Shi Huang Ti

Shi Huang Ti

Qin Shi Huang was born in the Zhao state who named as "Ying Zheng" for which he was born in the January (Zheng means January in Chinese) (Carole & Bos, 1999; Cinderella, 2006; Wikipedia, 2006; &Duin, 2006). He later called himself as Shi Huang Ti after he conquered all of the states of his time. His mother was a businessman's (Lu Bu Wei) concubine who was given to Yi Ren (Yin Zheng's father) up to his request. On the other hand, his father was one of the sons of the crown prince (An Guo Jun) of the Qin state who was not favored by An Guo Jun, and was sent to Zhao as hostage. With the help of Lu Bu Wei, Yi Ren returned to his country home and ascended An Guo Jun as the next ruler.

Yi Ren died three years later after he became the next Qin's lord. Ying Zheng ascended the throne from his father at the age of 13 with the assistant of the regents Ð'- his mother and Lu Bu Wei. However, as he grew elder the smart Ying Zheng realized his power was in the hands of the regents and his mother favorite eunuch, Lao Ai. In early 20s, he showed his political talent by having Lao Du executed and removing Lu Bu Wei's power when both of them planned to overthrow him2 (Cinderella, 2006; Beijing Ulink Travel Net, 2006; & Duin, 2006).

After the betrayals were removed, Ying Zheng hired capable scholars and warriors (e.g.: Li Si, Wang Jian)3 (Beijing Ulink Travel Net, 2006) to assist him in realizing his dream of conquering every other Chinese state. With the help of the capable people under him, Ying Zheng succeeded his life goal at the age of 38. He then named himself "Shi Huang Ti" 4(Shi means the first, Huang Ti means the highest emperor) as he was the first king to unite China in the history (Carole & Bos, 1999; Wikipedia, 2006; & Duin, 2006). He was also addressed as Qin Shi Huang in which he was from the Qin dynasty. Besides his excellent performance in politics, Qin Shi Huang was also an expert in the use of many kinds of traditional weapons (e.g.: swords) 5 (Wikipedia, 2006)

The unity brought few major influences to the later China6 (Shapiro, 2003). Qin Shi Huang standardized the different units of measurements (e.g.: weights, currency) and even the Chinese script. These standardization brought unity among states and increase communication between people from different districts. Extensive network of canals and roads connecting the districts had help to accelerate interaction and trade in country, which improved the after-war economy indirectly. Another achievement of Qin Shi Huang is the Great Wall of China. The wall played important role in defending the country from enemies during Qin Shi Huang's time, and also the time after the fall of Qin dynasty. Not to forget was Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum where lies more than 7000 of real human scale terracotta.

Qin Shi Huang was very keen in the search for immortality7 (Wikipedia, 2006 & Beijing Ulink Travel Net, 2006). Many young boys and girls were sent to follow Xu Fu's team of searching for immortality. Mausoleum was also built to ensure his power of ruling continued afterlife, where thousands of warrior and scholar terracotta were buried with his body. Several trips around the country were made to show his superiority and as well as to search for secrets to immortality. Ying Zheng died in his seventh trip at age 50.

Despite his excellent politic ability and achievements he was very well known for his cruelty towards people who betrayed or against him. However, I personally view that his cruelty was essential (but was done over mark) to the situation to control people's behavior that had avoided many unnecessary war which saved even more people's life.

The theory of Erik Erikson and Alfred Adler are used to analyze Shi Huang Ti's personality. Erikson proposed that human development is not depended entirely on biological factor but rather a constant individual growth throughout her life (Magnavita, 2002). Erikson's psychosocial stages of personality development is applied onto him to analysis how his struggle between crises in different stages influenced his personalities.

The first stage of the psychosocial stages of personality development is the trust versus mistrust. In this stage, the development of trust is greatly influenced by the relationship between caregiver, especially mother, and child (Friedman & Schustack, 2005). Qin Shi Huang showed strong sense of mistrust towards people in which he centralized the administration power on himself and allow no man to summon the troops (Peng, 2003). He learned the lesson that to trust no one, even his own family members where his two regents who were meant to assist him betrayed him. After the deceased of Qin Shi Huang's father Zhao Ji had secret affair with the fake eunuch Lao Ai and gave birth to two sons. Qin Shi Huang killed Lao Ai and every member of his family including two of his half-blood brother when Lao Ai planned to seize his throne. Cruel control had then become Shi Huang Ti's standard treatment for all, including his family. Believing no one could be trusted; Qin Shi Huang protected himself from assassination by building several palaces and never stayed too long in one palace (Wikipedia, 2006).

Thus, I would conclude that Qin Shi Huang's sense of mistrust could have stemmed from the betrayal from his mother that was supposed to take care of him had affair with another man and he almost overthrown by his mother's lover. This caused him to be suspicious towards others and executed whoever acted against him, including all of the family members of the wrongdoer. Conversely, as an excellent politician and ruler, Shi Huang Ti trusted his loyal capable men to assist him to conquer the other states.

Another major conflict Shi Huang Ti faced was the fifth stage of the psychosocial development Ð'- identity cohesion and identity confusion. Ying Zheng reached early stage of puberty (age 13) when he ascended the throne. The young Ying Zheng did not have the real power as a king. He faced a certain degree of identity confusion where his role as a king was as if a merely puppet king of Lu Bu Wei, Zhao Ji and Lao Ai. He resolved it when he executed Lao Ai and eliminated Lu Bu Wei from his cabinet and regained his power as a king. Also in this stage, young Ying Zheng had dreamt to conquer the states with his own troops. The dream and regain of his power had definitely helped to reaffirm his self-identity as a young king. He then hired Li Si as his most trustful assistant showed his determination to become a greater king than his ancestors. His expertise in politics, weapons and war techniques helped him to realize his dream at age 38. With the cohesion identity of self and reality, Ying Zheng finally united all of the states