WHo was qin shi huangdi?Qin Shi Huangdi was born in Handan, China on the 17th of February 260 BC. His name, Shi Huangdi, literally means “first emperor” in Chinese. When Qin become emperor, he called himself “the emperor of China” and that’s how the country got its name. Emperor Qin took power at the age of thirteen years in the year 221 BC and he ruled for the many years to come. He is most famous for building the Great Wall to stop intruders from the north taking over his country. He died on the 10th of August, 210 BC when he was 50 years old. No one really knows why he died but some say he took pills to make himself live longer or by natural causes. Others say that his death was suspicious and he was assassinated.
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Major ACHIEVEMENTS & obsession with immortality?The Qin Dynasty bought many changes, both good and bad, to China. These changes are said to have highly contributed to modern China. The changes that Qin Shi Huangdi came up with include new law codes that people had to follow or they were harshly punished, new systems of protection, standardisation weights, measurements, currency and job assignments to certain social rankings. The dynasty lasted for only fifteen years before it soon fell apart and for three years after Qin Shi Huangdi’s death.
Shi Huangdi’s obsession with immortality had ironically caused his death when he took mercury pills that were supposed to make him an immortal. He believed that if he could live eternally he would be forever the ruler of China. During the later stages of his life, Shi Huangdi became so obsessed with avoiding death that he become a victim of snake remedies and pills that “guaranteed” him immortality. The link between Qin Shi Huangdi and the Terracotta Army is that before his death, Shi had personally instructed thousands of labourers to build 10 thousand clay soldiers with weapons, horses and chariots. Qin Shi did this because he believed that in the afterlife he’ll need a army to have the same status. |