Later, philosophers of the Han dynasty and the Neo-Confucian philosophers would attempt to consolidate the other religious ideas into Confucianism to help fill the metaphysical void.
In 221 BC China was united under the Ch'in dynasty. The first Ch?in emperor, Shih Huang Ti, intended to create a strong empire. He destroyed the kingdoms and the feudal power of his rivals, and he attempted to destroy the power of the past by creating a new political system based on law rather than aristocratic tradition. (Fitzgerald 138) Over 120,000 aristocratic families were forced to leave their homes and move to Shensi, the Ch?in's province. (Fitzgerald 141) To stamp out the memories of past, all the books in the kingdom were burned, except for some copies held by the Ch'in imperial library, and scholars were forbidden to teach. To help unify the empire, a standardized system of written characters was adopted, and its use was spread throughout the empire. To promote internal trade and economic development, the Ch'in standardized weights and measures, coinage, and even axle widths so that the wheels of carts could fit into the road ruts of roads throughout the empire. Private land holding was adopted, and laws and taxation were enforced equally and impersonally. Political prisoners were sent off to work on building the Great Wall and on constructing roads. .
In 209 BC, the Chinese people rebelled, and by 207 BC Shih Huang Ti's successor was defeated. Liu Pang, the founder of the Han dynasty, was able to pacify the people but continued to work toward building a unified empire and toward phasing out the traditional aristocracy. (Fitzgerald 154) To staff the government offices, the Han emperors followed the Confucian principle of appointing men on the basis of merit rather than birth, creating a new aristocracy of educated men. Written examinations were adopted as a means of finding the best qualified people.
The attitudes of the children towards the sacrifices they had to make were addressed in the Ba Chin's "Family". ... They regarded Confucianism as an enemy of progress; they felt that filial piety was unsuited to modern life and thought. China was attacked by the British in 1839, and invaded by France, Russia, Germany, and Japan later in the nineteenth century. ...
