秦始皇 赢政（前259年〜前210年），庄襄王之子，秦朝的开国皇帝。他13岁继承秦王王位，21岁亲理国事。在公元前221年，秦始皇统一了全国，建立了中国历第一个中央集权的(centralized )封建国家。秦始皇在位期间统一了文字、货币和度量衡等；他所开创的皇权制度，在中国历一直延续了两千多年。然而，秦始皇为了控制人民和加强专制统治（autocratic rule), 采取了许多残忍的手段，其中最的就是“焚书坑儒”。
参考翻译:
Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng (259 B.C.-210 B.C.), the son of King Zhuangxiang, is the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty. He ascended the throne at 13, and took over with state affairs himself at 21. In 221 B.C., Qin Shi Huang unified the country and established the first centralized feudal state in Chinese history. Qin Shi Huang unified the Chinese characters in writing, currency, and measures for length, capacity and weight. The imperial power system set up by him lasted for more than 2,000 years in Chinese history. However, in order to control people and strengthen the autocratic rule, Qin Shi Huang took many brutal means. The most famous one is “Fen Shu Keng Ru”，that is to burn books and bury Confucian scholars alive.
1.继承:表示皇族“继承”王位，一般用ascend;若使用succeed,后面应有to。 2.国事:指国家事务，可译为state affairs。 3.度量衡:“度”即“计量长短”，“量”即“计量容积”，“衡”即“计量轻重”，翻译时三者缺一不可，可译为 measures for length, capacity and weight。 4.焚书坑儒:作为一个事件的描述，可直接用汉语拼音表达，然后用英文注释， 故可译为“Fen Shu Keng Ru”，that is, to burn books and bury Confucian scholars alive。
