Qin dynasty
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| - | A '''passport''' is a [[travel document]], usually issued by a [[country]]'s [[government]], that certifies the identity and [[nationality]] of its holder primarily for the purpose of international travel. | ||
| - | ==History== | ||
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| - | One of the earliest known references to paperwork that served in a role similar to that of a passport is found in the [[Hebrew Bible]]. Nehemiah, dating from approximately 450 BC, states that Nehemiah, an official serving King [[Artaxerxes I of Persia]], asked permission to travel to [[Judea]]; the king granted leave and gave him a letter "to the governors beyond the river" requesting safe passage for him as he traveled through their lands. | ||
| - | Passports were an important part of the Chinese bureaucracy as early as the [[Western Han]], if not in the [[Qin dynasty|Qin Dynasty]]. They required such details as age, height, and bodily features. These passports (''zhuan'') determined a person's ability to move throughout imperial counties and through points of control. Even children needed passports, but those of one year or less who were in their mother's care might not have needed them. | + | The '''Qin Dynasty''' (秦朝 [[221 BC]] - [[206 BC|206]]/[[207 BC]]) followed the [[Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC - 256 BC)|Zhou Dynasty]] and preceded the [[Han Dynasty]] in [[China]]. ''Qin'' is sometimes spelt as ''Chin'', a possible origin of the word "China". (See also: [[China in world languages]]) |
| - | In the medieval [[Caliphate|Islamic Caliphate]], a form of passport was the ''bara'a'', a [[receipt]] for taxes paid. Only people who paid their ''[[zakat|zakah]]'' (for [[Muslim]]s) or ''[[jizya]]'' (for [[dhimmi]]s) taxes were permitted to travel to different regions of the Caliphate; thus, the ''bara'a'' receipt was a "basic passport." | + | Much of what came to constitute [[China Proper]] was unified for the first time in 221 B.C. In that year the western frontier state of Qin, the most aggressive of the Warring States, subjugated the last of its rival states, putting an end to the [[Warring States Period]]. |
| - | [[Etymology|Etymological]] sources show that the term "passport" is from a medieval document that was required in order to pass through the gate (or "porte") of a city wall or to pass through a territory. In [[Middle Ages|medieval Europe]], such documents were issued to foreign travellers by local authorities (as opposed to local citizens, as is the modern practice) and generally contained a list of towns and cities the document holder was permitted to enter or pass through. On the whole, documents were not required for travel to sea ports, which were considered [[Free trade zone|open trading points]], but documents were required to travel inland from sea ports. | + | The King of Qin, Ying Zheng, proclaimed himself [[Qin Shi Huangdi]] (the First Emperor), a formulation previously reserved for deities and the [[Sanhuangwudi|mythological sage-emperors]]. He wanted his successors to rule China forever with the title "Emperor of China II", "Emperor of China III", etc. |
| - | King [[Henry V of England]] is credited with having invented what some consider the first passport in the modern sense, as a means of helping his subjects prove who they were in foreign lands. The earliest reference to these documents is found in a [[Safe Conducts Act 1414|1414 Act of Parliament]]. In 1540, granting travel documents in England became a role of the [[Privy Council of England]], and it was around this time that the term "passport" was used. In 1794, issuing British passports became the job of the Office of the [[Secretary of State (United Kingdom)|Secretary of State]]. The 1548 Imperial Diet of Augsburg required the public to hold imperial documents for travel, at the risk of permanent exile. | + | In consolidating power, the Qin Shi Huangdi imposed the State of Qin's centralized, nonhereditary bureaucratic system on his new empire in place of the Zhou's [[Feudalism|feudalistic]] one. The Qin Empire relied on the philosophy of [[legalism (philosophy)|legalism]]. Centralization, achieved by ruthless methods, was focused on standardizing legal codes and bureaucratic procedures, the forms of writing and coinage, and the pattern of thought and scholarship. [[Chinese character|Character]]s from the former state of Qin became the standard for the entire empire. To silence criticism of imperial rule, the emperor banished or put to death many dissenting [[Confucian]] scholars and confiscated and burned their books. |
