the fall of the qin dynasty
The major turning point for the Qin Dynasty was the death of
Emperor Qin Shi Huang in 210 BCE (Ouellette, 2010). Qin Shi Huang was
fixated on the idea of becoming immortal and consequently employed numerous sorcerers
and alchemists, and even went on a journey to find an immortality elixir (The Saylor Foundation, 2012). A poisonous drink
that assured immortality was the cause of his death (The Saylor Foundation, 2012).
One of the flaws of the Qin Dynasty was that it relied heavily on the authority of the First Emperor to keep the states unified (The Saylor Foundation, 2012). With the event of his death, came the division of power within the country. Qin Shi Huang had named his eldest son, Fusu, as his successor to be the Emperor of China (Ouellette, 2010). The majority of sources, including Ouelette and The Saylor Foundation, agree that Li Si, the Emperor’s advisor, and Zhao Gao, another court official, chose to make the Emperor’s middle-born son, Huhai, Emperor rather than Fusu, as this would allow them to have more control over China. If Fusu became Emperor, it was probable that he would elect to have another advisor which would give Li Si less influence in the government affairs (Ouellette, 2010). Fusu’s death was arranged and preparations were made to have the ascension of Huhai to the role of Emperor happen as quickly as possible (The Saylor Foundation, 2012). Once Huhai was Emperor, Li Si and Zhao Gao fought between themselves as to who got to have the most power. Zhao Gao arranged to have Li Si and his whole family killed, which left the path clear for Zhao Gao to control the newly appointed Emperor (The Saylor Foundation, 2012). However, the subjects became discontent with the methods the Emperor was using under Zhao Gao’s advisement, and started to believe that Fusu would have been the rightful leader and subsequently, rebellions occurred (The Saylor Foundation, 2012). Two states, Chu and Han, professed that they were cutting ties and becoming independent, and endeavoured to overthrow the Qin (The Saylor Foundation, 2012). After Huhai was killed, the army of Chu was successful in also defeating the next Emperor and by the next year, after much destruction, the Qin Dynasty had ended (The Saylor Foundation, 2012).
One of the flaws of the Qin Dynasty was that it relied heavily on the authority of the First Emperor to keep the states unified (The Saylor Foundation, 2012). With the event of his death, came the division of power within the country. Qin Shi Huang had named his eldest son, Fusu, as his successor to be the Emperor of China (Ouellette, 2010). The majority of sources, including Ouelette and The Saylor Foundation, agree that Li Si, the Emperor’s advisor, and Zhao Gao, another court official, chose to make the Emperor’s middle-born son, Huhai, Emperor rather than Fusu, as this would allow them to have more control over China. If Fusu became Emperor, it was probable that he would elect to have another advisor which would give Li Si less influence in the government affairs (Ouellette, 2010). Fusu’s death was arranged and preparations were made to have the ascension of Huhai to the role of Emperor happen as quickly as possible (The Saylor Foundation, 2012). Once Huhai was Emperor, Li Si and Zhao Gao fought between themselves as to who got to have the most power. Zhao Gao arranged to have Li Si and his whole family killed, which left the path clear for Zhao Gao to control the newly appointed Emperor (The Saylor Foundation, 2012). However, the subjects became discontent with the methods the Emperor was using under Zhao Gao’s advisement, and started to believe that Fusu would have been the rightful leader and subsequently, rebellions occurred (The Saylor Foundation, 2012). Two states, Chu and Han, professed that they were cutting ties and becoming independent, and endeavoured to overthrow the Qin (The Saylor Foundation, 2012). After Huhai was killed, the army of Chu was successful in also defeating the next Emperor and by the next year, after much destruction, the Qin Dynasty had ended (The Saylor Foundation, 2012).