The First Qin Emperor(259-210B.C.),otherwise known as Emperor Ying Zheng,came to the throne of the Qin State at 13,and seized the helm of the state at 22.By 221B.C.,when he was only 39 years old,he had annexed the six rival principalities and established the first feudal enpire in China history. 
In the year 221B.C.,after he unified the whole country,Ying Zheng styled himself the first Emperor,in the hope that the throne would be passed down to his descendants from one generation to another and that the hereditary system would be kept in working order for ever.In fact,it was solely a myth.Each of the supreme rulers in later dynasties aslo called himself the Emperor.
After he annexed the other six principalities,the First Qin Emperor abolished the enfeoffment system,and adopted the prefecture and county system instead.Dramatic steps were taken by his order to standardize the coinage,weights and measures scripts. In an endeavor to deal with the harassment by the Hun aristocrats,he ordered that the sections of the original Great Wall should be linked together.All these measures played an important role in strengthening the unification of the whole country and promoting the cultural and economic development.They exerted an everlasting influence upon the 2,000-year-long feudal history of China.
In order ty impose rigid stereotypes on the minds of this people,the First Qin Emperor ordered that all books of various schools be burned except those on agriculture,divination,medicine and the Qin's history.Moreover,he also ordered that 460 Confucation schoolars be buried alive.As a result,almost all of the classics were destroyed.
After the unification of China,the First Qin Emperor believed that his contributions to the State were beyond compare,and he was even greater than the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.Out of this belief,he became more arrogant anf ambitious than ever.For the sake of his own pleasure,he had hundreds of thousands of conscripts built Wopang Palace,which extended 50kilometers from Xianyang(the capital)to Mt.lishan.He confined himself to the palaceand sought pleasure anywhere. Unfortunately,the palace was put on fire by the insurrection army at the end of the Qin Dynasty.The fire lasted for three months.We can well imagine how grand and magnificent his palace must have been.
As soon as he ascended the throne,Ying Zheng ordered that a magnificent mausoleum be built for him t ensure him a peaceful everlasting sleep.After he seized the power of the Qin in 221B.C.,more than 700,000conscripts wer gathered from all aparts of the country to work on his mausoleum.In fact,it took 37years to complete the project.
The mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is located at the foot of Mt. Lishan,about 35 Kilometers east of Xi'an.It used to be surrounded by an inner wall and an outer one.It was originally 120 meters tall.But over 2,000 years of erosion by wind and rain plus human destruction has reduced it to a height of 46 meters.
In "The Records of the Historian,"Sima Qian recorded,"The outer coffin was cast in molten copper,and the burial chamber was complete with palaces,halls and towers.Fine utensils,precious stones and other rarities were everywhere.Automatic crossbows were fixed to protect the tomb from robbery.The mercury laks and waterways were built ti represent the Huanghe River,the Changjiang River and even the vast ocean.The ceiling was decorated wit pearls and gems to symbolize the celestial body,including the Sun and th Moon.The entire underground palacewas presumably brightly lit by whale oil lamps for ever.
When he died,his son ,the Second Qin Emperor,decreed that his father's concubines without children should follow him to the grave.After they were duly buried,there was a suggestion that the artisans responsible for the safety devices knew too much about the contents of the tomb.Therefor,once the coffin was placed in the burial chamber and the burial objects were all sealed up,the gate was closed to imprison all those who had worked inside the tomb.Later trees and grass were planted all over the mausoleum so that it would look like a natural hill.
The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is rich in cultural artifacts.Besides the terracotta army and the painted bronze chariots and horses,there are numerous Qing brick and tiles of every description around the mausoleum.According to the archaeological survey,Sima Qian's description is undoubtedly true,and the underground palace is still intact.
In the year 221B.C.,after he unified the whole country,Ying Zheng styled himself the first Emperor,in the hope that the throne would be passed down to his descendants from one generation to another and that the hereditary system would be kept in working order for ever.In fact,it was solely a myth.Each of the supreme rulers in later dynasties aslo called himself the Emperor.
After he annexed the other six principalities,the First Qin Emperor abolished the enfeoffment system,and adopted the prefecture and county system instead.Dramatic steps were taken by his order to standardize the coinage,weights and measures scripts. In an endeavor to deal with the harassment by the Hun aristocrats,he ordered that the sections of the original Great Wall should be linked together.All these measures played an important role in strengthening the unification of the whole country and promoting the cultural and economic development.They exerted an everlasting influence upon the 2,000-year-long feudal history of China.
In order ty impose rigid stereotypes on the minds of this people,the First Qin Emperor ordered that all books of various schools be burned except those on agriculture,divination,medicine and the Qin's history.Moreover,he also ordered that 460 Confucation schoolars be buried alive.As a result,almost all of the classics were destroyed.
After the unification of China,the First Qin Emperor believed that his contributions to the State were beyond compare,and he was even greater than the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.Out of this belief,he became more arrogant anf ambitious than ever.For the sake of his own pleasure,he had hundreds of thousands of conscripts built Wopang Palace,which extended 50kilometers from Xianyang(the capital)to Mt.lishan.He confined himself to the palaceand sought pleasure anywhere. Unfortunately,the palace was put on fire by the insurrection army at the end of the Qin Dynasty.The fire lasted for three months.We can well imagine how grand and magnificent his palace must have been.
As soon as he ascended the throne,Ying Zheng ordered that a magnificent mausoleum be built for him t ensure him a peaceful everlasting sleep.After he seized the power of the Qin in 221B.C.,more than 700,000conscripts wer gathered from all aparts of the country to work on his mausoleum.In fact,it took 37years to complete the project.The mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is located at the foot of Mt. Lishan,about 35 Kilometers east of Xi'an.It used to be surrounded by an inner wall and an outer one.It was originally 120 meters tall.But over 2,000 years of erosion by wind and rain plus human destruction has reduced it to a height of 46 meters.
In "The Records of the Historian,"Sima Qian recorded,"The outer coffin was cast in molten copper,and the burial chamber was complete with palaces,halls and towers.Fine utensils,precious stones and other rarities were everywhere.Automatic crossbows were fixed to protect the tomb from robbery.The mercury laks and waterways were built ti represent the Huanghe River,the Changjiang River and even the vast ocean.The ceiling was decorated wit pearls and gems to symbolize the celestial body,including the Sun and th Moon.The entire underground palacewas presumably brightly lit by whale oil lamps for ever.
When he died,his son ,the Second Qin Emperor,decreed that his father's concubines without children should follow him to the grave.After they were duly buried,there was a suggestion that the artisans responsible for the safety devices knew too much about the contents of the tomb.Therefor,once the coffin was placed in the burial chamber and the burial objects were all sealed up,the gate was closed to imprison all those who had worked inside the tomb.Later trees and grass were planted all over the mausoleum so that it would look like a natural hill.
The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is rich in cultural artifacts.Besides the terracotta army and the painted bronze chariots and horses,there are numerous Qing brick and tiles of every description around the mausoleum.According to the archaeological survey,Sima Qian's description is undoubtedly true,and the underground palace is still intact.
