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that has remained virtually unchanged until the twentieth century. Mao Tse-tung ended the civil war, unleashed the Cultural Revolution, and radically altered China’s political system and ideology. Whereas the lives of Confucius and Mao Tse-tung have been well documented, that of the First Emperor remains relatively unknown to Western readers.
    In Shiji, Sima Qian wrote extensively about that period of history when a divided China was united by the First Emperor, as well as the tumultuous years immediately following his death. Many of the phrases written by the Grand Historian to describe the intrigues and conflicts of that time have come down to us as proverbs. They have survived for over 2000 years and are still frequently quoted in everyday conversation.
    During that restless era of brutal strife and constant warfare 2200 years ago, the population of China already numbered over 40 million. However,battlefield casualties were enormous. According to Shiji, 1,500,000 soldiers were slaughtered in fifteen major military campaigns waged by the state of Qin between 363 and 234 B.C.E. The average peasant led a life of misery and uncertainty. Armed soldiers would arbitrarily march across the fields, appropriate the crops, draft all the sons, or rape the women while the seven states fought for supremacy. Between wars, there were diplomatic maneuvers, accords, intrigues, and treaties. Women had no rights and were used as pawns to secure strategic marriage alliances and sexual favors. The life of an average woman was at the complete mercy of her husband or father.
    But it was not only peasants who suffered. Royal princes too were sometimes used as pawns. At the conclusion of a peace treaty between two states, it was customary to exchange hostages as guarantees of good faith. These hostages were usually princes of royal birth. One of these was Prince Zi Chu of Qin. He was sent to Zhao as a hostage after Qin lost a major battle against Zhao in 270 B.C.E. , and there he remained for the next thirteen years.
     
    In 265 B.C.E. a merchant named Lu Buwei traveled to Handan, the capital city of Zhao, in search of fresh business opportunities. Annexation of the weaker states by the stronger ones resulted in only seven states remaining at that time. Of these seven, the state of Zhao was the most cultured and sophisticated, Chu had the largest land area, and Qin possessed the greatest military power.
    There were two main reasons for Qin’s military might. First and foremost was the hardiness of the people. Living in the far west corner of ancient China, the people of Qin had been responsible for centuries for defending their western frontier against the fierce nomadic Huns who roamed the adjacent desert wastelands. In time they adopted many of the savage fighting methods of their enemy and developed military practices more ruthless than those of any other state. Their children were taught to ride from a young age, given bows and arrows, and taught to shoot birds and animals from the saddle. When a war was declared, they conscripted every citizen. They seldom used chariots but would swoop down upon their enemies on fast horses, moving like swarms of locusts across the plains and destroying all in their paths with their spears, halberds, dagger axes, crossbows, and arrows. Flight or surrender was considered cowardly,and desertion was punishable by death. Qin soldiers were promoted according to the number of heads of enemy troops they brought back to their officers. All military personnel were expected to fight to the death.
    According to Shiji, there was a second reason for Qin’s military prowess. Sima Qian wrote,
    The country of Qin was so situated that its geographical position almost guaranteed its military might. Access was irksome because the state was surrounded by a girdle consisting of the Yellow River and the mountains. Suspended one thousand feet above the neighboring states, its lofty location was so advantageous that a million