Rather than maintain the title of ' king' ( 王 wáng) borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor ( 始皇帝) of the Qin dynasty from 221 BC to 210 BC. He became China's first emperor when he was 38 after the Qin had conquered all of the other Warring States and unified all of China in 221 BC. From 247 to 221 BC he was Zheng, King of Qin ( 秦王政, Qín Wáng Zhèng, personal name 嬴政 Yíng Zhèng or 趙政 Zhào Zhèng).
'First Emperor of Qin', pronunciation ( help Qin Shi Huang ( Chinese: 秦始皇 Wade–Giles: Ch‘in 2 Shih 3 Huang 2 lit.
