Chinese History 3: A Basic Chinese Reading Book, China's First Emperor Qin Shi Huang, Qin Dynasty and Start of Imperialism (Graded Reader

The Qin Dynasty (221 BCE -207 BCE) was the first dynasty to unify whole China. The dynasty originated from the Qin State during the Warring States Period. In 221 BC, Ying Zheng (嬴政, king of the Qin State) defeated the rest of the six Warring States (Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan and Qi) successively and completed the great reunification of China. Subsequently, Ying Zheng became the first emperor of unified China. He called himself "Qin Shi Huang" (秦始皇), meaning "the First Qin Emperor" and ruled with an iron fist. This was the beginning of imperialism in China. In 210 BCE, Qin Shi Huang died of illness. Afterwards, the Qin Dynasty came to end within a few years. Although Qin Dynasty was the shortest in Chinese history, and often abused the people's power, it had a huge influence on the following dynasties. In fact, the establishment of a centralized government system by the Qin Dynasty laid the basic pattern of governance for the coming 2,000 years.

The book, Chinese History 3, a Chinese reading practice book, presents a broad and simple overview of the Qin Dynasty and their contributions. In the accompanied book chapters, you'll learn the history of China starting from the Warring States Period until the collapse of the Qin Dynasty. The volume, 13th in the Mandarin Chinese Reading Series, includes both the Chinese text (simplified characters) and pinyin. With about 900 unique characters, the volume would be suitable for the beginners, lower intermediate and advanced level Chinese language learners (HSK 1-6). Overall, the Mandarin Chinese Reading Series offers you a variety of elementary level books (Level 1/2/3) to learn Chinese culture as well as practice Chinese reading fast.

The book has 11 chapters in the following order:

Chapter 1: Overview of the Qin Dynasty (第一章：秦朝概述)

Chapter 2: The Warring States Period (第二章：战国时期)

Chapter 3: Overview of the Warring States Period (第三章：战国时期概况)

Chapter 4: The Origin of Qin Kingdom (第四章：秦国的由来)

Chapter 5: The Great Wall of Qin Kingdom (第五章：秦国长城)

Chapter 6: Military Construction of the Qin State (第六章：秦国的军事建设)

Chapter 7: Qin Shi Huang (第七章：秦始皇)

Chapter 8: The Main Achievements of the Qin Dynasty (第八章：秦朝的主要成就)

Chapter 9: The End of the Qin Dynasty (第九章：秦王朝的终结)

Chapter 10: The Legacy of the Qin Dynasty (第十章：秦朝的遗产)

Chapter 11: Terracotta Warriors (第十一章：兵马俑)