Introduction
The first age of empire in China is an important era in the history of that country. It consists of two principal dynasties, the Qin (221-206 B.C.) and the subsequent Han (202 B.C.E- 220 C.E.) dynasties ( Bentley et al, 2013) . The two imperial formations are the center of unification of China into a unit empire, which evolves all the way to the twentieth century. It is in this era that the country saw the experience of both Legalist and Confucian thought. Also, China derives its name from the period. It is noteworthy to understand that the Western word for China emanates from the spelling and pronunciation of Qin. The Chinese also refer to themselves as “the people of Han. ( Bentley et al, 2013) ”
During the fall of the Zhou empire (third century BCE), there emerged seven major warlord empires. One of these states was Qin Dynasty in the North. The ruler, Shih Huang Ti, ruled all of China after replacing the last Zhou emperor in 221 BCE. This dynasty built up an active state which was powerful and swept internal reforms by creating a powerful army. The army was majorly comprised of horse archers who resembled the ones used by the enemies. The title of the head of this dynasty meant “first universal emperor ( Bentley et al, 2013) ,” and this came as a result of the unification of China. The emperor was ruthless and brought the state into a single autocratic rule. He restored the use of canals for irrigation and lowered the taxes imposed on the subjects. He returned the lands that the nobles took from the peasants in an attempt to reduce their (nobles) powers. Shih Huang Ti broke down the traditional provinces and loyalties and made new ones. In the process, he made sure that the sovereignty of the governors was non-hereditary thus avoiding buildup of power in one place for several generations. He realigned the government by introducing a tax system, system of weight, and a unified law code.
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The Qin Dynasty had several infrastructural projects among them roads, canals, capital at Hsien Yang, and a massive tomb which was guarded by six thousand terra-cotta soldiers. Of all these projects, the most notable and enduring infrastructural project of Qin Dynasty is the Great Wall ( Lewis, 2009) . This wall still stands to date and has endured the test of time as one of the ancient wonders of the world. The sole purpose of building this wall was to keep away the nomadic horsemen from the north from infiltrating through the newly found state. Shih Huang Ti completed this wall by connecting the walls built by other warlords to protect their territories ( Bentley et al, 2013) .
Despite the reforms of Qin Dynasty to bring about a unified China, the legacy of the ruler became unpopular and made the empire to be short-lived. The sole reason behind the unpopularity is the fact that the ruler had to impose more tax and labor to sustain the numerous construction projects in the area. Another reason for the fall is the inability of the emperor to listen to any dissenting opinion from the public. Among the dissenting ideas came from the Confucians who were more inclined to the traditional hierarchal government than to his bureaucracy ( Ebrey & Walthall, 2013) . He, therefore, burned all the philosophical works that seemed to go against his ideas. He executed some dissenting philosophers by burying them alive. The barbaric acts led to the loss of the philosophical works that even if the other scholars wanted to rewrite them later, there were typing errors. The result saw the ruler lose good advisors and made the atmosphere in the courts harsh. During his death in 210 BCE, civil war erupted which led to the fall of the Qin Dynasty and Han Dynasty took over ( Lewis, 2009) .
The founder of Han Dynasty, Liu Pang came in when China was on the brink of collapse and imminent attack from the northern nomads. This dynasty is the longest serving in that it ruled for four hundred years. The objective of the ruler was to bring a decentralized power. This would change China into a land where the nobles regained power. The Han Dynasty followed the script of Confucianism. The ruler returned the land to his family members whom he thought would be loyal to him. He then appointed the governors who ruled over the districts and were answerable to him. In a nutshell, he reverted to traditional ways of control. The leadership eliminated forced labor, reduced taxes, and brought back the literature, philosophy, and art that were disregarded in the Qin Dynasty ( Lewis, 2009) . Despite the fact that Liu Pang bestowed the royal family the powers of governance, he continued using the professional bureaucrats, an idea which was present in the Qin Dynasty.
Han Dynasty restored the influence of Confucianism in the courts, thus seeing the growing need to justify their mode of rule. During that period, education was an essential requirement to work in the institutions, and one was required to take an exam before being reverted to join the civil service to test their knowledge of Confucianism teachings ( Ebrey & Walthall, 2013) . This saw many middle-class parents investing heavily in the education of their children to secure their future. This changed the whole nature of China, and it marked the start of civilization. Even after the abandonment of the civil exam, the education system continued and remained a dominant feature of the East Asian societies. Confucianism became one of the three doctrines of the Chinese faith ( Ebrey & Walthall, 2013) . It led to the spread of Buddhism as well as Taoism.
In conclusion, philosophy played a significant role in the transition of the Qin-Han period with the former adopting Legalism and the latter Confucianism. The contradicting interests brought about the urge to form a different mode of rule, and this saw the change of China from the Warring State to the unified Imperial China.
References
Bentley, J., Ziegler, H., & Salter, H. S. (2013). Traditions & Encounters: A Brief Global History . McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Ebrey, P. B., & Walthall, A. (2013). East Asia: a cultural, social, and political history . Cengage Learning.
Lewis, M. E. (2009). The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han (Vol. 1). Harvard University Press.
