Qin Shi Huang
In 259 BC, a boy named Zhao Zheng was born in the city of Handan. His father was Prince Yiren, who lived as a hostage at the court of the state of Zhao to guarantee peace between Qin and Zhao. The prince fell in love with Lady Zhao, a concubine owned by Lü Buwei, a wealthy merchant from Wey. Lü Buwei gave her to Yiren, and she became known as Queen Dowager Zhao after his birth. Some ancient accounts claim that the child was actually the son of Lü Buwei because the mother had been pregnant when introduced to the prince. This story suggests an unusually long pregnancy period for the future emperor.
Modern scholars often doubt this tale of illegitimacy. Sinologist Derk Bodde argued that the sentence describing the unusual pregnancy might be an interpolation added later to slander the First Emperor. John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel called the account patently false, meant both to libel Lü Buwei and cast aspersions on the young king. Claiming a merchant was the biological father carried special weight since Confucian society viewed merchants as the lowest social class. Despite these rumors, the boy grew up as the heir to the throne of Qin.
King Zheng began the final campaigns of the Warring States period in 230 BC. He set out to conquer the remaining six major Chinese states and bring all of China under unified Qin control. The state of Han, the weakest of the rivals, fell first in 230 BC. In 229 BC, Qin armies invaded Zhao, which had been severely weakened by natural disasters. They captured the capital city of Handan in 228 BC. Prince Jia of Zhao managed to escape with the remnants of the army and established the short-lived state of Dai.
In 227 BC, Crown Prince Dan of Yan ordered a failed assassination attempt on King Zheng. This provided a reason for Zheng to invade Yan in 226 BC, capturing its capital Ji that same year. The remnants of the Yan army retreated to the Liaodong Peninsula. After Qin besieged and flooded their capital of Daliang, the state of Wei surrendered in 225 BC. Around this time, Qin seized ten cities from Chu, the largest and most powerful of the other states. In 224 BC, Qin launched a full-scale invasion of Chu, capturing its capital Shouchun in 223 BC. By 221 BC, Qin armies invaded Qi and captured King Jian without much resistance. All Chinese lands were finally unified under Qin rule.
Qin Shi Huang and his minister Li Si worked to completely abolish the feudal system of loose alliances and federations. They organized the empire into administrative units called commanderies, counties, townships, and hundred-family units. People assigned to these units would no longer be identified by their native region or former feudal state. Appointments were based on merit instead of hereditary right. The emperor unified China economically by standardizing weights and measurements.
Wagon axles received a prescribed standard length to facilitate road transport. The currencies of different states were standardized to the Ban Liang coin. Under Li Si, the seal script of the state of Qin became the official standard. This simplified writing removed variant forms to create a universal written language for all of China. Confiscated bronze weapons from conquered countries were cast into twelve monumental statues known as the Twelve Metal Colossi. Each statue weighed about 70 tons and stood roughly 11.5 meters tall. These figures adorned the palace until they were destroyed in the fourth century AD.
Beginning in 213 BC, Qin Shi Huang ordered most existing books to be burned at the instigation of Li Si. Exceptions included works on astrology, agriculture, medicine, divination, and the history of the state of Qin. Owning the Classic of Poetry or the Book of Documents was punished severely. According to later accounts, some 460 scholars were buried alive for possessing forbidden books the following year. The emperor's own library retained copies of these texts, but most were destroyed when Xiang Yu burned the palaces of Xianyang in 206 BC.
Recent research suggests that burying Confucian scholars alive might be a legend created by Confucian martyrs. More probably, the emperor ordered the execution of alchemists who had deceived him. In the subsequent Han dynasty, Confucian scholars used this incident to distance themselves from the failed regime. Kong Anguo described the alchemists as Confucianists and entwined the story with his discovery of lost books behind a demolished wall. Legalism became the mandatory ideology while all other philosophies were banned. Water represented the color black, which became the preferred color for Qin garments and flags.
In 215 BC, Qin Shi Huang ordered General Meng Tian to begin construction of his mausoleum with the assistance of 300,000 men. Other sources suggest he ordered 720,000 unpaid laborers to build it according to his specifications. Hundreds of thousands of workers died to build the precursor to the Great Wall of China along the northern frontier. Transporting building materials was difficult, so builders always tried to use local rock or rammed earth over plains. There are no surviving records specifying the length and course of these walls.
In 214 BC, the Emperor began a major canal project allowing water transport between north and south China. The Lingqu Canal is 34 kilometers in length and links the Xiang River flowing into the Yangtze with the Lijiang River flowing into the Pearl River. This canal aided Qin's expansion to the southwest. It is considered one of three great feats of ancient Chinese engineering alongside the Great Wall and the Sichuan Dujiangyan Irrigation System. A massive new national road system also developed under Li Si to facilitate trade and communication across the unified empire.
