Emperor Shi Huangdi Essay

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Shi Huangdi now able to unite the warring states, explored ways to establish a stable, and long lasting dynasty. The improvements he made to a now unified China, changed they way the world looked upon the country. During 221 BC, China went through a time called the Warring States Period. Emperor Shi Huangdi rose to power during this time and defeated his enemies and consolidated rule in China. Emperor Shi Huangdi was the first person to unify China in all of history. The emperor was able to use legalist policies to increases his power over his people. Shi Huangdi philosophy of legalism says that all people are evil, and harsh laws must be made to keep them in line. If people are left alone, they will act badly. During the Warring States Period
Confucius stressed the importance of relationships in society, and at the same time as Daoism was developed which stressed harmony with nature. Each was a response to the warring states period. After Huangdi took control he quickly tried to put down these other philosophies. He condemned Confucian scholars to death and had books burned that contained philosophies that disagreed with him. This increased his totalitarian rule even more because people could not question him. While analyzing the legalists reforms of the Qin dynasty, the connections between Shi Huangdi and Hammurabi are clear. They both ruled the subjects with an iron fist, some people analyzing both of them would even us the word totalitarian to describe them. Shi Huangdi wanted to be in total control of the empire and its people. He didn’t like to be spoken against, those who did were put to death like the 460 scholars he put to death. With Hammurabi, he believed in “ an eye for an eye”. Hammurabi understood that, to achieve this goal, he needed one universal set of laws for all of the diverse peoples he conquered. His punishments were harsh, for example if someone stabs you in the eye and you lose that eye, then you take their eye to be fair. Both Hammurabi and Shi Huangdi were harsh and carried some totalitarian aspects in their

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