In China’s history, Emperor Qin Shi Huang is the first emperor who ruled China 2,000 years ago. He declared himself Shi Huangdi, which means the first emperor. From this dynasty, China’s feudal society had really begun, until the end of the Qing Dynasty (the last dynasty of China).
More than 2000 years ago, warring states fought with one another in China. Many leuds had the ambition of uniting China, and the one who accomplished the unification was Ying Zheng, the young king from the State of Qin. The reason that Ying Zheng was able to unite China was firstly attributed to the solid foundation laid by his great grandfather Qin Xiaogong. During his reign, Qin Xiaogong appointed reformer Shang Yang to carry out political and economic reforms, which enhanced the national power. After Ying Zheng was enthroned, with the assistance of the statesman Li Si, he implemented the national policy of prosperous country and strong military might, building the state of Qin the greatest power among the warring states. In 221 B. C., after conquering the other six states, Ying Zheng established the Qin Empire, the first feudal autocratic empire of China.
To consolidate the regime and stable the society, Qin Shi Huang established a complete central and local official system. Meanwhile, he unified the country's legal system and monetary system, and standardized the Chinese characters and weights and measures. All these measures were necessary to stabilize the society and promote the development of economy and cultural exchanges. His great achievements turned a new page in the history of China.
But Qin Shi Huang also did something contrary to the interests of people. For instance, in order to unify the public opinion, he took over and burned all the books from previous regimes that might be against his reign, and killed scholars who opposed him or his ideas, the so-called “fenshu kengru” (burn the books and bury the scholars alive) in history; countless labors were conscripted to guard the border and build the fortification walls to secure the frontier defense; he extorted excessive taxes and levies to construct Epang Palace and his mausoleum. Soon people revolted against the reign and the first unified feudal empire went to perdition within 15 years.
