The reign of Zheng lasted for eleven of the fifteen years of this dynasty, and most of the achievements, and crimes, of the Qin refer to acts perpetuated by the First Emperor. The massive undertakings credited to him were achieved in only a few years' time, at the cost of harsh, repressive laws regulating his subjects. Overworked peasants not only served as agricultural workers, but also doubled as soldiers and as builders of the immense projects undertaken by the Qin ruler. Prison sentences and maiming punishments were commonly handed out to dissenters or to those unlucky enough to gain the emperor's disapproval. Zheng reportedly executed officials who were late to their assigned tasks, even if their tardiness resulted from weather conditions that made traveling impossible. He also created enemies among the aristocrats who in the new meritocracy were no longer entitled to inherited court office.

Fearing the power of intellectual debate, in 213 BCE Zheng ordered that all texts, except for those on the subjects of divination, medicine, forestry, and agriculture, be burned, aside from a single copy of each, which was held in the imperial library (itself burned to the ground by the invading Han forces in 206 BCE). To end dissension in his court, he ordered the execution of 460 scholars (Han writers claimed he had them buried alive, but this is supported by no other extant evidence). Fearing a popular uprising because the people were well armed, having fought for centuries against neighboring states and nomadic invaders, the First Emperor confiscated weapons, melting them down to supply bronze for ritual vessels and musical bells.

Obsessed with attaining eternal life, Zheng sent thousands of youths to search for the islands of immortality, called Peng Lai, rumored to exist in the mythical Eastern Sea. Some believe that this expedition resulted in the settling of Japan by the youths, who never returned to their homeland. He claimed as one of his ancestors Huang Di ("Yellow Emperor"), the semimythic founder of the ancient Chinese people, who reputedly never died but instead rose to tian (heaven) in a chariot drawn by dragons.

Within his palace, the emperor employed alchemists to seek the secret to eternal life. An extensive network of tunnels connecting his palaces was constructed on the advice of one of these shamans, and the emperor was said to have moved throughout the network, sleeping in different places each evening as a further deterrent to harm; his occupancy was kept secret, with death as the punishment for anyone who revealed his whereabouts. He undertook long journeys to the mountains, where he practiced sacrificial rituals for the same purpose of gaining immortality. Traveling to Mount Tai, he staged the sacrifices known as feng and shan also in hopes of warding off death. Ironically, Zheng died when returning from one of these immortality-seeking expeditions. Not surprisingly, after he died, civil unrest led to an uprising that the ineffectual Second Emperor and subsequent Child-Emperor were helpless to abate.

Nevertheless, the Qin rulers created the nation of central authority that the Han dynasty inherited. While adjusting its boundaries according to everchanging political and social factors, this nation has continued until today as the land and population now called China, giving its centrally unified regions the claim of being the longest-lasting nation on Earth.

Further Reading

Bodde, Derk. (1938) China's First Unifier: A Study of the Ch'in Dynasty as Seen in the Life of Li Ssu. Leiden, Netherlands:
E. J. Brill.

Kern, Martin. (2000) The Stele Inscriptions of Ch'in Shihhuang: Text and Ritual in Early Chinese Imperial Representation. New Haven, CT: American Oriental Society.

Li Xueqin. (1985) Eastern Zhou and Qin Civilizations. Trans. by Chang Kwangshih. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Sima, Qian. (1994) Shiji: The Grand Scribe's Records, edited by William H. Nienhauser Jr.; translated by Caifa Cheng and Chan Chiuming. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

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About Xian

. A sub-provincial . This article concerns places that serve as centers of government and politics. For alternative meanings see capital (disambiguation) . Encyclopedia of Modern Asia© on Xi¡¯an . Wade-Giles ( . A province, . The Chinese phrase Four Great Ancient Capitals of China (Traditional Chinese: ÖЇøËÄ´ó¹Å¶¼; Simplified Chinese: ÖйúËÄ´ó¹Å¶¼; pinyin: Zh¨­nggu¨® S¨¬ D¨¤ G¨³d¨±) traditionally refers to Beijing, Nanjing, Luoyang, and Xi¡¯an. . Zhou Dynasty . Early career . Western and Eastern Zhou . Xi??an West Peak (Xi Feng) . Qin Dynasty . Oppression During Zheng¡¯s Rule . Qin Shi Huang . Xianyang

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