Qin Shi Huang. First Chinese emperor
MOSCOW, December 28 - RIA Novosti. Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, really tried to achieve immortality and ordered all the inhabitants of the empire to look for the recipe for the "elixir of eternal life", according to the online publication Live Science.
Scientists have found traces of the legendary "great flood" in ChinaArchaeologists have found traces of the fact that during the Xia dynasty, to which, according to legend, the founder of China, Emperor Huangdi belonged, there really was a powerful flood of the Yellow River and a "great flood" 38 meters high, "defeated" by Emperor Yu in 1920 BC era."The issuance of such a decree and the very fact that people really tried to execute it suggests that Shi Huang-di created a very reliable and efficient system of executive and legislative power, which made it possible to realize the wishes of the emperor at the level of the whole country at a time when transport and communication systems did not actually exist," said Zhang Chunlong, head of the excavation.
The founder of China is traditionally considered the "yellow emperor" Huang-di, who ruled the Celestial Empire around 2800 BC. Legends attribute magical powers to him, including an unusually long life and incredible stamina.
The first real emperor of a unified China, Qin Shi Huang, considered himself his spiritual heir, who in 221 BC united seven warring kingdoms into a single empire with a common code of laws and a vertical of power. In subsequent years, he gained a reputation as a cruel but fair ruler who brought order and peace to China.
Due to large-scale projects, such as the construction of the Great Wall and the giant mausoleum in Xi'an, as well as due to numerous assassination attempts, Shi Huangdi's personality has acquired no fewer legends than the "yellow emperor". Chinese archaeologists unexpectedly found out that the ruler of China himself believed in some of these myths. This is evidenced by an unusual find in Hunan province.
Zhang says his team has been excavating in the central part of the province for more than a decade. During this time, archaeologists have managed to find thousands of artifacts from the time of Shi Huang, including a huge collection of bamboo tablets with a variety of information about the life of the empire.
Recently, Chinese archaeologists have completed the analysis of the medical part of these archives. There, an official decree of Shi Huangdi was found, in which he ordered all officials and residents of the Celestial Empire to look for the "elixir of immortality" or collect information about it and immediately transfer it to the capital.
This official document thus confirms some of the legends associated with Shi Huangdi. Many Chinese chroniclers of that time wrote that the emperor was obsessed with thoughts of immortality and constantly traveled around the country in search of wise men or something like the "fountain of eternal youth" from the myths of Ancient Greece, capable of giving him eternal life.
These searches, as evidenced by the tablets discovered by the Zhang team, were carried out not only by the emperor himself, but by the entire empire as a whole. For example, the ruler of the town of Duxiang wrote that the locals had not yet found the elixir, and the inhabitants of one of the villages in the modern province of Shandong offered the emperor to try a rare plant that grew on a mountain nearby.
It is possible that it was these searches that killed the first emperor of China - he died at the age of 39 due to mercury poisoning. She could be part of the "elixirs of immortality" based on cinnabar (a bright red compound of mercury and sulfur), which Shikhuandi, as the chroniclers write, used in the last years of his life.
The Qin kingdom in the history of ancient China occupied a special place. His prince, having conquered the neighbors who were mired in civil strife, created a single state. This commander was a Qin wang named Ying Zheng, who became known as the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shi Huang.
From Van to Emperor
In the IV century BC. e. The problem of the political unification of the ancient Chinese kingdoms occupied the minds of the progressive thinkers of that era, when objective prerequisites were gradually created for the creation of a single country, at the head of which would be the Chinese emperor.
The unification was dictated by the logic of the political situation that developed in the 5th-3rd centuries BC. e. The desire to eliminate the independence of neighboring kingdoms and absorb their territory led at that time to the fact that in place of many dozens of large and small hereditary possessions, there remained "seven strongest": Chu, Qi, Zhao, Han, Wei, Yan and Qin. The rulers of almost all of them cherished plans for the complete defeat of their rivals. They hoped that the first dynasty of Chinese emperors would be founded by them.
