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Qin Shi Huangdi: The First Emperor of China
Who took a stand and created China
Choua Lor
Junior Division
Historical Paper
Paper length: 2450
Introduction
Qin Huang Di, the First Emperor of China worked on behalf of his people, and for his
country to make China the best country in the world, even if that meant human lives
would be at risk. Such as the many men in his army that had died fighting for their
country, for their King. And those who had rebelled, who tried to kill him, just to get the
succession of the throne. By keeping his place as Emperor, he could protect his people,
and to create what we have now, China.
Ancient China, there were 7 kingdoms that were always at war with each other. They
were known as the Warring States period. The 7 kingdoms were, Chu, Han, Qi, Wei,
Yan, Zhao, and Qin.1 All of the kingdoms were always fighting each other hoping to take
over the others' kingdom, and take their land. However, one Emperor, conquered all of
the other 6 kingdoms, creating the one and only, China. Qin Shi Huangdi- The First
Emperor of China.
Emperor Ying Zheng
Ying Zheng was the name that was given to him. He was born February 18, 259 BC.
His father was King Zhuangxiang2 of Qin. His mother was Lady Zhao Ji,3 Empress of
1
Lofthouse, Lloyd. "Qin Shi Huangdi – The Man Who Unified China – (Viewed as Single Page)." ILook China.
N.p., 17 Oct. 2016. Web. 09 Feb. 2017. <https://ilookchina.net/2011/06/14/qin-shi-huangdi-the-man-that-unifiedchina-viewed-as-single-page/>.
2
"King Zhuangxiang of Qin." Chinese Monarchs - King Zhuangxiang of Qin (Chinese: 秦莊襄王),. N.p., n.d. Web.
11 Jan. 2017.
3
SK, Lim. "Chinese Imperial Women." N.p., Jan. 2008. Web. 1 Mar. 2017.
<https://books.google.com/books?id=4qj8DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=What%2Bwere%2Bthe%2Bna
mes%2Bof%2BQueen%2BZhao%2BJi%2Bsons%3F&source=bl&ots=xqfDbcKrK3&sig=80gbUyOw9PV6wOYbK
SvPPGx_YGE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjcsYWihojRAhVL4IMKHe0HB2QQ6AEIKzAD#v=onepage&q=W
hat%20were%20the%20names%20of%20Queen%20Zhao%20Ji%20sons%3F&f=false>.
Qin, who was also a former concubine to Lu Buwei. Lu Buwei was the prime minister,
and was Ying Zheng's regent when Emperor Zhuangxiang passed away. Leaving Ying
Zheng to become emperor at the young age of 13 years old.
Some say that Ying Zheng was Lu Buwei's son, because Lady Zhao Ji could have been
pregnant with him before Lu Buwei gave her to his Majesty, Emperor Zhuangxiang.
Months later after becoming Emperor, he took his nation to war against the other
kingdoms. He was the youngest king known to have waged war. It was to conquer or be
conquered. Of course this was all of Lu Buwei's plan, but the King always listens to his
prime minister. Ying Zheng wasn't able to fully control the throne until he was 22 years
old. The Qin Emperor waged war against his enemies for about 10 years and captured
10,000 prisoners. The rule for capturing prisoners were that they had to be sheltered
and fed. His Majesty changed that rule and beheaded them all. Survive and Conquer.
He captured 13 cities from Han, and 20 other cities from the other kingdoms.
Rival countries sent combined forces to stop the Qin Emperor, but backed away. The
Emperor's army was very skilled and trained, and used weapons that was made with
the highest quality possible. Although he had the other rival countries to fight against,
there was another enemy lurking around in the palace itself.
Rebellions
The Emperor's mother Lady Zhao Ji, was secretly having affairs with Lu Buwei. When
Lu Buwei got tired of it, he found an official from the court named Lao Ai. Queen
Dowager Zhao Ji and Lao Ai had 2 children. Lao Ai, was determined to make one of his
sons the Emperor of Qin. So he planned a rebellion.
Lu Buwei stole the Emperor's royal seals when he was on his way to a different city for
his coronation. Lao Ai quickly raised an army with the help from the state of Wei. When
the Emperor found out, he was enraged and acted quickly to stop the rebellion as quick
as possible.
