Editing Qin Shi Huang (section)

==Reign as Emperor of Qin==
===Administrative reforms===
{{Further|Administration of territory in dynastic China#Qin dynasty (221–206 BC)}}
[[File:Qin Dynasty.png|thumb|Administrative divisions of Qin]]
In an attempt to avoid a recurrence of 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.<ref name="Veeck">Veeck, Gregory. Pannell, Clifton W. (2007). ''China's Geography: Globalization and the Dynamics of Political, Economic, and Social Change''. Rowman & Littlefield publishing. {{ISBN|0-7425-5402-3|978-0-7425-5402-3}}. pp. 57–58.</ref><ref name="Haw" /> They organized the empire into administrative units and subunits: first 36 (later 40) [[Commandery (China)|commanderies]], then [[Counties of the People's Republic of China#History|counties]], townships, and hundred-family units (里, ''Li'', roughly corresponding to modern-day [[Subdistricts of the People's Republic of China|subdistricts]] and [[Chinese residential communities|communities]]).<ref name="Chang">{{Citation|last=Chang |first=Chun-shu |year=2007
 |chapter=The rise of the Chinese Empire |title=Nation, State, and Imperialism in Early China ca. 1600 BC–8 AD |publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-472-11533-4
|pages=43–44}}</ref> 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'').<ref name="Chang" /> Appointments were to be based on merit instead of hereditary right.<ref name="Chang" />

===Economic reforms===
Qin Shi Huang and [[Li Si]] unified China economically by standardizing the [[Chinese units of measurement|weights and measurement]]s. Wagon axles were prescribed a standard length to facilitate road transport.<ref name="Veeck" /> The emperor also developed an extensive network of roads and canals for trade and communication.<ref name="Veeck" /> The currencies of the different states were standardized to the [[Ban Liang]] coin.<ref name="Chang" /> The forms of [[Chinese characters]] were unified. Under Li Si, the [[seal script]] of the state of Qin became the official standard, and 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.<ref name="Chang" />

===Monumental statuary===
According to Chinese records,<ref name="Sima">''Shiji'' by Sima Qian (c. 145–86 BC), after [[Liu An]] in the ''[[Huainanzi]]'' circa 139 BC: 收天下兵, 聚之咸陽, 銷以為鍾鐻金人十二, 重各千石, 置廷宮中. 一法度衡石丈尺. 車同軌. 書同文字.<br>
"He collected the weapons of All-Under-Heaven in [[Xianyang]], and cast them into twelve bronze figures of the type of bell stands, each 1000 dan [about 70 tons] in weight, and displayed them in the palace. He unified the law, weights and measurements, standardized the axle width of carriages, and standardized the writing system."<br>Quoted {{cite journal |last1=Nickel |first1=Lukas |title=The First Emperor and sculpture in China |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |date=October 2013 |volume=76 |issue=3 |pages=436–450 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X13000487 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X13000487 |issn=0041-977X |quote=}}</ref> after unifying the country in 221&nbsp;BC, Qin Shuhuang confiscated all the bronze weapons of the conquered countries, and cast them into twelve monumental statues, the ''[[Twelve Metal Colossi]]'', which he used to adorn his Palace.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lei |first1=Haizong |title=Chinese Culture and the Chinese Military |year=2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-47918-9 |pages=13–14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dp7bDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA14}}</ref> Each statue was said to be 5 zhang [11.5 meters] in height, and weighing about 1000 dan [about 70 tons].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nickel |first1=Lukas |title=The First Emperor and sculpture in China |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |date=October 2013 |volume=76 |issue=3 |pages=436–450 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X13000487 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/S0041977X13000487 |issn=0041-977X}}</ref> 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".<ref name="Sima"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Howard |first1=Angela Falco |last2=Hung |first2=Wu |last3=Song |first3=Li |last4=Hong |first4=Yang |title=Chinese Sculpture |year=2006 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-10065-5 |page=50 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PGuPsNCaJdwC&pg=PA50}}</ref> During 600 years, 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barnes |first1=Gina L. |title=Archaeology of East Asia: The Rise of Civilization in China, Korea and Japan |year=2015 |publisher=Oxbow |isbn=978-1-78570-073-6 |page=287 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bAJDCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA287}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Elsner |first1=Jaś |title=Figurines: Figuration and the Sense of Scale |year=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-886109-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q_7-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA91}}</ref>

===Philosophy===
{{Main|Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Burning of books and burying of scholars}}
{{Chinese Legalism}}