Rivals in the struggle for unification made extensive use of the tactics of alliances with distant kingdoms. The "vertical" union of the kingdoms of Chu and Zhao is known, directed against the "horizontal union" of Qin and Qi. At first success accompanied Chu, but the last word was left to the ruler of Qin.
As a result, Ying Zheng became emperor, who received the symbolic name Qin Shi Huangdi (the name of the Chinese emperor is translated as "The First Emperor of Qin").
Association prerequisites
The most important prerequisite for the destruction of the former political borders between the kingdoms was the development of stable economic ties. A vivid picture of the strengthening of trade relations between them was drawn in the 3rd century BC. e. Xunzi, who emphasized the important role of economic ties to meet the natural needs of people in those products that are not produced in their places of residence.
Also at this time there was a partial spontaneous unification of the payment coin. In the V-III centuries BC. e. on the territory of the Central China Plain and adjacent regions, large economic regions are gradually taking shape, the boundaries of which do not coincide with the political boundaries of the kingdoms. Commoners, merchants and the nobility understood that further development required a "single" Chinese emperor, who would erase the internal political borders for the sake of the economy.
Formation of a single ethnic group
Another fundamental reason for unification under the rule of Qin Shi Huang was the common ethnic and cultural space that had practically formed by that time. There was a consolidation of the ancient Chinese, despite the borders of the Middle Kingdoms separating them.
The formation of a single cultural stereotype of the population, the stabilization of ideas about its community, the development of the ethnic self-awareness of the ancient Chinese not only prepared the ground for future unification, but also made it a top priority.
Reforms of Qin Shi Huang
The defeat of the six kingdoms, as well as the subsequent unification of the territories, were only a timid step in the formation of the state. More important were the unpopular but necessary reforms initiated by the Chinese Emperor Qin. They were aimed at eliminating the consequences of long-term economic and political fragmentation.
Resolutely breaking down the barriers that prevented the establishment of regular ties between all the districts of the empire, Qin Shi Huang destroyed the walls that separated some of the warring kingdoms. Only buildings along the vast northern borders were preserved, completed in the missing places and united into one Great Wall.
Shi Huangdi also paid great attention to the construction of main roads that connected the then capital of Xianyang with the periphery. One of the most grandiose construction projects of this kind was the laying of the Direct Road connecting the environs of Xianyang with the center of Jiuyuan County (more than 1,400 km long).
Administrative reforms
These reforms were preceded by a fierce struggle of opinions about how to organize the management of the newly annexed territories, what principle should be the basis of the administrative system of the empire. Advisor Wang Guan insisted that, according to a tradition dating back to the Zhou period, the outlying lands of the country should be given into hereditary possession of the emperor's relatives.
Li Si resolutely opposed this, proposing a fundamentally different project. The Chinese emperor accepted the proposals of Li Si. The territory of the Celestial Empire was divided into 36 districts, each of which consisted of counties (xian). The districts were headed by governors appointed directly by the emperor.
By the way, the very idea of creating districts in the newly annexed territories - administrative units of central subordination - arose at the end of the 5th century BC. e. The essence of Qin Shi Huang's reform was expressed in the fact that he extended the system of districts throughout the entire territory of his empire. The borders of the new formations did not coincide with the territory of the former kingdoms of the Zhangguo period and did not correspond to natural geographic boundaries that could contribute to the isolation of individual regions of the country.
Culture and legislation
Other important measures to strengthen the centralized power of the emperor also include:
- introduction of unified legislation;
- unification of measures and weights;
- reform of the monetary system;
- introduction of a single script.
The reforms of Qin Shi Huang significantly contributed to the strengthening of both the cultural and economic community of the population of the empire. “The lands between the four seas were united,” Sima Qian wrote on this occasion, “the outposts were opened, the bans on the use of mountains and lakes were relaxed. Therefore, rich merchants were able to travel freely throughout the Celestial Empire, and there was no such place where goods for exchange did not penetrate.
Slavery and terror
However, the first emperor was not a model of virtue. On the contrary, many historians consider him a tyrant. For example, he actually encouraged the trade in slaves, not only prisoners captured in military campaigns, but also residents of China proper. The state itself enslaved the population en masse for debts or for crimes committed, and then sold them to the slave owners. Prisons also turned into slave markets. The most severe terror was established in the country, according to one suspicion of dissatisfaction with the activities of the emperor, the entire surrounding population was exterminated. Despite this, crime increased: there were frequent cases of kidnapping in order to sell them into slavery.
