Modern Chinese sources often give the personal name of Qin Shi Huang as Ying Zheng, with Ying (嬴) taken as the surname and Zheng (政) the given name. However, in ancient China, the naming convention differed, and the … See more

Regency
In 246 BC, when King Zhuangxiang died after a short reign of just three years, he was succeeded on … See more

Administrative reforms
In an attempt to avoid a recurrence of the political chaos of the Warring States period, Qin Shi Huang and his prime minister Li Si worked … See more

Mausoleum and Terracotta Army
The Chinese historian Sima Qian, writing a century after the First Emperor's death, wrote that it took … See more

Early
• Sima Qian (c. 91 BC). Records of the Grand Historian
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According to the Records of the Grand Historian, written by Sima Qian during the Han dynasty, the first emperor was the eldest son of the Qin prince Yiren, who later became See more

Death
In 211 BC a large meteor is said to have fallen in Dongjun in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and someone inscribed the seditious words "The First Emperor will die and his land will be divided" (始皇死而地分). The Emperor … See more