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90-671: In 220 BC, Qin Shi Huang , the first emperor of the Qin dynasty , established three counties called Yin ( 鄞 ), Mao ( 鄮 ) and Gouzhang ( 句章 ). Later they were merged into Gouzhang county during the Sui dynasty . It was renamed Mao county during the Tang dynasty . It had assumed its current name of "Yin" in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . The city of Ningbo was administrated by Yin county until after

180-424: A descendant of Confucius, described the alchemists as Confucianists and entwined the martyrs' legend with his story of discovering the lost Confucian books behind a demolished wall in his ancestral house. Qin Shi Huang also followed the theory of the five elements : fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. It was believed that the royal house of the previous Zhou dynasty had ruled by the power of fire, associated with

270-468: A larger group descended from a prominent ancestor , usually said to have lived during the time of the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors , and the clan name ( 氏 ) comprised a smaller group that showed a branch's current fief or recent title. The ancient practice was to list men's names separately— Sima Qian 's "Basic Annals of the First Emperor of Qin" introduces him as "given the name Zheng and

360-450: A number of pits containing figures and artifacts were found inside and outside the walls. To the west inside the inner wall were found bronze chariots and horses. Inside the inner wall were also found terracotta figures of courtiers and bureaucrats who served the Emperor. Outside of the inner wall but inside the outer wall, pits with terracotta figures of entertainers and strongmen, as well as

450-429: A pit containing a stone suit of armour were found. To the north of the outer wall were found the imperial park with bronze cranes, swan, and ducks with groups of musicians. Outside the outer walls were also found imperial stables where real horses were buried with terracotta figures of grooms kneeling beside them. To the west were found mass burial grounds for the labourers forced to build the complex. The Terracotta Army

540-491: A signal, the muscular assassin hurled the cone at the first carriage and shattered it. However, the emperor was travelling with two identical carriages to baffle attackers, and he was actually in the second carriage. Thus the attempt failed, though both men were able to escape the subsequent manhunt. Numerous state walls had been built during the previous four centuries, many of them closing gaps between river defences and impassable cliffs. To impose centralized rule and prevent

630-643: A slab of lead, and Gao Jianli swung it at the king but missed. The second assassination attempt had failed; Gao was executed shortly after. In 230 BC, King Zheng began the final campaigns of the Warring States period , setting out to conquer the remaining six major Chinese states and bring China under unified Qin control. The state of Han , the weakest of the Warring States, was the first to fall in 230 BC. In 229, Qin armies invaded Zhao , which had been severely weakened by natural disasters, and captured

720-581: A well in March 1974 in Xiyang, a village of the Lintong county. At a depth of around two meters, they found hardened dirt, then red earthenware, fragments of terracotta, bronze arrowheads, and terracotta bricks. Yang Zhifa threw the fragments of terracotta in the corner of the field, and collected the arrowheads to sell them to a commercial agency. Other villagers took terracotta bricks to make pillows. A manager in charge of

810-524: Is a false figure. In May 1974, a team of archaeologists from Shaanxi went to the site to undertake the first excavations of what would later be designated Pit 1. In May 1976, Pit 2 was discovered by drilling and in July, Pit 3 was discovered. The excavations over an area of 20,000 square meters produced about 7,000 statues of terracotta warriors and horses, and about a hundred wooden battle chariots and numerous weapons. Large structures have been erected to protect

900-400: Is about 1.5 km east of the tomb mound. The tomb mound itself at present remains largely unexcavated, but a number of techniques were used to explore the site. The underground palace has been located at the center of the mound. Archaeological survey and magnetic anomaly studies indicate a 4-meter high perimeter wall, measuring 460 meters north to south and 390 meters east to west, which

990-412: Is also a claim that the mercury content is actually a result of local industrial pollution. It is reported in "Lintong County Annals" that from 1978 to 1980, according to general investigation on workers involved with benzene , mercury and lead , 1193 people from 21 factories were found poisoned." In December 2012, it was announced that the remains of an "imperial palace" of great size had been found at

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1080-613: Is estimated to be at a depth of 30 meters. An underground dam and drainage system was discovered in 2000 and the tomb appeared not to have been flooded by the groundwater. Anomalously high levels of mercury in the area of the tomb mound have been detected, which gives credence to the Sima Qian's account that mercury was used to simulate waterways and the seas in the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. However, some scholars believe that if

