CHINA’S FIRST EMPEROR In 246 BCE the state of Qin pronounced chin in northwestern China declared a new ruler The new king Ying Zheng was only 13 years old but he would rule over the small powerful territory held by the Qin people Emperor Qin Shihuangdi as Ying Zheng became known was responsible for building a portion of China’s famous Great Wall CHAPTER 1 7 ABD_ANC_CHI_FPGS indd 711 5 14 4 19
Zheng may have been young but he was ambitious At the time China was divided into seven separate states Qin Han Zhao Chu Yan Wei and Qi each controlled by a different ruler Zheng wanted to rule over all the Chinese states The Qin army was better supplied better organized and faster than the armies from the other states With the help of his adviser Li Si Zheng used his military might to conquer the states one by one By 221 BCE ancient China was under Zheng’s control Zheng changed his name to Qin Shihuangdi Di was a name used for the gods The title Huangdi meant he thought of himself as a An artist’s rendition of Qin Shihuangdi the first emperor of the Qin dynasty 8 ABD_ANC_CHI_FPGS indd 8 11 5 14 4 19
living god His new name Shihuangdi meant first sovereign emperor and he became the first Chinese ruler with the title of emperor 1 GOVERNING CHINA Qin Shihuangdi’s realm spanned most of the eastern part of modern China and governing the region was an enormous task Qin Shihuangdi believed he was the supreme ruler and if his subjects disagreed with him they were punished This strict manner of governing was known as legalism Qin Shihuangdi ordered that many things become standardized including weights measurements and writing He also improved the roadways so citizens could easily move from place to place which improved trading He ordered a canal built to connect several of China’s major rivers Qin Shihuangdi also built a wall which would eventually become part of the Great Wall to protect his kingdom from attacks from the Huns a group of nomads from the north Although Qin Shihuangdi made great strides in unifying ancient China and advancing the region’s infrastructure he was a strict ruler As part of Qin Shihuangdi’s legalist thinking he viewed scholars as a threat because they might oppose his rule Historians believe Qin Shihuangdi buried more than 400 scholars alive because they opposed his way of thinking 9 ABD_ANC_CHI_FPGS indd 911 5 14 4 19
