Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang: The Warring States of China
Qin Shi Huang was born Zhao Zheng and was the eldest son of the Qin prince Yiren. At the age of 13 Zhao Zheng became king of the state of Qin in northwestern China. By 221 BC the Qin army had defeated the other 6 rival enemy states and King Zheng proclaimed himself Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China. As emperor he initiated a series of reforms aimed at centralising power and limiting the feudalism that had led to the previous periods of instability. His implementation of a number of standards for weights, measurements and currency led to the building of an extensive network of roads and canals to facilitate trade across the regions. Fortresses were erected to hold off barbarian incursions and eventually linked to form the Great Wall. Perhaps most importantly
he standardised the regional scripts to form one language that was used across China. In 210 BC, during a tour of Eastern China, Qin Shi Huang became seriously ill and died, although the exact reason for his death is unknown. Qin Shi Huang was buried in a huge tomb that took over 700,000 workers and 38 years to build. One section of the tomb contains the world famous Terracotta Army, consisting of over 8000 life-sized soldiers, chariots and horses made from terracotta to represent the Qin army.
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