Qin Shihuang (秦始皇帝)

Overview

The translated histories identify Qin Shihuang as a royal family member and ruler. This record brings together 84 passages from 27 chapters across 7 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Qin Shihuang	秦始皇帝	Qín Shǐ Huángdì
Personal
Title	Emperor	帝	Di
Title	First Emperor	始皇	Shǐhuáng
Title	First Emperor	秦始皇	Qin Shi Huang
Title	First Emperor	秦皇帝	Qin Huangdi
Title	First Emperor	秦皇帝	Qin huangdi
Title	First Emperor	始皇帝	Shǐ Huángdì
Title	First Emperor	始皇
Title	First Emperor	始皇	Shi Huang
Title	First Emperor	秦始皇
Regnal	First Emperor	始皇	Shǐhuáng
Title	First Emperor	秦皇	Qín Huáng
Regnal	First Emperor	始皇	Shǐ Huáng
Title	First Emperor	皇帝
Regnal	First Emperor	始皇	Shihuang
Title	First Emperor of Qin	秦始皇帝	Qin Shi Huangdi
Regnal	First Emperor of Qin	秦始皇	Qín Shǐhuáng
Title	First Emperor of Qin	秦皇帝	Qin Huangdi
Personal	First Emperor of Qin	秦始皇帝	Qin Shi Huangdi
Title	First Emperor of Qin	秦始皇	Qín Shǐ Huáng
Title	First Emperor of Qin	秦始皇	Qin Shi Huang
Title	First Emperor of Qin	秦始皇
Title	First Emperor of Qin	秦始皇	Qín Shǐhuáng
Title	First Emperor of Qin	秦皇	Qín Huáng
Title	First Emperor of Qin	秦氏	Qín shì
Title	First Emperor of Qin	秦皇帝
Title	King of Qin	秦王	Qin Wang
Title	late Emperor	先帝	Xiandi
Title	late sovereign	先主	Xianzhu
Title	Qin emperor	秦皇帝	Qín Huángdì
Alternate name	Qin emperor
Title	Qin Emperor	秦皇帝	Qin Huangdi
Title	Qin First Emperor	始皇
Title	Qin First Emperor	秦皇
Descriptive kinship	Qin ruler who rose to supreme power	升至尊
Regnal	Qin Shi Huang	秦始皇	Qin Shihuang
Regnal	Qin Shihuang	秦始皇帝	Qín Shǐ Huángdì
Title	Qin Shihuang	秦始皇	Qín Shǐhuáng
Personal name	Qin Shihuang	秦皇
Personal	Qin Shihuang	秦始皇	Qin Shihuang
Regnal	Qin Shihuang	秦始皇帝	Qin Shihuangdi
Regnal	Shihuang	始皇	Shihuang
Title		秦王	Qin Wang

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Explicit · hanshu:001:s0013, hanshu:001:s0063, hanshu:026:s0111, jiutangshu:085:s0083, liaoshi:054:s0187, liaoshi:058:s0012, shiji:048:s0014, shiji:053:s0088, shiji:078:s0168, shiji:083:s0227, shiji:088:s0005
Sex: male
Strongly inferred · hanshu:074:s0250, hanshu:103:s0058, houhanshu:031:s0106, houhanshu:032:s0123, houhanshu:110:s0097, houhanshu:126:s0267, liaoshi:057:s0004, nanqishu:002:s0166, qingshigao:143:s0144
Value: male
Explicit · hanshu:093:s0108, shiji:073:s0118

Roles

Royal Family Member
Ruler

Life and dates

Death

Place: Shaqiu / 沙丘 · Manner: died / 崩 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 始皇三十七年冬 · Western Year: BC 210
Explicit · shiji:088:s0033

