History shows us that the processes of power accumulation usually result in poverty and violence. This is true in Shang China, Zhou China, Qin China, Han China, and many subsequent dynasties. Ancient China was not thought of as a country but as a proto-state, or a large collection of different tribes, each with its own ruler. They were not united and the king does not always have control over his people. Observing these dynasties informs us of their systems of government. We begin with Shang ruling violently, Zhou using the Mandate of Heaven to defeat Shang; The Qin have the original form of Confucius' teachings to rule; then in Han, the teachings of Confucius transform to assist scholars with their own agendas. The rulers of previous dynasties used violence to gain and maintain power, but as the nation developed these rulers found superstition to be a more effective method to justify their legitimate rule, which includes the common belief in ancestral blessings and the spread of ideologies of Confucius. It was time for rulers to raid villages to show off their oppressive power. “Royal Consort Fu Hao of the Shang,” written by Minna Haapanen, mentions that there were many battles between the estates in which women also participated, perhaps because there was a shortage of labor. They also exercise violence by practicing human sacrifices, for example they force their people to work without compensation or build the walls of their tombs with human corpses. These acts of violence brought fear and required submission from neighboring tribes. However, the Zhou use the Shang's violent custom to their advantage and note that the Shang are unfit to rule. The Zhou Dynasty establishes the ideology of the Mandate of Heaven, which attempts… middle of paper… is brilliant” (Zhongshu, 137). Dong Zhongshu applies the ideology of Confucius to gain power and invent a stable position for people like him to exist within this power-hungry system. Power can be accumulated in different ways, through violence or superstition. The Shang show great violence towards their people and maintain their power by cultivating fear. As a result, the Zhou defeat the Shang and reclaim their right to rule by instilling the ideology that Heaven is on their side. During the Qin Dynasty, the nation was finally unified because Confucianism insists on ritual and ceremonial practices, which have an underlying notion of obligation. The ruler can exercise power to control his subjects because the people are obliged to listen to and follow his commands. Later Han scholars transformed Confucian ideologies to create power for themselves