THE FIRST CHINESE EMPIRE
King Xiao of the Zhou dynasty granted to 非 子 Feizi the name 秦 嬴 Qin Ying and the title of Lord of the Manor, 附 庸 Fuyong in Chinese. 秦 (Qin2) is the name of his domain & 嬴 (Ying2) his family name.
So the newly named 嬴 非 子 Ying Feizi was created 秦 附 庸 (Qin2 Fu4 Yong1) Lord of the Manor of Qin.
History did not record in what exact year of his reign King Xiao created Feizi as Fuyong of Qin but it was between 872 and 865 BCE, the years of the King’s rule.
Feizi died in 858 BCE and was succeeded by his son Qin Hou.
Qin Hou died in 848 and was succeeded by his son Gongbo.
Gongbo died in 845 BCE and was succeeded by his grandson Qin Zhong.
Qin Zhong died in 822 BCE and was succeeded by his son Lord Zhuang.
Lord Zhuang died in 778 BCE and was succeeded by his son Lord Xiang.
In 770 his descendant Lord Xiang was created 秦 侯 (Qin2 Hou2), meaning full feudal Lord of the Principality of Qin by the 11 years old King Ping of the Zhou dynasty who fled his western Capital City Haojing to his eastern Capital City Luoyi after his father King You (ruled from 781 to 770 BCE) was utterly defeated by a coalition of disgruntled feudal lords and northwestern nomadic tribes and was killed at the foot of Mount Li. King You ascended the throne at 14 years old and was 25 years old at his death in 770 BCE.
Lord Xiang of Qin escorted the young King to Luoyi and swore an oath of alliance with King Ping. Lord Xiang died in 766 BCE.
King Ping had a long reign. He died in 720 BCE.
The 姬 Ji Royal House aka the 周 Zhou dynasty truly ruled from 1046 BCE to 770 BCE. From 770 BCE to their destruction in 256 BCE, they retained enough prestige to be political arbiters, cultural models and unchallenged religious figures as Tian Zi 天 子 Sons of Heaven.
In 325 BCE, Lord Huiwen of the Qin Principality declared himself King of Qin 秦 惠 文 王（Qin2 Hui4 Wen2 Wang2).
The Zhou dynasty was destroyed in 256 BCE by a descendant of Ying Feizi (d. 858 BCE), King Zhaoxiang of Qin 秦 昭 襄 王 (Qin2 Zhao1 Xiang1 Wang2). King Zhaoxiang of Qin ruled from 306 BCE to 250 BCE.
This episode I chose from the Chinese historical drama series called “Qin dynasty Epic” showcases Prince Zheng of Qin in 247 BCE (he was 13 years old) just before he ascended the throne. He ruled as King Zheng of Qin 秦 政 王 (Qin2 Zheng4 Wang2) from 247 to 221 BCE.
In 221 BCE, he created the first Empire of China, he is known as 秦 始 皇 帝 (Qi 2 Shi2 Huang2 Di4), meaning *The First August Divine Sovereign of Qin* or more simply *The First Emperor of Qin*
秦 (Qin2) has been transliterated as Cina in Sanskrit by the Indians, which became China in English.
His Imperial dynasty was short-lived, from 221 BCE to November 207 BCE.
He nevertheless inaugurated the Chinese Imperial Era which lasted 21 centuries, from 221 BCE to 1912 CE.
Below is the link for the aforementioned historical drama series episode.
Chinese Film Culture and History Series: “Qin Dynasty Epic” (English subtitles), Episode 12, as explained by Dr. Quan Le. China Rising Radio Sinoland 210525