Persecution of dissenters
The Chinese Emperor Shi Huangdi severely repressed the Confucians, who preached the traditional principles of morality and civic duty, asceticism. Many of them were executed or sent to hard labor, and all their books were burned and henceforth banned.
And what after?
In the work of the historian Sima Qian Shiji (in Historical Notes), it is mentioned that the emperor died in 210 during a trip to China. The death of the sovereign overtook suddenly. His youngest son, who inherited the throne, ascended the throne when internal social contradictions in the country became much more acute. Ershihuan at first tried to continue the most important activities of his father, emphasizing in every possible way the continuity of his policy. To this end, he issued a decree that the unification of weights and measures undertaken by Qin Shihuang remains in force. However, popular unrest, skillfully used by the nobility, led to the fact that the first dynasty of the Chinese Qin emperors left the historical arena.
The collapse of the empire
The unpopular decisions of Qin Shi Huang provoked protests in various social strata. Many assassination attempts were made on him, and immediately after his death, a widespread uprising of the masses began, which destroyed his dynasty. The rebels did not even spare the giant tomb of the emperor, which was looted and partially burned.
As a result of the uprising, Liu Bang (206-195 BC), the founder of a new dynasty of emperors, the Han, came to power, who had previously been just the headman of a small village. He took a number of measures to reduce the influence of the oligarchy. So, merchants and usurers, as well as their relatives, were forbidden to hold public office. Merchants were taxed with increased taxes, rules were introduced for the rich. Local self-government, abolished by Qin Shi Huang, was restored in the villages.
- Xia era BC BC) is a semi-mythical dynasty, whose existence is described in legends, but there are no real evidentiary archaeological finds.
- The Shang era (1600-1100 BC) is the first dynasty whose existence is documented.
- The Zhou era (1027-256 BC) is divided into 3 periods: Western Zhou, Chunqiu and Zhangguo.
- Qin (221-206 BC) - the first imperial dynasty.
- Han (202 BC - 220 AD) - a dynasty founded by a village headman after a popular uprising.
- The era of the Northern and Southern dynasties (220-589) - for several centuries, a whole series of rulers and their dynasties have changed: Wei, Jin, Qi, Zhou - northern; Su, Qi, Liang, Chen - southern.
- Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-906) - the heyday of science, culture, construction, military affairs, diplomacy.
- The period of the Five Dynasties (906-960) is a troubled time.
- Song (960-1270) - restoration of centralized power, weakening of military power.
- Yuan (1271-1368) - the reign of the conquering Mongols.
- Ming (1368-1644) - Founded by a wandering monk who led an uprising against the Mongols. It is characterized by the development of a commodity economy.
- Qing (1644-1911) - founded by the Manchus, who took advantage of the confusion in the country caused by peasant uprisings and the overthrow of the last Ming emperor.
Conclusion
Qin Shi Huang is one of the most famous historical figures in ancient Chinese history. His name is associated with G. H. Andersen's The Nightingale and the Chinese Emperor. The founder of the Qin dynasty can be put on a par with the names of Napoleon, Lenin - individuals who shook society to its foundations, radically changed the life of not only their native state, but also many neighbors.
Qin Shi Huang (259-210 BC) ruled 246-210. BC e.
Little is known about the origins of the prominent Chinese Emperor Ying Zheng. According to some reports, he was the son of the Qin boy Zhuang-hsiang-wang from his beloved concubine. At birth, he received the name Zheng, which means "first." At the age of 13, after the death of his father, Zheng came to power in the kingdom of Qin, one of the largest and most powerful states in China. Zheng put a lot of effort into uniting the whole country under his rule. In 221 BC, he proclaimed himself Shi Huangdi, which means "first holy emperor" in Chinese. He made China the most powerful state in Asia.