While the previous Warring States era was one of constant warfare, it was also considered the golden age of free thought.<ref name="Goldman">Goldman, Merle. (1981). ''China's Intellectuals: Advise and Dissent''. Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|0-674-11970-3|978-0-674-11970-3}}. p. 85.</ref> Qin Shi Huang eliminated the [[Hundred Schools of Thought]], which included [[Confucianism]] and other philosophies.<ref name="Goldman" /><ref>Chaurasia, Radhey Shyam. (2004). ''History of Modern China''. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. {{ISBN|81-269-0315-5|978-81-269-0315-3}}. p. 317.</ref> With all other philosophies banned, [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalism]] became the mandatory ideology of the Qin dynasty.<ref name="Chang" /> 

Beginning in 213&nbsp;BC, at the instigation of Li Si and to avoid scholars' comparisons of his reign with the past, Qin Shi Huang ordered most existing [[Burning of books and burying of scholars|books to be burned]], with the exception of those on astrology, agriculture, medicine, divination, and the history of the [[state of Qin]].<ref name="Lih">Li-Hsiang Lisa Rosenlee. Ames, Roger T. (2006). ''Confucianism and Women: A Philosophical Interpretation''. SUNY Press. {{ISBN|0-7914-6749-X|978-0-7914-6749-7}}. p. 25.</ref> This would also serve to further the ongoing reformation of the writing system by removing examples of obsolete scripts.{{sfn|Clements|2006|p=131}} Owning 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.<ref name=wood/><ref name="Lih" /> The emperor's oldest son [[Fusu]] criticized him for this act.<ref>Twitchett, Denis. Fairbank, John King. Loewe, Michael. ''The Cambridge History of China: The Ch'in and Han Empires 221 B.C.–A.D. 220''. Edition: 3. Cambridge University Press, 1986. {{ISBN|0-521-24327-0|978-0-521-24327-8}}. p. 71.</ref> The emperor's own library did retain copies of the forbidden books, but most of these were destroyed when [[Xiang Yu]] burned the palaces of Xianyang in 206&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Sima|2007|pp=74–75, 119, 148–49}}

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]] ({{circa|165|74&nbsp;BC}}), 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.<ref>Neininger, Ulrich, ''Burying the Scholars Alive: On the Origin of a Confucian Martyrs' Legend,'' ''Nation and Mythology'' (in ''East Asian Civilizations. New Attempts at Understanding Traditions''), vol. 2, 1983, eds. Wolfram Eberhard et al., pp. 121–36. {{ISBN|3-88676-041-3}}. http://www.ulrichneininger.de/?p=461 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414161916/http://ulrichneininger.de/?p=461 |date=14 April 2021 }}</ref>

Qin Shi Huang also followed the theory of the [[Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)|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 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.<ref name=wood/> Other associations include north as the [[cardinal direction]], the winter season and the number six.<ref>Murowchick, Robert E. (1994). ''China: Ancient Culture, Modern Land''. University of Oklahoma Press, 1994. {{ISBN|0-8061-2683-3|978-0-8061-2683-8}}. p. 105.</ref> Tallies and official hats were {{convert|15|cm|in|abbr=off}} long, carriages {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=off|spell=in}} wide, one [[Chinese units of measurement|pace]] ({{zhi|c=步|p=bù}}) was {{cvt|1.4|m|ft}}.<ref name=wood/>

===Third assassination attempt===
{{further|Zhang Liang (Western Han)}}
[[File:秦始皇帝東巡雕塑.jpg|thumb|Sculpture of Qin Shi Huang during his imperial tour]]
In 230&nbsp;BC, the state of Qin had defeated the [[state of Han]]. In 218, a former Han aristocrat named [[Zhang Liang (Western Han)|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&nbsp;lb or 97&nbsp;kg).<ref name="Mah" /> The two men hid among the bushes along the emperor's route over a mountain during his third imperial tour.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sanft |first= Charles |year=2014 |title=Communication and Cooperation in Early Imperial China: Publicizing the Qin Dynasty |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BOhTAgAAQBAJ&dq=Communication%20and%20Cooperation%20in%20Early%20Imperial%20China%20Charles%20Sanft&pg=PA79 |publisher=State University of New York Press  |isbn=978-1438450377 |pages=79–84  |chapter=Outline of the Progress / 218 BCE: Third Progress}}</ref> At 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,<ref name="Wintle">Wintle, Justin Wintle. (2002). ''China''. Rough Guides Publishing. {{ISBN|1-85828-764-2|978-1-85828-764-5}}. pp. 61, 71.</ref> though both men were able to escape the subsequent manhunt.<ref name="Mah" />

