The Zhou rulers called themselves kings (王). His dynasty collapsed shortly after his death but the effect of his efforts (along with some clever politicking by Liu Bang/Emperor Gaozu) helped ensure his actions would in fact herald the start of a new empire that lasted 2,000 years - and technically still persists to this day under Xi Jinping.Ĭhina was unified under the Zhou dynasty (1050 - 771 BC, although it existed on paper for another 500 years until 249). And part was by creating a new mythology. How do you hold together a massive empire that was just a few years ago made up of several smaller and fiercely territorial nations who have been studying the Art of War for centuries? Part of it was brutality, part was massive standardization. Yes, his was the first to unite centuries of warring kingdoms (though Zhou was a large state nominally in charge of “Chinese” culture previously)īut Shihuangdi was very much a PR guy. He presided over one of the first great book burnings of history, so that his rule could not be critically compared to any previous ruler (and other reasons). U/TechnicallyActually makes some great points but there’s one big thing missing: So he combined both titles into " 皇帝 (Huang Di)", meaning emperor. He thought his accomplishments have surpassed all three Huangs and five Dis combined. The First Emperor of China, after uniting all known Chinese territory and then some in the 250ish BC, combined both titles. Three with the title "Huang" and five with the title "Di". In ancient Chinese history there were eight great rulers. The character is sort of like "god king". No direct equivalent in English, so it is often "mistranslated" as "emperor". The two depicted on the statue have the title of "Di" ONLY. Together they make the word Huang Di, meaning "emperor". The term "emperor" in Chinese is a compound word composed of two characters. Especially, considering there is a "First Emperor of China" historically. The translation of their titles is a bit lack luster. The fact that the Qin (and subsequently, the Han) saw themselves as heirs to the Zhou is all the more reason to view that history as contiguous.įrom a previous post, tl dr, it's due to language differences and translation artifact: The fact that China would expand via settlement into the south (and cultural assimilation by the natives) after the end of their reign doesn't change that fact - and the same applies to the Zhou. The Qin dynasty unified what they thought of as "China" - the civilized world to their eyes. Besides, the region between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers accounted for over 80% of China's population until the Southern and Northern dynasties, hundreds of years after the fall of the Qin.įor much of it's history, China is best understood as a cultural region centered around a shared literary and philosophical tradition (despite the differences in spoken language). Even if you discount ethnic minority regions and look only at "China proper", the Qin dynasty didn't control most of Sichuan, Yunnan, or Gansu. The Qin dynasty didn't really control modern China either. Instructions and advice on how to best do an AMA. Want to do an AMA or know someone who does? Message the mods! Comments should be on-topic and contribute.ĭiscussions are limited to events over 20 years ago.If a post breaks one of our rules or guidelines you will be informed about it. So it is perfectly normally for your post to not show up in the new listing. Feel free to submit interesting articles, tell us about this cool book you just read, or start a discussion about who everyone's favorite figure of minor French nobility is!Īll posts will be reviewed by a human moderator first before they become visible to all subscribers on the subreddit. r/History is a place for discussions about history. Join the r/history Discord server to chat with other history enthusiast!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |