《史记·十二本纪·秦始皇本纪》
始皇根据五德终始的嬗递次序进行推演，认为周朝得到了火德，秦朝代替周朝的火德，遵循五行相胜的法则现在应是水德的开端。
始皇推终始五德之传，以为周得火德，秦代周，德从所不胜。
The First Emperor deduced based on the succession of the Wude's ending and beginning, believing that the Zhou Dynasty had obtained the fire virtue, and that the Qin Dynasty replaced the fire virtue of the Zhou Dynasty, following the rules of the five elements, it should now be the beginning of the water virtue.