1170-631: Is located in the district. AUX Group and Yinzhou Bank are based in Yinzhou district. Ningbo Higher Education Zone ( 宁波高等教育园区 ) is located at the south of Yinzhou District. Educational institutions located in the Higher Educational Zone: International schools in Yinzhou: Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang ( Chinese : 秦始皇 , pronunciation ; February 259  – 12 July 210 BC)

1260-448: Is made of bricks and serves as the wall of the underground palace. On top is an enclosing wall made of rammed earth of 30–40 meters in height. There are sloping passageways leading to the four walls. The west tomb passage is linked to a pit where the bronze chariots and horses were found. The tomb chamber itself is 80 meters long east to west, 50 meters north to south, and is about 15 meters high. There are, however, disagreements among

1350-504: Is the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang , the first emperor of the Qin dynasty . It is located in Lintong District , Xi'an, Shaanxi province of China. It was constructed over 38 years, from 246 to 208 BCE, and is situated underneath a 76-meter-tall tomb mound shaped like a truncated pyramid. The layout of the mausoleum is modeled on the layout of Xianyang , the capital of the Qin dynasty, which

1440-511: The Classic of Poetry or the Book of Documents was to be punished especially severely. According to the later Shiji , the following year Qin Shi Huang had some 460 scholars buried alive for possessing the forbidden books. The emperor's oldest son Fusu criticised him for this act. The emperor's own library did retain copies of the forbidden books, but most of these were destroyed when Xiang Yu burned

1530-495: The Shiji written by Sima Qian during the Han dynasty, the first emperor was the eldest son of the Qin prince Yiren, who later became King Zhuangxiang of Qin . Prince Yiren at that time was residing at the court of Zhao , serving as a hostage to guarantee the armistice between Qin and Zhao. Prince Yiren had fallen in love at first sight with a concubine of Lü Buwei , a rich merchant from

1620-488: The Twelve Metal Colossi , which he used to adorn his Palace. Each statue was said to be 5 zhang [11.5 meters] in height, and weighing about 1000 dan [about 70 tons]. Sima Qian considered this as one of the great achievements of the Emperor, on a par with the "unification of the law, weights and measurements, standardization of the axle width of carriages, and standardization of the writing system". During 600 years,

1710-525: The Han dynasty that succeeded the Qin. Since the mid-20th century, scholars have begun questioning this evaluation, inciting considerable discussion on the actual nature of his policies and reforms. According to the sinologist Michael Loewe "few would contest the view that the achievements of his reign have exercised a paramount influence on the whole of China's subsequent history, marking the start of an epoch that closed in 1911 ". Modern Chinese sources often give

1800-516: The Ordos Plateau from the nomadic Xiongnu , although the Xiongnu later rallied under Modu Chanyu . Qin Shi Huang also worked with his minister Li Si to enact major economic and political reforms aimed at the standardization of the diverse practices among earlier Chinese states . He is traditionally said to have banned and burned many books and executed scholars . His public works projects included

1890-525: The state of Wey . Lü consented for her to be Yiren's wife, who then became known as Lady Zhao after the state of Zhao. He was given the name Zhao Zheng, the name Zheng ( 正 ) came from his month of birth Zhengyue , the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar ; the clan name of Zhao came from his father's lineage and was unrelated to either his mother's name or the location of his birth. ( Song Zhong  [ zh ] says that his birthday, significantly,

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1980-473: The weights and measurements . Wagon axles were prescribed a standard length to facilitate road transport. The emperor also developed an extensive network of roads and canals for trade and communication. The currencies of the different states were standardized to the Ban Liang coin. The forms of Chinese characters were unified. Under Li Si, the seal script of the state of Qin became the official standard, and

2070-412: The Emperor, to cover the foul smell of his body decomposing in the summer heat. Pretending he was alive behind the wagon's shade, they changed his clothes daily, brought food, and pretended to carry messages to and from him. After they reached Xianyang, the death of the Emperor was announced. Qin Shi Huang had not liked to talk about his death and had never written a will. Although his eldest son Fusu

2160-454: The First Emperor first came to the throne. Later, after he had unified his empire, 700,000 men were sent there from all over his empire. They dug through three layers of groundwater, and poured in bronze for the outer coffin. Palaces and scenic towers for a hundred officials were constructed, and the tomb was filled with rare artifacts and wonderful treasure. Craftsmen were ordered to make crossbows and arrows primed to shoot at anyone who entered

