What is a tyrant?

Tyrants tend to burn things, bury people, imprison whole populations...
Tyrants tend to burn things, bury people, imprison whole populations…

QinshihuangBW

 

 

Words for Describing Tyranny    
Nouns

despot

dictator

tyrant

despotism

dictatorship

torture

conquest

injustice

inequality

takeover

coup d’état

Adjectives

dictatorial

despotic

oppressive

cruel

harsh

vicious

merciless

exploitative

abusive

inhumane

Verbs

to dictate

to oppress

to suppress

to exploit

to conquer

to punish

to torture

to rule harshly 

to persecute

to crush

to intimidate

to seize

to mistreat

 

Phrases

ruling with an iron fist

iron rule

no rule of law

 

Sometimes I think that history is largely the story of tyrants and the ordinary people who try to overcome them or live in spite of them.

It seems that in every age and every place, at least since we’ve been living in so-called civilizations and not roaming as hunter-gatherers, some people have developed a desire for power that makes them forget their humanity. Their drive to seize absolute control of others’ lives leads them to commit horrific and heartless acts of cruelty. They oppress their own people and usually the peoples that they conquer. The pain these tyrants inflict is never forgotten. 

The famous historian, Sima Qian, said of Qin Shi Huang, the tyrant who united China and in the process terrorized its people:

Qin is a man of scant mercy who has the heart of a wolf.

If the Qin should ever get his way with the world, then the whole world will end up his prisoner.

Your task today is to find out about the life and actions of Qin Shi Huang. Which actions of his would you characterise as tyrannical? In other words, which actions were inhumane, oppressive, cruel and merciless? Use the links below or others.

♥ Write your notes on a new page in your workbook.

♣ Do not stop until your page is filled or you shall feel the pain of my displeasure.

◊ Gosh, I’m beginning to sound like a tyrant myself!

Kind regards from Ms Green

http://asianhistory.about.com/od/profilesofasianleaders/p/qinshihungbio.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19922863

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2046285_2045996_2046111,00.html

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/worldhistory/chinafirstemperor.htm

Danny’s description of a tyrant (2014):

A tyrant is a ruler who takes control of the land and uses it for his own advantage and benefit. Tyrants are also very cruel to others and punish people harshly. They do not obey the rule of law and they do whatever they desire. People think of tyrants as cruel, merciless, ruthless and abusive.

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10 Replies to “What is a tyrant?”

  1. A tyrant is someone who seizes power and then rules over people cruelly and harshly. He has the power to humiliate people and mistreat them in a violent way. He may torture people that block his will.
    Qin Shi Huang showed he was a tyrant because he burnt books on Confucius, because he rejected Confucian ideas. He buried 460 Chinese scholars for possessing banned books by Confucius. He became obsessive about living for ever and even drank mercury because he believed that it would keep him alive for eternity. Qin Shi Huang was a very fierce leader and was feared by his people He was the first empire to unified China from its wars against each of the nations. He can intimidate people by bribing them and forced espionage to ultimately overpower the six kingdoms in a vicious way. Qin Shi Huang could torture or even prosecute his path or “way of harmony”.

  2. A tyrant is a person who is addicted to power and has no mercy over his people. He intimidates those with a lower ranking in the hierarchy. He might torture or even kill people as a punishment for disobeying his laws. Under his rule, the people have no hope and live in darkness. A tyrant usually believes that his way is the only way and he persecutes anybody who interferes with his plans or blocks his ‘path to harmony’, as Qin Shi Huang called it. If a tyrant is not satisfied, which commonly happens, he tries to conquer other countries or make the country more powerful so nobody dares to fight against him.
    Qin Shi Huang is an example of a tyrant. He has many characteristics of a tyrant. For instance, he burnt books and buried 460 scholars alive for believing in Confucius, whose ideas he rejected. Becoming obsessed with the desire to live for ever, he drank mercury. He unified China and made his own code of law in order to prevent rebellion. People feared him for what he had done to the country. He also changed his name form Ying Zheng to Qin Shi Huang, meaning first magnificent god of Qin. This shows that he believed he was superhuman, a common belief amongst tyrants.

  3. What is a Tyrant?
    A tyrant is typically a harsh, despotic and abusive dictator who seeks pleasure by intimidating and persecuting his or her own people. Throughout history there have been many, many tyrants who have ruled over countries in every corner of the globe. Qin Shi Huang, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Areal Castro, Mao Zedong, Kin Il Sung, Kin Jong Un, Bashar al Assad, Colonel Gadafi, and Mohammed Morsi are some of
    the most famous tyrants and dictators in history.
    One of the most cruel and exploitative of all dictators was Qin Shi Huang, who ruled and unified China between 246 to 210 BCE. Although Qin Shi Huang was an awful tyrant, he managed to introduce a standard currency, language and weight system during his 35-year reign over Ancient China. Qin Shi Huang ordered the teachings of Confucianism to be banned and all books that did not support his beliefs to be burnt. He demanded that more than 460 scholars be burnt alive after committing the crime of possessing banned books!!!
    Huang finally died whilst traveling on a hot summer’s day in 210 BCE. Qin Shi Huang was laid to rest surrounded by many thousands of life-sized terracotta warriors, which can still be viewed in central China today.

