tained from adopting the imperial
title. He was succeeded by his son, Hiao-wen Wang, who died after a
three days' reign. Chwan-siang Wang, his son and successor, was a man of
no mark. He died in 246 B.C. giving place to Shi Hwang-ti, "the first
universal emperor." This sovereign was then only thirteen, but he
speedily made his influence felt everywhere. He chose Hien-yang, the
modern Si-gan Fu, as his capital, and built there a magnificent palace,
which was the wonder and admiration of his contemporaries. He abolished
the feudal system, and divided the country into provinces over whom he
set officers directly responsible to himself. He constructed roads
through the empire, he formed canals, and erected numerous and handsome
public buildings.

Having settled the internal affairs of his kingdom, he turned his
attention to the enemies beyond his frontier. Chief among these were
the Hiung-nu Tatars, whose attacks had for years disquieted the
Chinese and neighbouring principalities. Against these foes he marched
with an army of 300,000 men, exterminating those in the neighbourhood
of China, and driving the rest into Mongolia. On his return from this
campaign he was called upon to face a formidable rebellion in Ho-nan,
which had been set on foot by the adherents of the feudal princes whom
he had dispossessed. Having crushed the rebellion, he marched
southwards and subdued the tribes on the south of the Nan-shan ranges,
i.e. the inhabitants of the modern provinces of Fu-kien, Kwang-tung
and Kwang-si. The limits of his empire were thus as nearly as possible
those of modern China proper. One monument remains to bear witness to
his energy. Finding that the northern states of Ts'in, Chao and Yen
were building lines of fortification along their northern frontier for
protection against the Hiung-nu, he conceived the idea of building one
gigantic wall, which was to stretch across the whole northern limit of
the huge empire from the sea to the farthest western corner of the
modern province of Kan-suh. This work was begun under his immediate
supervision in 214 B.C. His reforming zeal made him unpopular with the
upper classes. Schoolmen and pedants held up to the admiration of the
people the heroes of the feudal times and the advantages of the system
they administered. Seeing in this propaganda danger to the state Shi
Hwang-ti determined to break once and for all with the past. To this
e