A Resource Guide for Students and Teachers - Bowers Museum

Imperial capital
Artist’s rendering by
Hsien-Min Yang
The First Emporer had one of each
book retained in a library which was
burned by his enemies after his death.
Much of the teachings of Confucius
had to be rewritten from the memory
of his followers.
The First Emperor was influenced
by the Legalist writings of Han Feizi
who wrote that people are selfish and
rulers should reward their subjects for
loyalty and severely punish disloyalty.
The First Emperor established an
absolute right of command. This
meant that the ruler had complete
power over the people who had
no rights. This was exercised by
establishing “responsibility groups”;
households were organized into
groups which were obligated to inform
authorities if anyone failed to carry
out their assigned duties or broke the
law. People who turned in lawbreakers
were rewarded; people who did not
turn in lawbreakers were executed.
This tradition of absolute power
remained a principle of government
in China to modern times.
To carry out the First Emperor’s
grand projects required huge numbers
of laborers. Men who would have
normally worked in the fields raising
food were conscripted into the army
for a year or more and then to work
in the emperor’s service for another
year. They were forced to work on
the building projects such as the
roads, canals, palaces, his tomb and
the great wall. Thousands of people
died carrying out his commands.
Shortages of farmers led to food
shortages which led to rebellions
against the emperor. Embittered
subjects from farmers to aristocrats
and intellectuals hated him for his
oppressions and heavy taxation.
Several assassination attempts against
him led the First Emperor to build
secret passageways throughout his
great palace. When going out in the
evening, he went in disguise. And
every night he slept in a different
location.
The First Emperor toured his
conquered states to establish his
legitimacy and impress his subjects,
but also to find magicians who
could promise him eternal life.
Unfortunately one of their solutions
contained mercury. It is believed he
died from mercury poisoning while
on one of his tours.
When he died in 210 BCE, the
peasants rebelled against Hu Hai,
the emperor’s successor, who was a
less powerful ruler. They destroyed
the First Emperor’s great palaces and
buildings, yet the tombs survived. Out
of the chaos emerged the Han dynasty.
A sunflower surrounded by clouds is featured on the roof tile that once
decorated the First Emporer’s palace. The tile was excavated in 1995
when a road-widening project next to the tomb revealed the palace.
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