| - | A rapid expansion of [[Rail transport|railway infrastructure]] and wealth in Europe beginning in the mid-nineteenth century led to large increases in the volume of international travel and a consequent unique dilution of the passport system for approximately thirty years prior to [[World War I]]. The speed of trains, as well as the number of passengers that crossed multiple borders, made enforcement of passport laws difficult. The general reaction was the relaxation of passport requirements. In the later part of the nineteenth century and up to World War I, passports were not required, on the whole, for travel within Europe, and crossing a border was a relatively straightforward procedure. Consequently, comparatively few people held passports. | + | Qin aggrandizement was aided by frequent military expeditions pushing forward the frontiers in the north and south. To fend off barbarian intrusion (mainly against the [[Xiongnu]] in the north), the fortification walls built by the various warring states were connected to make a 5,000- kilometer-long [[Great Wall of China]]. A number of public works, including canals and bridges, projects were also undertaken to consolidate and strengthen imperial rule. A lavish tomb for the emperor, complete with a [[Terracotta Army]] was built near the capital [[Xianyang]],a city half an hour from modern [[Xi'an]]. These activities required enormous levies of manpower and resources, not to mention repressive measures. |
| - | During World War I, European governments introduced border passport requirements for security reasons, and to control the emigration of people with useful skills. These controls remained in place after the war, becoming a standard, though controversial, procedure. British tourists of the 1920s complained, especially about attached photographs and physical descriptions, which they considered led to a "nasty dehumanization". | + | Endless labor in the later years of Ying Zheng's reign started to provoke widespread discontent. However, the emperor was still barely able to maintain stability by his tight grip on every aspect of lives of the Chinese. |
| - | In 1920, the [[League of Nations]] held a conference on passports, the [[Paris Conference on Passports & Customs Formalities and Through Tickets]]. Passport guidelines and a general booklet design resulted from the conference, which was followed up by conferences in 1926 and 1927. | + | During a trip with his beloved second son [[Ying Huhai]] in [[210 BC]], Ying Zheng died suddenly at [[Shaqiu]] prefecture. Ying Huhai, under the advice of two high officials - the Imperial Secretariat [[Li Si]] and the chief [[eunuch]] [[Zhao Gao]] - forged the altered Emperor's will. The faked decree ordered Ying Zheng's first son, the heir [[Ying Fu Su]], to commit suicide, and renamed Ying Huhai as the next emperor, and stripped the command of troops from Marshal [[Meng Tian]] - a faithful supporter of Ying Fu Su - and killed Meng's family also. Zhao Gao step by step seized the power of Ying Huhai, effectively made him a puppet emperor. |
| - | While the United Nations held a travel conference in 1963, no passport guidelines resulted from it. Passport standardization came about in 1980, under the auspices of the [[International Civil Aviation Organization]] (ICAO). ICAO standards include those for [[machine-readable passport]]s. Such passports have an area where some of the information otherwise written in textual form is written as strings of alphanumeric characters, printed in a manner suitable for [[optical character recognition]]. This enables border controllers and other law enforcement agents to process these passports more quickly, without having to input the information manually into a computer. ICAO publishes Doc 9303 ''Machine Readable Travel Documents'', the technical standard for machine-readable passports. A more recent standard is for [[biometric passport]]s. These contain [[biometrics]] to authenticate the identity of travellers. The passport's critical information is stored on a tiny [[RFID]] computer chip, much like information stored on [[smartcard]]s. Like some smartcards, the passport booklet design calls for an embedded contactless chip that is able to hold [[digital signature]] data to ensure the integrity of the passport and the biometric data. | + | Within the first 3 months after Ying Zheng's death, widespread revolts by peasants, prisoners, soldiers and descendants of the nobles of the Six [[Warring States]] sprang up all over China. [[Chen Sheng]] and [[Wu Guang]], two in a group of about 900 soldiers assigned to defend against the Xiongnu, were the leaders of the first rebellion. |
| + | In [[207 BC]], Zhao Gao forced Ying Huhai to commit suicide and replaced him by the murdered heir's son, [[Ying Ziying]]. Note that the title of Ying Ziying was "king of Qin" to reflect the fact that Qin no longer controlled the whole of China. Ying Ziying soon killed Zhao Gao and surrendered to [[Liu Bang]] in [[206 BC]]. The Qin Dynasty collapsed, three years after the death of Ying Zheng, and less than twenty years after it was founded. | ||
| - | ==See also== | + | Although the Qin Dynasty was short-lived, its legalist rule had a deep impact on later dynasties in China. The imperial system initiated during the Qin dynasty set a pattern that was developed over the next two millennia. |
| - | *[[List of passports]] | + | |
| - | *[[Identity theft]] | + | |
| - | *[[Passport stamp]] | + | |
| - | * [[Henley Passport Index ]] | + | |
| {{GFDL}} | {{GFDL}} | ||
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The Qin Dynasty (秦朝 221 BC - 206/207 BC) followed the Zhou Dynasty and preceded the Han Dynasty in China. Qin is sometimes spelt as Chin, a possible origin of the word "China". (See also: China in world languages)
Much of what came to constitute China Proper was unified for the first time in 221 B.C. In that year the western frontier state of Qin, the most aggressive of the Warring States, subjugated the last of its rival states, putting an end to the Warring States Period.
