Qin Shihuang femboy

At the time young Zheng was born, China was divided into warring feudal states.[1][3] This period of Chinese history is known as the Warring States Period. Competition between them was extremely violent, and by approximately 260 BC there were only a few states left (the others having been conquered and annexed by the rest), but Zheng's state, Qin, was the most powerful.[3] It was governed by a Legalist philosophy and focused from its beginnings on military affairs.[3]

Zheng was born in Handan (邯鄲), the capital of the enemy state of Zhao.[3] He was the son of Zichu, a prince of the royal house of Qin who had become a hostage in Zhao due to a political agreement between the states of Qin and Zhao. Zichu later returned to Qin after many adventures and with the help of the wealthy merchant named Lü Buwei. He planned to ascend to the throne of Qin by placing Lü Buwei as chancellor (prime minister) of Qin. Zichu is posthumously known as King Zhuangxiang of Qin. According to a widely circulated story, Zheng was not Zichu's true son, but rather the son of the powerful chancellor Lü Buwei. This story arose because Zheng's mother was originally a concubine of Lü Buwei before he gave her to his good friend Zichu shortly before Zheng's birth. However, the story is dubious since Confucian scholars would have found it very easy to denounce a leader whose birth was illegitimate.

Zheng ascended the throne in 247 BC at just over 12 years old, and was assisted by a regent until 238 BC, when he reached the age of 21 and assumed absolute power. Zheng He continued the tradition of tenaciously attacking feudal states (escaping an assassination attempt by Jing Ke while doing so) and finally seized control of all of China in 221 BC, defeating the last independent Chinese state of Qin, the state of Qi.

Then in the same year, at the age of 38, the king of Qin proclaimed himself "First Emperor".