ABSTRACT
The state of Qin was prominent throughout the Warring States period of disunity in the area that would become China. The story of the Qin dynasty, however, begins in the fourth century bce, well before its founding ended the Warring States. The coming together of political figures and practices beginning in the fourth century bce had a synergistic result that in the third century propelled the Qin past its competitors. In many ways the Qin emergence is typical of all historical development, in that it grew out of broad and long-term changes. The rapid sequence of battlefield victories that came in the last dozen or so years of the Warring States period and culminated in the unification of China in 221 bce can be passed over quickly. It suffices to say that none could stand against the Qin.
