ambitious and…

   Bertrand Russell, The Problem of China

   States what Qin's wars of unification is.

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3. No longer was membership in a group of kindred the dominant fact, but simply local residence. Not the nation, but the territory was now divided; the inhabitants became mere political fixtures of the territory. The whole of Attica was divided into one hundred communal districts, so-called demoi, every one of which was autonomous.

   Friedrich Engels, The origin of the family, private property, and the state

   Close in meaning to Qin's wars of unification; the term itself is not named.

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Related ideas

• Lu (state)
• Jiangsu
• Beijing
• Warring States period
• Yan (state)
• Shang Yang
• Qin (state)
• Qi (state)
• Han dynasty
• Qin dynasty
• Zhou dynasty
• Shang dynasty
• Anyang
• Li Si
• Great Wall of China
• China
• Hebei
• Zhejiang
• Lü Buwei
• Qin Shi Huang
• Zhan Guo Ce

Place in the tradition

Part of Legalism (Chinese philosophy).

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