Qin Shi Huang

Born Ying Zheng in Handan, capital of Zhao State, under unusual circumstances. His father was a prince of Qin State held hostage in Zhao. After his father escaped back to Qin, young Zheng and his mother remained in Zhao, facing hostility. They eventually returned to Qin when his father became king. At age 13, Zheng inherited the throne of Qin, though regents controlled the government during his minority.

At age 21, Ying Zheng suppressed a rebellion led by the regent Lao Ai and assumed personal control of Qin. He also diminished the influence of Chancellor Lü Buwei. With full authority, he began implementing ambitious plans to unify China under Qin rule. He appointed capable ministers like Li Si and adopted Legalist policies emphasizing strict laws and centralized control.

King Zheng launched a systematic campaign to conquer the six remaining Warring States. Over the next nine years, his armies conquered Han (230 BC), Zhao (228 BC), Wei (225 BC), Chu (223 BC), Yan (222 BC), and finally Qi (221 BC). His military campaigns employed overwhelming force, psychological warfare, and diplomatic manipulation, ending centuries of warfare among the states.

After conquering all rival states, Ying Zheng unified China for the first time, ending the Warring States period. He declared himself Qin Shi Huang ('First Emperor of Qin'), rejecting the title of king as insufficient. He established the Qin Dynasty and implemented sweeping reforms: standardizing currency, weights, measures, and written script; building roads and canals; and creating a centralized bureaucratic government divided into administrative units. These reforms laid the foundation for Chinese imperial governance for over two millennia.

To defend against northern nomadic invasions, Qin Shi Huang ordered the connection and extension of defensive walls built by earlier states, creating an early version of the Great Wall of China. The project employed hundreds of thousands of workers, including soldiers, peasants, and prisoners. While the current wall largely dates from the Ming Dynasty, the Qin wall established its basic conception as a unified defensive system along China's northern frontier.

On Chancellor Li Si's advice, Qin Shi Huang ordered the burning of books (except practical works on medicine, agriculture, and divination) and the execution of scholars who criticized government policies. This act aimed to suppress dissent and eliminate alternative philosophies, particularly Confucianism, that challenged Legalist governance. The 'Burning of Books and Burying of Scholars' became one of history's most notorious acts of intellectual suppression, though its extent is debated by historians.

Qin Shi Huang died during one of his tours to eastern China, possibly from mercury poisoning from elixirs he consumed seeking immortality. His death was kept secret by Chancellor Li Si and eunuch Zhao Gao until they returned to the capital. They manipulated succession, bypassing the chosen heir and installing the pliable younger son Huhai. This deception led to political instability. The Qin Dynasty collapsed just four years after his death, but his unification of China and administrative reforms profoundly shaped Chinese civilization. He was buried in a massive tomb complex near Xi'an, guarded by the famous Terracotta Army—over 8,000 life-sized clay soldiers discovered in 1974.