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The First Emperor (259 - 210 B.C.), or King Zheng of Qin as he was known before uniting the whole China, built a solid government by appointing talented men to office, regardless of their nationality. At the same time, he used sophisticated diplomatic skills and a strong military power built around the calvary in destroying the Han Dynasty in 230 B.C. He went on to conquer five more states (Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, and Qi), thereby achieving the unification of China in a span of only ten years. Having unified China, King Zheng of Qin dropped the title 'king' and replaced it with the title 'emperor,' which would remain in use for about 2,100 years by the subsequent dynasties of China as the official title for their ruler, until the fall of the Qing Dynasty. The First Emperor divided the entire country into 36 commanderies, each being administered by a civil governor (shou 守), a military commander (wei 尉) and an imperial inspector (監), and divided these commanderies into counties. By creating and implementing this system of administrative districts across the country, he built a strong, centralized government.

A Man of Remarkable Achievements Including the Standardization of Weights and Measures, Currencies, Roads, and the Script

The First Emperor standardized the weights and measures from the Warring States period that differed from state to state, and promulgated the standard weights (分銅) and measures (升) known, respectively, as Qin Quan (秦權) and Qin Liang (秦量). There is archaeological evidence suggesting that a certain kind of one-hop containers was adopted for standard use and distributed across the country (The one-hop container excavated near Northeast China turned out to be of the same kind as the one issued from Central China). This was a practice that contributed to industrial and economic development in China. Monetary economy in its primary form emerged as early as the Western Zhou and the Spring and Autumn periods. By the Warring States period, however, each state had started minting its own currency different in form from that of other states. The First Emperor standardized these currencies into the form of ban liang qian as we know it today, a round coin with a square hole in the center.

At that time, axle lengths differed from state to state because the states wanted to keep wagons and chariots from other states out of their territory. The First Emperor introduced a standard six-foot axle length, created a network of roads across the country, and standardized the written script. He also strengthened the central government's control over the provinces by building Chidao (馳道), a kind of highways designed to facilitate the transport of troops for the effective suppression of uprisings in the provinces should they occur. But these roads would also contribute to the development of transportation and commerce.

The 'Emperor' Who Wanted to Be Like God Falls from Power

To raise his status as emperor to a level on par with God's, the First Emperor needed to turn himself into an immortal being that existed outside the realm of life and death. To this end, he ordered the construction of his mausoleum while he was alive, also known as the Mount Li Tomb in which he would rest in peace for eternity. The mausoleum, which remains to this day, is a huge mound with an underground burial chamber about 100 meters high and with a square floor with a side of 500 meters in length. In the chamber, there is a palace, complete with all the government officials in their designated places. This is basically a miniature world of China brought to life so that he could enjoy a life of luxury in the afterlife as well as in this life. In 1974, the famous Terracotta Army was discovered about 1.5 kilometers east of the mausoleum, a majestic underground space that holds over 7,000 figures of people, horses, and chariots standing in array.

Once he destroyed the six states, the First Emperor dispatched General Meng Tian with a force of 100,000 troops to subjugate the Xiongnu. And he built the Great Wall that stretched approximately 10,000 li or longer from Lintao (臨洮) to Liaodong, by repairing a number of fortresses and using the ridges of rugged mountains as borders and the valleys as trenches. While the Great Wall and Chidao were built for the maintenance and future of the unified China, the construction of the palace and the mausoleum of the First Emperor was, in part, aimed at showing off his grandeur. These construction projects were a huge drain on national economy because they were conducted on a large scale in a span of ten short years. The heavy burden of costs was placed on farmers. Because of heavy tax increases and requisitions, combined with a harsh rule of law, the farmers suffered a burden greater than they could bear.

In 213 B.C., the First Emperor confiscated all books, except for books on history, medicine, divination, and agriculture, and burned them within thirty days, at Li Si's suggestion. Afterwards, he issued a prohibition of discussing old books as a crime punishable by death, and of praising old thoughts or practices and speaking ill of Qin as a crime punishable by the death of the offender and his or her entire family. The purpose was to prohibit the private possession of books and private learning and declare the government as the sole owner of books and controller of learning. Therefore, the Confucian scriptures survived even after the order to burn books was issued. They were still kept in Xianyang, the capital of Qin, and studied by experts. The First Emperor's order to bury scholars alive was motivated by his aspiration to immortality. The year after the burning of books was carried out, he became so angry at the diviner named Lu Sheng (盧生) who had lied to him that he took it out on Confucius scholars and buried about 460 of them alive. The burning of books and the burial of scholars alive were the acts of suppression of scholars and learning for which the First Emperor would receive criticism from future generations.

In Chinese history, when one dynasty was replaced by another, it was either by ability and peaceful abdication of the throne, as was done in the period of Yao and Shun, or by an armed revolution that led to the overthrow of the existing dynasty. The case of the transition from Qin to Han was, of course, the latter. When the Han Dynasty was established after overthrowing the existing dynasty, the existing dynasty's harsh and despotic government based on the rule of law was supposed to have been overthrown as well. Accordingly, Han had to deny every policy that had been conducted by Qin. But, only on the surface. In reality, all the systems that Han adopted were, or imitated, the ones that had been created during the Qin Dynasty. Qin's system were inherited by the subsequent dynasties of China. And it is understood by some that the system of the Communist Party of China today is also a continuation of the centralized system of rule over commanderies and countries that was completed by the First Emperor. The First Emperor of Qin was the one who had the most profound impact on Chinese history. It can be said that he is the architect of the very China that we know today. Although it is generally understood that the investiture system in East Asia was established while Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was in power, there is no doubt that this would not have been possible were it not for the unified empire established by the First Emperor of Qin.