Given his tremendous historical legacy, it's worthwhile to say a few more words about emperor Qin Shi Huang. Originally named Ying Zheng, brother-man was only 13 years old when he became king of the western Chinese state of Qin in 246 B.C. He assumed the title "Shi Huang," which means "First Emperor," and by the time he was 38 he'd managed to consolidate China into its first great empire. He was quite the draconian dictator though, and required that all books he didn't deem relevant be burned, along with their authors. If it weren't for some sneaky Confucian scholars hiding their books away, nearly all record of pre-Qin China would be lost. In addition to the massive project that his tomb required, Qin also began construction of the Great Wall. It's not hard to imagine how the hundreds of thousands of peasants who were pressed into the creation of these grand schemes must have been feeling, and not long after Qin's death his newly-founded empire fell into chaotic civil war.