Qin Shi Huang

Evaluation
Primary Sources for Level Test
 The Essay Question:
Analyse the sources to explain Qin Shi Huang’s
leadership and the role he played in China’s history. Open Inquiry
Essentially the essay is an EVALUATION of Qin Shi Source-based
Huang
Essay
You are asked to ‘judge’ his success/achievements/unification. Use
the words /terms of the specific question on the test.

• You will select 2 or 3 arguments to support your claim

Extended response on
• You also need to consider the alternative opinions (Disclaimer). You can Qin Shi Huang
chose to do this as your 3rd point and refute this using a third argument
(new evidence). Or incorporate a disclaimer in your conclusion.
• You will write an extended response including an introduction and
conclusion.
Consider logic of argument.

In History essays we need to consider chronological order of arguments –

it may not come across as ‘logical’ to be talking about his death in 210BCE
in paragraph 2 and then have him alive and well defeating the Zhou in
paragraph 3!
1. READ the whole source before you begin to highlight.

2. Definitely not more than 25% of text! Aim to only highlight text
you are quoting or referring to directly.
Highlighting
and annotating
3. In this test, you will be writing 3 arguments so 3 colours of Rules and tips
highlighters can be very useful to help ‘classify’ the quotes ready for
each of the main body points/paragraphs.

In the test you will have 5

4. Check to see how much you have highlighted in all 3 colours to see
if you have enough detail for each of the arguments. Remember you minutes ‘perusal’ where
can also use prior knowledge to support source information. you can highlight and
annotate the sources. You
are not allowed to begin
5. Corroboration – Check for sources that support (corroborate) each
other. This makes the information potentially more valuable. your essay at this time.

6. Annotate – notes (use historical terminology where possible) that

synthesise the source content and meaning.
1. Highlight BEST evidence.
It is important to be selective – know
what you want to say about Qin Shi
Huang and find the best evidence to
PROVE or support your argument. Level Test
2. Consider author, purpose and
date of source.
3. Check your PRIOR
KNOWLEDGE. It is important to
support sources with contextual details
from your studies. Names, dates, places,
battles, statistics, outcomes etc.
Source 1: The Terracotta Army Pits
Detail of standing warriors and horses in Pit 1 at the Museum of the Terracotta
Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang, Lintong, Shaanxi Province, China.
The pits that were dug to hold the Terracotta Army cover an area of more than 2,500
square metres and are situated about 1.5 kilometres east of the Emperor’s tomb mound
itself. Four pits have been excavated, three containing figures and one empty.
Pit 1, is the largest and housed the main army of armoured and un-armoured soldiers
interspersed with four-horse carriages. The soldiers are arranged in formation with a
rear-guard, and flanks with soldiers facing outward. This is the most fully-excavated
pit.
Pit 2 is the next largest… It contains a large squadron of war chariots and armoured
cavalrymen standing in front of their horses, and a group of archers and infantrymen.
Pit 3 is smaller and U-shaped. It is the only pit that has been fully excavated and
contains one chariot, centrally positioned, and 68 high-ranking officers and
infantrymen. Archaeologists believe that it represents the command headquarters of
the army.
Pit 4 is large… but completely empty. It is believed that work on the complex came to
a halt during the uprisings that followed the death of the First Emperor and that Pit 4
was never completed.
British Museum. (2018). The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army. Retrieved from British Museum:
https://www.britishmuseum.org
Source 2: Weapons of the Terracotta Army
The most important weapon of the Qin army was the chariot, of which four types have been

excavated. They were all originally made of wood with bronze fittings and had a door at the

back for mounting and dismounting. The types differ in size and weight, and therefore in

mobility and strategic use...