When the Emperor was able to stop them, he sentenced his brothers to death because
he didn't want anything to threaten him and his throne. He also sentenced Lao Ai to
death as well. Lao Ai was publicly executed by being pulled apart by 4 horses. Lu Buwei
was removed from his position as Prime Minister for his ally with the rebels and two
years later he committed suicide. The Emperor found a scholar who believed in harsh
laws, and he became the Emperor's closest advisor.
The Queen Dowager Zhao Ji was placed under house arrest and later banned. She
passed away when she was over her 50s in the year of 228 BC. However, his Majesty
still respected her for she was his mother. He named her Emperor Dowager when she
left to the afterlife.4
Conquering
Han was the first state to fall in the year of 230 BC. Han eventually lost their power to
defend its territory and had to request military help from the surrounding kingdoms.
Unfortunately, Wei and Qi both wanted to take control of Han, creating the Battle of
Maling. The state of Qi had won. Years later, Han sent a civil engineer named Zheng
Guo to try and persuade Qin to build a canal. Han wanted to make Qin lose by using
their money on building the canals.
4
Lofthouse, Lloyd. "Qin Shi Huangdi – The Man Who Unified China
Unfortunately for Han, it didn't work the way they planned. Although it was expensive, it
helped the state of Qin more. It became an agricultural and economical help. It became
known as the Zhengguo Canal and was connected to the Yangtze River and the Yellow
River.5
There wasn't a lot of information about the Zhao war, but even though they had the
longest reign they did not survive the attack of Qin, and was conquered in 228 BC. For
the state of Wei, they surrendered in the year of 225 BC after Qin's General Wang Ben
changed the pathway of the Yellow River into the capital, Daliang, flooding the city. 6
Assassins
The state of Yan knew it was one of the next targets. Yan sent their best assassins to
go kill the Qin Emperor. The assassin that they chose, was named, Jing Ke. Jing Ke
was accompanied by Qin Wuyang.
The year was 227 BC. Jing Ke and Qin Wuyang both disguised themselves as
ambassadors from Yan bringing the Emperor gifts. Qin Wuyang presented a map to the
Emperor, but was too afraid to go any further. Jing Ke however, wasn't as afraid and
continued forward saying that his partner, "has never set eyes on the Son of Heaven,"
and explained why his partner was trembling.
Jing Ke had to present both gifts by himself. When he unrolled the map further down, a
dagger was to be shown. The Emperor immediately drew back. Unfortunately, the
5
"The Zhengguo Canal." Cultural China. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2017. <http://kaleidoscope.culturalchina.com/en/10Kaleidoscope2380.html>.
6
Theobald, Ulrich. "Wang Ben 王賁 (www.chinaknowledge.de)." Wang Ben 王賁 (www.chinaknowledge.de).
ChinaKnowledge.de, n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.
<http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Zhou/personswangben.html>.
throne room wasn't allowed to have any weapons inside, therefore the guards were not
aloud in the throne room either. Fortunately, the Emperor was the only who had a
weapon. But he was struggling to pull his sword out. Jing Ke tried to strike at his
Majesty, but missed.
Finally, the Emperor got his sword out of the sheathe and stabbed Jing Ke in the thigh.
Jing Ke tried throwing the dagger at the Qin Emperor, but once again, missed. Jing Ke
in total, had 8 wounds from the King's sword. The state of Yan was conquered 5 years
later in 222 BC.7
Last War
In 223 BC, only the states of Qi and Chu were left. The state of Chu destroyed Qin's first
invasion force due to poor estimation of soldiers. On Qin's side, General Wang Jian
estimated that they would need 600,000 soldiers to be able to win the war, but another
general Li Xin, said they'd only need 200,000 soldiers. The Emperor put Li Xin in
charge. The Chu were surprised by the lack of soldiers and they immediately won that
war.
But the Emperor raised a second arm. This time, led by Wang Jian. Wang Jian, led
600,000 soldiers to war, but secretly hid them in the land of Chu. His strategy was to
hide most of the soldiers to train while many small troops were to go and fight. Chu was
ready to fight another big army but again was surprised by the small amount of soldiers.