Ying Zheng came of age at the age of 20. Until this age, all affairs in the kingdom of Qin were managed by its regent, Lu Buwei, one of the wisest and most educated people of that time, who served as the first minister at court. Zheng owed a lot to him, most of all by strengthening his authority in the palace. Buwei taught his ward: “He who desires victories over others must gain victory over himself. That. whoever wants to judge people must learn to judge himself. He who seeks to know others must know himself." About the veterinary clinic "Zoostatus" here Zheng learned these postulates, but he also learned another teaching, which affirmed the equality of all before the law and the Son of Heaven, that is, the emperor. Titles and awards should be given to subordinates not by lineage, but by real merit.
Zheng's teachings ended when he was proclaimed a full-fledged emperor. Then he began to restore order in the kingdom.
First of all, he ordered the expulsion of Buwei, whom he suspected of being a conspirator, executed several close associates and created a strict system of unquestioning subordination. In subsequent years, Shi Huangdi began to annex other kingdoms of China to his kingdom. With sword and fire he walked through many territories. But only by the age of 40 he managed to unite all of China for the first time in history, and he took the throne name - Qin Shi Huang. He divided the conquered kingdoms into 36 regions, which in turn were divided into counties, where he appointed his governors, who obeyed only him and carried out only his orders.
But along with a rigid centralized system of government, Qin Shi Huang also carried out several reforms. He established a unified system of weights and measures on the territory of the united empire, began to mint a single coin, and introduced a single script. He ordered to make a track of the same size - that is, all wagons had to have the same distance between the wheels. All these reforms were carried out with great difficulty. They did not find understanding either among the population or among the governors. Shihuandi brutally dealt with the stubborn: if a person violated the law, then they executed not only him, but his entire family, and the convict's distant relatives were turned into state slaves.
Shi Huangdi established a one-man despotic power. Only in this way could he stay on the throne, only in this way could he manage a huge centralized state at that time.
His great merit is the fight against the nomads who attacked from the north. He drove them out of his kingdom, and in order not to let anyone into his territory, he ordered to start building ... the Great Wall of China.
From various regions of the country, tens of thousands of Chinese were driven to the north, they worked day and night on the construction of high impregnable walls. This fortress was supposed to stretch all the way to the sea.
Shi Huangdi devoted a lot of time to the creation of his tomb. Already in our time, Chinese archaeologists dug up this tomb. It turned out to be a huge underground vault, in which 6,000 life-size clay soldiers with horses and weapons were buried, which were supposed to guard the rest of the deceased great emperor.
Writing
Although Sima Qian's version dominated for 2000 years, research by professors John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel in translating the annals of Luishi Chunqiu showed a discrepancy between the date of the onset of pregnancy and the birth of the child (year), which allowed them to conclude that the version of Lu Buwei's paternity was falsified, in order to question the origin of the emperor.
Regency of Lü Buwei 246-237 BC e.
Ying Zheng unexpectedly received the throne of the Qin Wang in 246 BC. e. at the age of 13. At this time, the kingdom of Qin was already the most powerful in the Middle Kingdom. Prime Minister Lü Buwei also became his guardian. Lü Buwei valued scholars, invited about a thousand scholars from all over the kingdoms, who argued and wrote books. Thanks to his activities, it was possible to collect the famous encyclopedia "Luishi Chunqiu".
In 246 BC. e. engineer Zheng Guo from the Kingdom of Han started construction of a large 150 km long irrigation canal in present-day Shaanxi. The canal connected the Jinghe and Luohe rivers. The canal was built for ten years and irrigated 40,000 qing (264.4 thousand hectares) of arable land, which led to a significant economic rise of Qin. After completing only half of the work, the engineer Zheng Guo was convicted of spying for the Han, but he explained to the wang the benefits of construction, was forgiven and completed the grandiose project.
After the death of Ying Zheng's father Zhuangxiang, Lü Buwei began to openly cohabit with his mother Zhao. She was presented with the eunuch Lao Ai, who, according to Sima Qian, was not a eunuch at all, but his mother's cohabitant, and that the castration documents were forged for bribes.
