The First Emperor: The Man Who Made China – Part 7/9

April 22, 2010

By 215 BC, Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi’s tomb is almost finished. The chamber where his body will rest is the size of a football field and will be hermitically sealed.  Then the tomb will be covered with a million tons of earth creating the hill we see today.

View of Qin Shi Huangdi's tomb

However, the Emperor doesn’t plan to die. Seeking advice from his doctor, he is given mercury capsules. At the time, it was believed that mercury would increase longevity.  Having lots of sex with multiple partners was also considered another way to increase life. The emperor follows the doctor’s advice and sends the doctor on an expedition to find an elixir for immortality.

The emperor isolates himself and delegates the power to rule the empire to those he trusts most. These men suppress free thought. Entire libraries are burned. Those who try to hide documents are branded on the face and sentenced to a life of force labor–mostly on The Great Wall. Anyone who resists is buried alive.

Professor Jeffrey Riegel, University of California, Berkeley, says that Chinese archeologists have no immediate plans to unearth the tomb, because there is no way to safeguard the contents from decay.

Go to Part 8 for The Man Who Made China or return to Part 6

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

 

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Blending the Law

April 21, 2010

The legal system in the United States comes primarily from English Common Law (influenced by Roman law and Greek teachings). English Common Law is a system based on the principle that the rulings made by the King’s courts were according to the common custom of the realm. Common law is grounded in precedent and local tradition stressing community and individualism.

Is Justice Blind?

Legalism, the foundation of Chinese law, emphasizes the need for order above all other human concerns. The founder of the Legalistic school was Hsün Tzu (312–230 BC). He believed that humans are inherently evil and inclined toward criminal and selfish behavior. Since morality does not exist in nature and humans are part of nature, the only way to control behavior was through habit and harsh punishment. Without this, the result would be conflict and social disorder.

Even though both Confucianism and Legalism called for tradition and governmental control, the difference between the two is that Confucius (551–479 BC) advocated ruling benevolently by example. Both theories still play an important role in the cultural and legal development of China.

However, the legal system in the People’s Republic of China is currently undergoing gradual reform since international trade and globalization are influencing changes. What is evolving is a blending of English Common Law and Legalism.

Here is a good Blog to learn how to navigate through China’s legal system: http://www.chinalawblog.com/
See “China Law and Justice System” http://wp.me/pN4pY-hH

Sources used for this post:

2 Comments | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, Confucianism, legal system | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The First Emperor: The Man Who Made China – Part 6/9

April 21, 2010

The totalitarian philosophy in the new Chinese empire was called legalism. There are rules that govern every part of every citizen’s daily life with the punishment spelled out. Physical punishment could mean mutilation. For example, if two are caught having sex, they will be beheaded. Every aspect of private life is part of Qin law.

In 220 BC, Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi goes on an inspection tour of his empire.  With the major wars over, millions of troops are put to work finishing the Great Wall of China to stop the nomadic tribes to the north from raiding into China, which they have done for centuries.

The Great Wall of China is the greatest engineering project of the ancient world. It is thirty feet high and more than three thousand miles long. At one point, over a million people are working on the wall and about a quarter of them will die.

The emperor makes more demands. He sends hundreds of thousands to build a tomb that fits his rank as the first divine emperor of China. The burial mound, larger than the largest pyramid in China, is at the center of an above ground and underground city. His tomb is made of bronze surrounded by mercury rivers and oceans.

Recently, using ground penetrating radar and other instruments, a three dimensional model is built of the underground complex.

Go to Part 7 for the Man Who Made China or return to Part 5

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Investing BIG in Education

April 21, 2010

China is making HUGE investments in education. In 1998, then-President Jiang Zemin called for a massive increase in enrollment in higher education. Since then, high school and college enrollments in China grew. Source: FP-Foreign Policy, April 14, 2010

Tsinghua University's east gate

In China, more than thirty percent graduate with degrees in engineering or technology. In the United States, only five percent of university students graduate in these fields, while U.S. universities produce more psychologists.

That is why President Obama has encouraged American students to study science. Source: White House

What’s going to happen if American students do not start working hard to become engineers and scientists?

Tsinghua University

In 2040, the Chinese economy will reach $123 trillion, or nearly three times the economic output of the entire globe in 2000.  It’s a fact that people with an education in engineering and science earn more and are more productive.  China and India combined are turning out more than 600,000 engineers a year—ten times that of the United States. Source: Rocketry Planet

To see the results of this push in education, discover Adding to Honor in One Lunar Leap

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

1 Comment | China, Chinese middle class, economy, education, family values | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
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The First Emperor: The Man Who Made China – Part 5/9

April 20, 2010

By 223 BC, Shi Huangdi is ready to unify China. Only the states of Chi and Chu are left, but the Chu army destroys his first invasion force.

Shi Huangdi raises another army and invades again. A million troops face each other. It is a standoff.  To win, Shi Huangdi tricks the Chu generals to make a mistake, and the last great obstacle to the unification of China falls.

The last country, Chi, joins without a fight.  Qin becomes China.  At the age of 34, Qin Shi Huangdi is crowned with a veil of stars.  He is the first god emperor of the Qin people.

The system of governance put into place will long outlast the emperor.

Qin Shi Huangdi commissions a Terra Cotta army that will guard him in death, and the troops are larger than life. In one pit, more than two hundred sets of armor made of stone have been found with no bodies to wear them. It is believed that the armor may have been made for the spirits of dead soldiers who suffered violent deaths in combat so the dead would not become vengeful spirits.

Go to Part 6 of The Man Who Made China or return to Part 4

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_________________________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

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