The evolving statehood before nation-formation: Qin’s wars of unification and the genesis of China’s pre-modern ethnic foundation

China as a unity community, has stood the test of time for more than 2000 years, despite its periodical collapse, chaos and reunification over time. Not only has a united Chinese community survived the massive nation-building movements in the late nineteenth and the twentieth century, but it has also retained its unity after the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union in the final decades of the twentieth century.

By conducting a historiographic research on the first-ever true unification of China in 211 BC, it has been found that war had been the key trigger of China’s unification and the genesis of its pre-modern ethnic foundation in the third century BC. Not only had warfare helped establishing a truly united Chinese community for the first time in history, but it had also fostered tremendous social transformation in the Qin state (770 – 221 BC), which formed the basis for the later Qin dynasty (221 – 207 BC) – the first Chinese empire that succeeded in uniting all Chinese under a single, centralized Chinese state. Although the Qin’s wars of unification (230 – 221 BC) were the direct cause of China’s first temporary unification, Qin’s success in its attempt to unify China actually has much broader historical implications. Qin’s unification of China had been deeply rooted in the Legalist reforms by Lord Shang, which fostered Qin’s advancement in the social, political and economic spheres and had in turn resulted in Qin’s strong military competence over its six rival Chinese states. This subsequently led to Qin’s military success during its unification of China, which provides a basis for the genesis of China’s pre-modern ethnic foundation later on.

However, even though the Reforms of Lord Shang, which introduced the Legalist doctrine to the Qin society, had facilitated Qin’s unification of China in the third century BC, it was unable to sustain the unity in the post-unification era. The Qin Empire only lasted for fifteen years before it fell into oblivion. This shows the fragility of Qin’ unity and the difficulty of sustaining a united but also contested Chinese community. Nevertheless, Qin’s socio-political heritage, namely the centralized socio-political system, the standardized written Chinese characters and and the Legalist doctrine, which played a key role in Qin’s unification of China, had all been inherited by succeeding Chinese dynasties and therefore facilitated the emergence of China’ pre-modern ethnic foundation in the ancient time.