Despite all of these accomplishments, the Qin Emperor was not a popular leader. The public works and taxes were too great a burden for the population. It seemed the emperor could not be satisfied. Also, the nobility disliked him because they were deprived of all of their power and relocated. Finally, the emperor banned all books that advocated forms of government other than the current one. The writings of the great philosophers of the One Hundred Schools period were burned and more than 400 opponents were executed.

The Qin reign came to an end shortly after the First Emperor's death. The Qin Emperor Shihuang only ruled for 37 years; he died suddenly in 210BC. His son took the throne as the Second Emperor, but was quickly overthrown, and the Han dynasty began in 206BC.