Chu's soldiers grew tired and thought that there would be no big problem with leaving
the army for awhile since Qin's attacks weren't major.
7
"Rebellions and Assassins." The Immortal Emperor. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2016
Meanwhile Wang Jian's soldiers were training as hard as they could, and just as Wang
Jian predicted, the state of Chu had let their guard down. Wang Jian led his army off to
war. Qin had easily conquered Chu due to the lack of their soldiers.8 While Qi on the
other side, after Chu was defeated, it was clear that the kingdom of Qi had no possibility
of winning. Qi surrendered without a fight, and avoided bloodshed.9
New King, New Country
Ying Zheng had finally accomplished the goal of unifying all of the 7 kingdoms. China
was now born, with it's first ruler, Qin Shi Huangdi. The Qin ruler changed his name to
Qin Shi Huangdi because it meant the first. Qin Shi Huangdi, wanted to make sure that
nobody would know of his past reign and tried to burn all of the scrolls from the past.
Libraries were burnt down.10 And anyone who protested against him or hid any
documents, were sent to work on the Great Wall of China.
Standardizing
Qin Shi Huangdi, spent most of his time touring around all of China trying to keep
things in order. Anybody who did not follow the laws were beheaded, or sent to work for
life. They were sent to build the Great Wall of China. Those who didn't want to work was
buried. Since most of the fighting was over, most soldiers were sent to work on the
Great Wall of China. The Great Wall of China was built to stop the North from barging
8
Nuriavot. "Qin Dynasty Generals." Qin Dynasty Generals. N.p., 09 Sept. 2008. Web. 02 Mar. 2017.
<http://transparenciasereflexos2.blogspot.com/>.
9
Lofthouse, Lloyd. "Qin Shi Huangdi – The Man Who Unified China
10
"Emperor Qin Shi Huang Biography •." Biography Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2016.
into China. The Great Wall of China was 30 feet high and more than 3,000 miles long.
Over a million people worked on the wall, but about a fourth of them died.11
After Qin Shi Huangdi unified China, culture was greatly improved in politics. The rules
were based originally from the Qin State, but they adopted some other rules from other
"rival states" to form a law that worked for EVERYONE in the new China.
Economy, agriculture and commerce were both important, so he combined them both
and tax, numbers, math, the writing system, everything became all standardized. 12
The Royal Tomb
Qin Shi Huangdi wanted to make a tomb fit for his rank, and sent the best sculptors to
make a tomb of all his soldiers and horses. His tomb became known as the famous
Terra-Cotta Army. There were 8,000 soldiers, and none of them looked like another.
There were also 130 chariots, 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses, and a majority of the
whole tomb remained buried near the mausoleum.
Qin Shi Huangdi's tomb was larger than the largest pyramid in Egypt, and was made of
bronze that was surrounded by mercury rivers and oceans.13
Mercury
Unfortunately, everyone in China didn't know that Mercury harmed you. Qin Shi
Huangdi wanted to live forever, and become immortal. The Chinese Alchemists knew
that liquid mercury was the only thing that could dissolve gold. Back in Ancient China,
11
Lofthouse, Lloyd. "Qin Shi Huangdi – The Man Who Unified China
"Emperor Qin Shi Huang Biography •." Biography Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2016.
13
Lofthouse, Lloyd. "Qin Shi Huangdi – The Man Who Unified China
12
that meant that Mercury had the power to make a life span longer. Which was why the
Emperor was eating Mercury pills.
The Alchemists knew that mercury in a whole substance wasn't digestible, so they
made a compound of it, that the Emperor could eat. The Emperor believed there was a
potion or a type of medicine that would make him immortal so he set off on a journey
trying to find it and continued to eat Mercury capsules that were advised from his
doctors.
The Mercury slowly destroyed his nervous system and his brain. His kidneys were also
failing. He became very aggressive and argumentative. He went into hiding and anyone
who told where he hid was killed.
One day Qin Shi Huangdi decided to go on another Imperial tour, but he was so
focused on living forever that he didn't notice his nation was going into bankruptcy and
was close to famine.