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: BC 221-210 · Western Interval: Start: BC 221 · End: BC 210
Strongly inferred · houhanshu:032:s0123
Source Date: Text: 及至始皇 · Western Interval: Start: BC 221 · End: BC 210
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:048:s0014
Source Date: Text: 始皇三十七年冬 · Western Year: BC 210
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:088:s0033
Source Date: Text: 始皇三年 · Western Year: BC 244
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:088:s0005
Source Date: Text: 始皇二十六年 · Western Year: BC 221
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:073:s0169
Source Date: Text: 始皇二十年 · Western Year: BC 227
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:073:s0121
Source Date: Text: 始皇十一年 · Western Year: BC 236
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:073:s0119
Source Date: Text: 始皇十八年 · Western Year: BC 229
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:073:s0119
Source Date: Text: 始皇有天下 · Western Year: BC 221
Explicit · liaoshi:054:s0187
Source Date: Text: 始皇本紀 · Western Interval: Start: BC 221 · End: BC 210
Strongly inferred · qingshigao:143:s0144
Source Date: Text: 燕太子使荆轲劫始皇 · Western Year: BC 227
Explicit · houhanshu:126:s0267
Source Date: Text: 秦始皇 · Western Interval: Start: BC 221 · End: BC 210
Explicit event contextual date · houhanshu:031:s0106
Source Date: Text: 秦始皇 · Western Interval: Start: BC 221 · End: BC 210
Explicit · houhanshu:110:s0097
Source Date: Text: 秦始皇令蠃比封君 · Western Interval: Start: BC 221 · End: BC 210
Explicit · hanshu:103:s0058
Source Date: Text: 秦始皇作 · Western Interval: Start: BC 221 · End: BC 210
Explicit event contextual date · liaoshi:057:s0004
Source Date: Text: 秦始皇兼吞戰國 · Western Interval: Start: BC 221 · End: BC 210
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:025:s0155
Source Date: Text: 秦始皇帝立九年矣 · Western Year: BC 238
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:078:s0168
Source Date: Text: 秦氏東游 · Western Year: BC 210
Explicit · nanqishu:002:s0166
Source Date: Text: 秦滅六國 · Western Interval: Start: BC 221 · End: BC 210
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:026:s0038
Source Date: Text: 秦王時至始皇帝 · Western Interval: Start: BC 247 · End: BC 210
Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:093:s0108
Source Date: Text: 秦皇 · Western Interval: Start: AD 221 · End: AD 210
Explicit · liaoshi:058:s0012
Source Date: Text: 秦皇帝 · Western Interval: Start: BC 221 · End: BC 210
Explicit · shiji:053:s0088
Source Date: Text: 秦皇帝任中庶子蒙嘉之言，以信荊軻之說 · Western Year: BC 227
Explicit · shiji:083:s0227
Source Date: Text: 至於始皇，遂并天下 · Western Interval: Start: BC 221 · End: BC 210
Explicit · hanshu:026:s0111
Source Date: Text: 龍朔 · Western Interval: Start: AD 661 · End: AD 663
Explicit event contextual date · jiutangshu:085:s0083

Family

Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.

Child of Lü Buwei (呂不韋)
Kinship Term: biological father in the reported account / 有身 · Parentage: claimed · Provenance: Mode: hearsay · Speaker Person Id: Zhang Kuang (張匡)
Child of Presented Wife of Lü Buwei (呂不韋所獻妻)
Kinship Term: bore / 產 · Parentage: biological · Provenance: Mode: reported-speech · Speaker Person Id: Zhang Kuang (張匡)
Parent of Qin Ershi (秦二世)
Kinship Term: prince / 公子 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son
Kinship Term: younger son / 少子 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: son · Object Role: father
Parent of Fusu (扶蘇)
Kinship Term: prince / 公子 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son
Parent of Prince Fusu (公子扶蘇)
Kinship Term: son · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: son · Object Role: father

Career and standing

Label: King of Qin / 秦王 · Action: held
Explicit · shiji:073:s0118
emperor of Qin / 秦皇帝
Explicit · hanshu:001:s0013, hanshu:001:s0063
Title: First Emperor of Qin / 秦皇帝 · Action: held
Explicit · shiji:083:s0227