2250-727: The First Emperor, creating the title which would be used as the title of the Chinese sovereign for the next two millennia. Qin Shi Huang also ordered the Heshibi to be crafted into the Heirloom Seal of the Realm , which would serve as a physical symbol of the Mandate of Heaven , and would be passed from emperor to emperor until its loss in the 10th century. During 215 BC, in an attempt to expand Qin territory, Qin Shi Huang ordered military campaigns against

2340-468: The First Emperor. However, a number of modern scholars have doubted this account of his birth. Sinologist Derk Bodde wrote: "There is good reason for believing that the sentence describing this unusual pregnancy is an interpolation added to the Shiji by an unknown person in order to slander the First Emperor and indicate his political as well as natal illegitimacy". John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel, in their translation of Lü Buwei's Lüshi Chunqiu , call

2430-461: The Qin script itself was simplified through removal of variant forms. This did away with all the regional scripts to form a universal written language for all of China, despite the diversity of spoken dialects. According to Chinese records, after unifying the country in 221 BC, Qin Shuhuang confiscated all the bronze weapons of the conquered countries, and cast them into twelve monumental statues,

2520-652: The Second Emperor, later known as Qin Er Shi or "Second Generation Qin". The immediate family members of Qin Shi Huang include: Qin Shi Huang had about 50 children (about 30 sons and 15 daughters), but most of their names are unknown. He had numerous concubines but appeared to have never named an empress. Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor ( Chinese : 秦始皇陵 ; pinyin : Qínshǐhuáng Líng )

2610-608: The Xiongnu nomads in the North. Led by General Meng Tian , Qin armies successfully routed the Xiongnu from the Ordos Plateau , setting the ancient foundations for the construction of the Great Wall of China . In the South, Qin Shi Huang also ordered several military campaigns against the Yue tribes , which annexed various regions in modern Guangdong and Vietnam. In an attempt to avoid a recurrence of

2700-505: The Yan army, along with King Xi of Yan , were able to retreat to the Liaodong Peninsula . After Qin besieged and flooded their capital of Daliang , the state of Wei surrendered in 225 BC. Around this time, as a precautionary measure, Qin seized ten cities from Chu, the largest and most powerful of the other Warring States. In 224, Qin launched a full-scale invasion of Chu, capturing

2790-403: The academic community about the depth at which the palace lies, with estimates ranging from 20 meters to 50 meters. According to the scientific exploration and partial excavation, a significant amount of metal is present in the underground palace which has a very good drainage system. Sima Qian's text indicates that during its construction the tomb may have reached groundwater, and the water table

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2880-418: The arrowheads sold to the commercial agency. Judging from scientific exploration and local excavations, there are many metal substances in the underground palace, and there is also a good drainage system. As for how deep the underground palace is, there is a lot of controversy in academic circles, with opinions differing from 20 meters to 50 meters. Some scholars believe that the so-called "crossing three springs"

2970-457: The baby was born after an unusually long period of pregnancy. According to translations of the Lüshi Chunqiu , Zhao Ji gave birth to the future emperor in the city of Handan in 259 BC, the first month of the 48th year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin . The idea that the emperor was an illegitimate child, widely believed throughout Chinese history, contributed to the generally negative view of

3060-506: The builders came from all the seven states of the Warring States Period, which may suggest the project started after the emperor unified the country. Documents record that the presiding builder was Li Si , who held the office of Prime Minister for a few years before and after the unification of China. Before that, he was the court officer in charge of the judiciary, and it was unlikely that a mere court officer would have presided over

3150-493: The capital of Handan in 228. Prince Jia of Zhao managed to escape with the remnants of the Zhao army and established the short-lived state of Dai , proclaiming himself king. In 227 BC, fearing a Qin invasion, Crown Prince Dan of Yan ordered a failed assassination attempt on King Zheng. This provided casus belli for Zheng to invade Yan in 226, capturing the capital of Ji (modern Beijing ) that same year. The remnants of

3240-475: The capital of Shouchun in 223. In 222, Qin armies extinguished the last Yan remnants in Liaodong and the Zhao rump state of Dai. In 221, Qin armies invaded the state of Qi and captured King Jian of Qi without much resistance, bringing an end to the Warring States period . By 221 BC, all Chinese lands had been unified under the Qin. To elevate himself above the feudal Zhou kings, King Zheng proclaimed himself