The Emperor heard of a giant fish that guards the island of Immortals, and he dreamt of
killing the giant fish, so he went to go visit the ocean to try and kill the fish with a cross
bow.
Qin Shi Huangdi died on September 10, 210 BC at the age of 49 years old. There was
not an accurate story of how he died, but some main stories are of how he died from
illness or from being murdered. Some are even about how he died of the People's
curse.
Most believe he died of illness. The Emperor was on another tour when suddenly he
died of illness. One of his ministers didn't want the people finding out, so he ordered a
bunch of fish to be carried along with the rest of the tour, to hide the smell of the rotting
Emperor. He also changed the Emperor's clothes every day, and was making sure no
one had any contact with him. While others believed that the people put a curse on him
because of his governmental ways (because of the Mercury Pills), and he eventually
died from that curse.
Some people thought he was murdered by either Zhao Gao or Li Si. The most
suspicious would be Li Si. Li Si was almost always next to the Emperor. He was the
Prime Minister; therefore, he was always there giving him advice. The second most
suspicious would be Zhao Gao. He too was almost always next to the Emperor. He was
always there when the Emperor was ill or feeling unwell. Since the Mercury was
affecting Qin Shi Huangdi, Zhao Gao, had more chances to be near his Majesty, which
meant he had more opportunities to kill him.14
Qin Shi Huangdi's oldest son, Fu Su, was crown prince. But after Qin Shi Huangdi
passed away, Zhao Gao, altered Qin Shi Huangdi's dying wish for Fu Su to become
King. And wrote that Hu Hai, the 18th youngest son would inherit the throne. Zhao Gao
forged an imperial edict ordering that Fu Su and Meng Tian (the General of Qin at the
time), to be executed for their lack of participation to the country. Fu Su and Meng Tian
committed suicide in the year of 210 BC. Hu Hai was given the throne that was not
originally meant for him and unfortunately the kingdom of China didn't last long after
that. Qin Shi Huangdi's kingdom fell down 3-4 years after his death.15
14
Lofthouse, Lloyd. "Qin Shi Huangdi – The Man Who Unified China
"Hu Hai (230BC-207BC)." Hu Hai, Son of Qin Shi Huang, Second Emperor of Qin Dynasty. Travel China Guide,
n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2017. <https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shaanxi/xian/terra_cotta_army/qinshihuangson-huhai.htm>.
15
Appendix A
Photo of Terra-Cotta Army (An Army that Qin wanted sculptors to sculpt to protect him
even in the afterlife).
Chen, Stephan. "Qin Dynasty Crossbow Found at China's Terracotta Army Site May Reveal Secret of Emperor's
Success." South China Morning Post. South China Morning Post, 05 Aug. 2016. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.
<http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1742671/qin-dynasty-crossbow-found-chinas-terracotta-army-site-mayreveal-secret>.
Appendix B
The currency that was used in Ancient China.
"Currency in the Qin and Han Dynasties." Cultural China. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2017. <http://www.culturalchina.com/chinaWH/images/arbigimages/0c7fdd3a909dc7502284a92d73d05eb7.jpg>.
Appendix C
A horse and soldier that was sculpt.
"Impression of Xi'an." Impression of Xi'an. Paul Bourke, Oct. 2006. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.
<http://paulbourke.net/fun/xian/>.
Annotated Bibliography
Primary Sources:
Chen, Stephan. "Qin Dynasty Crossbow Found at China's Terracotta Army Site May Reveal
Secret of Emperor's Success." South China Morning Post. South China Morning Post, 05
Aug. 2016. Web. 06 Feb. 2017. <http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1742671/qindynasty-crossbow-found-chinas-terracotta-army-site-may-reveal-secret>.
A photo of what the Terra Cotta Army looks like.
"Currency in the Qin and Han Dynasties." Cultural China. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2017.
<http://www.culturalchina.com/chinaWH/images/arbigimages/0c7fdd3a909dc7502284a92d73d05eb7.jpg>.
A photo of the currency that China used.
Historic World Leaders. Gale, n.d. Web.
This website was about the ruling that Qin Shi Huangdi did, from conquering the
other 6 states to the time of his death. It mentions the year that the other kingdoms were
conquered, about how Li Si was his best advisor, and who went with him to the after life.