Places and affiliations

Qin / 秦
Explicit · hanshu:074:s0236
Qin / 秦
Explicit · hanshu:001:s0013, hanshu:001:s0063, hanshu:074:s0250
Label: Qin / 秦 · Relation: ruled
Explicit · shiji:053:s0088, shiji:073:s0118, shiji:083:s0227
Polity: Qin · Relation: ruled
Explicit · shiji:026:s0038
Polity: Qin · Unresolved: true
Strongly inferred · hanshu:117:s0243
Polity: Qin / 秦 · Relation: ruled
Explicit · hanshu:026:s0111, liaoshi:057:s0004, liaoshi:058:s0012, qingshigao:143:s0144, shiji:088:s0005

Learning and skills

Belief: water virtue / 水德 · Relation: claimed
Explicit · shiji:026:s0039

Works and attributed material

Work: Basic Annals of the First Emperor / 始皇本紀 · Relation: subject-of
Explicit · qingshigao:143:s0144
Kind: action · Role: actor · Note: silent subject continuing Qin ruler
Explicit · shiji:026:s0038, shiji:026:s0039, shiji:026:s0040
Kind: narrative · Role: subject
Explicit · hanshu:026:s0112, hanshu:026:s0113, hanshu:026:s0114
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Topic: acceptance of Wang Jian's plan · Provenance: Mode: direct-quotation · Speaker Person Id: Qin Shihuang (秦始皇帝)
Explicit · shiji:073:s0142
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Topic: apology and request that Wang Jian return to command · Provenance: Mode: direct-quotation · Speaker Person Id: Qin Shihuang (秦始皇帝)
Explicit · shiji:073:s0137, shiji:073:s0138
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Topic: insistence that Wang Jian cease refusing · Provenance: Mode: direct-quotation · Speaker Person Id: Qin Shihuang (秦始皇帝)
Explicit · shiji:073:s0140
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Topic: preference for Li Xin's smaller force estimate · Provenance: Mode: direct-quotation · Speaker Person Id: Qin Shihuang (秦始皇帝)
Explicit · shiji:073:s0130, shiji:073:s0131
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Topic: question about Wang Jian's concern for poverty · Provenance: Mode: direct-quotation · Speaker Person Id: Qin Shihuang (秦始皇帝)
Explicit · shiji:073:s0145
Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Topic: question to Li Xin about troop requirements · Provenance: Mode: direct-quotation · Speaker Person Id: Qin Shihuang (秦始皇帝)
Explicit · shiji:073:s0127

Events and relationships

Kind: calendrical · Role: reformer · Action: adopted-tenth-month-beginning-and-black-color
Explicit · shiji:026:s0039
Kind: military · Role: conqueror · Action: annexed all under heaven
Explicit · hanshu:026:s0111
Kind: assassination · Role: target · Action: attacked · Other Person Id: Jing Ke (荆轲)
Explicit · houhanshu:126:s0267
Kind: ritual · Role: ruler · Action: built-terrace-for · Other Person Id: Widow Qing (清) · Item: Terrace of Woman Huai Qing / 女懷清台
Explicit · hanshu:103:s0061
Kind: person-centered · Action: completed the unification of the realm · Role: ruler · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 始皇二十六年 · Western Year: BC 221
Explicit · shiji:073:s0169
Kind: military · Role: conqueror · Action: destroyed-six-states
Explicit · shiji:026:s0038
Kind: craft · Role: maker · Action: fashioned-transmission-seal
Explicit · liaoshi:057:s0004
Kind: political · Role: ruler · Action: honored · Other Person Id: Luo (蠃)
Explicit · hanshu:103:s0058
Kind: ritual · Role: actor · Action: renamed-Yellow-River-Virtue-Water
Explicit · shiji:026:s0039
Kind: fiscal · Role: ruler · Action: took more than half in tax and drafted left-register households
Explicit · hanshu:026:s0111
Kind: political · Role: ruler · Action: trusted-inner-circle-and-nearly-perished · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 秦信左右而殺 · Western Year: BC 227
Explicit · shiji:083:s0229
Kind: assassination-attempt · Role: target · Action: trusted-then-attacked · Other Person Id: Jing Ke (荆轲) · Participants: Person Id: Meng Jia (蒙嘉) · Role: intermediary-recommender, Person Id: Jing Ke (荆轲) · Role: attacker · Outcome: hidden dagger sprang out · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 秦皇帝任中庶子蒙嘉之言，以信荊軻之說 · Western Year: BC 227
Explicit · shiji:083:s0227
Kind: imperial-conquest · Role: emperor · Action: unified the realm, conquered the Hundred Yue, and imposed defenses and disarmament
Explicit · shiji:048:s0177, shiji:048:s0178, shiji:048:s0179, shiji:048:s0180, shiji:048:s0181, shiji:048:s0182, shiji:048:s0183, shiji:048:s0184, shiji:048:s0185
Kind: imperial governance · Role: ruler · Action: unified the Warring States, abolished ritual offices, and governed through penal administration
Explicit · hanshu:025:s0155, hanshu:025:s0156
Kind: political · Role: ruler · Action: united-the-realm
Explicit · liaoshi:054:s0187

