China : The Warring States Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Qin escorted the Zhou king safely from his sacked capital.

When the Zhou capital was sacked in 771 by a barbarian horde working in conjunction with dissatisfied members of the royal family it marked the end of the Western Zhou dynasty and the true beginning of the era of disunity generally divided into the Spring and Autumn Period (771-475) and the Warring States Period (475-221).

In addition, the Qin were legitimately recognised and they began their steady rise to the pinnacle of political and military power.

Answer: Confucianism, Moism, Daoism and Legalism

Of the four principal schools Confucianism eventually triumphed; and the wisdom of its first advocate from which the ideology's name is derived was recognised by successive generations of Chinese rulers. Feudalism, previously dominant during the Western Zhou period, had declined significantly by the time of the Warring States, replaced by the four new philosophical schools. Moism, a largely pacifist ideology, is all but forgotten now. Until the arrival of Buddhism several centuries later, Daoism remained the most persistent rival of Confucianism.

In addition, it was the most religious of the four schools - Legalism and Confucianism being secular, perhaps even atheistic, and Moism being largely indifferent to religion. Legalism did briefly triumph under the Qin and looked like gaining ultimate victory with the coronation of the devout Legalist, Qin Zheng in 221 BCE.

However, with the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, Legalism was replaced by Confucianist emperors of the Han and later dynasties.

Answer: Jin

The collapse of the Jin state, up until that time the most powerful in China marks what many consider to be the beginning of the Warring States period. In addition it created three states that would remain in existence until the Seven Kingdoms period in last decades of the Warring States. Wei, Zhao and Han were formed - all of which were amongst the regional rivals of neighbouring Qin.

Answer: Han

The Qin found out about the real purpose of Cheng Kuo's mission, but decided not to prosecute him as the canal's construction was progressing well and appeared to be quite beneficial. The King of Han's plan backfired seriously. With hundreds of thousands of hectares of new farmland the Qin now had the resources to supply even larger armies. To this day the region is one of the most fertile in China.

Answer: Shang Yang

Shang Yang was a prominent Legalist and he strongly advocated the absolute authority of the law in all matters. Eventually this caught up to him when he attempted to flee following the death of his patron, Duke Xiao. He was captured and executed as a fugitive fleeing the authorities.

However, even his worst enemies in the kingdom were not so foolish as to to undo his reforms - they saw that the state was strengthened immensely. Ultimately, had it not been for the Legalist reforms that Shang Yang implemented Qin would have had to fight much harder for final victory.

Answer: Lu

The state of Lu was small and was later annexed. Its rulers never took the title of king and they remained duke's right up until the state's end. As such it is not one of the famous Seven Kingdoms.

Answer: Proposing, in detail, the Legalist philosophy

Han Fei Tzu thoroughly believed that all humans were by nature fundamentally evil and that only through a series of stringent and inflexible laws could they be kept in check. He once said, "By nature people submit to authority, but only a few are capable of cherishing moral principles." (Compare with the political philosophy of Hobbes much later).

Answer: Chu

Chu was the only other state that could put into the field a similar number of troops to Qin (over a million). Chu also had very advanced metal-working technology, and Chu armour and weapons were renowned throughout the Seven Kingdoms. However, ultimately, Chu was surpassed for a variety of reasons. Firstly, its neighbours were much more powerful than Qin's and it encountered multiple military setbacks. Secondly, the much harsher environment of north-western China imbued the Qin with a considerable hardiness - in much the same way Russia's climate has always done for that nation's armies. Thirdly the Legalist philosophy of Qin gave it a great organisational advantage and ensured that the most skilled (and not the highest born) men advanced to leading positions in the government and the military.

It is interesting to note that both Qin and Chu were considered 'barbarian nations' by many of the kingdoms closer to the eastern heartland of Chinese civilisation between the Yangtze and Yellow rivers.

Answer: 256 BCE

The Zhou had nominally ruled China since the 11th century, but since 771 had only done so nominally. With the rise of the Seven Kingdoms their power had declined further. Ever since the Qin aided them agaisnt the foreign threat, the Zhou kings had been in debt to the Qin rulers.

It was, therefore, only a matter of an appropriate moment coming along before the Qin finally decided to remove the last obstacle to any legitimate claim to being rulers of China. The removal of the last Zhou king sent a definitive message to the other Six Kingdoms - the Qin intended to reign supreme over all the kingdoms.

Answer: Han

Han, a state that shared the name of the second imperial dynasty, was not Qin's most powerful or most persistent rival, but it was the state that first presented itself to subjugation. Zhao was next, after a two year campaign. In 223 the climax came with the defeat of Chu, the ultimate enemy of Qin.

A short-lived rebellion in the fiercely nationalist Zhao came the next year before the surrender of Yan - the last of the Six Kingdoms to fall to Qin, leaving it as the sole power in China. In 221 BCE Qin Zhang was crowned Shi Huangdi - the First Emperor.

The empire that was then established survived for 2,132 (!) years till its final collapse. For most of those two millenia it was the most powerful nation on earth and only started to decline in the last two centuries.

Indeed had a certain Ming emperor not cancelled the maritime exploration projects of the 15th century, Mandarin and not English might today be the world's leading language. The Chinese have always believed that dynasties rise and fall like the tides. China will rise again ... indeed current economic trends suggest it will be the largest economy on earth long before the close of the 21st century. And all this because of Shi Huangdi's vision and the brilliance of Wang Jian, the commander of his armies. Napoleon once tried to unite Europe.

He failed. Shi Huangdi did not fail in uniting China - an even larger and more populous area.