Qin shi huang tomb
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Who was China's First Emperor?
Qin Shi Huang was born on 18 February in 259 BC. Famed for his army of terracotta warriors built to protect him for eternity, the Emperor is also one of the most controversial figures in history. Seen as a visionary by some and a tyrant by others, his achievements in such a short space of time were nevertheless remarkable and far-reaching. Here we take a closer look at the life of the man at the heart of our landmark exhibition.
An early achiever
A life of conquest shaped the man who would become China’s First Emperor. Born Prince Ying Zheng, he was just 13 years old when he became King of the Qin State in 246 BC. Initially supported by his mother Queen Zhao Ji and chancellor Lü Buwei who effectively managed the government, the young king took full control of his kingdom aged 22. With massive armies he overpowered the six remaining independent kingdoms of the late Warring States Period and unified China in 221 BC; putting an end to centuries of political turmoil, constant war and endless bloodshed.
Cosmic ruler
Ying Zheng saw
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Yellow Emperor
Mythical Chinese sovereign
For Huangdi (Emperor of China), see Emperor of China.
The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a mythical Chinese sovereign and culture hero included among the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, (shen). He is revered as a deity individually or as part of the Five Regions Highest Deities (Chinese: 五方上帝; pinyin: Wǔfāng Shàngdì) in Chinese folk religion.[4] Regarded as the initiator of Chinese culture,[5] he is traditionally credited with numerous innovations – including the lunar calendar (Chinese calendar), Taoism,[6] wooden houses, boats, carts,[7] the compass needle,[8] "the earliest forms of writing",[9] and cuju, a ball game.[5] Calculated by Jesuit missionaries, as based on various Chinese chronicles, Huangdi's traditional reign dates begin in either 2698 or 2697 BC, spanning one hundred years exactly, later accepted by the twentieth-century promoters of a universal calendar startin
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Army of the First Emperor of Qin in pits next to his burial mound, Lintong, China, Qin dynasty, c. 210 B.C.E., painted terracotta (photo: scottgunn, CC BY-NC 2.0)
Background: the first emperor of China
The first emperor of China was Qin Shi Huangdi. First, he became king of the Qin (pronounced “Chin”) state at the age of thirteen. Eventually he defeated the rulers of all the competing Chinese states, unifying China and declaring himself “First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty” (Qin Shi Huangdi). He began the construction of his vast tomb as soon as he took the throne, and it took 38 years to finish, even with a reported 700,000 convicts laboring for the last 13 years of construction. These great numbers are, themselves, displays of the tremendous power of the emperor, and the work clearly bears the imprint of their astounding labors.
As emperor, he was repressive —banning and burning Confucian books and executing the scholars who wrote and studied them. Not surprisingly there were at least two attempts to assassinate him.
Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi today, (photo: CC BY-
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