Engineering an empire notes

Many kingdoms fought for power and control. The Qin had horses which was a huge advantage in war and metal to create weaponry. The Ming river caused droughts and floods. In 238 BC The Qin started a 15 year clash with the Chu, but the Qin won in the end. Ying Zheng changed his name to Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of the new unified China. During Shi Huangdi's rule, China started building what we know as the great wall of china. The Chinese were able to invent a deep drilling tool in the first century BC, and were able to drill boreholes up to 4,800 feet deep. In 220 bc, Shi Huangdi sets out to explore his new conquered land. The Great wall was not only built to keep barbarians out but it was also to symbolize to cut China out from the rest of the world. In the 1040's movable type printing was invented in China, a huge development in the history of printing. Shi Huangdi is said to have died from ingesting mercury, which he believed to be an elixir of immortality. In 206 BC, a new emperor comes to rule China named Liu Bang. Liu Bang launched a new dynasty after his death in 195 BC called the Han. During the Han dynasty, population grew to as much as 50 million people. After the Han dynasty, the Sui came and conquered all the turmoil and ruled over China. The emperor of this dynasty is Yang Di. From the 4th century to BC on, the Chinese used blast furnaces to cast iron, nearly 1800 years before its wide spread use in Europe. The Ming dynasty engineered ships to cast out to different areas on sea. Zheng He became the ruler of this dynasty. If you were castrated, you were allowed to see an empress or noble women because you presumed no threat to the dynasties rule. In 1449, Mongols mounted an attack. On May 26, 1644 manchu forces took Bejing and created a new Chinese kingdom known as Communist China.