Ancient China is known for its Great Wall and terracotta Warriors, but there was a lot more to Ancient China than you would expect. From it's many religions to meticulous artwork, this ancient civilization is one of the most fascinating groups of people to roam the earth.
A lot of people think 221BC,the begining of Qin dynasty, is the begining of the Ancient Chinese civilization. This has been proved wrong as it is know known that The king of Qin conqured other six kingdoms, created the first centralized government in chinese history and became the first emperor of China. Before the Qin dynasty, China was similar to the medieval Europe.You could use a royal family and seven lords to understand it.( Qin shihuang was one of the seven lords, he defeated the royal family and other six lords.) Before China became a whole centralized country, the civilization had last for almost two thousand years. The Qin Dynasty The Qin Dynasty began in 221BC, and ended in 2006-7BC. The Qin Dynasty was the first unified, multi-national and power-centralized state in the Chinese history. This Dynasty lasted only 15 years, and the dynasty held an important role in Chinese history and it had great influence on the following dynasties. Only two emperors, Yingzheng - Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor in the Chinese history, and his son Hu Hai ever ruled the state, which was finally overthrown by the people's uprising. Qin was a legalist, which meant that he thought it was essential that minor crimes were punished with major consequences, and that the government had complete control of every citizens life. He also developed a system of bureaucracy, so that he could control people even more. Qin divided his empire in 36 provinces, which were controlled by two government officials. There were two so that they could keep an eye on each other, making sure the other was not letting crimes go unpunished etc. This shows how much Qin was desperate for total control and wanted everything perfect. but it did not stop there. He then went on two divide the provinces into smaller districts which were also controlled by two people, and continued to do this until his land was divided into tiny fractions. All the people that controlled the fractions were payed extremely well. It seems as though he was paranoid about control, because he also had spies to keep an eye on everyone, and they were also rewarded very well. He gave himself complete power, so that he could take any measure to ensure that China (named after him) was protected in any way possible. Qin's desire for protection went with him to the grave, which is shown in the fact that he constructed over two thousand terracotta warriors, and horses, which were placed outside his burial tomb. Each warrior was meticulously crafted and they all differed from each other, with different hair styles and even shoes! Qin had an incredible impact on China, with the country only recently switching from communism.
Art, Religion and Daily Life Ancient China produced many types of beautiful works of art. Different eras and dynasties had their specialties. Chinese philosophy and religion had an impact on artistic styles and subjects. On may occasions, mountains and nature was used in art, but human art had it's fair share as well.
The Three Perfections The three perfections of Chinese art were calligraphy, poetry and painting. Calligraphy is the style of writing that the Chinese used then and still use today (see gallery for pictures). This was performed with a brush and ink, and the words went down the page. There were over 40, 000 characters, all of which had to remembered and perfected. Calligraphers worked hard to perfect this art, which was so hard, because each stroke had to be done beautifully and in specific order.
Poetry was an important form of art as well. Great poets were famous throughout the empire, but all educated people were expected to write poetry. During the Tang Dynasty poetry became so important that writing poetry was part of the examinations to become a civil servant and work for the government.
Painting - Painting was often inspired by poetry and combined with calligraphy. Many paintings were landscapes that featured mountains, homes, birds, trees, and water. Chinese art is well known for its beauty and detail.
Food Rice is almost immediately associated with China, and this was in fact the first grain harvested by the Ancient Chinese. There is archaeological evidence of rice farming along the Yang-tse River as early as about 5000BC . People cooked rice by boiling it in water, the way they do today. Or they made it into wine . Rice wine has been popular in China since prehistory.
In colder states, were rice could not grow, the Chinese would grow millet, then boil it in to a kind of porridge. The Ancient Chinese also drunk tea and on special occasions they would place small portions of meat on their food, such as beef and chicken.
Religion There were two main religions in Ancient China : Legalism, Confucianism and Daoism. Confucianism was devoted to the order of respect between family, friends and other people. They believe that men had power of women, elders of younger people, parent of child and boy over girl. This religion had a major impact on current China, and is the main religion of China today. It was first introduced in China by a man called Confucius, who believed that everyone had the capacity to be amazing. He believed in peace and education, and taught these virtues: respect, loyalty, honesty, hard-work, politeness and generosity. Daoism focused on the happiness and inner peace of the individual. Daoism formed the Ying and Yang; opposing forces in perfect harmony.
Ancient China left so much for us as people in the future to study, appreciate and learn from. It's structures remain, along with its dignity and grace.