Why is this guy called the first Emperor of China, and the Dynasty he founded the first Unified Chinese dynasty...

Why is this guy called the first Emperor of China, and the Dynasty he founded the first Unified Chinese dynasty, when you have shit like the Zhou, Shang, and the Xia (who may or may have not existed) before him?

The title "Emperor of China" refers to Huángdì

>During the Zhou dynasty, Chinese feudal rulers with power over their particular fiefdoms were called gong (公) but, as the power of the Shang and Zhou kings (王, OC*Gʷaŋ,[2] mod.wang) waned, the dukes began to usurp that title for themselves.

>In 221 BC, after the then-king of Qin completed the conquest of the various kingdoms of the Warring States period, he adopted a new title to reflect his prestige as a ruler greater than the rulers before him. He called himself Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor. Before this, Huang (皇) and Di (帝) were the nominal "titles" of eight rulers of Chinese mythology or prehistory: The three Huang (皇, OC*Gʷˤaŋ, "august, sovereign") were godly rulers credited with feats like ordering the sky and forming the first humans out of clay; the five Di (帝, OC*tˤeks, also often translated "emperor" but also meaning "the God of Heaven"[4]) were cultural heroes credited with the invention of agriculture, clothing, astrology, music, etc. In the 3rd century BC, the two titles had not previously been used together. Because of the god-like powers of the Huang, the cult worship of the Di, and the latter's use in the name of the God of Heaven Shangdi, however, the First Emperor's title would have been understood as implying "The Holy" or "Divine Emperor". On that account, some modern scholars translate the title as "thearch".[3]

Because the zhou shang and xia dynastys have barely anything tangible in regards to written records that aren't fucking mythological fanfics about how "Shangdi" blessed the emperor to live a thousand years etc. also 99% of the shang and xia dynasties history is completely made up Xia is garden of Eden level bullshitery

Before him, China is under a feudalism system with a "true" king and many other lords controlling different autonomous regions. In fact, he forefathers all served the King of Zhou. However, when the royal family grew weak, the lords began to fight each other for more controls. He was the one that ended hundreds of years of war and conflict, defeating 6 other nations within his lifetime, and unified China under one banner for the first time. He named himself the first emperor of China, and set example for all the emperors after him, that unifying China is the fundamental requirement of becoming one. You can say he is the main reason China is able to exist as a continuous nation for these many years.

This, It's not that he was the first ruler or that Qin was the first dynasty, it was that Qin Shi Huang was the first to expand the boundries and to transform China from a kingdom to an empire.

>Garden of eden didn't exist

Phonetics?

Qin -> Qina > China

Qin > Qina > Zhongguo?

not this meme again

It was commonly maintained that Ssuma Chhien [Sima Qian] could not have adequate historical materials for his account of what had happened more than a thousand years earlier. One may judge of the astonishment of many, therefore, when it appeared that no less than twenty-three of the thirty rulers' name were to be clearly found on the indisputably genuine Anyang bones. It must be, therefore, that Ssuma Chhien [Sima Qian] did have fairly reliable materials at his disposal—a fact which underlines once more the deep historical-mindedness of the Chinese—and that the Shang dynasty is perfectly acceptable.

whoops forgot to greentext

because china looks back on the qing and han dynasties with an idea of classical civilization, the way we do with rome.

compare it to european rulers larping as roman emperors

*qin

The Zhou and Shang definitely existed.

It's the Xia that's dubious.

Seriously, how can an empire last so long as Imperial China did? There were dynasties that lasted for over 500 years. How is it even possible?

Because on one side there is an ocean and on one side there is a desert and on one side there is a generally disorganized group of steppe folk, while, finally, there is a few disordered countries to the final side.
Basically, they were insulated from outside forces that could disrupt them

And conversely, also hindered their own expansion, contact with other civilizations, and the transfer of ideas that would have helped them modernize faster and not get raped by the west come 1800.

But they also had armies with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and this extreme sense of loyalty, like you looked at the emperor in the eye he would burn your whole family alive. That's crazy. I can't see a nation like China surviving very long in the West, before some revolution butchers the nobility.

it didn't, it collapsed and got conquered multiple times and the Mongols and Qing didn't even pretend to be Han

That and the Chinese made it a point to have a large population and a very explicit and self aware culture. For pretty much as long as there have been Chinese the Chinese have been very, very, VERY aware of Chinese Culture. We in the West (and elsewhere) often mistakenly think that what we are familiar with is the default; Americans think burgers "aren't culture", the British think the Monarchy "isn't culture", Scandis don't think being autistic "is culture", Russians don't think vodka "is culture", etc, but this is incorrect. The Chinese, and any people they influenced such as the Japanese and Koreans, have always been very explicit about there being a them, they, and most importantly a theirs.

Now of course what actually IS the them, the they, and what is theirs varies but that's not the point: The point is that when you have hundreds of millions of peasants it's very hard to disrupt them culturally. Compare this to Rome where, by the time the Empire was split, the idea of a "Roman" had all but dissipated. Was it a tribal bloodline? Was it someone born in the city? Was it someone who swore allegiance to the Emperor? A Citizen? Someone born in Italy? But of course, there were many other groups who knew damn well who they were (Be it religious, tribal, ethnic, or regional based identity). But the Chinese never had this problem. Who is Chinese was always pretty damn clear even if what makes them Chinese isn't.

>That and the Chinese made it a point to have a large population and a very explicit and self aware culture. For pretty much as long as there have been Chinese the Chinese have been very, very, VERY aware of Chinese Culture.

This is a western meme. Hell there was no such thing as a unified Han identity until one of the foreign dynasties (Yuan or Qing), which is relatively recent in China's imperial history

Yeah, what kept them around as a homogenized State for so long also fucked them once people could readily get to them. It also backfired when the generally disorganized steppe folk became exceptionally organized themselves

That's what happens when your civ gets Confucius instead of Socrates.

Greeks were a mistake.