Lao Ai concentrated a lot of power in his hands, and Ying Zheng was dissatisfied with his position as a child who was not considered. In 238 BC. e. he came of age and resolutely took power into his own hands. In the same year, he was informed about the cohabitation of his mother and Lao Ai. He was also informed that his mother had secretly given birth to two children, one of whom was preparing to become his successor. Wang ordered officials to conduct an investigation, which confirmed all suspicions. During this time, Lao Ai forged the state seal and began to gather troops to attack the palace. Ying Zheng instructed the advisers to urgently gather troops and send them against Lao Ai. There was a battle near Xianyang, in which several hundred people were killed. Lao Ai, his relatives and accomplices were executed, the guilty from among the courtiers were severely punished.
In 237 B.C. e. Lü Buwei was deposed and exiled to the kingdom of Shu (Sichuan) for his connections with Lao Ai, but committed suicide on the way. Ying Zheng Zhao's mother was also sent into exile, who, after exhortations from advisers, was returned to the palace.
Reign with Prime Minister Li Si 237-230 BC e.
After the removal of Lü Buwei, the legist Li Si, a student of Xun Tzu, became prime minister.
Not trusting his advisers, Ying Zheng gave the order to expel all non-Qin officials from the country. Li Si wrote a memorandum to him, in which he argued that such a measure would only lead to the strengthening of the enemy kingdoms, and the decree was canceled.
Li Si had a great influence on the young ruler, therefore, some experts, not without reason, believe that it was he, and not Ying Zheng, who should be considered the true creator of the Qin empire. Judging by the available data, Li Si was determined and cruel. He slandered his talented fellow student Han Fei, a brilliant theorist of late legalism, and thereby brought him to death (later, after reading Han's writings, Ying Zheng regretted that he had imprisoned him, where, according to legend, he had taken the poison received from Li Si) .
Ying Zheng and Li Si continued successful wars with rivals in the east. At the same time, he did not disdain any methods - neither the creation of a network of spies, nor bribes, nor the help of wise advisers, the first place among which was taken by Li Si.
Unification of China 230-221 BC e.
Everything went towards the unification of China led by the Qin dynasty. The states of Central China looked at Shaanxi (the mountainous northern country that served as the core of the Qin possessions) as a barbarian outskirts. The state structure of the rising kingdom was distinguished by a powerful military machine and numerous bureaucracy.
At the age of 32, he took possession of the principality in which he was born, at the same time his mother died. At the same time, Ying Zheng proved to everyone that he had a very good memory: after the capture of Handan, he arrived in the city and personally led the extermination of the old enemies of his family, who thirty years ago, during the hostage of his father, humiliated and insulted his parents. The following year, Jing Ke, an assassin sent by Yan Dan, made an unsuccessful attempt on Ying Zheng. The Qin ruler was on the verge of death, but personally fought off the "killer" with his royal sword, inflicting 8 wounds on him. Two more attempts were made on him, which also ended in failure. Ying Zheng captured one by one all six non-qin states into which China was divided at that time: in 230 BC. e. The kingdom of Han was destroyed in 225 BC. e. - Wei, in 223 BC. e. - Chu, in 222 BC. e. - Zhao and Yan, and in 221 BC. e. - Qi. At the age of 39, Zheng united all of China for the first time in history, and in 221 B.C. e. assumed the throne name of Qin Shihuang, establishing a new imperial dynasty, Qin, and naming himself its first ruler. Thus, he put an end to the Zhangguo period with its rivalry of kingdoms and bloody wars.
Title of the first emperor
Given name Ying Zheng was given to the future emperor by the name of the month of birth (正), the first in the calendar, the child was named Zheng (政). In the complex system of names and titles of antiquity, the name and surname were not written side by side, as is the case in modern China, so the actual name of Qin Shi Huang is extremely limited in use.
The unprecedented power of the ruler of the imperial era required the introduction of a new title. Qin Shi Huang literally means "founding emperor of [the] Qin dynasty". The old name wang, translated as "monarch, prince, king", was no longer acceptable: with the weakening of Zhou, the title of wang was devalued. Initially terms Juan("ruler, august") and Di(“emperor”) were used separately (see Three rulers and five emperors). Their unification was intended to emphasize the autocracy of a new type of ruler.
