The first qing emperor named ying zheng. He came to the throne of
the Qing state at 13, and seized the helm of the state at 22. By 221BC,
when he only 39 years old, he had conquered the other six kingdoms
and established the first feudal empire in Chinese history.
After that, he ordered to standardize the coinage, weights, and measures,
the legal codes, the span of car axles, and the written script. He
consolidated and extended the various sections of the Great Wall.
All these measures played important role in strengthening the unification
of the whole country.
From Ying Zheng ascending the throne to his death, it took 37 years
to complete his tomb.
In “The Records of the Historian”, Sima Qian recorded, “The outer
coffin was cast in molten copper, and the burial chamber was complete
with palaces, halls and towers. Fine utensils, precious stones and
other rarities were everywhere. Automatic crossbows were fixed to
protect the tomb from robbery. The mercury lakes and waterways were
built to represent the Huanghe River, the Changjiang River and even
the vast ocean. The ceiling was decorated with pearls and gems to
symbolize the celestial body, including the Sun and the Moon. The
entire underground palace was presumably brightly lit by whale oil
lamps for ever.
|
|
