Qin shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China, was born on the first month of the year. He was given the name of Zheng. Zheng was born during the time of a series of wars where the Chinese were fighting to get control over the states, known as the Warring States Period. Zheng lived in the state of Qin which was the strongest state in the war. Zheng’s father was Zichi, a royal prince who took over the throne of Qin.

Zheng took over the throne when he was just twelve and a half years old in 247 BC when his father died. With the help of his mother and his mother’s ex-boyfriend, he started ruling the Qin state. In 238 BC, at the age of 21, he assumed full power and started ruling on his own. He controlled Qin and was continuously attacking and conquering the other states in China. Finally in 221 BC, he defeated the last independent state, and had taken control of the whole China.

In that same year, when he was 38 years old, he named himself Shi Huangdi, meaning “First Emperor”. So Qin shi Huangdi literally means the “First Emperor of Qin”. Qin eventually became his family name. “Huang” and “Di” were both names for eight legendary kings. Zheng took the name Huangdi, combining both names, which showed that he thought he was greater and better than the other eight legendary kings.

Shi Huangdi continued attacking and conquering the regions in the south and north/northwest. To prevent northern invaders, he started building the Great Wall of China, a strong defensive wall, to protect China.

Shi Huangdi had many accomplishments. He divided China into 36 different regions and he appointed a governor, commander and inspector for each region. He built a capital, which was made in Xianyang, located in Qin. He also built many big structures including a huge palace made for himself. In addition, roads and canals were built to facilitate trading with other nations. Weights, measures, currency and law were standardized. One of the most important things he did was to develop a completely new Chinese script in contrast to the old traditional ones.
Shi Huangdi was known for his harshness and bruteness. He was very violent and killed many people who opposed his ideas or spoke against him. He even burned books that wrote about governments he disliked. He believed in Legalism, the belief in strict laws and punishments. To create the Great Wall of China, he forced thousands of people to work on it and many of them perished in the harsh conditions and treatment while building the wall.

Shi Huangdi made many trips to different cities and regions in China during his reign. Assassins often saw these trips as chances to kill him. During the many assassination attempts, Shi Huangdi became terrified of death and he did all he could to keep safe. He also went to the Zhifu Island to seek immortality. He looked for special potions to keep alive. However, when he went to search for the Islands of the Immortals on one trip, he suddenly died. No one knew what happened though it was rumoured that he died of drinking a potion that his court officials had made for him, which was supposed to make him immortal. This happened in September 210 BC.

Li Si, Shi Huangdi’s Prime Minister, did not want to spread the news that the emperor had died at once because he was afraid of chaos and riots taking place. Thus after two months, the news of the emperor’s death finally went around China. Li Si had Qi’s second son, Huhai, to forge the Emperor’s will, as the Emperor had never written one. Then Li Si forced Qi’s first son, Fusu, to commit suicide, and killed Meng’s family (supporter of Fusu) too. Huhai became the second Emperor but he was a terrible ruler and could not control China. The Qin Dynasty finally came to an end when Huhai died four years after Shi Huangdi’s death.

This was succeeded by the Han Dynasty, which started in 206 BC. and maintained many of Shi Huangdi’s laws. Qin shi Huangdi had ruled China for 37 years. He was buried in a big mausoleum surrounded by 6000 life-size guards in Xianyang. Although he was fierce and violent, he made a great contribution to modern China’s works. He had accomplished many things. He will always be known for his achievements and accomplishments as well as his evil nature and terrible personality.
He was a terrible ruler and ruthless. He did not care for the poor and old people’s lives. He made them work on the Great Wall of China, and seemed not to care for their health. Even though he was great and powerful, he was hated by his subjects. About 700 years before he was born, Solomon commented that "god has put eternity into the heart of man". The quest for eternal life consumed Shi Huangdi and he surrounded himself with graven images for comfort in death.