Kings and Emperors

1
Kings and Emperors

• Legendary emperors in prehistoric times
• Yao, Shun, Yu (Xia) the idealized Three
  Dynasties
• The Golden Age in Confuciuss view
• Yu became the founder of Chinas first dynasty,
  the Xia Dynasty
• The existence of Yu remains a moot point
• Archaeologists have proved the existence of the
  Xia Kingdom or Xia Dynasty
• Exact size, magnitude, civilization remain pretty
  much a mystery

2
Unification and the First Emperor

• Unification of China
• Annexed six other states
• Important figures
• Ying Zheng
• Lü Buwei
• Ying Zheng Chinas First Unifier
• the First Emperor of China

3
Image of the First Emperor

• negative image cruel, tyrannical, bloodthirsty,
  a despot, built luxurious palace, tomb, buried
  scholars alive, burnt books, totalitarian rule
• positive image unified writing system,
  standardized units and measurements, built roads,
  laid the foundation of Chinese bureaucratic
  system
• Important figures Li Si, Zhao Gao, Meng Tian

4

• The Map of the Warring States
• Seven states
• Han
• Zhao
• Wei
• Qi
• Chu
• Yan
• Qin

5

• The Seven States
• Han
• Zhao (Land of Late Coming)
• Wei
• Qi (Land of Devout)
• Chu (Land of Immaculate)
• Yan (Land of Swallows)
• Qin

6
Facts Qin State

• The State of Qin
• Ying Zhengs Ancestors
• Qin Xiaogong (the Educated Duke, r.361-338 BCE)
• Lord Shang (Shang Yang) exemplary architect of
  statecraft and a legalist scholar and minister
• Builder of Qin law rigid, brutal, fair
• Passionate reformer enrich the state and
  strengthen the military
• Qin Huiwen Wang (the Graceful Duke, r. 337-311
  BCE)
• Lord Shang killed
• Zhang Yi became minister

7
Suspect stories

• Untold and suspect stories/accounts inspired
  fiction, play, drama, TV series
• Revolve around Ying Zheng, Yiren, Zhaoji, Lü
  Buwei, Gaojianli, Prince Yan, Jing Ke
• Ying Zhengs birth and his real father
• Lao Ais affair with Zhaoji
• Jing Kes assassination of the king of Qin?
• After becoming the emperor
• Burning books and buried 460 scholars alive
• Sent Xu Fu and 500 boys and girls to the Penglai
  Island

8
Facts

• Unified China by coercion and force
• Forced his minister to commit suicide
• Constructed Qin wall (not the Great Wall)
• Built roads and other public works
• Built his own mausoleum
• Wavered between superstition and rational
  thinking
• Elements of importance color (black), number
  (six), five phases (water)
• Attempted to have Qin history written

9
Consolidating the unified realm

• Confiscated weapons
• Melted down iron to cast bell hangers
• Melted down bronze objects and turned them into a
  dozen massive statues in capital
• Monopolized salt, iron, and alcohol

10

• Standardized Qin coinage and unit of gold (along
  with other weights and measures)
• Unified scriptsSmall Seal script

11
Qin Law

• Archaeological excavations of bamboo strips help
  us understand Qin Law
• Thousands of bamboo strips unearthed in 1975,
  1979, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993
• 1975 excavation of Judge Xis grave saw 1155
  bamboo strips which consists of
• Qin laws
• interrogation documents
• Legal cases

12
Samples of bamboo strips unearthed in 1975 at the
site of Judge Xis grave
13
Emperor and history

• Emperor manipulated historical writing
• All six kings have been chastised as they
  deserved
• Powerful minister and eunuch would do the same
• Li Si
• Zhao Gao

14
A Bad Ruler and a bad minister?

• Negative image resulted in Ying Zheng
• being perceived and labled as a bad ruler
• Li Si being a bad minister
• Even a bad ruler has good qualities
• Appreciated Han Feis talent
• If only I could once catch sight of this man and
  meet with him, I should die without regret.
• Han Fei, unfortunately, was poisoned by Li Si
• Promoted domestic (interstate) trade

15
Emperors Family

• Facts remain unknown
• Wives and concubines?
• Fusu
• Huhai

16
Qin Penal Codes and Wall Building

• Qin penal codes laid down the foundations for
  Chinese penal codes throughout history
• Harsh capital punishments were used
• Mutilations,
• lightest of it is tattooing
• Hacking off a convicts nose
• Removal of one or both feet or of the toes and
  front part of the foot
• Decapitation
• Hacking in half at the waist
• Body torn asunder by five horses or four
  horse-drawn chariots
• castration followed by execution
• Laborbuild wall