The principal weapon of the charioteer was the ge or dagger-axe, an L-shaped bronze blade

mounted on a long shaft used for sweeping and hooking at the enemy. Infantrymen also carried

ge on shorter shafts, ji or halberds, similar to the ge but with a spear tip extending from the top

of the axe, and spears and lances. For close fighting and defence, both charioteers and

infantrymen carried double-edged straight swords slightly under a metre in length. Swords

were carried slung across the back rather than at the waist. The archers were equipped with

crossbows with sophisticated trigger mechanisms capable of firing arrows over 800 metres.
British Museum. (2018). The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army. Retrieved from British Museum:
https://www.britishmuseum.org
Source 3: Map showing Unification of Qin Dynasty
 Source 4:Memorial on the Burning of Books
by Li Si (as recorded by Sima Qian)

… Your Majesty possesses a unified empire, has regulated the distinctions of black and white, and has firmly established for yourself a

position of sole supremacy. And yet these independent schools, joining with each other, criticize the codes of laws and instructions… If such

license is not prohibited, the sovereign power will decline. It would be well to prohibit this.

Your servant suggests that all books in the imperial archives, save the memoirs of Qin, be burned. All persons in the empire, except members

of the Academy of Learned Scholars, in possession of the Classic of Odes, the Classic of Documents, and discourses of the hundred

philosophers should take them to the local governors and have them indiscriminately burned. Those who dare to talk to each other about the

Odes and Documents should be executed and their bodies exposed in the marketplace. Anyone referring to the past to criticize the present

should, together with all members of his family, be put to death. Officials who fail to report cases that have come under their attention are

equally guilty. After thirty days from the time of issuing the decree, those who have not destroyed their books are to be branded and sent to

build the Great Wall. Books not to be destroyed will be those on medicine and pharmacy, divination by the turtle and milfoil, and agriculture

and arboriculture. People wishing to pursue learning should take the officials as their teachers.
Sources of Chinese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600, compiled by William Theodore de Bary, Irene Bloom, and Joseph Adler. © 1999.
Source 5: Reforms

“Immediately following the founding of the Qin, Shi Huang embarked on a

number of massive construction projects throughout the country such as the
building of national highways, irrigation canals, an extravagant imperial city,
and palaces. The most noteworthy of these construction projects was the Great
Wall, undertaken in 221 B.C., the year the dynasty was established. The wall
was built to keep away the Huns (Xiongnu), a Turkic-speaking nomadic tribe
that had made continual border raids on the Qin Empire from the north.”
(Yong Ho, modern Chinese historian, 2000)
Source 6: Unification of currency.

Image 2: Mould for “Half-Ounce” Coins

Image 1: Bronze banliang coin. China, Qin dynasty, (Banliang) | China | Qin (221–206 B.C.) or
Third century BCE. The Chinese inscription on this coin early Han (206 B.C.–A.D. 220) dynasty
reads banliang, with ban to the right of the hole and
(New York: The Met)

liang to the left. Banliang means “half-ounce”—the

weight of the coin. (The Trustees of the British
Museum / Art Resource, NY.)
Source 7: Image

 
Qin Shi Huang, 259–210 BCE, the first
Qin emperor, 221–210 BCE, scene of
burning books and executing scholars,
by Hung Wu, from Lives of the
Emperors, watercolour on silk.
 Bibliothèque Nationale Paris. Photo: The Art Archive at Art
Resource, New York.
Essay plan: Evidence – you must use quotations
and information from the sources in
each of the paragraphs. Use your
Introduction: Claim/hypothesis prior knowledge / research to
• General: Big picture might include period, place, key dates etc. support.
• Particular: Qin Shi Huang, dates, position, name etc.
• Claim/Hypothesis: ANSWER the topic/question – use the key terms of the Plan of Development:
topic as part of your claim. AVOID announcements – I am
• Preview/ Plan of Development that outlines your arguments IN THE ORDER
you will address them in the essay. going to talk about …

REPLACE with assertions – Qin

Main Body: Shi Huang is remembered as one of
1. Argument 1: One of the … the most influential leaders of
2. Argument 2: In addition to his … ancient China because of his ...(1) ...,
3. Argument 3: One of the most significant …/ Some may say… and his ...(2)…

Conclusion
• Return to context: period, place, key dates, names etc. – often the ‘big picture’ /
what came next / legacy etc.
• Restate claim (now been proved) – may use the key terms of the question or
synonyms.
• Clincher.