3330-407: The capital, Lao Ai successfully fled the battlefield. A price of 1 million copper coins was placed on Lao Ai's head if he was taken alive or half a million if dead. Lao Ai's supporters were captured and beheaded; then Lao Ai was tied up and torn to five pieces by horse carriages, while his entire family was executed to the third degree. The two hidden sons were also killed, while the mother Zhao Ji

3420-627: The centuries. In 214 BC the Emperor began the project of a major canal allowing water transport between north and south China, originally for military supplies. The canal, 34 kilometres in length, links two of China's major waterways, the Xiang River flowing into the Yangtze and the Lijiang River , flowing into the Pearl River . The canal aided Qin's expansion to the south-west. It is considered one of

3510-476: The colour red. The new Qin dynasty must be ruled by the next element on the list, which is water, Zhao Zheng's birth element. Water was represented by the colour black, and black became the preferred colour for Qin garments, flags, and pennants. Other associations include north as the cardinal direction , the winter season and the number six. Tallies and official hats were 15 centimetres (5.9 inches) long, carriages two metres (6.6 feet) wide, one pace ( 步 ; bù )

3600-423: The construction of the imperial mausoleum. Therefore, it is argued that the construction time lasted from the 28th to the 34th year of the First Emperor reign (219–213 BCE), and it was completed in about seven years. Before the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was completed, a peasant rebellion broke out during the late Qin dynasty . Zhang Han redeployed all the 700,000 people building the mausoleum to suppress

3690-462: The current Great Wall of China . Transporting building materials was difficult, so builders always tried to use local materials: rock over mountain ranges, rammed earth over the plains. "Build and move on" was a guiding principle, implying that the Wall was not a permanently fixed border. There are no surviving records specifying the length and course of the Qin walls, which have largely eroded away over

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3780-452: The dagger unrolled from the map, the king leapt to his feet and struggled to draw his sword – none of his courtiers were allowed to carry arms in his presence. Jing stabbed at the king but missed, and King Zheng slashed Jing's thigh. In desperation, Jing Ke threw the dagger but missed again. He surrendered after a brief fight in which he was further injured. The Yan state was conquered in its entirety five years later. Gao Jianli

3870-570: The destruction of the tomb has been found, although evidence of fire damage has been found in the pits housing the Terracotta Army. Some scholars think that the mausoleum did not suffer any large-scale destruction. In 1987, the mausoleum, including the Terracotta Army , was listed as a World Heritage Site . The first fragments of warriors and bronze arrowheads were discovered by Yang Zhifa , his five brothers, and Wang Puzhi who were digging

3960-570: The emperor's personal name written as Ying Zheng, using the ancestral name of the House of Ying . The rulers of the state of Qin had styled themselves kings from the time of King Huiwen in 325 BC. Upon his ascension, Zheng became known as the King of Qin or King Zheng of Qin. This title made him the nominal equal of the rulers of Shang and Zhou , the last of whose kings had been deposed by King Zhaoxiang of Qin in 256 BC. Following

4050-833: The establishment of the People's Republic of China . At the same time, Yin county became a county of Ningbo city. On April 19, 2002, it was renamed Yinzhou District. It is one of the few counties that has kept the same name since its establishment more than 2000 years ago. Subdistricts: Towns: The only township is Longguan Township ( 龙观乡 ) Yinzhou District is home to more than 15,000 industrial organizations. The economy mainly consists of six sectors: light textiles, garments, machinery, electronics, automobile parts and food. In 2008, its GDP reached RMB 65.08 billion yuan and per capita GDP reached RMB 82,052 yuan (US$ 11,815). Its imports and exports totaled US$ 1.44 billion and US$ 6.6 billion, respectively. Ningbo Southern Business District ("Ningbo CBD")

4140-399: The extensive necropolis surrounding the tomb, including the Terracotta Army to the east of the tomb mound. The Terracotta Army served as a garrison to the mausoleum and has yet to be completely excavated. Work on the mausoleum began soon after Emperor Qin ascended the throne in 246 BCE when he was still aged 13, although its full-scale construction only started after he had conquered

