for several hundred years political developments in the Mediterranean Basin and in East Asia followed fairly similar trajectories at both ends of afro-eurasia population urbanization and economic production accelerated in the late 1st millennium BCE in both regions a single state rose above other states in the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE in East Asia the forces of Shi Huangdi founder of the Qin Dynasty United a large part of China this happened at about the same time as Rome fought against Carthage in the western part of a from Eurasia the Qin state had only two rulers for the Han Dynasty which followed immediately after lasted nearly 450 years the Qin and Han dynasties together marked the beginning of a Chinese tradition of centralized bureaucratic government that lasted with only one interruption all the way until the beginning of the 20th century the Qin appeared in the 4th century BCE as a minor agrarian Kingdom in the upper Wei River Valley gradually it gained dominance over its neighbors emerging victorious from a period called the warring States Period Shi Huangdi or first illustrious Emperor managed during a reign of only 11 years to set up a centralised government more elaborate than any previous Chinese state the government of Shi Quan D became the model for Chinese government's until 1911 he organized the empire into 40 provinces each headed by an appointed governor and army commander who replaced the previously powerful regional Lord he subdivided these provinces into numerous local administrative districts he conscripted young men into his army encouraging enthusiastic service by allowing common soldiers who killed many enemies to rise through the ranks he also drafted peasant men and women to build roads dikes canals and palaces earlier Chinese rulers had erected barriers of pounded earth to defend China's northwestern land and frontiers against attack Shi Huangdi ordered labor gangs to extend and connect these barricades this was the earliest construction of what has since become known as the Great Wall of China though later rulers extended reconstructed and added most of the actual stonework and very little of the original wall from the Qin period remains it was the earliest form of the Great Wall the first Emperor's vision of an efficient state rested on the Chinese school of thought known as legalism this philosophy said that human nature was fundamentally corrupt and that it was the role of the state to regulate people's lives legalist scholars argued that laws and punishments should apply equally to everyone both aristocrats and peasants state officials should be appointed for their ability to get the job done not for their moral character or high social status legalist ideology demanded standard regulations and procedures and this led to a standardization more broadly Shi Huangdi standardized and rationalized not only politics but also economic and cultural life he standardized weights and measurements he reduced several different coinages circulating in China to one type of coinage and he also standardized and simplified Chinese writing policies that promoted uniformity meant that even though East Asian people's continued to speak many different languages and Chinese dialects officials scholars and Merchants throughout the empire could better understand one another in writing scholars have been ambivalent about the legacy of the first emperor ever since on the one hand he followed the principles of legalism and he and his officials praised artisans and farmers rather than the aristocratic class it was artisans and farmers who were the backbone of society according to Shi Huang II peasants may indeed have honored the first emperor because he kept order and because he insisted on equality before the law but on the other hand he severely punished anyone who defied him he encouraged his subjects to spy on each other and he ordered the burning of books that he did not think served the interests of the state and according to one tradition he took vengeance on several hundred disobedient scholars by burying them alive the first emperor Shi Huangdi spent astronomical sums of money on his own tomb near Chang An which is near modern-day xi'an in north central china this astonishing mausoleum contains an army of life-sized terracotta warriors each one unique this has regarded both as a marvel of the ancient world but also as a testament to the ordinary men and women who created these warriors