Today in Sobrehistoria we talk about Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, which managed to unify the seven combatant territories into a single nation. In addition, he was a leader known for his great ability, intelligence and, above all, his strong hand and cruelty.
Qin Shi Huang: the first Emperor of China
It was the third century BC, approximately 250 BC, and in the heart of Asia several states were fighting each other. At that time, known as the Warring States, hegemony was fought harshly, crudely, cruelly. But in one of the smallest and most marginal kingdoms, Qin, lived a little boy of 13 years, Qin Shi Huang, who would be in charge of unifying the country and becoming the first emperor of China.
Seven were the prevailing states at that time: Han, Zhao, Yan, Wei, Chu, Qi and the aforementioned Qin. All together make up what is now China, from the China Sea to the Great Wall.
Qin Shi Huang lived in a kingdom ruled by his mother and controlled by Chancellor Lu Buwei, who was said to be his natural father. The queen’s new lover, Lao Ai, was the odd man out who aspired to power within the imperial court. However, Qin Shi Huang’s determination and strength became apparent when he turned 22 and was named King of Qin. He executed Lao Ai, his mother’s lover, who had risen up against him, and his two sons by his mother, the queen. He confined his mother, and finally got rid of his main rival, Chancellor Lu Buwei.
And so, with all the power at his back, Qin Shi Huang headed against the kingdoms around him, heading first for the eastern plains. Little by little, he was achieving small victories, which accompanied the bribery to which he subjected prominent figures from the other kingdoms. In the year 236 BC he started a great war against the other six kingdoms that lasted twelve years.
Such was his rectitude and at the same time cruelty, that he did not stop in his advance against the kingdom of Wei whose capital, Daliang, he subjected to a siege, and even diverted the course of the Yellow River to flood the city. However, his great rival found him in another kingdom, that of Chu. The 200,000 soldiers he led to the front were defeated, but far from surrendering, he assembled an even larger army of more than 500,000 men. in the year 221 BC he achieved the great victory, and at the same time, the unification of the whole country. Curiously, one of the most famous memories of that Emperor has been the entire terracotta army (nearly 8,000 life-size figures) that were found in the Xi’an region in 1974, very close to the burial place of the. Those warriors, known as the «Xi’an Warriors» were part of the last will of the great Emperor.
Only the Huns, from Mongolia, could defeat him, and so he decided to restore and improve the Great Wall.
Meanwhile, with a strong and skillful hand, Qin Shi Huang managed to dominate such a vast empire in a systematic and organized way. His name went down in history, not only for having achieved unification, but also for achieving very important improvements for Chinese society, such as a single currency, or a single language for the entire country. He facilitated communications, unified measurements and weights and created an army equal to him, endowing himself with superior power. He left his status as King to become Emperor, leaving under him three important positions, that of prime minister (chengxiang), that of commissary responsible for the army (taiwei) and the censor who supervised all official work (yushi). At the same time, the State was divided into 36 prefectures, each with its own Governor.
Finally, and as a symbol of his immense power, he dedicated himself to building palaces throughout the country.
But parallel to all these great achievements, was the tyranny that he demonstrated in all his acts: almost two million people did forced labor on the Great Wall and in the palaces that he built… His dynasty, Qin, barely outlived him fifteen years later of his death, which occurred in 210 BC at the age of 49.
This Emperor is of such importance in the history of the Empire that his name, Qin, which reads “Chin”, has given its name to the country that we still know today as China.
After Qin Shi Huang’s death
The emperor died at the beginning of September of the year 210 BC, while he was traveling through the east of the country in search of the immortal islands which, according to legend, kept the secret of eternal youth. The reason for the trip was that the emperor had suffered several assassination attempts in recent times and was genuinely worried about the matter, to the point of becoming paranoid. The emperor became convinced that the elexir of eternal youth was kept by Taoist monks, and that to access it he had to defeat a powerful sea monster.
When his most loyal aide and prime minister, Li Yes, learned of his death, decided that the people could not have knowledge of this news. The emperor’s court was still two months away from the capital and they feared that riots would spread if the news reached its citizens, due to the harsh policies applied by the emperor.
Thus, the news of Qin Shi Huang’s death was hidden even from the men traveling with him. Only Li Si knew of the existence of this fact, and tried to hide it as best he could. Every day he went to the caravan where the emperor traveled and pretended to talk with him about important matters. He also made other caravans with fish in front and behind the emperor’s caravan, to try to disguise the increasingly putrid smell that emanated from it. It was not very difficult for him to hide since the emperor was rarely seen and used to travel isolated in his chambers.
Two months later, the emperor’s caravan arrived in the capital Xiangyang and that was when the Chinese people were told of the death of their emperor. Leaving no will, it was he Prime Minister Li Si along with other influential people who forced he second son Huhai to write a false one and proclaim himself emperor. Instead, his first son fusu he did not suffer the same fate and was forced to commit suicide. Likewise, Fusu’s most faithful lieutenant and his entire family were also killed.
It must be said that the mandate huhai it was not nearly as successful as his father’s. The new emperor did not have the wisdom, nor the courage, nor the strong hand necessary to know how to govern such a large area of land. Riots soon broke out and Huhai ended up dead just four years after coming to power. It was practically the end of the Qin dynasty, which, thanks to Qin Shi Huang, would establish the foundations of what is now China. They were also the ones who carried out some impressive and still emblematic works, such as the first version, the precursor to the current Chinese wall. It should be noted that, as happened to Qin Shi Huang’s first son, Fusu, his second son, Huhai, was also forced to commit suicide, and the one who came to power after his death was, paradoxically, the son of Fusu, Ziying.
If you look at the traditional history books of China, this emperor is usually treated as a brutal tyrant, who forced people to work on huge engineering works in which thousands of people died, and who systematically and cruelly eliminated all those who dared to have ideas different from theirs. Thus, a story is famous (of dubious credibility, on the other hand) that narrates how Qin Shi Huang ordered to execute about 500 sages and poets making them bury leaving only the head in the open air and then cutting off their heads. However, other historians also attach great importance to it as it managed to unify the Chinese territories, prevent the invasions of other peoples such as the barbarians or impose the unique currency and language in the country.
One of the facts that demonstrate the power that this emperor came to have in life is the mausoleum where he is buried. It is a huge mausoleum located about 20 kilometers north of the city of Xi’anand in which, in addition to the emperor’s tomb, there are another 400 life-size human figures representing the so-called Terracotta warriors. This mausoleum was under construction for almost 40 years, it has more than 2 square kilometers of extension, and it is said that more than 500,000 workers participated in its construction. It should be noted that for more than 2,000 years this mausoleum remained buried and forgotten until in 1974 the Terracotta Warriors were rediscovered during an inspection to change the city’s water supply system. Since 1987 these warriors, together with the mausoleum complex, have been named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The truth is that the history of China’s dynasties is full of murders, suicides, betrayals and wars and would have nothing to envy to the plot of Game of Thrones. But, after all, what country has not been marked in its history by internal struggles for power? To finish, we leave you with a video and some links that you might find interesting to complement the information in the article.
Video about the dynasties of China
If you have been interested in everything related to Qin Shi Huang and want to know more about the history of China, in this documentary you have much more information about the dynasties of China. Which were the most powerful and influential in Chinese history?
Links of interest
In Superhistory we have many other articles that you may find very interesting if you would like to know more about the history of China:
And if you liked the article, do not hesitate to share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter and Google +.