Qin Shi Huang

Qin Shi Huangdi (秦始皇; 259 BCE – 210 BCE), born Zhao Zheng (趙政), was the first emperor of China and the founder of the Qin dynasty.

Biography

In 221 BCE, as King of Qin, he conquered all of the other kingdoms, ending the Warring States period and reuniting China for the first time in six centuries. With his victory, he inaugurated the first imperial dynasty of China. During his reign, the Order of the Ancients assisted Qin Shi Huang with political and economic reforms, as well as his massive construction projects such as the Great Wall of China.

Concurrently, he increasingly became paranoid of assassins that he knew lurked throughout the empire. He amassed all the nation's soldiers and weapons to himself to exterminate every last one of them, but it was to no avail. Determined to end his tyranny, the assassin Wei Yu assassinated him with a spear in 210 BCE during one of his eastern China tours.

Behind the scenes

Qin Shi Huang is a historical figure and character first mentioned in Assassin's Creed II. He was first pictured in the teaser chapter for the manhua Assassin's Creed: Dynasty.

The regnal name Qín​ Shǐ​ Huáng​dì (秦始皇帝) literally means 'First Emperor of the Qin'. It is commonly shortened to Qín​ Shǐ​ Huáng. Qin Shi Huang was born with the given name Zheng (政), clan name Zhao (趙), and ancestral name Ying (嬴). While in modern times, only the ancestral name is used as a surname, during the Warring States period, clan names were appended to the given names for the full name instead.

Historically Qin Shi Huang survived three assassination attempts and reportedly died from Chinese alchemical elixir poisoning while trying to prolong his life.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed II (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Dynasty (mentioned only)