Did the first emperor help or hurt China?

Answer 1

He helped it.

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Both, emperor Shi Huang Ti (aka Qin Shi Huang 秦始皇) was the first to unite China. He built the first stage (and majority) of the Great Wall of China, burnt all most of the literature, killed the scholars, standardized a lot of measurements, language, currency and more. But at the same time, he is a violent emperor having killed many people (civilians and soldiers) along his path. He also drafted a lot of civilians to build the great wall and his tomb, causing millions to die. So, in term of his actions, he caused a lot of hardship, torture and death to millions of people.

However, through his actions; China was united with a standardize language (both spoken & written --that is why today, there is no written language for many of the Chinese dialects. Because he burnt most of those variation of written languages), standardized measurement (weight, length, volume, etc), standardized currency for trade.

Sounds puny, but if you think about it, the standardization is important. With it, comes collaborated learning (since everyone uses the same language, they can exchange thoughts and ideas better). With the great wall of china (millions died building it) and the many border guard towns, China was protected against the constant raids of the Mongol tribes; thus creating huge economical prosperity to the empire.

So, did he help or hurt China? It's a philosophical question. On one hand, he was a terribly violent and feared emperor killing many, but through his actions, the later generations prospered tremendously.