The Qin dynasty was the first dynasty to unify China. During the Chou dynasty China was divided into provinces with each province having its own emperor and own government system. In 221 B.C, the Qin dynasty succeeded in conquering all of china and united it to create one strong nation. This was the beginning of imperial China. The leader of the dynasty named himself Qin Shi Huangdim which means the first emperor. He established a legalist form of government and centralized China for the first time.

The Emperor divided China into 36 commanderies which further were subdivided to counties. Each commanderies had a civil governor, a military commander, and an imperial inspector. The leaders of the commanderies were to report the Emperor in writing. All this was done to keep China under control and help in administrative tasks. The Emperor had absolute control over the lives of the people in the state, so it was a totalitarian form of government. In order to ensure law and order, groups of families were formed each containing five to ten families. If somebody within a group did something wrong, it was the responsibility of the whole group, so the families had to look after each other.

Shi Huangdim accomplished many great things during his time as emperor of China. He standardized the language and writing of China, so that there was a general way to communicate with people across the country. Currency, weight and measures were also standardized. This was done to promote within the nation between the newly conquered states. Each state had their own measuring system, currency and language before. Shi Huangdim is also famous for building the Terra Cotta army near his tomb; it consisted of 6000 pottery soldiers that protecting the tomb. But Shi Huangdim was probably most recognized for building the Great Wall in the north to protect China against barbarian invasion. The building the great wall brought enormous financial burden and loss of human life. A national conscription was established to strengthen the national army.

Shi Huangdim did many things to ensure that he remains in power and to prevent future uprisings. He confiscated all weapons and stored them in the capital. He also destroyed the walls that divided China before. He outlawed many schools of thought and burned books of the opposing school of thought, but he kept one copy of each book in the Qin Imperial Library. He wanted all the subjects in his nation to think the same way; this was the only way to keep the nation in one piece.

Shi Huangdim was not thought as a popular leader. He burdened the population by charging huge taxes, and public work was too great. He executed 400 people that were his opponents. He banned all books that suggested a form government other the current one and also took all the power from the nobility

As the Emperor grew older, he didn’t want to die. He ordered all the court scientist and doctors to develop a potion that would make him immortal. The doctors made a pill containing traces of mercury, and actually thought it would work. The mercury ultimately killed Shi Huangdim. He ruled for 37 years from 221 B.C to 210 B.C. After he died, his son took the thrown. But the Emperors death sent China into rage. The Chinese rebelled against the Qin dynasty. Because of this his Son was quickly overthrow and the Han dynasty came to power in 206 B.C.