As he grew old, Qin Shi Huang desperately sought the fabled elixir of life which supposedly confers immortality. He visited Zhifu Island three times during this obsessive quest. In one case, he sent Xu Fu, a Zhifu islander, with ships carrying hundreds of young men and women in search of Mount Penglai. They sought Anqi Sheng, a thousand-year-old magician who had invited him during travels. The expedition never returned, perhaps for fear of consequences if they failed.
The emperor built tunnels and passageways connecting over 200 palaces because traveling unseen would keep him safe from evil spirits. One hypothesis holds that he was poisoned by an elixir containing mercury given to him by court alchemists. During his fifth tour of eastern China, the Emperor became seriously ill in Pingyuan County. He died in July or August of 210 BC at the palace in Shaqiu prefecture. Modern archaeologists have located his tomb and inserted probes deep into it. These probes revealed abnormally high quantities of mercury, some 100 times the naturally occurring rate.
Sima Qian wrote that it took 700,000 men to construct the emperor's mausoleum. British historian John Man calculated that foundations could have been built by 16,000 men in two years. The terracotta statues were discovered by farmers digging wells on the 29th of March 1974 near modern Xi'an. There are around 6,000 statues excavated whose purpose was to protect the Emperor in the afterlife from evil spirits. Also among the army are chariots and 40,000 real bronze weapons.
The soldiers were created with a series of mix-and-match clay molds then further individualized by artists' hands. Han Purple pigment was used on some warriors. Sima Qian never mentioned the Terracotta Army but did mention monumental bronze statues for his palace. The main tomb remains relatively intact and has yet to be opened. Secrets were maintained as most workmen who built the tomb were killed. The tomb contains replicas of palaces, scenic towers, rare utensils, and crossbows rigged to shoot intruders.
Traditional Chinese historiography almost always portrayed the Emperor as a brutal tyrant who had an obsessive fear of assassination. Ideological antipathy towards the Legalist State of Qin was established as early as 266 BC when Confucian philosopher Xunzi disparaged it. Later Confucian historians condemned him, alleging he burned classics and buried scholars alive. They compiled a list of Ten Crimes of Qin to highlight his actions. The famous Han poet Jia Yi concluded his essay The Faults of Qin with what became the standard Confucian judgment of reasons for Qin's collapse.
In the modern period, assessments began to emerge that differed from traditional views. At a time when foreign nations encroached upon Chinese territory, leading Kuomintang historian Xiao Yishan emphasized the role of Qin Shi Huang in repulsing northern barbarians. Another historian, Ma Feibai, published a revisionist biography in 1941 calling him one of the great heroes of Chinese history. Since 1972, a radically different official view has been given prominence throughout China. Hong Shidi's biography sold 1.85 million copies within two years. In this new era, Qin Shi Huang was seen as a far-sighted ruler who destroyed forces of division.
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Common questions
When was Qin Shi Huang born and what was his birth name?
Qin Shi Huang was born in 259 BC as Zhao Zheng. He was the son of Prince Yiren and Lady Zhao, though some ancient accounts claim he was actually the son of Lü Buwei.
How did Qin Shi Huang unify China during the Warring States period?
Qin Shi Huang unified China by conquering six major states between 230 BC and 221 BC. The state of Han fell first in 230 BC, followed by Zhao, Yan, Wei, Chu, and finally Qi in 221 BC.
What administrative reforms did Qin Shi Huang implement after unification?
Qin Shi Huang abolished the feudal system and organized the empire into commanderies, counties, townships, and hundred-family units. Appointments were based on merit instead of hereditary right to ensure centralized control.
Why did Qin Shi Huang order books to be burned in 213 BC?
Qin Shi Huang ordered most existing books to be burned at the instigation of Li Si to enforce Legalism as the mandatory ideology. Exceptions included works on astrology, agriculture, medicine, divination, and the history of the state of Qin.
When were the terracotta statues discovered near Xi'an?
The terracotta statues were discovered by farmers digging wells on the 29th of March 1974 near modern Xi'an. There are around 6,000 statues excavated whose purpose was to protect the Emperor in the afterlife from evil spirits.
How did Qin Shi Huang die and what evidence exists regarding his death?
Qin Shi Huang died in July or August of 210 BC at the palace in Shaqiu prefecture during his fifth tour of eastern China. Modern archaeologists have located his tomb and inserted probes deep into it which revealed abnormally high quantities of mercury.