Summary

Qin began as a horse-breeding fief on the western frontier and ended by swallowing the civilised world. In 905 BC the Zhou king settled Feizi at Qin in modern Gansu for raising the royal herds; for a century his descendants fought the Rong tribes for every valley. The reward came in 770 BC, when Duke Xiang escorted the fleeing Zhou court east and was raised to full vassal rank with lands between the mountains. From its capital at Yong, held for nearly three centuries, Qin under Duke Mu subdued twelve Rong tribes and joined the great powers, but geography hemmed it in until the Wei seized its Hexi lands. The reversal began in 356 BC, when Duke Xiao employed Shang Yang: registers counted every household, farmland was taxed in grain, ranks of honour were sold only for enemy heads, and laws applied to prince and peasant alike. The machine needed a century to mature. Moved to Xianyang in 350 BC, proclaimed a kingdom in 325 BC, Qin ground down its rivals in the slaughter-battles of Yique, Yan-Ying and Changping, where hundreds of thousands of Zhao soldiers were buried alive. In 221 BC King Zheng took Qi, the last free state, and exchanged the vassal's title for the emperor's: the state of Qin ended because it had become the Qin Empire.

In depth

Politics and institutions

Qin began as a frontier fief in the Wei River valley, far from the ritual core of the Zhou world. Its rulers turned distance into advantage: they absorbed non-Zhou peoples, bred horses and built a military aristocracy. Duke Mu in the seventh century BCE made Qin a major power, but the decisive break came with Shang Yang's reforms in the fourth century, which replaced hereditary privilege with ranks tied to military merit and brought local administration under the ruler's direct control.

Economy and finance

Shang Yang's program reorganized land, taxation and labour. The state encouraged agriculture, registered households, standardized weights and measures and used corvée to build roads and canals. The Zheng Guo Canal and the irrigation works of the Wei valley turned Qin into one of the most productive regions of China, giving it the grain and manpower needed for long wars.

Society and culture

Qin society was organized for war and production. Legalist advisers argued that clear laws, harsh punishments and measurable rewards were more reliable than aristocratic custom. The state moved populations, granted land to soldiers and broke up large lineages. This was a society of ranks, registers and quotas rather than of ritual nobility.

Military and frontiers

Qin's army combined conscription, professional officers, crossbows and cavalry with a logistics system that could move grain and men across long distances. From 230 BCE, King Zheng's generals destroyed the six rival states one by one. By 221 BCE Qin had unified the Chinese world, and the king took the title of First Emperor.

Technology and infrastructure

Roads, canals, walls and standardized equipment supported Qin expansion. The state standardized the script, coinage, weights, measures and the gauge of cart axles—measures that made a large empire administratively legible. The same capacity for organization enabled the Great Wall and the terracotta army, projects that consumed enormous labor.

Legacy and influence

Qin's imperial dynasty lasted only from 221 to 206 BCE, but its administrative template endured. The Han kept the commandery system, the centralized bureaucracy and much of the legal framework, even as they softened Qin's reputation. The entity 'Qin' therefore marks both the frontier state that conquered China and the moment when a new imperial order was born.

Record

Capital: Yong, then Xianyang

Government: absolute monarchy

Language: Old Chinese

Religion: Chinese folk religion

Currency: ancient Chinese coinage

Timeline

905 BCFeizi is granted the fief of Qin

770 BCDuke Xiang is raised to full vassal rank

356 BCShang Yang's reforms begin under Duke Xiao

260 BCChangping buries the Zhao army

221 BCKing Zheng unifies China as First Emperor

Notable figures

Duke Mu of Qin

Shang Yang

King Zheng of Qin

Qin