Illustration of warriors on horseback

Illustration by Angelo Rinaldi

STANDARDS

Common Core: RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.2, RH.6-8.4, RH.6-8.7, WHST.6-8.4, WHST.6-8.9, RI.6-8.1, RI.6-8.2, RI.6-8.3, RI.6-8.4, RI.6-8.7, W.6-8.4, W.6-8.9, SL.6-8.1

NCSS: Culture • Time, Continuity, and Change • Individuals, Groups, and Institutions • Power, Authority, and Governance

WORLD HISTORY

Secrets of the Warrior King

China’s first emperor secured his throne—and his legacy—through war.

Swords clanged. Arrows ripped through the air. The hooves of thousands of horses thundered across the blood-stained earth.

For the past 15 years, a young king named Zhao Zheng (jao jung) had waged war on the kingdoms of ancient China. He was determined to conquer them all, and he had a skilled army to help him do it.  

By 221 B.C., victory was finally within reach. If Zheng’s army won one last battle, the powerful king would do what no one had ever done: unite China’s fiercely independent kingdoms into one mighty empire

The Boy King

In 221 B.C., China was vastly different from the country we know today. Back then, much of the present-day nation was divided into seven states, or kingdoms, that warred with each other over land and resources. Each state wanted to be the most powerful.

It was during this period that Zheng was born, in 259 B.C. His father was the king of Qin (chin), a large state with a strong military. When Zheng was 13, his father died, and Zheng was thrust onto the throne. Advisers guided him. 

Even at a young age, Zheng proved to be an ambitious leader. As a teen, he was committed to conquering the lands around his kingdom. By the time he was 30, he had built one of the world’s strongest armies, with about 500,000 expertly trained men.

Fueled by a thirst for power, Zheng launched relentless attacks on the other states. And in 221 B.C., when he was around 38, his army defeated the last one. 

Triumphant, Zheng gave himself a new name: Qin Shi Huangdi (chin shuh hwong-dee), the first emperor of what would become China.

Now an even greater challenge awaited him. He had to bring together 20 million people torn apart by war.

The Story of the Terra Cotta Warriors
Watch a video about the terra-cotta army of ancient China’s first emperor.

A United Land 

Declaring that his dynasty would last for thousands of generations, Qin got to work. He set up an official system of currency and measurement, which until then had varied widely across the region. Qin also ordered his scholars to develop a standard system of writing. That system would lay the foundation for the Chinese characters, or written language, used today. 

What’s more, Qin oversaw the construction of new roads and canals. This made travel and trade easier within the young empire, which helped local economies.

To keep out invaders, Qin ordered that the walls at the empire’s northern border be connected. This project was the start of the Great Wall of China. The 13,000-mile stone structure still stands today. It is one of the world’s most famous landmarks. 

But Qin had a dark side. If anyone dared criticize him, he ordered their death. He burned history books to erase records of past rulers. He also forced people to work without pay.

Image of Tomb Warriors arranged in huge groups

Bassignac/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Qin ordered workers to craft this clay version of his legendary army. The statues guard his tomb.

His Biggest Fear

Despite all his victories, Qin could not conquer his greatest fear: his own death.

He desperately searched for a way to live forever, traveling to distant corners of his empire in search of the secret to immortality. 

But he never found it. Qin died around age 49, in 210 B.C. Historians believe he accidentally poisoned himself by taking pills he thought would make him live forever. 

With Qin gone, warring groups tore apart his empire. It was reunited less than 10 years later by the Han Dynasty, which would rule for 400 years.

The Secret Tomb 

Image of a Tomb Warrior

Ian Littlewood/Alamy Stock Photo

Yet Qin’s story wasn’t over. Nearly 2,000 years after his death, a group of farmers made an accidental discovery. While digging a well outside Xi’an, China, in 1974, they found a life-sized statue of a warrior. It was made of a type of hard clay called terra-cotta. 

Little did they know they had stumbled on a statue of one of Qin’s soldiers. The discovery revealed the emperor’s final resting place—a giant underground mausoleum. The burial complex totals 22 square miles.

Qin had ordered the mausoleum’s construction when he was still a teen. This was not uncommon, because people at the time believed they had to start planning for their death when they were still alive, says Xiaolin Duan, a professor of Chinese history at North Carolina State University. It took 700,000 workers nearly 40 years to complete the mausoleum. Qin also had the workers build thousands of terra-cotta warriors to protect him in the afterlife (see "Tomb of Doom?", below).

Tomb of Doom? 

Image of Tomb Warriors

Lukas Hlavac/Shutterstock.com

Archaeologists studying Qin’s mausoleum estimate it holds 8,000 terra-cotta warriors. They’ve uncovered 2,000 of the statues so far, including about 220 in recent years.

The biggest mystery is an inner tomb said to hold Qin’s body. The tomb has never been opened. Experts want to make sure they can preserve its contents before unsealing it. Yet some say the emperor’s remains aren’t all they’ll find. 

In 94 B.C., historian Sima Qian told of traps set to keep out thieves. “Craftsmen were ordered to make crossbows and arrows which would operate automatically so that anyone who approached . . . was immediately shot,” he wrote.

The workers who built Qin’s tomb didn’t live to confirm this story. Legend has it that they were buried—alive—with the emperor’s remains.

Archaeologists have been studying the burial complex for almost 50 years. So far, they have unearthed more than 2,000 life-sized clay copies of Qin’s soldiers. Each one is unique, with individual hairstyles and clothing. There are also other wonders to behold: clay horses, bronze chariots, and tens of thousands of weapons, including daggers, spears, and axes.

To this day, mysteries about Qin—and his final resting place—continue to fascinate people. Though his rule as emperor lasted only 11 years, experts say he remains one of China’s most important leaders.

Image of a tomb horse and chariot

RWeisswald/Alamy Stock Photo

Lifelike horses in the emperor’s burial complex stand ready to pull a war chariot.

“He was depicted as this cruel ruler, and partially that’s true,” says Duan. “But there are a lot of things he did that have had a long-lasting influence.” 

Indeed, Qin’s legacy is evident across China, from the parts of the Great Wall he ordered built to his contributions to Chinese language.

And in that way, perhaps Qin did achieve immortality after all. 

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