4230-522: The first emperor, covetous of its fine reputation, therefore chose to be buried there". An account of the construction of the mausoleum including descriptions of the tomb was given by Sima Qian in chapter six of his Records of the Grand Historian , which was written in first century BCE and contains the biography of Qin Shi Huang : In the ninth month, the First Emperor was interred at Mount Li. Digging and preparation work at Mount Li began when

4320-668: The generations. (In fact, the scheme lasted only as long as his immediate heir, the Second Emperor .) The new title carried religious overtones. For that reason, sinologists starting with Peter A. Boodberg or Edward H. Schafer —sometimes translate it as "thearch" and the First Emperor as the First ;Thearch. The First Emperor intended that his realm would remain intact through the ages but, following its overthrow and replacement by Han after his death, it became customary to prefix his title with Qin. Thus: As early as Sima Qian, it

4410-426: The hydraulic works, Fang Shumiao, saw the objects found and suggested to the villagers that they sell them to the cultural centre of the district. Yang Zhifa received, for two carts of fragments of what would turn out to be terracotta warriors, the amount of 10 yuan . Zhao Kangmin , responsible for the cultural centre, then came to the village and bought everything that the villagers uncovered, as well as re-purchasing

4500-433: The incorporation of diverse state walls into a single Great Wall of China and a massive new national road system, as well as his city-sized mausoleum guarded by a life-sized Terracotta Army . He ruled until his death in 210 BC, during his fifth tour of eastern China . Qin Shi Huang has often been portrayed as a tyrant and strict Legalist —characterizations that stem partly from the scathing assessments made during

4590-582: The king of Qin , after which he became King Zheng of Qin . By 221 BC, he had conquered all the other warring states and unified all of China , and he ascended the throne as China's first emperor. During his reign, his generals greatly expanded the size of the Chinese state: campaigns south of Chu permanently added the Yue lands of Hunan and Guangdong to the Sinosphere , and campaigns in Inner Asia conquered

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4680-406: The late emperor who have no sons to be out free", ordered that they should accompany the dead, and a great many died. After the burial, it was suggested that it would be a serious breach if the craftsmen who constructed the mechanical devices and knew of its treasures were to divulge those secrets. Therefore after the funeral ceremonies had completed and the treasures hidden away, the inner passageway

4770-603: The lower reaches of the Yellow River , and someone inscribed the seditious words "The First Emperor will die and his land will be divided" ( 始皇死而地分 ). The Emperor sent an imperial secretary to investigate this prophecy. No one would confess to the deed, so all living nearby were put to death, and the stone was pulverized. During his fifth tour of eastern China, the Emperor became seriously ill in Pingyuanjin ( Pingyuan County, Shandong ), and died in July or August of 210 BC, at

4860-467: The mandatory ideology of the Qin dynasty. Beginning in 213 BC, at the instigation of Li Si and to avoid scholars' comparisons of his reign with the past, Qin Shi Huang ordered most existing books to be burned , with the exception of those on astrology, agriculture, medicine, divination, and the history of the state of Qin . This would also serve to further the ongoing reformation of the writing system by removing examples of obsolete scripts. Owning

4950-462: The minds of the best scholars on the Emperor's quest. Some of those buried alive were alchemists, and this could have been a means of testing their death-defying abilities. The emperor built a system of tunnels and passageways to each of his over 200 palaces, because traveling unseen would supposedly keep him safe from evil spirits. In 211 BC, a large meteor is said to have fallen in Dongjun in

5040-502: The mission in 227 BC. The assassins gained access to King Zheng by pretending a diplomatic gifting of goodwill: a map of Dukang and the severed head of Fan Wuji . Qin Wuyang stepped forward first to present the map case but was overcome by fear. Jing Ke then advanced with both gifts, while explaining that his partner was trembling because "[he] had never set eyes on the Son of Heaven ". When

5130-436: The mystical Mount Penglai . They sought Anqi Sheng , a thousand-year-old magician who had supposedly invited Qin Shi Huang during a chance meeting during his travels. The expedition never returned, perhaps for fear of the consequences of failure. Legends claim that they reached Japan and colonized it. It is also possible that the Emperor's book burning, which exempted alchemical works, could be seen as an attempt to focus

5220-399: The news could trigger a general uprising during the two months' travel for the imperial entourage to return to the capital Xianyang. Li Si decided to hide the emperor's death: the only members of the entourage to be informed were a younger son, Ying Huhai , the eunuch Zhao Gao , and five or six favourite eunuchs. Li Si ordered carts of rotten fish to be carried before and behind the wagon of

