Qin Shi Huang Di-the Brilliant Emperor Who Built The Great Wall
by Article about one of the most creative, bold, magnificent ruler of china, who is also known as a tyrant, cruel emperor.
Qin Shi Huang feared death and longed for longevity, so he sent his ministers to go on quests seeking for an elixir of immortality. Thousands of people were sent in search of mystical elixirs, but none returned, because they knew that if they returned without the promised elixir they would be executed. Legends claim that they reached Japan and colonized it.
The Emperor died during one of his tours of Eastern China, on September 10, 210 B.C., while traveling. Some believe “he died of swallowing mercury pills, made by his court scientists and doctors, which contained too much mercury. These pills were meant to make Qin Shi Huang immortal” (John Mann, page 513). Others believe that assassins hired by an aristocrat by the name of Zhang Liang ambushed the emperor’s carriage while he traveled, and killed him. Whatever the truth was, after the emperor’s death, his Prime Minister Li Si, who accompanied him, worried that the news could trigger a general uprising in the empire, so he decided to hide the death of the emperor, and return to the palace as if nothing had happened. Li Si ordered 2 carts containing rotten fish to be carried immediately before and after the wagon of the emperor. The idea behind this was to prevent people from noticing the bad smell coming from the emperor’s wagon, where his body was starting to decompose, as it was summertime. The imperial court reached the palace only 2 months later, when the news of the death of the emperor was announced.
Even about the appearance of the Emperor Qin Shi Huang historian can’t agree. Some say “he was tall and handsome, with big eyes, a high nose, a loud voice and a spirited quality in action. He walked erect and confident” (Ji Zhao, page 258), while others say that “he was short and disfigured, with a saddle nose, protruding eyeballs and the howl of a jackal” (Guo Moruo, page 313). He was the only emperor in Chinese history that did not have an empress. Some say that this was because “he had too many concubines than he could choose” (Guo Moruo, page 321), while others say that his mother’s bad behavior made him hate women (Ji Zhao, page 410). Or, maybe… there was no woman qualified enough to be his empress? There are dozens of predictions, but like many other facts from his life, we will never know the truth.
Qin Shi Huang would always be known as a tyrant, an emperor of cruelty (he imposed extremely severe penal codes. If one person was guilty he would be killed along with his family, his extended family, as well as his classmates, villagers, teachers, friends and acquaintances), misery and war, as well as a creative, bold, brilliant, magnificent ruler, an epoch-making historic emperor in China’s history, who expanded the Chinese empire, built a capital in Xian, a system of roads, and massive fortifications and palaces.
The Qin Dynasty came to an abrupt end in 206 B.C., soon after the Emperor’s death, but a unified China remained for over 2,000 years. China’s name is derived from his short but unbelievable dynasty, Qin (pronounced Chin).
-by Daniella Lazar
02/08/2010
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