How the Qin Dynasty Unified Ancient China

How the Qin Dynasty Unified Ancient China The Qin dynasty surfaced during China’s Warring States period. This era spanned 250 years- 475 B.C. to 221 B.C. During the Warring States period, the city-state kingdoms of ancient China’s Spring and Autumn period consolidated into larger territories. The feudal states fought each other for power during this era characterized by advances in military technology as well as education, thanks to the influences of Confucian philosophers. The Qin dynasty came to prominence as the new imperial dynasty (221-206/207 B.C.) after conquering rival kingdoms and when its first emperor, the absolute monarch Qin Shi Huang (Shi Huangdi or Shih Huang-ti) unified China. The Qin Empire, also known as Chin, is likely where the name China originates. The Qin dynasty’s government was Legalist, a doctrine developed by Han Fei (d. 233 B.C.) [source: Chinese History (Mark Bender at Ohio State University)]. That held the power of the state and its monarchs interests paramount. This policy led to a strain on the treasury and, ultimately, the end of the Qin dynasty. The Qin Empire has been described as creating a police state with the government holding absolute power. Private weapons were confiscated. Nobles were transported to the capital. But the Qin Dynasty also ushered in new ideas and inventions. It standardized weights, measures, coinage- the bronze round coin with a square hole in the center- writing and chariot axle widths. Writing was standardized to permit bureaucrats throughout the land to read documents. It may have been during the Qin Dynasty or late Han Dynasty that the zoetrope was invented. Using conscripted farm labor, the Great Wall (868 km) was built to keep out northern invaders. Emperor Qin Shi Huang sought immortality through a variety of elixirs. Ironically, some of these elixirs may have contributed to his death in 210 B.C. Upon his death, the emperor had ruled for 37 years. His tomb, close to the city of Xi’an, included an army of more than 6,000 life-size terracotta soldiers (or servants) to protect (or serve) him. The first Chinese emperor’s tomb remained undiscovered for 2,000 after years his death. Farmers unearthed the soldiers as they dug a well near Xi’an in 1974. â€Å"So far, archaeologists have uncovered a 20-square-mile compound, including some 8,000 terracotta soldiers, along with numerous horses and chariots, a pyramid mound marking the emperor’s tomb, remains of a palace, offices, storehouses, and stables,† according to the History Channel. â€Å"In addition to the large pit containing the 6,000 soldiers, a second pit was found with cavalry and infantry units and a third containing high-ranking officers and chariots. A fourth pit remained empty, suggesting that the burial pit was left unfinished at the time the emperor died.† Qin Shi Huang’s son would replace him, but the Han Dynasty overthrew and replaced the new emperor in 206 B.C. Pronunciation of Qin Chin Also Known As Chin Examples The Qin dynasty is known for the terracotta army put in the emperor’s tomb to serve him in the afterlife. Sources: Minnesota State University Qin DynastySarah Milledge Nelson, Brian M. Fagan, Adam Kessler, Julie M. Segraves China The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Brian M. Fagan, ed., Oxford University Press 1996.Cultural China: Kaleidoscope Science and InventionHistory Channel: The Terra Cotta Army

Definitions of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)

Definitions of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) The term English as a lingua franca (ELF) refers to the teaching, learning, and use of the English language as a common means of communication  (or contact language) for speakers of different native languages.Although most contemporary  linguists  regard English as a lingua franca (ELF) as a valuable means of international communication and a worthwhile object of study, some have challenged the idea that ELF is a distinct variety of English. Prescriptivists  (generally non-linguists) tend to dismiss ELF as  a kind of foreigner talk  or what has been disparagingly called BSEbad simple English.British linguist Jennifer Jenkins points out that ELF is not a new phenomenon. English, she says, has served as a lingua franca in the past, and continues to do so nowadays, in many of the countries that were colonized by the British from the late sixteenth century on (often known collectively as the Outer Circle following Kachru 1985), such as India and Singapore. . . . What is new a bout ELF, however, is the extent of its reach (English as a Lingua Franca in the International University, 2013).    Examples and Observations As well as being usedoften in a very simple formby tourists, ELF is prominent in international politics and diplomacy, international law, business, the media, and in tertiary education and scientific researchwhich Yamuna Kachru and Larry Smith (2008: 3) call ELFs mathetic functionso it is clearly not a reduced lingua franca in the terms original (Frankish) sense. Yet it usually differs from English as a native language (ENL), the language used by NESs [native English speakers]. Spoken ELF contains a huge amount of linguistic variation and non-standard forms (although formal written ELF tends to resemble ENL to a much greater extent).(Ian Mackenzie,  English as a Lingua Franca: Theorizing and Teaching English. Routledge, 2014)ELF in Local and International SettingsEnglish operates as a lingua franca at a number of different levels, including local, national, regional and international. Apparently paradoxically, the more localised the use of English as a lingua franca, the more varia tion it is likely to display. This can be explained by reference . . . to the identitycommunication continuum. When used in a local setting, ELF will display identity markers. Thus code-switching and the explicit [use] of nativised norms can be expected. When used for international communication, on the other hand, speakers will consciously avoid the use of local and nativised norms and expressions.(Andy Kirkpatrick,  World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press, 2007) Is ELF a Variety of English?Whether ELF should be called a variety of English at all is an open question, and one which cannot be answered as long as we do not have any good descriptions of it. It is well known that divisions between languages are arbitrary, and therefore those between varieties of a language have to be as well. Once descriptions are available of how speakers from different linguacultural backgrounds use ELF, this will make it possible to consider whether it would make sense to think of English as it is spoken by its non-native speakers as falling into different varieties, just as is the English spoken by its native speakers. . . . It is likely that ELF, like any other natural language, will turn out to vary, and to change over time. It does not make much sense, therefore, to talk about a monolithic variety as such: a variety can be treated as if it were a monolith, but this is a convenient fiction, for the process of variation itself never stops.(Barbara Seidlhofer, English as a Lingua Franca in the Expanding Circle: What It Isnt.  English in the World: Global Rules, Global Roles, ed. by  Rani Rubdy and Mario Saraceni.  Continuum, 2006) Two ApproachesSeeing as the movement to bring forth the conceptualization of English as a lingua franca is gaining momentum worldwide, and more specifically for Europe, it is imperative that an analysis is made of the implications of the two differing approaches . . .. One is the (traditional) idea that English is a lingua franca for a non-native speaker constituency which should pursue knowledge of the language as if it were a foreign language. The other, upheld by those who have bought into the world Englishes paradigm, is to see English as a lingua franca for interlocutors who use it with others in multicultural settings (and thus see English in its diversity as opposed to viewing English as a prescriptive entity defined by idealized inner-circle speakers). It should be made clear, moreover, that my own position here is that a lingua franca must be inclusive as opposed to exclusive. That is to say, it is imperative that our understanding of how English is used in Europe is integra ted with a vision of a communicatively viable use of the language internationally.(Marko Modiano, EIL, Native-Speakerism and the Failure of European ELT.  English as an International Language: Perspectives and Pedagogical Issues, ed. by  Farzad Sharifian. Multilingual Matters, 2009)