《汉书·传·贾邹枚路传》
秦始皇说死后以谧法定谧号，有时会使父子名号相重复，而以一世、二世以至万世为名号，就永远也不会重复了，所以他死后称 始皇帝 ，其后继者为二世皇帝，想从一世传到万世。
秦皇帝曰死而以谥法，是父子名号有时相袭也，以一至万，则世世不相复也，故死而号曰始皇帝，其次曰二世皇帝者，欲以一至万也。
Emperor Qin Shi Huang believed that using the posthumous title system would cause the names of fathers and sons to be repeated. In order to avoid that, he decided to use First Emperor, Second Emperor, and so on until Ten Thousandth Emperor, so he could pass the throne from generation to generation and rule forever. Upon his death, he was titled the First Emperor, and his successor was called the Second Emperor. Qin Shi Huang wished to pass the throne from generation to generation forever.