Emperor Qin Shi Huang, also named Ying Zheng, was the first emperor of China. At the age of thirteen, he succeeded his father's regality and become the King of the state of Qin. He assumed full power at 22 by ridding himself of his premier, Lu Buwei, who acted as regent while he was a minor. He unified and subjugated all the states like Han, Wei, Chu, Yan, Zhao and Qi in 221 BC, thus ended the Warring States Period and built the first feudal and centralized empire in Chinese history. This was what we called - the Qin Dynasty. As he was the first emperor of a united China, he proclaimed himself Qin Shi Huang.

In order to consolidate the nascent empire, Qin Shi Huang reformed politics, economy and culture. In politics, he abolished the hereditary vassal enfeoffment system and established prefectures and counties, ruled directly by the emperor. Based on the original rules of the Qin State, the emperor adopted some regulations of other rival states to form a workable law of the Qin Dynasty. Private ownership of arms were banned. Arms were collected and destroyed.

In economy, he placed more emphasis on agriculture. Private ownership of land was approved and protected in the form of law. Tax system began to function. Owners of land could simply register and pay their taxes and lawfully own the land. Besides, coinage and metrology were all standardized. Transportation were developed. Standardized roads were built to connect the capital and other areas and cannels were opened.

In culture, the emperor unified the Chinese characters in writing, which promoted the development of the Chinese culture. However, he also ordered suppression of many scholars who were not to his liking and burnt their books. Consequently, many scholars involved were killed in Xian Yang.

To fend off the occasional invasion of the nomads in the north, he ordered General Meng Tian to connect the defensive works of the former states, so that the forerunner of the present day Great Wall to stretch from Lintao in the present day Gansu province to Northeastern Liaodong.

However, Emperor Qinshihuang also put the people in deep misery by endless construction works, including the Great Wall, his Mosolum in Mt. Lishan and the E��pang palace. During their construction, countless conscripts lost their lives. His grand tours for elixir of immortality also caused endless sufferings to its people.

Still, the emperor died in 210 BC while traveling. A few years later, his empire also collapsed among peasant uprisings.