page_title: Qin dynasty
section_title: Sovereigns
hierarchical_section_title: Qin dynasty / Sovereigns
caption_attribution_description: Small bronze plaque containing an edict from the second emperor of the Qin dynasty. 209 BC. Cat # 931.13.195 Bishop C. White Collection. From the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Gallery of China at the Royal Ontario Museum.
context_page_description: The Qin dynasty or Ch'in dynasty was the first dynasty of Imperial China, lasting from 221 to 206 BC. Named for its heartland in Qin state, the dynasty was founded by Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of Qin. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the Legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the fourth century BC, during the Warring States period. In the mid and late third century BC, the Qin state carried out a series of swift conquests, first ending the powerless Zhou dynasty and eventually conquering the other six of the Seven Warring States. Its 15 years was the shortest major dynasty in Chinese history, consisting of only two emperors, but inaugurated an imperial system that lasted from 221 BC, with interruption and adaptation, until 1912 AD.
  The Qin sought to create a state unified by structured centralized political power and a large military supported by a stable economy. The central government moved to undercut aristocrats and landowners to gain direct administrative control over the peasantry, who comprised the overwhelming majority of the population and labour force.
context_section_description: Qin Shi Huang was the first Chinese sovereign to proclaim himself "Emperor", after unifying China in 221 BC. That year is therefore generally taken by historians to be the start of the "Qin dynasty" which lasted for fifteen years until 207 when it was cut short by civil wars.
caption: An edict in bronze from the reign of the second Qin Emperor
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