211. 嬴秦氏

Ying2 ch'in2 shih

Ying ch'in family

Then the House of Ch'in, descended from the Ying clan, 

Ying is composed of 女 nü woman, and 羸 lei thin with 羊; yang sheep left out, the latter being given in the Shuo Wen as phonetic. It was the family name of the Emperor 少昊 Shao Hao, B.C. 2958, and is classed like other old clan names, and like 姓 hsing surname (= woman-born, from 女 nü woman and 生 sheng to produce), under 女 as radical. See line 350. 

Ch'in is composed of 禾 ho grain as radical, and a contraction of 春 ch'un spring (line 57) as phonetic. It was the name of a fief bestowed upon the descendants of a Minister under the Emperor Shun (line 183) and adapted for growing grain. 

Shih see line 165. [Pere Zottoli has "Yng e Ts'in familia," and shows by his note that he means "familia" to belong to "Yng." Eitel has "a man of the Ying clan, being the sovereign of the Tsin family." The translation however must be based on the following facts. Ying was the name of an old family or clan, one member of which received the fief of Ch'in for services rendered to a sovereign of the Chou dynasty; 是為秦氏 hence the House of Ch'in and the First Emperor (see line 212).] 

212. 始兼并

Shih3 chien1 ping4

Begin together unite

finally united all the States under one sway. 

Shih see line 134. [Eitel translates with fatal inaccuracy "Commenced to absorb and to unite etc."] 

Chien is composed of a hand (old form) grasping two (- plurality) ears of grain, under which radical it was originally classed, now under 八 (line 88). 

Ping is composed of 从 ts'ung to follow, its old radical, with 幷 chien level as phonetic. It originally meant to follow; hence, two together, united, etc. It is also explained as two 人 jen men grasping two 干 kan shields, q.d. united. [The above union was accomplished in B.C. 221 by the then ruler of the Ch'in State. After vanquishing and absorbing the other States, he succeeded in proclaiming himself 始皇帝 Shih Huang Ti the First Emperor of a united China. He died B.C. 210.] 

213. 傳二世

Ch'uan2 erh4 shih4

Transmit erh shih

The throne was transmitted to Erh Shih, 

Ch'uan see line 163. 

Erh see title. 

Shih see line 177. [Erh Shih, or Second Generation, is the title under which is known in history the youngest son of the First Emperor, the latter having declared that the line he founded should endure for ten thousand generations. His elder brother was murdered to clear the way, a fate he himself shared in B.C. 207. Eitel wrongly translates the title, with the following result, "the throne of which was delivered only to the second generation."] 

214. 楚漢爭

Ch'u3 han4 chêng1 

Ch'u han contend 

upon which followed the struggle between the Ch'u and the Han States. 

Ch'u is composed of 林 lin a forest (line 66), one half of which is the radical under which it is now classed, and 疋 (now p'i3 a piece or bale) an old form of 足 tsu foot, as phonetic. Its chief meanings are to punish, clear, perspicuous; but it is here only the name of a State (line 210). 

Han is composed of 水 shui water as radical, and a contraction of 難 nan difficult as phonetic. It originally meant waves, and is the name of a famous river. It has also been applied to the Milky Way, and is here the name of a State. 

Cheng is composed of 爪, chao claws, its modern radical, which is the picture of a hand with the back uppermost, 又 yu a hand (line 18), and an obsolete character meaning to drag, i.e. two hands tugging.