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: did not grasp true calendrical measures · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · shiji:026:s0040
Assessment: exhausted realm's resources yet desires unsatisfied; realm rebelled · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · hanshu:026:s0113, hanshu:026:s0114
Item: imperial jade seal of dynastic transmission / 傳國寶 · Relation: fashioned · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 秦始皇作 · Western Interval: Start: BC 221 · End: BC 210
Explicit · liaoshi:057:s0004

Source notes

Historicity: historical
Explicit · hanshu:026:s0111, shiji:083:s0227

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Book of Han, Chapter 1Volume 1: Annals of Emperor Gaozu 1 · 3 passages

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高祖常繇咸陽，縱觀秦皇帝，喟然大息，曰：「嗟乎，大丈夫當如此矣！」 Emperor Gaozu often passed through Xianyang and gazed upon the Qin emperor. He would sigh deeply and say: "Ah, this is how a true man should live!"

秦始皇帝嘗曰「東南有天子氣」，於是東游以猒當之。 Qin Shihuang once said: "There is imperial aura in the southeast." So he traveled east to suppress it.

懷王約入秦無暴掠，羽燒秦宮室，掘始皇帝冢，收私其財，罪四也。 King Huai's agreement was that whoever entered Qin should commit no violence or plunder, yet Xiang Yu burned the Qin palaces, dug up the First Emperor's tomb, and took the wealth for himself. This is the fourth crime.

Book of Han, Chapter 2Volume 1: Annals of Emperor Gaozu 2 · 2 passages

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十二月，詔曰：「秦皇帝、楚隱王、魏安釐王、齊愍王、趙悼襄王皆絕亡後。 In the twelfth month, the edict said: "The First Emperor of Qin, King Yin of Chu, King Anli of Wei, King Min of Qi, and King Daoxiang of Zhao all have lineages without descendants.

其與秦始皇帝守冢二十家，楚、魏、齊各十家，趙及魏公子亡忌各五家，令視其冢，復亡與它事。」 Assign twenty households to the tomb of the First Emperor of Qin, ten households each to Chu, Wei, and Qi, and five households each to Zhao and Prince Wuji of Wei, to oversee their tombs and be exempt from other service."

Book of Han, Chapter 25Volume 23: Treatise on Punishment and Law · 1 passage

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至於秦始皇，兼吞戰國，遂毀先王之法，滅禮誼之官，專任刑罰，躬操文墨，晝斷獄，夜理書，自程決事，日縣石之一。 After unification, Qin centralized legal bureaucracy under the emperor, suppressing ritual institutions and ruling through document-intensive penal administration.

Book of Han, Chapter 26Volume 24a: Treatise on Trade 1 · 1 passage

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至於始皇，遂并天下，內興功作，外攘夷狄，收泰半之賦，發閭左之戍。 Under the First Emperor, who annexed the realm, Qin paired massive extraction and labor mobilization with frontier militarization and megaprojects.

