Ancient China Dynasties

Ancient China. Part raised wasteland, part warring states. One man unifed it, but then the dynasty fell. Ancient China shifted dynasties like this a lot, but maintained a healthy trading system with other civilizations such as modern-day Pakistan. They also were the source of great art, such as Shi Huangdi’s tomb. In short, ancient China was a forefront in trading and art despite ever shifting ruling families.
The main thing that China traded was silk, a soft slippery fabric that was made with threads “silkworms” spun. “The Silk Road”, named so because of the silk, was a path through China and into the rest of Asia. It was around 4,000 miles long and cut through Persia and Mesopotamia. The Road was made up of many routes all used by merchants. Silk was the main export, but imports such as grapes and walnuts. The Silk Road was fraught with peril. It stretched across the Taklan Maklan desert.
(Which eventually conquered China) These states eventually began warring, which dragged on for years. The Qin kingdom was fierce, and quickly conquered the other states. The first emperor renamed himself “Shi Huangdi” and started working on a wall around China, later known as The Great Wall of China. Shi Huangdi was a cruel emperor, enforcing strict laws and working his subjects to the bone. His dynasty, which was supposed to last “10,000 generations” only lasted two before it was overthrown. The Han dynasty, and Liu Bang (the emperor after Shi Huangdi’s grandson) was kinder, so the Han dynasty lasted a lot longer than the Qin dynasty.
In conclusion, ancient China was a great civilization. They were the trailblazers for many items we use today, such as paper. They were also very accomplished traders, as we can see from the Silk Road. The emperors kept up this trade, no matter how cruel or kind they were. What do you think life was like under Shi Huangdi’s