===Public works===
[[File:Qin State Warring States-Qin Dynasty Bronze Dragon (46740307754).jpg|thumb|Qin dynasty twin bronze dragons, found near the [[Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor]]]]
====Great Wall====
{{Main|Great Wall of China}}
Numerous state walls had been built during the previous four centuries, many of them closing gaps between river defences and impassable cliffs.{{sfn|Clements|2006|pp=102–103}}<ref>Huang, Ray. (1997). ''China: A Macro History''. Edition: 2, revised, illustrated. M. E. Sharpe. {{ISBN|1-56324-731-3|978-1-56324-731-6}}. p. 44</ref> To impose centralized rule and prevent 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 the current [[Great Wall of China]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Slavicek |first1=Louise Chipley |url=https://archive.org/details/greatwallofchina00loui/page/35 |title=The Great Wall of China |last2=Mitchell |first2=George J. |last3=Matray |first3=James I. |publisher=Infobase |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7910-8019-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/greatwallofchina00loui/page/35 35]}}</ref><ref>Evans, Thammy (2006). Great Wall of China: Beijing & Northern China. Bradt Travel Guide. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 3. {{ISBN|978-1-84162-158-6}}</ref><ref>[http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Tourism/history-Great-Wall-3-defense.html "Defense and Cost of The Great Wall"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617105147/http://www.paulnoll.com/China/Tourism/history-Great-Wall-3-defense.html|date=17 June 2013}}. Paul and Bernice Noll's Window on the World. p. 3. Retrieved 26 July 2011.</ref> 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.<ref>Burbank, Jane; Cooper, Frederick (2010). Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 45.</ref> There are no surviving records specifying the length and course of the Qin walls, which have largely eroded away over the centuries.

====Lingqu Canal====
{{main|Lingqu}}
In 214 BC the Emperor began the project of a major canal allowing water transport between north and south China, originally for military supplies.<ref name="Mayhew">Mayhew, Bradley. Miller, Korina. English, Alex. ''South-West China: lively Yunnan and its exotic neighbours''. Lonely Planet. {{ISBN|1-86450-370-X|978-1-86450-370-8}}. p. 222.</ref> 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]].<ref name="Mayhew" /> The canal aided Qin's expansion to the south-west.<ref name="Mayhew" /> It is considered one of the three great feats of ancient Chinese engineering, along with the Great Wall and the Sichuan [[Dujiangyan Irrigation System]].<ref name="Mayhew" />

===Elixir of life===
[[File:阿房宫前殿遗址夯土台西侧_2023-10-01_10.jpg|thumb|The [[Epang Palace]] in [[Xi'an]], destroyed in 206&nbsp;BC]]
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.<ref name="Ong">Ong, Siew Chey. Marshall Cavendish. (2006). ''China Condensed: 5000 Years of History & Culture''. {{ISBN|981-261-067-7|978-981-261-067-6}}. p. 17.</ref> He visited [[Zhifu Island]] three times in his search.<ref>Aikman, David. (2006). Qi. Publishing Group. {{ISBN|0-8054-3293-0|978-0-8054-3293-0}}. p. 91.</ref>

In one case he sent [[Xu Fu]], a Zhifu islander, with ships carrying hundreds of young men and women in search of the mystical [[Mount Penglai]].<ref name="Wintle" /> They sought [[Anqi Sheng]], a thousand-year-old magician who had supposedly invited Qin Shi Huang during a chance meeting during his travels.<ref>Fabrizio Pregadio. ''The Encyclopedia of Taoism''. London: Routledge, 2008: 199</ref> The expedition never returned, perhaps for fear of the consequences of failure. Legends claim that they reached Japan and colonized it.<ref name="Ong" /> 

It is also possible that the Emperor's book burning, which exempted [[alchemical]] works, could be seen as an attempt to focus the minds of the best scholars on the Emperor's quest.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 October 2012 |title=Qin Shi Huang: The ruthless emperor who burned books |work=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19922863 |access-date=24 November 2022}}</ref> Some of those buried alive were alchemists, and this could have been a means of testing their death-defying abilities.{{sfn|Clements|2006|pp=131, 134}} 

The emperor built a system of tunnels and passageways to each of his over 200 palaces,{{cn|date=July 2024}} because travelling unseen would supposedly keep him safe from evil spirits.