Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Front Page News Story: Standardization By The Qin Dynasty

by Kelly Sheehan, Staff Writer

Nouah'sArk.com

              Emperor Qin Shi Huang standardized many things during his rule. He standardized the language and writing, currency, measurements, and weights. The language and writing of China was different almost everywhere. Emperor Qin wanted there to be one language and writing to make it easier to communicate throughout the country and people had to be able to read and understand what people from other parts of China were saying. He made Qinzhuan the standardized font. Emperor Qin Shi Huang's new writing system has been used for thousands of years and some of the symbols are still used today in China. "Also, currency became standardized as a circular copper coin with a square hole in the middle," (Qin Dynasty). Before, the currency was bronze or gold coins with a hole in the middle. The whole in the middle was there for you to put the coins on a cord around your neck. The old coins weren't all the same shape. Emperor Qin Shi Huang decided to standardize the coins when a trader went out of his region and had trouble trading with the coins he had. Qin made it so everyone would have the same currency and could trade anywhere. The Qin Dynasty standardized all weights and measures for transportation. This led to successful trade and commerce. Standardizing the weights and measures also led to the dynasty developing a taxation system.


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