The imperial title thus created lasted until the Xinhai Revolution of 1912, until the very end of the imperial era. It was used both by those dynasties whose power extended to the entire Celestial Empire, and by those who only sought to reunite its parts under their command.
Rule of a united China (221-210 BC)
Board reorganization
The colossal campaign to unify the Celestial Empire was completed in 221 BC. BC, after which the new emperor carried out a series of reforms to consolidate the won unity.
Xianyang was chosen as the capital of the empire in the original Qin possessions, not far from modern Xian. Dignitaries and nobles of all the conquered states were transferred there, a total of 120 thousand families. This measure allowed the Qin emperor to take the elite of the conquered kingdoms under reliable police control.
On the urgent advice of Li Si, the emperor, in order to avoid the collapse of the state, did not appoint relatives and new lands close to the princes.
In order to suppress centrifugal tendencies on the ground, the empire was divided into 36 jun military regions (Chinese trad. 郡, pinyin: June), at the head of which were appointed managers and officials.
The weapons taken from the defeated princes were collected in Xianyang and melted down into huge bells. 12 bronze colossi were also cast from weapon metal, which were placed in the capital.
A reform was carried out under the slogan “all chariots with an axis of the same length, all hieroglyphs are of standard writing”, a single network of roads was created, disparate systems of hieroglyphics of the conquered kingdoms were abolished, a single monetary system was introduced, as well as a system of measures and weights. These measures laid the foundation for China's cultural and economic unity and outlasted the short-lived Qin empire by millennia. In particular, modern Chinese hieroglyphic writing goes back to the Qin script.
Great construction sites
Emperor Qin Shi Huang used the labor of hundreds of thousands and millions of people for grandiose construction projects. Immediately after declaring himself emperor, he began to build his own tomb (see Terracotta Army). He built a three-lane road network across the country (the central lane for the emperor's chariot). Construction was a heavy burden for the population.
The great Wall of China
As a sign of unity, the defensive walls that separated the former kingdoms were demolished. Only the northern part of these walls was preserved, its separate segments were strengthened and interconnected: thus the newly formed Great Wall of China separated the Middle State from the barbarian nomads. According to estimates, several hundred thousand (if not a million) people were driven to build the wall. . At the same time, loopholes for archers are designed so as to hit the enemy approaching from the south, which indicates not the Chinese, but the anti-Chinese nature of the fortifications. Also, topographically, the walls are laid with the maximum possible access to the walls from the side of the steppes and deserts, and the inaccessibility for capture from the side of the Chinese state.
Lingqu Canal
Epan Palace
The emperor did not wish to live in the central capital's Xianyang Palace (咸陽宮), but began building the huge Epan Palace (阿房宫) south of the Weihe River. Epan is the name of the emperor's favorite concubine. The palace began to be built in 212 BC. e., several hundred thousand people were driven to the construction, innumerable treasures were stored in the palace and many concubines were housed there. But the Epan Palace was never completed. Soon after the death of Qin Shi Huang, rebellions broke out throughout the Qin-occupied territory, and the Qin empire collapsed. Xiang Yu (項羽) was able to inflict heavy defeats on the Qin troops. At the end of 207 BC. e. the future Han emperor Liu Bang (then Pei Gong), an ally of Xiang Yu, occupied the Qin capital Xianyang, but did not dare to establish himself and a month later let Xiang Yu into Xianyang, who in January 206 BC. e. , struck by unthinkable luxury, ordered to burn the palace, and his troops plundered Xianyang and killed the inhabitants of the Qin capital.
Detours of the country
During the last ten years of his life, the emperor rarely visited his capital. He constantly inspected various corners of his state, making sacrifices in local temples, informing local deities about his achievements and erecting stelae with self-praise. By detours of his possessions, the emperor initiated the tradition of royal ascents to Mount Taishan. He was the first of the Chinese rulers to go to the seashore.
The trips were accompanied by intensive road construction, the construction of palaces and temples for sacrifices.
