Qin Shi Huangdi: The First Emperor of China

By the 3rd century BC, the once mighty kings of the Zhou dynasty had become little more than figureheads. As their power had begun to erode several centuries earlier, the feudal lords within the realm had gradually become more or less independent, forming a myriad of small squabbling states and ushering in what is known as the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. As time progressed, these were eventually consolidated into a number of larger states, which all went on to vie for complete control of China during the following era, the Warring States period. The man who would finally finish this process, become the first emperor of a unified China, and be buried along with the world-famous Terracotta Army, was called Zhao Jiang. Born in the state of Zhao in northern China in 259 BC, he was the son of Prince Yi Ren of Qin, who at the time was serving as a hostage to ensure peace between the two states. His mother was a former concubine of a rich merchant called Lyu Buwei, who the prince According to the records of the Grand Historian, written by Si Ma Qian around 200 years later, his real father was in fact Lyu Buwei, although this may be an attempt by subsequent emperors to discredit him, seeing as merchants were traditionally regarded as the lowest of all social classes in China. Eventually, the prince and his family returned to the state of Qin, and with the help of Lyu Buwei, he went on to become King Zhuang Xiang of Qin. His reign would be short, however, and just three years later he died, leaving the 13-year-old Zhao Jiang as king under the regency of Lyu Buwei. In this position, Lyu came to dominate the Qin government and military for nearly a decade. During this time, he notably invited famous scholars from all over China and had them compile the texts known as Master Lyu's Spring and Autumn Annals, a sort of encyclopedia containing But this couldn't last forever, and after having ruled the state of Qin for nine years, the now full-grown Zhao Jiang had Lyu stripped of all his powers and banished to the remote region of Shu following his implied involvement in a scandal with the Queen Dowager and a revolt against the king. Fearing an eventual execution, Lyu committed suicide by consuming poison. Having subdued the rebellion and gained full control over his kingdom, Zhao Jiang could now put all of his attention on the ultimate goal, unifying China. The other states at this time considered Qin to be somewhat of a barbarous country, a bit like the attitude of the Greek states towards the Macedonians, but the state of Qin was actually in a pretty good position to achieve its goal. About a century earlier, a series of losses had prompted its leaders to thoroughly reform the country, creating a centralized bureaucratic government and a strong military based on merit. With this in place, Zhao Jiang set out to conquer the remaining kingdoms one by one. The first to fall was the state of Han in 230 BC, not to be confused with the later Han dynasty. Two years later, it was the turn of Zhao, where the king had been born, and soon Yan and Wei had fallen too. The largest and greatest challenge, the state of Chu, was conquered in 223, and before you knew it, the only state left was Qi, located on the Shandong peninsula. Despite sending out a force of 200,000 men to defend the western borders, by 221 BC, their king had been captured and the Qi too were annexed. With that, all of China was unified under one ruler. In order to distinguish himself from the petty kings of previous centuries, Zhao Jiang had a new title invented, Wang Di, or Emperor, and from then on he would be known as Qin Shi Huang Di, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty. But by now, the time had come for him to show that he was not only a great conqueror, but also capable of ruling. And so with the help of his new Grand Councilor, Li Si, he began a period of intense reform of China, much like what had previously been done with the Qin state. This meant employing the philosophy known as legalism, which sees politics through a pragmatic rather than idealistic or moral perspective. It states that political institutions should be modeled in response to the realities of human behavior, and since humans according to them are inherently selfish and short-sighted, the only way to achieve peace and harmony is through strict laws and punishments and an absolute obedience to authority. With this in mind, Qin Shi Huang Di set out to create a fully centralized administration. He abolished feudalism, dividing the country into 36 and later 40 jun, or commanderies, each with their own military and civil administrator appointed according to merit. In order to keep a closer eye on the remaining aristocrats, they were all forced to live in the capital of Xianyang. Furthermore, he standardized things such as weights, measures, and the writing system. There was even a law determining the length of the axles of carts in order to make them compatible with this new road system, one of many public works ordered by the emperor. For example, he is also responsible for the construction of the the first of its kind in world history to connect two river valleys, namely the Xiang and Li rivers. The canal is 34 kilometers long and allowed for quick transportation from northern to southern China, something which would greatly help military expansion in the area. Finally, the emperor is also known to have expanded a precursor to the Great Wall in order to defend from the nomadic Xiongnu tribes. But it's not as a great builder that Qin Shi Huang Di has been remembered in Chinese history, but rather as a ruthless tyrant. As a step in his endorsement of legalism as the state philosophy, he tried to eliminate the hundred schools of thought, including Confucianism and Daoism, reportedly burying scholars alive and burning almost all books not related to astrology, agriculture, medicine, divination, or the history of the Qin state. Some of his deeds, especially the part about burying scholars alive, is no doubt exaggerations made in order to legitimize the following dynasty, but that being said, this was a ruthless administration. During the last 10 years of his reign, Qin Shi Huang set out on a number of inspection tours, supervising the consolidation and organization of the empire. He also made sacrifices in various sacred places and raised stone tablets announcing to the gods that he had finally unified China. But there was another reason for his constant traveling. As the emperor grew older, he became obsessed with the fabled elixir of life and the idea of obtaining immortality. To that end, he visited the island of Jifu off the coast of the Shandong peninsula several times. From there, he sent expeditions to discover the mythical Mount Penglai, said to be located far to the east across the sea. Once there, they were supposed to find Ang Qisheng, a thousand-year-old magician whom the emperor had supposedly met on his journeys and who had invited him to seek him there. In the end, one expedition is said to have ended up in Japan, claiming that Mount Fuji was in fact the legendary Penglai. But the magician was nowhere to be found and Qin Shi Huang never obtained immortality. Instead, rather ironically, he's said to have died in 210 BC by drinking mercury, believing it to be the elixir of life.