CHINA’S QIN DYNASTY
One of history’s most remarkable people is the emperor
Zheng (r. 221–210 b.c.e.), who ruled the Qin province from
246 b.c.e. in the west of the Zhou empire. Public works proj-
ects, such as irrigation systems, by Zheng’s father and grand-
father had enabled Qin to have a thriving economy, which
could feed and equip a large army. Th ey had dispensed with
the tradition of using heredity to appoint public offi cials, in-
stead using merit. Th is meant that they had an army run by
able men who were oft en commoners who had risen through
the ranks because of their accomplishments. Clever and ruth-
less, Zheng defeated the other provinces in battle.
In 246 b.c.e. he declared himself Qin Shi Huangdi. He
chose “Huangdi” to tie himself to the mythical fi rst king and
also because huang outranked wang, because by then it meant
“emperor,” and di meant that he had the divine right to rule.
Shi meant he was the “fi rst” emperor of China. He ordered
the destruction of historical records so that all history would
begin with him as well as to eliminate what he thought was
the corrupting infl uence of past governments. He had about
40,000 Confucian scholars buried alive to prevent their teach-
ing about the past. He imposed the legalist philosophy of gov-
ernment, under which every aspect of life was governed by
laws, and punishment was severe. When he died in 210 b.c.e.
his government began to collapse. So loathed were Qin Shi404 empires and dynasties: Asia and the PacificTh e Shang Dynasty dominated ancient China between 1500 and 1045 b.c.e.N