Qin Shi Huang was the First Emperor of a unified China, who ruled from 246 BC to 210 BC. He is credited to have unified China in 221 BC. Before the unification, China was made up of seven major states which were frequently at war with each other fighting to prove their own supremacy. Huang consolidated all the warring states and unified them into a single empire. The rulers before him had borne the title of king, but he took up the title of the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty. Qin Shi Huang was born as Ying Zheng, the eldest son of King Zhuangxiang of Qin, a ruler of the Qin state during the third century BC. The king died when Ying Zheng was only 13 years old. Even though the young boy succeeded the throne, he was still too young to rule and thus was aided by the Prime Minister Lu Buwei who acted as his regent for several years. Ying Zheng finally assumed full power as the King of the Qin state after years of political turbulence. Upon becoming the king he set forth to expand his kingdom by conquering all the warring states and unified them as one nation. He eventually took up the title of Qin Shihuangdi, which means First August and Divine Emperor of Qin
