King of Qin who conquered the other six states in 221 BC and made himself the first emperor of a unified China. He standardised writing, coins and measures, linked up the Great Wall, and was buried with the 兵马俑 (Terracotta Army).
He coined the title 皇帝 'emperor' by joining the 皇 and 帝 of the legendary 三皇五帝, and took the pronoun 朕 'I' for himself alone. His heirs were to be numbered 二世, 三世 and so on for ten thousand generations; the line ended with the second.
