As a great conqueror and reformer, Qin Shi Huang is regarded as a pivotal figure in world history. He unified China and established a political structure that endured for more than two thousand years, while bringing about cultural unity across the country. Since the Qin dynasty lasted only two generations, we can learn about Qin Shi Huang's life only through Records of the Grand Historian, completed more than a century later. Since the twentieth century, however, archaeologists have uncovered not only numerous burial pits at Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum, but also thousands of legal and administrative documents dating back to the Qin dynasty, revealing how the dynasty actually functioned.
For thousands of years, politicians, poets, painters, archaeologists, and film directors have shaped the image of Qin Shi Huang through their own interpretations and imaginations. He has long served as a touchstone of Chinese politics and culture: criticized by supporters of Confucian values, revered by nationalists, and romanticized by enthusiasts of the Terracotta Warriors.
The author traces how people across the ages have understood this remarkable figure, helping us better understand contemporary China. This is not a biography of Qin Shi Huang. Instead, it examines the many interpretations of him through the lenses of historiography, legend, literature, archaeology, and popular culture.
