Qin dynasty in "Hero"

This link is from Minnesota State University and it provides a background of information about the Qin dynasty in the quote below:

"The Qin came to power in 221 B.C. They were one of the western states that existed during the Warring States Period. They conquered the other Warring States, unifying China for the first time. Their leader named himself the First Emperor, or Shi huangdi, thus beginning the tradition of having emperors for rulers. The Qin, while not the most culturally advanced of the Warring States was militarily the strongest. They utilized many new technologies in warfare, especially cavalry. The Qin are sometimes called the Ch'in, which is probably where the name China originated."

The article and the quote above can explain some of the reasons why the director might be interested in making a movie like Hero. There is historical data that this dynasty was the first recorded dynasty to rule almost all of today's China; the name China might have also originated from a name for Qin call "Ch'in'!

We also see the massive army of the Qin dynasty when Jet Li is at the temple and the army attacks the temple. We see they are using new ways of launching arrows using devices unlike traditional war movies where the archers only can manually fire arrows.

There is another link at the bottom which also provides excellent information about the major dynasties of China to date.

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/history/qin/