Cbihli and Honan to Ghehkiang and the banks of the Yaug-tsze, and from the Tang-t'ing lake in Hunan to the shores of the Eastern Sea. He thereupon mapped out the empire into 36 territorial divisions, known as ^, fixed his capital at Hsien-yang in Shensi, and proclaimed himself First Emperor, with the understanding that his successors were to be called Second, Third, Fourth Emperors, and 80 on. Everything, including literature, was to begin from his reign; in which sense he issued an edict for the burning of all books (see Li SsU)^ and put to death so many hundreds of the literati who yentured to disobey that melons actually grew in winter on the spot beneath which the bodies lay buried. His victorious arms were carried far north to the territory of the Hsiung-nu, and the Great Wall was built, in the hope that it would prove an impregnable * defence to the empire against Tartar raids (see Mifig Pien). He laid out the famous ^ j^ ^ Pleasaunce of 0-fang, near the capital, in the lower hall of which a sixty-foot banner could be unfurled, and in the upper hall of which 10,000 persons could be assembled. He introduced a new copper coinage of such excellence that the cowry began at once to disappear from circulation. The hair-pencil or brush used for writing was also substituted under his reign for the old-fashioned stylus, and silk for the bamboo tablet. He died at ][jj^ J^ Sha-ch'iu in Chihli, and was buried together with much treasure in a chamber which he had caused to be excavated in a mountain. Upon the floor, which had a foundation of bronze, was a map of the empire with rivers of quicksilver; the roof was studded with the constellations. All around were mechanical arrangements for shooting stones and arrows immediately upon the appearance of any intruders; while huge caudles of seal's-fat, calculated to burn for an indefinite period, threw their light upon the scene. When the passages leading to the chamber had been stopped up, and before the workmen who knew the secrets had
