In 221 B.C.E., Shi Huangdi of the QIN dynasty conquered all of the rival states that had emerged in the later Zhou Empire. Qin control did not survive Shi Huangdi's death, but imperial unification was reestablished in 202 B.C.E. by the HANdynasty. By the time the Han Empire disintegrated in the 3rd century C.E., a clear sense of Chinese unity had been established, and it survived nearly four centuries of division until the reunification of China under the SUIdynasty in 589 C.E.