  4. I think a tyrant is a way of being cruel and harsh.

    When a ruler or a king or emperor takes away land or country in search of having the most power of all the land, he might humiliate the people and take advantage of people below him. He might decide to rule his land cruelly and harshly.

    Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of unified China from 246 BCE to 210 BCE. He was a tyrant because he was cruel to the land and people. “If he did not get his way with the world he would make the world his prisoner” and “Every time he captured people from other countries, he would make them into slaves”. Before he died he got made a tomb protected by terracotta solders.

  5. A tyrant is someone who rules over people harshly and cruelly. He is a dictator who is vicious and takes advantage of people. He can intimidate and humiliate others. He also has total power over people.
    An example of a very cruel tyrant is Qin Shi Huang. Quin Shi Huang changed his name from Ying Zheng to Qin Shi Huang, which means “the magnificent god of the Qin”. He had many tyrannical qualities. Qin Shi Huang was a fierce leader and was feared by many people. He didn’t allow free and independent thinking. Qin Shi Huang was a tyrant who wasn’t very fond of Confucian thinking and who banned books by authors he disliked. Anyone who was caught with a book would be punished; about 460 scholars were buried alive for the crime of having banned books. He also taxed people heavily.

  6. I believe that Qin Shi Huang was a cruel, harsh and a despotic tyrant. He conquered China with his military strategies; he ruled with an iron rule, he was a merciless and abusive man. Qin Shi Huang’s original name was Zheng. There were two assassination attempts to end his life, by Jing Ke and Qin Wuyang on the first attempt, and on the second attempt by Gao Jianli, a friend of Jing Ke. Qin Shi Huang was quite delusional because he thought he was a god. He tried to gain immortality by drinking mercury and fire.
    Go to http://www.badassoftheweek.com/qin.html to get your mind blown about how many “badasses” there are in a small world. (expect some swearing e.g.: Fu** and sh**)

  7. Qin Shi Huang.
    Qin Shi Huang was a tyrant because he didn’t allow the idea of free and independent expression, banning the teachings of Confucius that didn’t support his ideas. He killed or enslaved people who possessed banned books. He taxed people heavily and forced them to build things like the Great Wall of China. He became more and more obsessed with death and started drinking things that he thought would let him live forever, such as mercury.
    What Is A Tyrant?
    A tyrant is a ruler who abuses his power by forcing people to do things they don’t want to do. He is also an autocrat (a ruler with total power).

  8. A tyrant is a person that doesn’t usually follow rules or laws. They are people that have a lot of power and they are very similar to dictators. They do not let many people have a say in what happens to the country or state. They are obsessed with power and they only care about themselves.
    Qin Shi Huang was a tyrant. He was a fierce leader but he was feared by his people. He believed that knowledge of the past was dangerous, so he banned the teachings of Confucius. Books that did not support his ideas completely were burned. If you were found reading one of these banned books, you would be buried alive. Roughly 460 people were buried alive because of this. He forced people to work for him and increased taxes. As his rules got more and more absurd, people started to become angry. Because of this, Qin Shi Huang thought he would be killed. He drank liquids such as mercury because he thought it would make him live forever. In case he died, he built a decorative tomb, guarded be 7000 life-size terracotta warriors, horses and chariots. Qin Shi Huang died during a hot summer in 210 BCE.

  9. A tyrant is a greedy overlord who wants to take over and rule a nation. He is a dictator who strives for domination of the land and people as well as fulfilling his personal goals. In order to rule, the individual does whatever he considers necessary, even if that means destruction, damage, and being cruel and harsh to people. He wants to rule with an iron fist, that means, in a way that gives him and his colleagues power over the people and civilians. Whoever steps out of line will be persecuted.
    Qin Shi Huang did have the values of a tyrant, such as using brute force and war tactics to take over all the other states of China. He had enough men of Qin to take over the states. He did have force and burned a lot of books to show his vicious strength. Then after he took over China he declared himself “the first magnificent god of Qin”. He was obsessed with living forever and asked people to look for the elixir of life, but as he was drinking mysterious liquids he also drank mercury, which may have led to his death. He now is known for having the Great Wall of China built and for the creation of the Tomb of the Terracotta Warriors.

  10. Tyrant
    A tyrant was a dictator. They’ve been also known to be called despot. Tyrants are cruel and harsh and may even torture their people.
    Qin Shi Huang
    A famous tyrant in ancient China, Qin Shi Huang (meaning the first magnificent god of the Qin), displayed many of the characteristics of a tyrant. Some of those actions Qin Shi Huang (originally Ying Zheng) did were that he wanted all of the nobles who ruled each state to live near him at the capital. He also forced some people to build the Terracotta army of at least 8000 clay soldier, so that he was guarded in his tomb. He also forced some people to build the Great Wall of China.

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