5310-480: The palace in Shaqiu prefecture , about two months travel from Xianyang, at the age of 49. The cause of Qin Shi Huang's death remains unknown, though he had been worn down by his many years of rule. One hypothesis holds that he was poisoned by an elixir containing mercury , given to him by his court alchemists and physicians in his quest for immortality. Upon witnessing the Emperor's death, Chancellor Li Si feared

5400-509: The palaces of Xianyang in 206 BC. Recent research suggests that this "burying Confucian scholars alive" is a Confucian martyrs' legend. More probably, the emperor ordered the execution of a group of alchemists who had deceived him. In the subsequent Han dynasty, the Confucian scholars, who had served the Qin loyally, used this incident to distance themselves from the failed regime. Kong Anguo ( c.  165  – c.  74 BC ),

5490-408: The personal name of Qin Shi Huang as Ying Zheng, with Yíng ( 嬴 ) taken as the surname and Zheng ( 政 ) the given name. However, in ancient China, the naming convention differed, and the clan name Zhao ( 趙 ), the place where he was born and raised, may be used as the surname. Unlike modern Chinese names , the nobility of ancient China had two distinct surnames: the ancestral name ( 姓 ) comprised

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5580-414: The pits; the first was finished in 1979. A larger necropolis of six hundred pits was uncovered by 2008. Some pits were found a few kilometers away from the mound of the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang . The necropolis complex of Qin Shi Huang is a microcosm of the Emperor's empire and palace, with the tomb mound at the center. There are two walls, the inner and outer walls, surrounding the tomb mound, and

5670-689: The political chaos of the Warring States period , Qin Shi Huang and Li Si worked to completely abolish the feudal system of loose alliances and federations. They organized the empire into administrative units and subunits: first 36 (later 40) commanderies , then counties , townships, and hundred-family units (里, Li , roughly corresponding to modern-day subdistricts and communities ). People assigned to these units would no longer be identified by their native region or former feudal state, for example "Chu person" (楚人, Chu rén ). Appointments were to be based on merit instead of hereditary right. Qin Shi Huang and Li Si unified China economically by standardizing

5760-408: The queen dowager. He found a man named Lao Ai . According to The Record of Grand Historian , Lao Ai was disguised as a eunuch by plucking his beard. Later Lao Ai and queen Zhao Ji got along so well that they secretly had two sons together. Lao Ai was ennobled as Marquis, and was showered with riches. Lao Ai had been planning to replace King Zheng with one of his own sons, but during a dinner party he

5850-415: The rebellion, so construction of the mausoleum ceased. After Xiang Yu entered Xianyang , he was said to have looted the tomb. Afterwards, it is said that a shepherd unintentionally burnt down the tomb. The story goes that he went into the dug pit of the mausoleum, dug by Xiang Yu, to look for his sheep with a torch in his hand, and a fire was started, burning away the tomb structures. No solid evidence of

5940-461: The resurgence of feudal lords, the Emperor ordered the destruction of walls between the former states, which were now internal walls dividing the empire. However, to defend against the northern Xiongnu nomads, who had beaten back repeated campaigns against them, he ordered new walls to connect the fortifications along the empire's northern frontier. Hundreds of thousands of workers were mobilized, and an unknown number died, to build this precursor to

6030-416: The same father but from a different mother. After Zhao Zheng inherited the throne, Chengjiao rebelled at Tunliu and surrendered to the state of Zhao. Chengjiao's remaining retainers and families were executed by Zhao Zheng. As King Zheng grew older, Lü Buwei became fearful that the boy king would discover his liaison with his mother, Lady Zhao . He decided to distance himself and look for a replacement for

6120-637: The site. Based on its foundations, the courtyard-style palace was estimated to be 690 meters long and 250 meters wide, covering an area of 170,000 square meters, which is nearly a quarter of the size of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The palace included 18 courtyard houses and a main building that overlooked the houses. The archaeologists have been excavating the foundations since 2010 and have found walls, gates, stone roads, pottery shards, and some brickwork. Beginning in 1976, various scholars proposed to explore

