Qin Shihuang (Qin Shi Huang) is China's first Emperor. He ascends to the throne as King at age 13 in 246 BCE. Twenty five years later he conquers the Warring States and names himself Emperor. He becomes the first known victim of Chinese alchemical elixir poisoning.
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Construction of his tomb begins when he ascends to the throne at age 13 in c. 245 BCE. As he's too young to have any real power, it's commissioned by his regent Lü Buwei, a one-time merchant and influential political figure embroiled in subterfuge and murder.
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Around the same time, as a practice Chinese alchemy is bursting into flower as Qin Shihuang rises to power in the 3rd century BCE. Alchemy evolves from earlier metallurgy, and is the predecessor of chemistry.
Qin Shi Huang is not born to rule. Initially named Ying Zheng, he becomes King of Qin through machinations of his mother, consort of wealthy merchant Lü Buwei, who both conspire to place his father on the throne and make Qin the rightful heir.
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His father reigns for three years and dies abruptly at age 34. With Lü Buwei as regent, thirteen-year-old Qin Shi Huang becomes king. Seven years later he banishes Lü Buwei and takes full control.
After a failed coup attempt in 238 BCE, Lü Buwei commits suicide in 235 BCE by drinking poisoned wine. In 221 BCE the last King of Qin becomes Qin Shihuang, the first Emperor of a unified China.
After taking control of the Warring States Qin Shihuang orders construction linking segments of the the Great Wall of China. The fortifications are meant to protect China from frequent raids by the nomadic Xiongnu, ancestors of the notorious Huns.
He brings in economic reforms, standardized measurements and monumental statuary. Qin Shi Huang eliminates the Hundred Schools of Thought. Legalism or fajia becomes the mandatory ideology of the Qin dynasty, based on punishment and reward.
As Qin passes his fortieth year he feels the ebb of his youthful vigor. The death of his favorite concubine and others around him brings thoughts of his own mortality. He has the power to conquer all of China, but will grow old and die like the common laborer in the field.
Death terrifies the Emperor. He consults court sorcerer and alchemist, Xu Fu (Hsu Fu). Alchemy's great pursuit is the discovery of an elixir of immortality, a panacea for healing all disease, and the transmutation of base metals to gold.
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In ancient China immortality takes precedence. In regions where reincarnation is the popular belief, it's less important. For the Emperor Qin, immortality is crucial.
In the Bohai Sea, the furthest inland gulf of the Yellow Sea, are several divine mountain islands. The primary three, homes of gods and Immortals, are Fangzhang, Yingzhou and Penglai.
On Penglai lives a wizard, Anqi Sheng (An Qisheng) who is a thousand years old. Anqi Sheng has the power to turn invisible. He holds the secret to the elixir of immortality. According the Emperor, the eminent mage pays him a visit.
For three days and nights the Emperor converses with the invisible Anqi Sheng. He offers the magician gifts of gold and jade and other finery but Anqi has no use for these things. Qin Shi Huang is left frustrated and ever more desperate for the elixir.
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In 219 BCE he prepares a massive expedition to the island of Penglai, headed by Xu Fu. It's said to have a hundred of the finest sailing vessels, thousands of young men and women, sailors and artisans. For several years, Xu Fu sails in search of the island.
During the extensive quest of Xu Fu, Emperor Qin Shi Huang recreates the mythic islands Penglai, Fangzhang and Yingzhou in the flow of landscape architecture of his royal demesnes.
Within the walls of Epang Palace he's said to construct hills, lakes and imitations of the sea and islands. Organic designs carry the life force of nature and reinforce the ubiquitous theme of imperial immortality. Many Chinese gardens today have pools of similar design.
In 214 BCE the Emperor starts Lingqu Canal, connecting north and south China, originally for military use. The canal, 34 km (21 mi) long, is one of the three great feats of ancient Chinese engineering, along with the Great Wall and Sichuan Dujiangyan Irrigation System.
Qin Shi Huang also builds a system of tunnels and passages to each of his 200+ palaces. In this way he can travel unseen to protect him from evil spirits. When he makes public tours he has an identical decoy carriage made. It's justified as assassins attack the wrong coach.
Beginning 213 BCE, to avoid comparisons of his reign with the past, Qin Shi Huang orders most books to be burned, except those on astrology, agriculture, medicine, divination and history of the State of Qin. He has 460 scholars buried alive for owning banned books.
In 211 BCE a large meteor falls in Dongjun in the lower Yellow River. Someone inscribes the message: "The First Emperor will die and his land will be divided" (始皇死而地分).
The Emperor sends an imperial secretary to investigate. No one confesses, so he has everyone living nearby executed. The stone is pulverized.
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Because of his desire for immortality, Qin Shi Huang is a target for schemers and charlatans as well as true believers. He makes the alchemists take their own elixir and buries them alive to find out if it works. It's a constant disappointment.
Qin Shi Huang visits Zhifu Island three times seeking the magical potion, due to rumors of a mountain of immortality there. Zhifu is an islet at the coast of China where the Yellow Sea meets the Bohai.
Inscriptions of China's first Emperor are still visible today:
"Arrived at Fu, and carved the stone" - 218 BCE (登之罘，刻石)
"Came to Fu, saw an enormous stone, and shot one fish" - 210 BCE (至之罘，見巨石，射殺一魚)
Places like Shihuang Avenue (始皇道 Shihuang Dao), and Fish-shooting Tower (射魚台 Sheyu Tai) on the island are named after the emperor.
Meanwhile, Xu Fu comes back from his mission empty-handed. He tells the Emperor a ferocious sea beast guards the entrance to the potion, and he needs archers to slay it. The Emperor provides them. Xu Fu sets sail once again in 210 BCE. He never returns to China.
The Emperor meets death on one of his tours in 210 BCE. Despite his concern about assassination and adverse elixir effects he drinks a concoction of liquid mercury and powdered jade, and expires without a will.
As he's on tour his attendants fear an uprising and decide to pretend he's still alive. They transport fish before and after his carriage to cover up the smell of his decomposing body. They change his clothes every day, bring him food and pretend to run messages.
His death is announced when they arrive at Xianyang. In his tomb, it is said great mountains are built, from which run rivers of mercury, an alchemical essential of the elixir of eternal life. A vast army of terracotta warriors, horses and chariots populate the tomb.
The terracotta warriors, bronze horses and chariots, acrobats, servants, musicians, monks and more are built from 246 BCE on, created to protect, serve and amuse the Emperor in the Afterlife. The tomb complex occupies a space of 50 sq km (20 sq mi).