北有长城、南有灵渠 - In the north Great Wall and in the south Lingqu canal

秦-Qin 221 BC–207 BC

During the Qin Dynasty all non-Legalist philosophies were suppressed and early Han Dynasty emperors did the same. Legalism, the state-adopted school of thought, denounced the feudal system and encouraged severe punishments, particularly when the emperor was disobeyed; individual rights were devalued when they conflicted with the government's or the ruler's wishes, and merchants and scholars were considered unproductive, fit for elimination. The First Emperor ordered the burning of all books on non-Legalist philosophical viewpoints and intellectual subjects. This decree was passed in 213 BC, and also stipulated that all scholars who refused to submit their books to be burned would be executed by premature burial.

All aspects of life were standardized under the highly bureaucratic and hierarchical Qin government; from language, it standardized the writing system to be of uniform size and shape across the whole country up today, to measurements and to more practical details, such as the length of chariot axles. Qin Shihuang and his advisers also introduced new laws and practices that ended feudalism in China, replacing it with a centralized, bureaucratic government. Qin Shihuang also accomplised the two main achievements of Ancient Chinese ingineering; the Great Wall and the Lingqu canal, both with military purposes; the Great Wall to protect the north and the Lingqu canal to supply the army to conquest the south.