The King of Qin, Ying Zheng, proclaimed himself Qin Shi Huangdi (the First Emperor), a formulation previously reserved for deities and the mythological sage-emperors. He wanted his successors to rule China forever with the title "Emperor of China II", "Emperor of China III", etc.
In consolidating power, the Qin Shi Huangdi imposed the State of Qin's centralized, nonhereditary bureaucratic system on his new empire in place of the Zhou's feudalistic one. The Qin Empire relied on the philosophy of legalism. Centralization, achieved by ruthless methods, was focused on standardizing legal codes and bureaucratic procedures, the forms of writing and coinage, and the pattern of thought and scholarship. Characters from the former state of Qin became the standard for the entire empire. To silence criticism of imperial rule, the emperor banished or put to death many dissenting Confucian scholars and confiscated and burned their books.
Qin aggrandizement was aided by frequent military expeditions pushing forward the frontiers in the north and south. To fend off barbarian intrusion (mainly against the Xiongnu in the north), the fortification walls built by the various warring states were connected to make a 5,000- kilometer-long Great Wall of China. A number of public works, including canals and bridges, projects were also undertaken to consolidate and strengthen imperial rule. A lavish tomb for the emperor, complete with a Terracotta Army was built near the capital Xianyang,a city half an hour from modern Xi'an. These activities required enormous levies of manpower and resources, not to mention repressive measures.
Endless labor in the later years of Ying Zheng's reign started to provoke widespread discontent. However, the emperor was still barely able to maintain stability by his tight grip on every aspect of lives of the Chinese.
During a trip with his beloved second son Ying Huhai in 210 BC, Ying Zheng died suddenly at Shaqiu prefecture. Ying Huhai, under the advice of two high officials - the Imperial Secretariat Li Si and the chief eunuch Zhao Gao - forged the altered Emperor's will. The faked decree ordered Ying Zheng's first son, the heir Ying Fu Su, to commit suicide, and renamed Ying Huhai as the next emperor, and stripped the command of troops from Marshal Meng Tian - a faithful supporter of Ying Fu Su - and killed Meng's family also. Zhao Gao step by step seized the power of Ying Huhai, effectively made him a puppet emperor.
Within the first 3 months after Ying Zheng's death, widespread revolts by peasants, prisoners, soldiers and descendants of the nobles of the Six Warring States sprang up all over China. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, two in a group of about 900 soldiers assigned to defend against the Xiongnu, were the leaders of the first rebellion.
In 207 BC, Zhao Gao forced Ying Huhai to commit suicide and replaced him by the murdered heir's son, Ying Ziying. Note that the title of Ying Ziying was "king of Qin" to reflect the fact that Qin no longer controlled the whole of China. Ying Ziying soon killed Zhao Gao and surrendered to Liu Bang in 206 BC. The Qin Dynasty collapsed, three years after the death of Ying Zheng, and less than twenty years after it was founded.
Although the Qin Dynasty was short-lived, its legalist rule had a deep impact on later dynasties in China. The imperial system initiated during the Qin dynasty set a pattern that was developed over the next two millennia.
