Emperor of China. He succeeded to the throne of the state of Qin 246
BC and had reunited China as an empire by 228
BC. He burned almost all existing books in 213 to destroy ties with the past; rebuilt the
Great Wall of China; and was buried in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, in a tomb complex guarded by 10,000 life-size terracotta warriors (excavated in the 1980s).
He had so overextended his power that the dynasty and the empire collapsed with the death of his weak successor in 207.
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