Emperor Qin Shihuang

Emperor Qin Shihuang (259 B.C-210 B.C), the son of King Zhuangxiang, had Ying as his surname and Zheng as his given name. He came to throne as the King of the state of Qin at the age of 13, but he was too young to administrate state affairs or to dispose the complicated political and military problems of the time. The power of Qin actually lay in the hands of prime minister Lu Buwei. When Yingzheng turned 22 years old in 238 B.C, he began to take the helm of the state after he had Laoai murdered and Lu Buwei dismissed from his post. From the year of 231 B.C, the other six states Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao and Wei were initiated one by one after ten years fighting. At the year of 221 B.C, Yingzheng built the first unified, multi-nationality empire under the central govemment in Chinese history. After the unification, he named himself Shi huangdi that means his later generation could be the second, the third and so on, for endless generations. In 210 B.C., Qin Shihuang died of illness at the age of 50 while on an inspection tour of his empire.