Dynasties · 221 – 206 BC. Fifteen years.
Fifteen years, and the country is still named after it. Qin Shi Huang conquered the six rival states, declared himself First Emperor, and then standardised the script, the currency, the weights, the measures and even the axle width of carts, so that the roads of one empire would fit its wagons. He also buried an army. The terracotta figures were found by farmers digging a well in 1974 and are still being excavated; each face is individual, they were originally painted, and they are guarding a tomb mound that has never been opened. The dynasty collapsed four years after he died.
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