Horizons: Armies of the Night: Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum

China’s first emperor was an enlightened man. Born into the feudal chaos of the Warring States period (475–221 B.C.), Qin Shi Huang (259–210 B.C.) unified China in the Qin Dynasty, the first of a series of dynasties that ruled the country until the 20th century A.D. (“Qin,” pronounced “Chin,” is the root of “China.”) He standardized Chinese script, currency, weights and measures; developed a uniform law code; built a vast network of roads radiating out from the capital at Xianyang (18 miles northwest of modern Xian); and connected up walls built by earlier states in the north, thus completing […]