World History China Blog

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Unification of China

Hello, my name is Shi Huangdi and I am the man that is known to have unified China. I was born in the year 259 B.C., in the city of Handan, the capitol of Zhao. I was put on the throne as emporer at the tender age of 13, and I feel I ruled a thriving empire. You see, before this unification, many warring states were battling and killing each other, which I found unacceptable. So with the use of foot soldiers and iron weaponry I fixed this issue. One warring state by another was ended when my army conquered them, drove out nomads, and ended their battles. This process started in 221 B.C. Another act I created to unite china was to completely abolish and wipe out confuciunism, by killing confucionists, and burning their books. Also,  I tried as much as I could to weaken noble families, and create highways and canals to link different regions in my dynasty by the use of peasants. A great feat that brings me great satisfaction am is China's great wall, which many of my prisoners and peasants worked on.

That is basically how i unified china, thank you for your time

Sincerely,

Shi Huangdi

Confucius

Good Morning, my name is Confucius and I was born in the year 551 B.C. in northwest China under the Chou Dynasty. I was raised in poverty with my mother after my father died when I was three.  As I grew up I threw myself into the political area of china, and unfortunately many people could not let themselves accept my ideas and theories. One of the main things I base my life on is goodness. Another important one is Family, and lastly the arts of society. Family is so important because it is the foundation of society, and for the arts, when people are comfortable, fed, and feel safe, then they will create outstanding art and culture. I wanted to hold society together, where there is harmony and everyone does their own jobs. I believe strongly that all must show respect for their elders and superiors. Another one of my beliefs is that no one has to be a saint, because I don't expect that from anyone, especially not myself. Due to my age, many think i will not make it to the new year, it is 479 B.C., and its almost my time, I can feel it.


Thank you for your time,


Sincerely,


Confucius

Lao Zi and Taoism

Hello my name is Lao Zi, which means "Old Body", and I was born as a full grown man  in the 6th century B.C. Having been in the womb for 62 years, I had a full gray beard and long earlobes representing wisdom and intelligence, and was born in the spring and autumn seasons.

In my life I became very interested in philosophy and after studying for years, I wrote the Daodejing, perhaps one of the oldest books books in the world and, because of my interest in philosophy, was full of philosophical poems. Also,Taoism was said to have come about because of me. Taoism means the way or the path of living, is much like Confucianism, and basically tells that everything is dependent on each other. This is considered a mix of philosophy and religion, and it urges people to go about on an effortless path just as I do.  I have also spent a great amount of time with Confucius who shares many of my idea on this. Related to this religion is the Ying-Yang symbol, which represents the duality and opposites in life.

Thank you for listening to just a few of the many points of my life and beliefs.

Sincerely,
    Lao Zi

Great Wall

Hello, my name is Wi chan, and I am a worker under the rule of the terrible Shi Huangdi.  and I'm here today to talk about the creation of the  Great Wall of China. Huangdi told me that since i was a peasant, I had two choices, either death or i must work gruelingly over this wall, and the building for it started in the year 221 B.C. This wall took us nearly 9 years to finish. I feel lucky I made it through, some of my good companions weren't as lucky as I. This wall was used for 2 major things, the first was protection from northern mongol invaders, and the second was to show as a sign of our great region as China, though the tough work hardly seemed worth it.  It stretched for about 3,000 miles across northern china.  Did you know that nearly 1/4 of peasants and criminals died while trying to build this wall? There is sure to be a revolt against this emperor... and soon.

Sincerely

Wi Chan

( In the years to come, many add on to the Great wall of China with more watch towers, gaurds, cannons, fixation of the wall (double walls added), and lengthening of the wall (3,000-6,000 ft!). One of the people that re-engineered the wall was the ruler of the Ming dynasty.)

Buddhism

Hello, my name is Siddhartha Guatama, also known as the Buddha. I was born in the year 563 B.C., as a prince into the good life full of love, family, and riches. But what I didn't know was the pain, poverty, and death that went on around me. My father, the king of Shakya, wanted me to be a conqueror, but when I saw all of this pain, suffering, death, and disease, I decided to take a different path. At the age of 29 I took the path as a redeemer and a savior.