Book of Han, Chapter 48Volume 39: Xiao He and Cao Shen · 1 passage

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上曰：「吾聞李斯相秦皇帝，有善歸主，有惡自予。 The Sovereign said, “They say Li Si, as Qin’s chancellor, credited the throne with every success and himself with every failure;

Book of Han, Chapter 74Volume 64a: Yan, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang, and Jia 1 · 3 passages

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昔秦始皇親出鼎於彭城而不能得，天祚有德而寶鼎自出，此天之所以與漢，乃漢寶，非周寶也。」 The First Emperor hunted that cauldron at Pengcheng in vain; Heaven gives the bronze only to the throne that owns true virtue. This vessel belongs to Han, not to the long-dead house of Zhou."

昔秦皇帝任戰勝之威，蠶食天下，併吞戰國，海內為一，功齊三代。 The First Emperor rode his victories until he swallowed every warring state and rivaled the three sage dynasties in fame.

秦皇帝不聽，遂使蒙恬將兵而攻胡，卻地千里，以河為境。 The emperor refused to hear; he sent Meng Tian north, drove the line a thousand li, and planted the frontier on the Yellow River.

Book of Han, Chapter 75Volume 64b: Yan, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang, and Jia 2 · 2 passages

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及至秦王，蠶食天下，并吞戰國，稱號皇帝，一海內之政，壞諸侯之城。 Then came the First Emperor of Qin, who gnawed away the states one by one, swallowed the warring kingdoms, took the title of emperor, centralized all authority, and razed the walls of the old feudatories.

及秦皇帝崩，天下大畔。 When the First Emperor died, the empire erupted in revolt.

Book of Han, Chapter 93Volume 82: Wang Shang, Shi Dan and Fu Xi · 1 passage

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臣聞秦丞相呂不韋見王無子，意欲有秦國，即求好女以爲妻，陰知其有身而獻之王，產始皇帝。 I have heard that Qin's chancellor Lü Buwei, seeing that the king had no heir, plotted to seize Qin: he found a beautiful woman, knew she was pregnant, and presented her to the king, and she bore the First Emperor.

Book of Han, Chapter 96Volume 85: Gu Yong and Du Ye · 1 passage

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今陛下輕奪民財，不愛民力，聽邪臣之計，去高敞初陵，捐十年功緒，改作昌陵，反天地之性，因下為高，積土為山，發徒起邑，並治宮館，大興繇役，重增賦斂，征發如雨，役百乾溪，費疑驪山，靡敝天下，五年不成而後反故。 You heed evil counsel, abandon the first mausoleum site, waste a decade of labor to raise Changling against nature—piling hills, dragging conscripts from town to town, throwing up palaces, doubling taxes, drafting men like rain until the burden recalls King Chu's Qianxi or the First Emperor's Lishan—exhausting the empire, and after five fruitless years you fell back to the old plan.

Book of Han, Chapter 103Volume 91: Usurers · 2 passages

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秦始皇令蠃比封君，以時與列臣朝請。 The First Emperor ranked Luo with titled nobles and summoned him to court on the same roster as great officials.

始皇以為貞婦而客之，為築女懷清台。 The First Emperor honored her virtue, received her as an honored guest, and raised the Nü Huai Qing terrace in her name.

Book of Han, Chapter 117Volume 100a: Afterword and Family History 1 · 3 passages

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始皇之末，班壹避墬於樓煩，致馬牛羊數千群。 Near the close of the Qin First Emperor's reign, Ban Yi escaped unrest by settling in Loufan, where he built up herds counted in the thousands.

