The Greatest Emperor in Chinese History - Top Ten - Num 1 -. Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang
The Emperor Shi Huang of Qin was born Ying Zheng in 259 BC. He was born into the period of "The Warring States", when every state was fighting each other for power and there was no united China.
He was not born as the crown prince; his father was the son of concubine (who was out of favor with the court) and the King of Qin. This meant he was worthless to the king and used as a bargain chip in negotiations with the state of Zhou. He was given as a hostage to the state of Zhou so that no further aggression between the two states happened. The life of Ying Zheng changed when he encountered Lu Buwei, a wealthy merchant. Lu Buwei saw Ying Zheng as a dirty diamond and a chance for really power and money. Using his money he managed to free Ying Zheng from the state of Zhou and manipulated the court thought gifts and persuasion to place Ying Zheng father as the crown prince.
At the age of 13 Ying Zheng managed to become king of Qin and bestowed great power and gifts to Lu Buwei However as Ying Zheng started growing up and gaining access to more of his power, Lu Buwei try to interfere once more to continue to hold the power of the king. He and a man named Lao Ai try to place another young prince on the throne but Ying Zheng found out about this coup and had Lao Ai pulled apart by horses while Lu Buwei committed suicide.
This was not the only act on his life, as there was an assassination attempted by the state of Yan. When Ying Zheng was chased around his own place court by an assassin with a dagger, as his men were all stationed outside of his court because of his rule of letting no weapon in to the court to do him harm. Both attempts on his life failed but many believe that due to these attempts it cause him to get very paranoid near the end of his life.
In 221 BC he managed to unite the whole of China through conquest.It took him almost 10 years of war to destroy all the states and unite the country. He started the Qin dynasty and proclaimed himself Qin shi Huang, meaning the first emperor. He thought his empire was going to last forever and future emperors were going to be named in rank of their succession. However his dynasty only lasted till 206 BC, less than 20 years.
Although he is famous for uniting China it is his other achievements that put him on the list. During this sort reign he implemented a system that set the grass root for the written language system today. Before Emperor Qin Shi Huang all the states had their own language and written system. Emperor Qin Shi Huang standardized the written system, so people from different stated could communicate through writing. He also standardized the currency, weights, and measures and improved the transport paths in China giving many type of benefits to China.
However he also tried to standardized the way of thinking by burning many books and text which disagreed with Qin thought. When scholars started to protest he started to burn the scholars along with the books. His dynasty is mark with harsh rule and living conditions. The taxes were heavy in both man power and money to work on projects such as; the Great Wall of China, his mausoleum and the terra cotta warrior. His continuous wars also brought death and hatred to the lives on his people. His rule brought the dynasty to the edge of destruction and when he died and his son continued this trend of rule, rebellion started throughout the country.
The Emperor Shi Huang of Qin was born Ying Zheng in 259 BC. He was born into the period of "The Warring States", when every state was fighting each other for power and there was no united China.
He was not born as the crown prince; his father was the son of concubine (who was out of favor with the court) and the King of Qin. This meant he was worthless to the king and used as a bargain chip in negotiations with the state of Zhou. He was given as a hostage to the state of Zhou so that no further aggression between the two states happened. The life of Ying Zheng changed when he encountered Lu Buwei, a wealthy merchant. Lu Buwei saw Ying Zheng as a dirty diamond and a chance for really power and money. Using his money he managed to free Ying Zheng from the state of Zhou and manipulated the court thought gifts and persuasion to place Ying Zheng father as the crown prince.
At the age of 13 Ying Zheng managed to become king of Qin and bestowed great power and gifts to Lu Buwei However as Ying Zheng started growing up and gaining access to more of his power, Lu Buwei try to interfere once more to continue to hold the power of the king. He and a man named Lao Ai try to place another young prince on the throne but Ying Zheng found out about this coup and had Lao Ai pulled apart by horses while Lu Buwei committed suicide.
This was not the only act on his life, as there was an assassination attempted by the state of Yan. When Ying Zheng was chased around his own place court by an assassin with a dagger, as his men were all stationed outside of his court because of his rule of letting no weapon in to the court to do him harm. Both attempts on his life failed but many believe that due to these attempts it cause him to get very paranoid near the end of his life.
In 221 BC he managed to unite the whole of China through conquest.It took him almost 10 years of war to destroy all the states and unite the country. He started the Qin dynasty and proclaimed himself Qin shi Huang, meaning the first emperor. He thought his empire was going to last forever and future emperors were going to be named in rank of their succession. However his dynasty only lasted till 206 BC, less than 20 years.
Although he is famous for uniting China it is his other achievements that put him on the list. During this sort reign he implemented a system that set the grass root for the written language system today. Before Emperor Qin Shi Huang all the states had their own language and written system. Emperor Qin Shi Huang standardized the written system, so people from different stated could communicate through writing. He also standardized the currency, weights, and measures and improved the transport paths in China giving many type of benefits to China.
However he also tried to standardized the way of thinking by burning many books and text which disagreed with Qin thought. When scholars started to protest he started to burn the scholars along with the books. His dynasty is mark with harsh rule and living conditions. The taxes were heavy in both man power and money to work on projects such as; the Great Wall of China, his mausoleum and the terra cotta warrior. His continuous wars also brought death and hatred to the lives on his people. His rule brought the dynasty to the edge of destruction and when he died and his son continued this trend of rule, rebellion started throughout the country.
