Editing Qin dynasty (section)

== Culture and society ==
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=400|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction = horizontal
| image1   = History of Xi'an.jpg
| caption1 = Layout of the palace's surroundings
| image2   = 阿房宫前殿遗址夯土台西侧 2023-10-01 10.jpg
| caption2 = Excavation of the western platform
| image3 = 阿房宫前殿遗址夯土台西侧 2023-10-01 11.jpg
| caption3 = A palace gate
| image4 = 阿房宫遗址公园展牌 2023-10-01 10.jpg
| caption4 = Objects found at the site
| footer = Remains of the [[Epang Palace]], destroyed in 206&nbsp;BC
}}
The Qin ruled over territories roughly corresponding to the extent at the time of [[Chinese culture]], as well as that of what would later be understood as the [[Han Chinese]] ethnic group.{{sfn|Lewis|2007|p=128}} On the empire's frontiers were diverse groups with cultures foreign to the Qin; even areas under the control of the Qin military remained culturally distinct.{{sfn|Lewis|2007|p=5}}

The Qin aristocracy were largely similar to the Zhou in culture and daily life, with regional variation generally considered a symbol of the lower classes{{snd}}and ultimately as contrary to the unification that the government strove to achieve.{{sfn|Lewis|2007|p=11}}

Commoners and rural villagers, who comprised more than 90% of the population,{{sfn|Lewis|2007|p=102}} rarely left the villages or farmsteads where they were born. While various other forms of employment existed depending on the region, as with other settled peoples in antiquity the overwhelming majority of people throughout Qin were engaged predominately in agriculture.{{sfn|von Falkenhausen|2022|p=16}} Other professions were hereditary; a father's employment was passed to his eldest son after he died.{{sfn|Lewis|2007|p=15}} The ''[[Lüshi Chunqiu]]'' ({{circa|239&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}){{snd}}a text named for [[Lü Buwei]], the prime minister who sponsored it{{snd}}gave examples of how, when commoners are obsessed with material wealth, instead of the idealism of a man who "makes things serve him", they were "reduced to the service of things".{{sfn|Lewis|2007|p=16}}

=== Agriculture ===
Qin agriculture was mainly based on [[cereal]] cultivation, with millet, wheat, and barley being the [[staple crop]]s that comprised most of peasants' diets. The amount of land available for use as pasture was limited, with livestock raised mostly for household use of byproducts like milk.{{sfn|Sterckx|2018|pp=306–308}} Consumption of meat was generally restricted to the wealthy.{{sfn|Sterckx|2018|p=301}} The state of Qin under Shang Yang pioneered a policy of maximising the area of land under cultivation, resulting in states clearing most of the forest in the Yellow River valley and converting it into farmland. This land was divided into household-sized allotments, and inhabitants were forcibly relocated to work them. Another emphasis of Shang Yang's agricultural policy was the use of hoes to weed the soil, which improved its ability to retain moisture and provide nutrients to crops.{{sfn|Hara|2022|pp=69–71}}

=== Religion ===
The predominant form of religious belief in China during the early imperial period focused on ''[[Shen (Chinese religion)|shen]]'' (roughly meaning 'spirits'), ''yin'' ({{zhi|t=陰|s=阴|l=shadows|first=t}}), and the realm they were understood to inhabit. Spirits were classified as one of three types: 'human dead' ({{zhi|c=人鬼|p=rénguǐ}}), 'heavenly spirits' ({{zhi|c=天神|p=tiānshén}}) such as [[Shangdi]], and 'earthly spirits' ({{zhi|c=地示|p=dìshì}}) corresponding to natural features like mountains and rivers.{{sfn|Guo|2018|p=242}} The spirit world was believed to be parallel to the earthly one: animal sacrifices were offered in order to make contact with it, and the spirits of people were thought to move there upon death. In general, ritual served two purposes: to receive blessings from the spirit realm, and to ensure the dead journeyed to and stayed there.{{sfn|Lewis|2007|p=186}}

A ritual concept introduced under the Qin that would be continued by the Han was the official touring of ritual sites across the realm by the emperor, which served to reinforce notions of the emperor as a semi-divine figure.{{sfn|Tavor|2018|p=273}}

The Qin also practised forms of divination{{snd}}including that previously used by the Shang, where bones and turtle shells were heated in order to divine knowledge of the future from the cracks that formed. Observation of astronomical and weather phenomena were also common, with comets, eclipses, and droughts commonly considered omens.{{sfn|Lewis|2007|p=181}}