 I learned much in my journey and decided to seek out 2 of the best Hindu masters to teach me the ways. I also learned an extensive amount of Raja Yoga.  After a few years of wandering, I meditated for an astonishing 6 years. I could feel it so strongly, I knew that my break through was near, so I found the perfect place under a beautiful Pepu tree. When my mind finally became at peace with itself, how magnificent it was. This was when I became Buddha. People rejoiced, and I felt so free. I knew one creature would not rejoice though, and this was Mara, the evil spirit and lord of desire. No matter how much he tempted me, I wouldn't give it, i was at peace and this was much greater than any temptation.


I also, unlike the Hindus, do not believe in reincarnation, I think we should overcome this, and even though this religion may have come out of Hinduism, we are not required to follow entirely in its path. Lastly, i am a great believer in Nirvana. Many can't define it, and some say that it is beyond the limitations of mind, thoughts, feelings, and even the world.


Thank you for listening to my great journey to becoming Buddha,


Sincerely,


Buddha

Han Dynasty

Hello, I am emperor Wu Di, and I am the fierce ruler of the Han Dynasty. I had this great honor to become the emperor of this dynasty around 141 B.C. at the age of 15. Unfortunately, illness has taken over my body recently... and I am told I don't have much time to live. It is 86 B.C., and I don't think i will make it to the next year. I have deep love for poetry, philosophy, and the arts. Through my life i have had many great accomplishments, which i will keep with me even in my death. One of the greatest ones was the Silk Road. This is a very important connection of trade routes that effected the culture all throughout China. It exposed many Chinese people to different cultures, and helped them move their goods throughout the region.


I have shared with you my time under the Han Dynasty, now let me share with you what my ancestors have done and what information has passed on to me throughout the years about the Han Dynasty before me, Wu Di. The Han Dynasty was said to have started around 206 B.C., and was started when the emperor Qin was defeated by chu-lead rebels and china reunited. I also know this information because of historical records that were kept and passed on so I could know the past of my great dynasty, one of these was historical writing called the Shiji. Confucianism was a big thing during the Han Dynasty, and many people began to believe in Confucius's many philosophies. Also, there were 2 areas in this dynasty, the early Han and the later Han, also known as the eastern and western Han. During this dynasty there were also many developments and accomplishments. A few of the main ones were the development of paper, ivory, water clocks, astronomical tools, and the seismograph. Also many trade routes were created, the greatest being the Silk Road which i have just talked about.


The Han Dynasty was a great one, and without my rule I feel there wouldn't have been some of the many important things that there are today.


Sincerely,


Wu Di

Mongols Take China

Hello, my name is Chung, and I was a mongol fighter when we first took over the Sung Dynasty and then eventually China itself. The Mongols had already been running a large empire for nearly 50 years before we over took china, but we had to have more! We knew how strong of fighters we were, no one else was able to stand our sturdy military force. We as mongols ride on horseback as nomads, and how people feared us. The man who we called our "Universal Ruler" was named Genghis Khan, and he sure wasn't a friendly man. You see, he had a rough past... his father was poisoned and he was taken prisoner where he was humiliated in front of his enemies. He wanted revenge, and he sure got it. We didn't invade southern china, but we did invade the north, and after we did this we went west into both Muslim and Russian territory. That was how we conquered all of china. You must understand, Mongols were not completely cruel, we had tolerant and just rulers, but only once you were under the control of them. They respected peoples art, scholars, and even religion. We did make a lot of money though... considering that our mongol leader took control of the Silk Road. Our empire was extremely large, a hopefully even in the passing years, it will stay the largest in history. 

Sincerely,

Chung

Tang Dynasty

Good evening, I am the great Li Po, known as a great poet born around 701 A.D. into a great place known as the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty was one of the greatest in Chinese history, and I am proud to be born into its many accomplishments. I will now share my knowledge about this empire.

Here are some of the poems created by me, they bring me pride of throughout my life: Autumn River Song, Waterfall at Lu-Shan, She Spins Silk, Clearing at Dawn, Drinking Alone, and many more.


