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Qin Shi Huang (Chinese: 秦 始皇, pronunciation ⓘ; February 259 – 12 July 210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China.
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- Early years
- Emperor of China
Shihuangdi was emperor of the Qin dynasty (221–210 BCE) and the creator of the first unified Chinese empire. He is also known for his interest in immortality, his huge funerary compound that contains some 8,000 life-sized terra-cotta soldiers, and for his contribution to the Great Wall of China.
Who were Shihuangdi’s parents?
Shihuangdi was the son of Zhuangxiang, who later became king of the state of Qin in northwestern China.
Where was Shihuangdi buried?
Shihuangdi was buried in a 20-square-mile (50-square-km) funerary compound now known as the Qin tomb, near Xi’an, China. It contains some 8,000 life-sized terra-cotta soldiers and horse figures that formed an army to defend Shihuangdi’s tomb.
What was Shihuangdi’s legacy?
Zhao Zheng was born the son of Zhuangxiang (who later became king of the state of Qin in northwestern China) while his father was held hostage in the state of Zhao. His mother was a former concubine of a rich merchant, Lü Buwei, who, guided by financial interests, managed to install Zhuangxiang on the throne, even though he had not originally been designated as successor. The tradition, once widely accepted, that Zheng was actually Lü Buwei’s natural son is probably a slanderous invention.
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When Zheng, at age 13, formally ascended the throne in 246 bce, Qin already was the most powerful state and was likely to unite the rest of China under its rule. The central states had considered Qin to be a barbarous country, but by that time its strong position on the mountainous western periphery (with its centre in the modern province of Shaanxi) enabled Qin to develop a strong bureaucratic government and military organization as the basis of the totalitarian state philosophy known as legalism.
To herald his achievement, Zheng assumed the sacred titles of legendary rulers and proclaimed himself Qin Shi Huang (“First Sovereign Emperor”). With unbounded confidence, he claimed that his dynasty would last “10,000 generations.”
As emperor he initiated a series of reforms aimed at establishing a fully centralized administration, thus avoiding the rise of independent satrapies. Following the example of Qin and at the suggestion of Li Si, he abolished territorial feudal power in the empire, forced the wealthy aristocratic families to live in the capital, Xianyang, and divided the country into 36 military districts, each with its own military and civil administrator. He also issued orders for almost universal standardization—from weights, measures, and the axle lengths of carts to the written language and the laws. Construction of a network of roads and canals was begun, and fortresses erected for defense against barbarian invasions from the north were linked to form the Great Wall.
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In 220 Qin Shi Huang undertook the first of a series of imperial inspection tours that marked the remaining 10 years of his reign. While supervising the consolidation and organization of the empire, he did not neglect to perform sacrifices in various sacred places, announcing to the gods that he had finally united the empire, and he erected stone tablets with ritual inscriptions to extol his achievements.
Another motive for Qin Shi Huang’s travels was his interest in magic and alchemy and his search for masters in these arts who could provide him with the elixir of immortality. After the failure of such an expedition to the islands in the Eastern Sea—possibly Japan—in 219, the emperor repeatedly summoned magicians to his court. Confucian scholars strongly condemned the step as charlatanry, and it is said that 460 of them were executed for their opposition. The continuous controversy between the emperor and Confucian scholars who advocated a return to the old feudal order culminated in the famous burning of the books of 213, when, at Li Si’s suggestion, all books not dealing with agriculture, medicine, or prognostication were burned, except historical records of Qin and books in the imperial library.
Feb 17, 2020 · Qin Shi Huang (around 259 BCE–September 10, 210 BCE) was the First Emperor of a unified China and founder of the Qin dynasty, who ruled from 246 BCE to 210 BCE. In his 35-year reign, he caused both rapid cultural and intellectual advancement and much destruction and oppression within China.
- Kallie Szczepanski
Qin Shi Huang (or Shi Huangdi) was the first emperor of China. Check out Qin Shi Huang's facts, early life, secrets of his family, his wife, his death, and his tomb.
Apr 23, 2024 · Qin Shi Huang's Achivements and Faults as China's First Emperor. Read on to examine Qin Shi Huang's achievements, including unifying China as a country and building the Great Wall. We'll also consider the faults of Qin, and whether his means justified their ends.
Jun 3, 2019 · Qin Shi Huangdi, the first Qin Emperor, was a brutal ruler who unified ancient China and laid the foundation for the Great Wall.
Sep 24, 2019 · China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, unified China, began the Great Wall, and buried himself with a Terracotta Army of 8,000 clay soldiers. Qin Shi Huang sent hundreds of thousands of soldiers and prisoners to fortify China's northern frontier, providing the foundation for the Great Wall.
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