6210-494: The six other major states and unified China in 221 BCE. It was completed 208 BCE, around 39 years after work started. Geographer Li Daoyuan , writing six centuries after the first emperor's death, recorded in Shui Jing Zhu that Mount Li was chosen as the location for his burial ground due to its auspicious geology: "famed for its jade mines, its northern side was rich in gold , and its southern side rich in beautiful jade;

6300-515: The statues were commented upon and moved around from palace to palace, until they were finally destroyed in the 4th century AD, but no illustration has remained. While the previous Warring States era was one of constant warfare, it was also considered the golden age of free thought. Qin Shi Huang eliminated the Hundred Schools of Thought , which included Confucianism and other philosophies. With all other philosophies banned, Legalism became

6390-428: The story "patently false, meant both to libel Lü and to cast aspersions on the First Emperor". Claiming Lü Buwei—a merchant—as the First Emperor's biological father was meant to be especially disparaging, since later Confucian society regarded merchants as the lowest social class . In 246 BC, when King Zhuangxiang died after a short reign of just three years, he was succeeded on the throne by his 13-year-old son. At

6480-418: The surname Zhao " —or to combine the clan surname with the personal name: Sima's account of Chu describes the sixteenth year of the reign of King Kaolie as "the time when Zhao Zheng was enthroned as King of Qin". However, since modern Chinese surnames (despite usually descending from clan names) use the same character as the old ancestral names, it is much more common in modern Chinese sources to see

6570-425: The surrender of Qi in 221 BC, King Zheng reunited all of the lands of the former Kingdom of Zhou . Rather than maintain his rank as king, however, he created a new title of huángdì ( emperor ) for himself. This new title combined two titles— huáng of the mythical Three Sovereigns ( 三皇 , Sān huáng ) and the dì of the legendary Five Emperors ( 五帝 , Wŭ Dì ) of Chinese prehistory . The title

6660-468: The term varies from whale to walrus and other aquatic animals such as giant salamander . Professor Duan Qingbo , who served as the archaeological team leader of the Mausoleum of the First Emperor for more than ten years, stated his belief that Sima Qian's account is fictional and written to persuade Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to overhaul the tomb. The objects in the slave quarters indicate that

6750-611: The three great feats of ancient Chinese engineering, along with the Great Wall and the Sichuan Dujiangyan Irrigation System . As he grew old, Qin Shi Huang desperately sought the fabled elixir of life which supposedly confers immortality. In his obsessive quest, he fell prey to many fraudulent elixirs. He visited Zhifu Island three times in his search. In one case he sent Xu Fu , a Zhifu islander, with ships carrying hundreds of young men and women in search of

6840-511: The time, Zhao Zheng was still young, so Lü Buwei acted as the regent prime minister of the State of Qin, which was still waging war against the other six states . Nine years later, in 235 BC, Zhao Zheng assumed full power after Lü Buwei was banished for his involvement in a scandal with Queen Dowager Zhao. Zhao Chengjiao , the Lord Chang'an ( 长安君 ), was Zhao Zheng's legitimate half-brother, by

6930-416: The tomb. Mercury was used to simulate the hundred rivers, the Yangtze , Yellow River , and the great sea, and set to flow mechanically. Above were representation of the heavenly constellations, below, the features of the land. Candles were made from fat of "man-fish", which is calculated to burn and not extinguish for a long time. The Second Emperor said: "It would be inappropriate for the concubines of

7020-452: The underground palace is excavated, the mercury would quickly volatilize. "A Preliminary Study of Mercury Buried in the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor", an article published in Archaeology magazine, Volume 7, says that during the measuring of soil mercury content, one measured point reached 1440 parts per billion ; the rest of 53 points reached an average content of around 205 ppb. There

7110-592: The underground palace, citing the following main reasons: However, opponents of such excavations hold that China's current technology is not able to deal with the large scale of the underground palace yet. For example, in the case of the Terracotta Army, the archaeologists were initially unable to preserve the coat of paint on the surface of terracotta figures, which resulted in the rapid shedding of their painted decoration when exposed to air. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) indicated that research and evaluations should be conducted first so as to develop

7200-436: Was 1.4 m (4.6 ft). In 230 BC, the state of Qin had defeated the state of Han . In 218, a former Han aristocrat named Zhang Liang swore revenge on Qin Shi Huang. He sold his valuables and hired a strongman assassin, building a heavy metal cone weighing 120 catties (roughly 160 lb or 97 kg). The two men hid among the bushes along the emperor's route over a mountain during his third imperial tour. At