The Tang Dynasty began around the years of 618 A.D., and followed right after the Sui Dynasty right before us. The capitol of this dynasty is Chang'an, and it built many canals which were good for transportation of both goods and was helpful for communications with others. A few years after the Tang Dynasty began, the Tang code came into it all around the year of 624 A.D. It was very important because it was the first Chinese laws and punishments for crimes that were done. The Buddhist Wu Chao was the female emperor for this dynasty from a few years after I was born in the years of 710-755 A.D., and ruled through the golden age. Another thing that was important during this time was farming, considering that the rice production was very important here. Due to expansion, the Tang Dynasty was considered the greatest power in Asia, and hopefully it will stay this way.


I appreciate your wonder in the great Tang Dynasty,


Sincerely,


Li Po

Sung Dynasty

Good afternoon, My name is Chong Ts'aoTeng, and I am a Compass maker living under the Sung Dynasty. You see, the Chinese created the revolutionary magnetic compass, and I am now a manufacturer of this good. In order to create this there is one major thing that you need, and this is lodestones. These compasses were originally used for the arts of fortune telling, but later we realized that they could also tell direction. Now onto the history and predicted future of the Sung Dynasty.

 The sung dynasty was said to have begun around the years of 906 A.D, and was thriving in its golden age. Kaifhang is the capitol of this great dynasty, which consists of both Northern and Southern Sung. There are two divisions of my great dynasty, the Northern sung and the Southern sung. I am not in the southern sung, but the northern sung, which was said to have been very advanced, but It did have one unfortunate characteristic, since the emperor, Shen Tsung, didn't want his generals to rebel, there was a very weak military. Because of this he usually tried to make treaties which made Northern sung nearly bankrupt! Then the emperor appointed Wang as chief minister, and he straightened out what Tsung had broken, but he died at the end of Northern Sung.  Now we live in the southern sung, which started when the Juchens forced us sung to flee. You see, there's no real trade routes by land because there are hostiles located all around from opposing forces, that's why we stick to ship building. It's actually a thriving and booming business right now.

That is where I am in the sung dynasty, an old compass maker I am,

Chong Ts'ao Teng

(A few years later...)

Hello, I am Chon Ts'ao Tengs son, Teng, and I am here to tell you about what has happened to the Sung Dynasty that my father was unable to say due to his passing.

Recently, the mongols have taken over our land, who were under the command of Kublai Khan. Our poor Dynasty's military was much to weak to fight itself out of the battle. Now we are under the control of the mongols in the Yuan Dynasty. Wish me luck!

Sincerely,

Teng

Zheng He

Greetings people of the future, my name is Zheng He and I am here to tell you of my story. I was born in the year 1371 A.D. as a Muslim with my family. We were conquered by the Ming dynasty. My key to success was when I helped my good friend, Zhu Di, become commander of the Chinese Navy. He then persuaded the court to let me lead the ships.

My life hit its peak in the year 1405, when I made my very first expedition as admiral. How glorious it was.  Many voyages followed after this, with around some 48 to 317 ships (which so happened to be 9 masted and 440 ft long)  we were monumental, and to go along with our ships, we had nearly 28,000 men to go with them! We would travel to different places not knowing what to expect, and bring back magnificent things on our boats, even giraffes from Africa. Throughout the years I have traveled to numerous places, some being East Africa, Mecca, the Persian Gulf, Aleutian Islands, the Western Sea's (we boated through those seas 7 times), Indonesia, and many more. While on our journeys, we exchanged both cultural learning and technologies, while promoting social and economic development. To china, I also brought back important building materials, many exotic articles, and fuel. It is now 1433 A.D.,  and I am stopped in India, due to the fact that I have become suddenly ill, I know I don't have much time. 

Thank you for listening to my story,

Sincerely,

Zheng He

(Zheng He died in the year of 1435 in India, and after his death, the new emperor ordered all the ships and goods that Zheng He brought back to be burned to the ground. No one really knows the real reason for this, but some think it was because he wanted the focus to be inward only on China, and not out in other regions of the world.)

Citations

http://ezinearticles.com/?Who-Built-the-Great-Wall-of-China?&id=782996

http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/westtech/xmongol.htm
 
http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_aboutchina/2003-09/24/content_22644.htm

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CHPHIL/CONF.HTM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha

http://library.thinkquest.org/12255/library/dynasty/sung.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/12255/library/dynasty/tang.html

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/early_imperial_china/han.html

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/early_imperial_china/han.html

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/early_imperial_china/han.html

http://www.chinahighlights.com/greatwall/