According to the Shiji, the First Emperor was born in 259 BC. He was the illegitimate son and the king of Qin's concubine (one of many wives). No one knew his real father was a merchant, so in time he became king of Qin.

Most of what we know about the First emperor of China comes from archaeological sources and from China's first important history book that has survived. This book is called the `Shiji'. It was written by Sima Qian. He wrote it 100 years after the time of the First Emperor and did not approve of him. So we have to be careful when using the book.

By the time the First Emperor was born the 200 or so small states were joined into seven, large, powerful kingdoms. Qin was the most powerful of these. A source from the Shiji, based on the writings of Li Si who was...