In 221 B.C., after eliminating the six rival states, King Ying Zheng of Qin established, for the first time in Chinese history, a unified, multi-national state under a centralized leadership. During his reign, the emperor issued decrees for the standardization of law, of currency, of the script and of weights and measures. Believing that he had achieved even greater feats than the legendary emperors and kings, Ying Zheng decreed that the use of the royal title of "king" should be discontinued and proclaimed himself "the First Emperor" in the hope that his reign would be succeeded by the Second Emperor and then the Third and so on into infinity.

In order to consolidate his regime, the First Emperor has all the bronze weapons in the hands of the people confiscated. He then had them melted and made into twelve gigantic bronze figures. He also ordered the burning of all the books by influential scholars and philosophers of various schools of thought. Worse still, he even had several hundred Confucian scholars buried alive. However, the First Emperor was an extremely superstitious man and hoped that in death he could still enjoy all the luxuries and pleasures he had when alive. So, for 36 out of the 37 years of his reign, he had more than 700,000 laborers pressed into service to build his own mausoleum, a paradise of an abode for an eternal existence.

According to historical record, molten copper was poured onto the bottom of the burial pit to stave off wetness, and on this metal base the emperor's coffin was lay. The mausoleum was composed of many beautiful halls and chambers in which were stored all kinds of valuable jewelry. It was filled with mercury too, to form make-believe lakes and seas. On the ceiling were hung what were called "moon bright pearls", to stand for the sun, the moon and the stars.

The research and excavation is still going on at the site of the First Emperor of Qin's mausoleum.