Http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRXb3jxdJV6CmqnDGDfWKVw. "The First Emperor of
China." YouTube. YouTube, 17 Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
This documentary was recapturing what Qin Shi Huangdi's life was like. It
showed the visual experience of what it would have looked like back when he was still
alive.
"Impression of Xi'an." Impression of Xi'an. Paul Bourke, Oct. 2006. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.
<http://paulbourke.net/fun/xian/>.
A photo of what the sculpt horses looked like.
Secondary Sources:
"Ancient China." Biography for Kids: Emperor Qin Shi Huang. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.
This short article said a lot about his early life, how he inherited the throne, and
how he ruled his kingdom. The topics however were still very vague.
Bailey, Diane. Emperor Qin's Terra-cotta Army. Minneapolis, MN: Abdo, a Division of ABDO,
2015. Print.
This book, which was written by Bailey Diane, wrote about the Terra-Cotta
Army. It explained a lot in great detail about what it was meant for, and how they were
sculpt. It was very interesting, however it was not strongly attached to the topic.
"Emperor Qin Shi Huang Biography •." Biography Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2016.
This website was a short biography about Qin Shi Huangdi. It was very useful
because it told the accomplishments and the main actions that Qin Shi Huangdi
did. Much of the information I had already found before I read this website.
"Emperor Qin Shi Huang -- First Emperor of China." Emperor Qin Shi Huang, First Emperor of
China, Shi Huangdi of Qin Dynasty. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.
This article explained when Qin Shi Huangdi was born, how he got the throne,
who he surpassed, his achievements and failed attempts, and how he died. This site, had a
lot information and explained in great deatil.
"King Zhuangxiang of Qin." Chinese Monarchs - King Zhuangxiang of Qin (Chinese: 秦莊襄王
),. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.
This website was a short slice of life about Qin Shi Huangdi's father,
Emperor Zhuangxiang about being sent to the Zhao state as a hostage, but
Lu Buwei helped him. This website gave me a little background knowledge about Qin
Shi Huangdi's mother, Lady Zhao Ji, and why she wanted one of her younger sons to
become King.
"Legacy and Impact." The Immortal Emperor. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.
This website told in very good detail about the 3 biggest accomplishments that he
made. The Great Wall of China, the Terracotta Army, and his Tomb.
"Li Si 李斯 (www.chinaknowledge.de)." Ulrich Theobald. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.
This article about Li Si explains when and where he was born, and what religion
he studied. The article also tells how Li Si came to such a high rank in the palace, along
with faking the last decree from Qin Shi Huangdi.
Lim. "Chinese Imperial Women." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2016.
A few pages of this book explained about Zhao Ji, Qin Shi Huangdi's mother's
past before she met Qin Shi Huangdi's father. It also mentions the relationships that
Lu Buwei and Zhao Ji had. It was a good source to find out what Lu Buwei and Zhao Ji's
relationship was.
Lofthouse, Lloyd. "Qin Shi Huangdi – The Man Who Unified China – (Viewed as Single
Page)." ILook China. N.p., 17 Oct. 2016. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.
<https://ilookchina.net/2011/06/14/qin-shi-huangdi-the-man-that-unified-china-viewed-assingle-page/>.
This website source gave me the most information out of all the sources. It had
already said most of all the information that I found in many of the other sources, however
they were not as detailed. But it was very helpful.
"Rebellions and Assassins." The Immortal Emperor. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2016
This website told of the many assassination attempts to kill Qin Shi Huangdi, and
of the rebellion that Lao Ai had set up. This was a very useful source about the rebellion.
"Shihuangdi." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 28 Nov.
2016.
A brief paragraph explained when he was born, how long did he rule for, and his
death. Many facts of which I had already known from previous sources.
"What Did Qin Shi Huang Die From?" What Did Qin Shi Huang Die From? N.p., n.d. Web. 22
Dec. 2016.
This website mentions all of the different possibilities that Qin Shi Huangdi could
have died from. Those 3 deaths are the 3 most believed to happen. Although there are still
other stories about how, what, and why he died.