Click2Biography - First Emperor of China - Chapter 2

<body link="0000ff" alink="ff0000" vlink="000000" bgcolor=000033> <table width="100%" bgcolor=000033> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <table width=90% bgcolor=ffffff> <tr> <td align=center valign=top> <tr> <td> <div align=center><p><b><font face="arial, helvetica" size=5 color=000000><b>FIRST EMPEROR OF CHINA</p> <p><font size="4"><b>CHAPTER 2 - YING ZHENG</b></font></p> </div>  <center> <table width="90%"> <tr> <td align="left" valign="top"> <div align="justify"> <p><font face="arial, helvetica" color="000000" size="3">Who was Ying Zheng? A thirteen-year-old prince, he ascended the throne of Qin (Ch’in) in <a href="http://www.spe.sony.com/classics/emperorandassassin/images/timeline.gif" target="_blank"><b>247 BC</b></a>, after his father died. Within twelve years his armies had crushed most of the neighboring states. He had one overriding goal: To unify the country. It had never been done before.</p> <p><a href="http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cntoc.html" target="_blank"><b>China</b></a> was a land of contrasts then as it is now. From arid <a href="http://www.cnd.org/Scenery/nature2/10.jpg" target="_blank"><b>desert</b></a> to <a href="http://www.cnd.org/Scenery/Nature/JiuZhai2.jpg" target="_blank"><b>waterfalls</b></a>, from "<a href="http://www.cnd.org/Scenery/Nature/ShiLin1.jpg" target="_blank"><b>stone forests</b></a>" to fragile <a href="http://www.cnd.org/Scenery/Nature/LuShan.jpg" target="_blank"><b>flowers</b></a> alongside the <a href="http://www.cnd.org/Scenery/Top-10/GreatWall3.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Great Wall</b></a>, the <a href="http://www.cnd.org/Scenery/nature2/7.jpg" target="_blank"><b>country</b></a> and the <a href="http://www.cnd.org/Scenery/nature2/12.jpg" target="_blank"><b>landscape</b></a> are diverse. Its ancient music was beautifully haunting. (Follow the link to hear samples. Click on the album covers to launch the music. You will need MP3.)</p> <p>In the 3rd century BC, diverse and independent war lords were unwilling to recognize one supreme ruler. To unify seven disparate states, Zheng had to use extraordinary force. He obviously made many <a href="http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004STDA.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg" target="_blank"><b>enemies</b></a> along the way.</p> <p>For the first time one state (Qin) exacted obeisance from its neighbors. For the first time one man (Zheng) was <a href="http://www.spe.sony.com/classics/emperorandassassin/background.html" target="_blank"><b>in charge</b></a>. For the first time the walls of the former independent states were <a href="http://abe.www.ecn.purdue.edu/~agenhtml/agenmc/china/images/scenery/gw0.gif" target="_blank"><b>linked together</b></a> - and extended - to form the <a href="http://southport.jpl.nasa.gov/pio/srl1/sirc/srl1-greatwall.gif" target="_blank"><b>Great Wall</b></a>.  (Follow the link to see it from space.) And, for the first time, China had an emperor.</p> <p>To commemorate his achievements, <a href="http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/picts/firstemperor.gif" target="_blank"><b>Ying Zheng</b></a> took a new name. Believing what he did to unify the country surpassed the accomplishments of other <a href="http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/china/pictures/china_history.gif" target="_blank"><b>ancient</b></a> rulers (the San-<a href="http://www.pantheon.org/articles/s/san-huang.html" target="_blank"><b>Huang</b></a> and Wu-<a href="http://www.pantheon.org/articles/w/wu-di.html" target="_blank"><b>Di</b></a>) he used both of those names (Huang-Di) to create a new title: Emperor. Adding the name of his state, Ying Zheng became Qin Shi Huang-Di (<a href="http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/teachingaids/china/trad/sld_qin.htm" target="_blank"><b>pronounced</b></a> "chin sher hwang- dee”). It means “The First Emperor," a title that <a href="http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/part2" target="_blank"><b>lasted</b></a> 2,000 years.</p> <p>As supreme feudal ruler, Shi Huangdi founded the Chinese <a href="http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/imperial.html#first" target="_blank"><b>imperial system</b></a> and standardized Chinese writing, laws, coinage, weights and measures. He also imposed harsh laws and cruel punishment for those who disobeyed him.</p> </div> <p align="center"><font size="2"><a href="emperor_china_ch1.htm">GO TO LAST CHAPTER</a>   <a href="emperor_china_ch3.htm">GO TO NEXT CHAPTER</a></p><br> </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> </table>  </td> </tr> </table> </body>