Starting from 220 BC. e. the emperor undertook five major inspection trips across the country at distances of thousands of kilometers. He was accompanied by several hundred soldiers and many servants. In order to disorient ill-wishers, he sent several different carts around the country, while he himself was hiding behind a curtain, and even the soldiers did not know whether the emperor was traveling with them or not. As a rule, the purpose of the trips was the Pacific coast, to which the emperor first came in 219 BC. e.
Quest for immortality
In 210 BC. e. the emperor was told that the wonderful islands of the immortals are difficult to reach, as they are guarded by huge fish. The emperor himself went to sea and killed a huge fish with a bow. But he became ill and was forced to return to the mainland. The emperor could not recover from his illness and after a while he died.
"The Burning of Books and the Burial of Scribes"
Confucian scholars saw empty superstition in their search for immortality, for which they paid dearly: as the legend says (that is, it is unreliable), the emperor ordered 460 of them to be buried alive in the ground.
In 213 BC. e. Li Si persuaded the emperor to burn all the books, except for those that dealt with agriculture, medicine, and divination. In addition, books from the imperial collection and chronicles of the Qin rulers were spared.
Growing dissatisfaction with the government
In the last years of his life, disappointed in gaining immortality, Qin Shi Huang traveled less and less frequently around the borders of his state, fencing himself off from the world in his huge palace complex. Avoiding contact with mortals, the emperor expected to be seen as a deity. Instead, the totalitarian rule of the first emperor gave rise to a growing number of disaffected every year. Having revealed three conspiracies, the emperor had no reason to trust any of his associates.
Death
Qin Shihuang's death occurred during a trip around the country, in which the heir Hu Hai accompanied him along with the head of the office, the eunuch Zhao Gao, and the chief adviser Li Si. The date of death is considered to be September 10, 210 BC. e. in a palace in Shaqiu, two months away from the capital. He died after consuming immortality elixir pills containing .
When Qin Shihuang suddenly died, Zhao Gao and Li Si, fearing that the news of the emperor's death would cause an uprising in the empire, decided to hide his death until they returned to the capital. Most of the retinue, except for Hu Hai's youngest son, Zhao Gao, Li Si, and a few other eunuchs, were unaware of the emperor's death. The body of the emperor was placed on a wagon, in front of and behind which carts of rotten fish were ordered to hide the putrid smell. Zhao Gao and Li Si changed the emperor's clothes daily, carried food, and received letters, answering them on his behalf. In the end, the emperor's death was announced upon his arrival in Xianyang.
According to tradition, the eldest son crown prince Fu Su was to inherit the empire, but Zhao Gao and Li Si forged the emperor's will, appointing the youngest son Hu Hai as heir. The will also ordered Fu Su and General Meng Tian, who were on the northern border, to commit suicide. Fu Su faithfully obeyed the order, and General Meng Tian, who suspected a plot, sent a letter several times for confirmation and was placed under arrest. Hu Hai, overjoyed at the news of his brother's death, wanted to pardon Meng Tian, but Zhao Gao, fearing Meng's revenge, secured the execution of Meng Tian and his younger brother, the prosecutor Meng Yi, who in the past suggested that Shi Huang execute Zhao Gao for one of the crimes.
Hu Hai, who took the throne name of Qin Ershi Huangdi, nevertheless showed himself to be an incapable ruler. Adherents of the former dynasties immediately rushed into the struggle for the division of the imperial inheritance, and in 206 BC. e. Qin Shihuang's entire family was exterminated.
Tomb
Nothing illustrates the power of Qin Shi Huang better than the size of the burial complex, which was built during the life of the emperor. The construction of the tomb began immediately after the formation of the empire near present-day Xi'an. According to Sima Qian, 700 thousand workers and artisans were involved in the creation of the mausoleum. The perimeter of the outer wall of the burial was 6 km.
To accompany the emperor in the other world, an innumerable terracotta army was sculpted. The faces of the warriors are individualized, their bodies were previously brightly colored. Unlike his predecessors - for example, the rulers of the Shang state (circa 1300-1027 BC) - the emperor refused mass human sacrifices [ ] .