秦皇東游以厭其氣，呂后望雲而知所處； the Qin First Emperor toured east to smother his qi, while Empress Lü read clouds to find him;

及至從人合之，衡人散之，亡命漂說，羇旅騁辭，商鞅挾三術以鑽孝公，李斯奮時務而要始皇，彼皆躡風雲之會，履顛沛之勢，據徼乘邪以求一日之富貴，朝為榮華，夕而焦瘁，福不盈眥，禍益於世，凶人且以自悔，況吉士而是賴虖！ Think of the vertical and horizontal strategists and the exiles who peddled their arguments: Shang Yang used three techniques to insinuate himself with Duke Xiao, and Li Si exploited the needs of the age to win over the First Emperor. They caught the winds of opportunity and rode the turmoil of their times, seizing crooked chances to gain a day's wealth and honor. Glorious in the morning, by evening they were ruined; their good fortune did not last a moment, while their calamities burdened the age. Even evil men came to regret this path. How much less should a good man rely on it?

Book of Later Han, Chapter 31Volume 28a: Biographies of Huan Tan; Feng Yan · 1 passage

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張良以五世相韓，椎秦始皇博浪之中，勇冠乎賁、育，名高乎太山。 Zhang Liang, whose forebears had served the state of Han for five generations as ministers, struck at the First Emperor in the surf at Bolang—courage beyond warriors Ben and Yu, fame higher than Taishan.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 32Volume 28b: Biography of Feng Yan · 1 passage

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誚始皇之跋扈兮，投李斯於四裔； I deride the First Emperor's tyranny and banish Li Si to the farthest frontier;

Book of Later Han, Chapter 110Volume 99: Rituals and Worship Part Three · 1 passage

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自秦始皇、孝武帝封泰山，本由好仙、信方士之言，造为石检印封之事也。 Qin Shihuang and Han Wudi climbed Tai out of quest for immortals and occultists’ tales, hence stone caskets and sealed credentials.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 126Volume 115: Officials Part Two · 1 passage

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昔燕太子使荆轲劫始皇，变起两楹之间，其后谒者持匕首刺腋，高祖偃武行文，故易之以板。」 Formerly the crown prince of Yan sent Jing Ke to seize the First Emperor; the crisis arose between the two pillars, and afterward receptionists carried daggers at the armpit. Gaozu laid aside arms and promoted culture, and therefore replaced them with tablets."

Old Book of Tang, Chapter 85Volume 81 Biographies 31: Cui Dunli, Lu Chengqin, Liu Xiangdao, Li Jingxuan, Li Yiyan, Sun Chuyue, Le Yanwei, Zhao Renben · 1 passage

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秦皇、漢武，廣事四夷，多造宮室，使士崩瓦解，戶口減半。 Qin Shihuang and Han Wudi campaigned widely and built endlessly until armies shattered and the population halved.

History of Liao, Chapter 54Volume 54 Treatises 24: Music · 1 passage

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始皇有天下，鄭、衛、秦、燕、趙、楚之聲叠進，而雅聲亡矣。 When the First Emperor united the realm, the sounds of Zheng, Wei, Qin, Yan, Zhao, and Chu crowded in one after another, and ritual music was lost.

History of Liao, Chapter 57Volume 57 Treatises 27: Ceremonial Guards 3 · 1 passage

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傳國寶，秦始皇作，用藍玉，螭紐，六面，其正面文「受命於天，既壽永昌」，魚鳥篆，子嬰以上漢高祖。 The imperial jade seal of dynastic transmission was fashioned by the First Emperor of Qin from blue jade, with a chilong knob and six faces. On its front was inscribed, "Having received the mandate from Heaven, may you enjoy long life and enduring prosperity," in fish-and-bird seal script. Ziying of Qin surrendered it to Emperor Gaozu of Han.

History of Liao, Chapter 58Volume 58 Treatises 28: Ceremonial Guards 4 · 1 passage

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太宗兼制中國，秦皇、漢武之儀文日至，後嗣因之。 Emperor Taizong also ruled China, and each day brought more of the ceremonial protocol of the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han; his successors followed suit.

Book of Southern Qi, Chapter 2Volume 2 Annals 2: Emperor Gao of Southern Qi 2 · 1 passage