page_title: List of ancient great powers
section_title: Qin Dynasty
hierarchical_section_title: List of ancient great powers / Ancient China / Qin Dynasty
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Qin Dynasty (in c. 210 BCE) — in China.&#160;::*The first unifying Imperial dynasty of China.&#160;::*The coloured territories show the approximate extent of Qin political control at the death of Emperor Qin Shi Huang in 210 BC. As part of his unification of China in 221 BCE, Qin Shi Huang divided his empire into thirty six commanderies, each subdivided into a number of counties. The significance of the administrative reforms was its introduction of a uniformly centralised system of imperial control. At the death of Qin Shi Huang in 210 BCE, more commanderies were added to the original thirty six, and these are also shown on the map. The system was followed by the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), though with a certain degree of compromise. Thereafter, the system became the norm for later dynasties and eventually evolved into the present administrative structure of Mainland China (see: Category: Political divisions of China.) The location of the Yellow River and commandery seats follows Tan Qixiang (ed.), Zhongguo lishi ditu (中国历史地图集), 1982. Note that the Yellow River is considerably to the north of its present flow. ;Credits Created and copyright (2006) by Yeu Ninje. Released under the GNU FDL. Originally uploaded to English Wikipedia by en:User:Yeu Ninje. Ming civilisation (1580)
context_page_description: Recognized great powers came about first in Europe during the post-Napoleonic era. The formalization of the division between small powers and great powers came about with the signing of the Treaty of Chaumont in 1814. A great power is a nation or state that, through its great economic, political and military strength, is able to exert power and influence over not only its own region of the world, but beyond to others.
  The historical terms "Great Nation", a distinguished aggregate of people inhabiting a particular country or territory, and "Great Empire", a considerable group of states or countries under a single supreme authority, are colloquial conversations.
  3000 BC – 476 AD
context_section_description: The Qin Dynasty was preceded by the feudal Zhou Dynasty and followed by the Han Dynasty in China. The unification of China in 221 BC under the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang marked the beginning of Imperial China, a period which lasted until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912.
  In 214 BC Qin Shihuang secured his boundaries to the north with a fraction (100,000 men) of his large army, and sent the majority (500,000 men) south to seize still more land. Prior to the events leading to Qin dominance over China, they had gained possession of much of Sichuan to the southwest. The Qin army was unfamiliar with the jungle terrain, and it was defeated by the southern tribes' guerrilla warfare tactics with over 100,000 men lost. However, in the defeat Qin was successful in building a canal to the south, which they used heavily for supplying and reinforcing their troops during their second attack to the south. Building on these gains, the Qin armies conquered the coastal lands surrounding Guangzhou, and took the provinces of Fuzhou and Guilin. They struck as far south as Hanoi. After these victories in the south, Qin Shihuang moved over 100,000 prisoners and exiles to colonize the newly conquered area. In terms of extending the boundaries of his empire, the First Emperor was extremely successful in the south.
  
  Despite its military strength, the Qin Dynasty did not last long. When the first emperor died in 210 BC, his son was placed on the throne by two of the previous emperor's advisers, in an attempt to influence and control the administration of the entire country through him. The advisors squabbled among themselves, however, which resulted in both their deaths and that of the second Qin emperor. Popular revolt broke out a few years later, and the weakened empire soon fell to a Chu lieutenant, who went on to found the Han Dynasty. Despite its rapid end, the Qin Dynasty influenced future Chinese regimes, particularly the Han, and the European name for China is derived from it.
caption: Qin Empire in 210 BC       Qin region
        Outlying regions
exif: {}