Reflection in historiography
The reign of Qin Shi Huang was based on the principles of legalism, set forth in the treatise Han Fei Tzu. All surviving written evidence about Qin Shi Huang is passed through the prism of the Confucian worldview of Han historiographers, especially Sima Qian. It is very likely that the information they cite about the burning of all books, the ban on Confucianism and the burial of the followers of Confucius alive reflected Confucian anti-Qin propaganda directed against the legalists.
In the traditional depiction, Qin Shi Huang's appearance as a monstrous tyrant is tendentiously exaggerated. It can be considered established that all subsequent states of China, starting with the reputedly tolerant Western Han dynasty, inherited the administrative-bureaucratic system of government that was created under the first emperor.
Reflection in art
In the theatre
- In 2006, the premiere of the opera The First Emperor took place on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera (New York) (composer - Tan Dun, director - Zhang Yimou). Sang the part of the emperor
The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, was literally obsessed with the idea of finding the elixir of life before he died at the age of 49 in 210 BC. This is evidenced by new archaeological finds.
Artifacts from the well
The Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang, who created the world-famous terracotta army, during his reign announced a nationwide "hunt" for the mythical potion. These searches are mentioned in ancient texts written approximately 2000 years ago. They were discovered in Hunan province at the bottom of a well in 2002.
Thousands of wooden tablets written on in China before the invention of paper contain the text of an imperial decree, as well as unsatisfactory answers from local authorities, which indicate that the key to eternal life was not found by them. Only in the area of Langya, apparently, it was believed that the herb collected on one of the mountains located there could be useful for creating an elixir of immortality.
Sea expeditions
The emperor, however, did not limit himself to searching in his possessions. At his command, the elixir of life was also sought in other places. Ancient sources report that the soothsayer and magician Xu Fu undertook two sea voyages in order to find the mythical mountain-island of Penglai, where the celestials lived. It was assumed that the recipe for the coveted elixir could be found there.
The search for a means of granting immortality was not just a whim for Qin Shi Huang. How seriously the emperor took this idea is evidenced by the 8,000 terracotta warriors representing his army, including horses and chariots. When the first Chinese emperor died, all this army was placed in a huge mausoleum to protect the ruler in the afterlife.
For many centuries, the clay army regularly served, guarding the peace of Qin Shi Huang, until the case intervened.
One of the greatest archaeological discoveries
In the spring of 1974, Yang Zhifa, a farmer in the Shaanxi province of China, was digging a well in a field with five brothers and a neighbor. Suddenly, their shovels hit the terracotta head, which they mistook for the head of a Buddha statue. What Chinese peasants accidentally discovered turned out to be one of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century.
Fortunately, the peak of the “cultural revolution” has already passed in the country, when historical monuments, at least somehow connected with the monarchical period, were barbarously destroyed. Now China has begun to invest in tourism and the creation of new museums. Thus, the terracotta army of Qin Shi Huang was saved from destruction.
Today, the excavation site is visited by at least 1.5 million tourists annually to view the mausoleum, which is sometimes called the eighth wonder of the world. And there really is something to see.
The scale of the mausoleum is comparable to the area of the ancient city. The core of the burial complex is a pyramid, which once stood 100 meters high. Now it is much lower, but still clearly visible.
As for the terracotta army, it was supposed to guard the secrets of Qin Shi Huang's underground empire. And it looks like she's doing a great job of it. After all, the tomb of Qin Shi Huang has not been opened until this moment.
Secrets of the ruler
It is assumed that the cause of the emperor's death was mercury poisoning, which, as was believed in antiquity, was added to drinks by sages who lived for thousands of years. Probably, the emperor, obsessed with the idea of immortality, could try this “miraculous” recipe on himself.
It is not yet possible to establish the truth, since the entrance to the tomb remains sealed. Researchers fear that exposure to air could cause irreparable damage. Their concern is justified, since at the beginning of the excavations, the lacquer with which the figures of terracotta warriors were covered curled up in 15 seconds after contact with air.
In addition, ancient chronicles say that the burial chamber of the emperor is surrounded by a river of mercury and crossbows. How true this is is unknown. But the eternal dream of Qin Shi Huang, the builder of the Great Wall of China and the creator of the terracotta army, has not yet been violated.