7290-405: Was a close friend of Jing Ke, and wanted to avenge his death. As a famous zhu player, he was summoned to play for King Zheng. Someone in the palace recognized him and guessed his plans. Reluctant to kill such a skilled musician, the king ordered his eyes put out, and then proceeded with the performance. The king praised Gao's playing and even allowed him closer. The zhu had been weighted with

7380-450: Was blocked, and the outer gate lowered, immediately trapping all the workers and craftsmen inside. None could escape. Trees and vegetations were then planted on the tomb mound such that it resembled a hill. Some scholars believe that the claim of having "dug through three layers of groundwater" to be figurative. It is also uncertain what the "man-fish" in the text refers to originally (in modern Chinese it means "mermaid"), interpretation of

7470-641: Was common to shorten the resulting four-character Qin Shi Huangdi to 秦始皇 , variously transcribed as Qin Shihuang or Qin Shi Huang. Following his elevation as emperor, both Zheng's personal name 政 and possibly its homophone 正 became taboo . The First Emperor also arrogated the first-person pronoun 朕 for his exclusive use, and in 212 BC began calling himself The Immortal ( 真人 , Others were to address him as "Your Majesty" ( 陛下 , in person and "Your Highness" ( 上 ) in writing. According to

7560-455: Was divided into inner and outer cities. The circumference of the inner city is 2.5 km (1.55 miles) and the outer is 6.3 km (3.9 miles). The tomb is located in the southwest of the inner city and faces east. The main tomb chamber housing the coffin and burial artifacts is the core of the architectural complex of the mausoleum. The tomb itself has not yet been excavated. Archaeological explorations currently concentrate on various sites of

7650-419: Was first in line to succeed him as emperor, Li Si and the chief eunuch Zhao Gao conspired to kill Fusu, who was in league with their enemy, general Meng Tian . Meng Tian's brother Meng Yi , a senior minister, had once punished Zhao Gao. Li Si and Zhao Gao forged a letter from Qin Shi Huang commanding Fusu and General Meng to commit suicide. The plan worked, and the younger son Hu Hai started his brief reign as

7740-430: Was heard bragging about being the young king's stepfather. In 238 BC, while the king was travelling to the former capital, Yong ( 雍 ), Lao Ai seized the queen mother's seal and mobilized an army in an attempted coup d'état . When notified of the rebellion, King Zheng ordered Lü Buwei to let Lord Changping and Lord Changwen  [ zh ] attack Lao Ai. Although the royal army killed hundreds of rebels at

7830-495: Was intended to appropriate some of the prestige of the Yellow Emperor , whose cult was popular in the later Warring States period and who was considered to be a founder of the Chinese people. King Zheng chose the new regnal name of First Emperor ( Shǐ Huángdì , Wade-Giles Shih Huang-ti) on the understanding that his successors would be successively titled the "Second Emperor", "Third Emperor", and so on through

7920-458: Was on the first day of Zhengyue . ) Lü Buwei's machinations later helped Yiren become King Zhuangxiang of Qin in 250 BC. However, the Shiji also claimed that the first emperor was not the actual son of Prince Yiren but that of Lü Buwei. According to this account, when Lü Buwei introduced the dancing girl to the prince, she was Lü Buwei's concubine and had already become pregnant by him, and

8010-591: Was placed under house arrest until her death many years later. Lü Buwei drank a cup of poisoned wine and committed suicide in 235 BC. Ying Zheng then assumed full power as the King of the Qin state. Replacing Lü Buwei, Li Si became the new chancellor . King Zheng and his troops continued their conquest of the neighbouring states. The state of Yan was no match for the Qin states: small and weak, it had already been harassed frequently by Qin soldiers. Crown Prince Dan of Yan plotted an assassination attempt against King Zheng, recruiting Jing Ke and Qin Wuyang for

8100-646: Was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China . Rather than maintain the title of " king " ( wáng 王 ) borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he assumed the invented title of "emperor" ( huángdì 皇帝 ), which would see continuous use by monarchs in China for the next two millennia. Born in Handan, the capital of Zhao , as Ying Zheng ( 嬴政 ) or Zhao Zheng ( 趙政 ), his parents were King Zhuangxiang of Qin and Lady Zhao . The wealthy merchant Lü Buwei assisted him in succeeding his father as

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