17
Wall Building

• Origin of wall building
• Dikes, dams, levees
• Reasons for wall building other than defense
• Farming
• Communications
• Who joined wall building?
• Convicts
• Pardoned criminals
• War captives
• Peasant Corvée labors
• Slaves of all sorts

Remains of Qin Wall
18
Qin Wall and Folklore

• New legend developed Méng Tians invention of
  the writing brush
• Old legend retold Mèng Jiangnü, widow of a
  wall-builder, screamed and a section of the wall
  crumbled
• The tale morphed into full-fledged fiction,
  novel, play, and turned into literary works,
  including poetry, temple history

19
The Great Wall Myth

• The myth The Qin built the Great Wall
• The lack of evidence
• Notion of The Great Wall is based on charts
  provided by three Jesuit fathers in the early
  18th century

• Earliest textual reference to Wall
• A wall built by the state of Chu (Land of
  Immaculate) in the 7th Century BCE
• Qi, Wei, Yan, and Zhao followed suit
• They built walls in 5th C. BCE (Qi) and , 4th C.
  BCE (Yan, Wei, Zhao (see picture)

20
Journey to Mount Tai (Taishan)

• On Mount Tai
• Performed required ceremonies on Mount Tai, only
  to be interrupted by a storm
• Erected a stone tablet that showed the emperors
  achievements and greatness

Mount Tai
21
Facts or Legends?

• Quest for immortality
• Search for the Isles of the Immortals
• Xu Fu led 500 virgin girls and boys to Penglai in
  Eastern Sea to look for immortality pills,
  elixirs, or longevity potion
• More assassins
• Zhang Liang and Can Hai Gong

22
Inspection Tours--Increasing Hubris

• Journey to Mount Langya
• A memorial carved into a monument praised his
  imperial grace brought happiness to his people
• Journey to Pengcheng
• Claimed his achievement was greater than that of
  the demi-gods of old
• His government was better than all other
  governments
• At Jieshi
• A monument was erected to boast that he had
  exempted the innocent from taxation

23
Ying Zhengs Death

• Despite many assassination attempts, the First
  Emperor died at the height of summer in his
  carriage while returning to Xianyang from his
  inspection tour
• His corpse rot within the carriage and began to
  smell
• Zhao Gao arranged a fish cart to be placed close
  to the First Emperors carriage
• Ying Zhengs body was laid to rest in a mausoleum
  beneath Mount Li
• His tomb was surrounded by graves of his sons and
  officials.

24
Ying Zhengs Successor

• Zhao Gao and Li Si co-oped to make Huhai Ying
  Zhengs successor
• Prince Fusu was ordered (by Zhao Gao) to take his
  own life
• Other princes and princesses were executed for no
  reason
• Zhao Gao removed all his enemies
• Huhai was installed as the Second Emperor of the
  Qin
• He also journeyed to Mount Tai to offer his
  respects to heaven
• Zhao Gao made himself the sole adviser to the
  new emperor by getting rid of Li Si

25
The Fall of the Qin

• Huhai continued his fathers project
• New venture Apang Hall, which was never
  completed, was one of the architectural wonders
• 144 square kilometers
• Could house 10,000 people
• Massive public works resulted in social unrest
• Revolt broke out
• Zhao Gao killed the Second Emperor in the third
  year of his reign
• Zhao Gao made Ziying King of the Qin but was
  stabbed to death five days later
• Ziying was Qin King for 46 days
• Rebels entered Xian Yang. Ziying was killed by
  Xiang Yu.

26
The First Emperors Tomb

• UNESCO No doubt thousands of statues still
  remain to be unearthed at this archaeological
  site, which was not discovered until 1974. Qin
  Shihuang (d. 210 B.C.), the first unifier of
  China, is buried, surrounded by the famous
  terracotta warriors, at the centre of a complex
  designed to mirror the urban plan of the capital,
  Xianyan. The small figures are all different
  with their horses, chariots and weapons, they are
  masterpieces of realism and also of great
  historical interest.

27
The Eighth Wonder of the World

• Pits 1, 2, 3 8,000 terracotta soldiers
• Pit 1 6,000
• 87 sculptors names have been discovered
• They were probably masters,
• If each of them had 10 disciples, there would be
  870 sculptors at the least

28

• Bronze swords in their hands remain sharp and
  shinning after 2,000 years, fashioned out of a
  rare alloy of thirteen metals
• Some argue that the same technique was not
  available in Germany until 1937, nor was it
  available in the US until 1950
• Each chariot consists of 3,000 parts, indicating
  the complexity of the structure
• 2005--discovered numerous Qin coins in the tomb