The History of Qin · 11:21pm Mar 7th, 2023
Long history lesson and eventual punchline below.
Note that because of the age of these stories and the translation issues, some of the names used in this blog post can be rendered in English in different ways, and historical accuracy is sometimes dubious due to conflict accounts written centuries after the actual events.
In the 2nd century BC, the Chinese state of Qin was ruled by King Zhaoxiang, personal name Ying Ji. His heir apparent was Lord Anguo, whose primary wife was Lady Huayang, who had no children of her own. A middle son of Anguo with one of his concubines, Yiren, was sent to the state of Zhao to serve as a political hostage. In the Zhao capital Yiren met a merchant named Lu Buwei, who saw potential in Yiren. The two became friends, and Lu Buwei gifted Yiren a dancing girl in his employ, Zhao Ji, who became his wife Lady Zhao and bore him a son, Ying Zheng. Ying Zheng's parentage is subject to speculation of dubious authenticity, as Zhao Ji was a former concubine of Lu Buwei and they remained close after marriage, so in the years to follow some claimed that Ying Zheng was actually Lu Buwei's son.
Through bribes and machinations Lu Buwei arranged for Yiren to return to Qin, and convinced Lady Huayang to adopt Yiren as her son, which made Yiren Anguo's heir apparent. When King Zhaoxiang died in 251 BC, Anguo ascended as King Xiaowen, but he reigned for only three days before dying. Some attribute this simply to him being old (his father had ruled for over 50 years, and Anguo was in his 50s when he ascended), but others suspect assassination, particularly by Lu Buwei considering what happened next. Yiren ascended the throne as King Zhuangxiang with Lady Zhao as his wife, Lu Buwei as chancellor, and Ying Zheng as heir apparent. King Zhuangxiang ruled for three years and passed away in 247. Ying Zheng was only 13 at the time, so he became king regent under Lu Buwei with Lady Zhao as queen dowager.
In a story of dubious historical accuracy, Lu Buwei ended his affair with Lady Zhao and instead gifted her a man named Lao Ai, who was famously well-endowed. They faked his castration so he could join Lady Zhao's court as a eunuch and become her secret lover, and they fathered two children that was passed off as Lu Buwei's. Lao Ai plotted to have Ying Zheng assassinated so his children could inherit the throne, but when he boasted about his kids and his plots in a drunken stupor, word got back to Ying Zheng and he was not pleased. He had Lao Ai quartered, his mother arrested, and their children put to death. For his role in this, Lu Buwei was also banished and eventually committed suicide out of fear of reprisal.
With his power consolidated, Ying Zheng stepped up as King of Qin with chancellor and adviser Li Si, and stepped up the state's aggression with its neighbors, intending to unify all of China under the Qin banner. First they took Zhao, which was weakened by a famine. The Qin bribed a Zhao minister to sow distrust between the Zhao king and his military leader Li Mu, to the point the king ordered Li Mu to surrender command of the army to his deputies. When Li Mu refused, he was arrested and executed, and without his leadership Zhao fell to the Qin.
Their next target was Yan, who arranged an assassination attempt. The assassins, Jing Ke and Qin Wuyang, were to present Ying Zheng with two gifts, a map of Yan and the head of one of his generals that had betrayed him. But when the time came, Qin Wuyang was frozen with fear and did not approach, so to avoid looking suspicious, Jing Ke had to present both gifts alone. When Ying Zheng unrolled the map, he revealed a poisoned dagger that Jing Ke seized and attacked him with. Ying Zheng was paranoid and had forbidden guards to carry weapons around him, so he was forced to flee into the palace corridors and evade Jing Ke's attacks until he managed to unsheath his overly long ceremonial sword and killed Jing Ke.
The Qin marched on the state of Wei and laid siege to the capital Dailang, but the city was protected by a wide moat and strong walls that made it difficult to take. The commander of the Qin force, Wang Ben, had his troops maintain the siege while discretely digging to redirect the Yellow River over the course of three months. Dailang was flooded by the river and easily taken in the aftermath.
Next came the state of Chu. Ying Zheng heard from two military leaders, Wang Jian and Li Xin; Wang Jian said it would take 600,000 men to conquer Chu, Li Xin said it would take 200,000. Ying Zheng appointed Li Xin leader of the invasion and Wang Jian retired to his home. A Qin noble with relatives in the Chu royal family, Lord Changping, arranged for a sneak attack on Li Xin's forces in collaboration with the Chu general Xiang Yan, who had been avoiding direct confrontation with the Qin army. Xiang Yan's forces rode for three days and three nights to launch a surprise attack while Lord Changping struck from behind, decimating the Qin army. Some time after, Lord Changping was named King of Chu. Ying Zheng personally visited Wang Jian and convinced him to come out of retirement to take command of the invasion with the 600,000 men he had originally asked for.
Wang Jian constantly sent demands of monetary rewards and gifts for his family to Ying Zheng; to his men, he confided he knew the king was paranoid and suspicious, especially of military leaders who may lead a coup, so his demands were just a show to reassure the king he was only interested in material and monetary benefits and had no aspirations forg power. Wang Jian's forces camped out in Chu and did not attack, but were not pushed back by the Chu army either. For more than a year as the two stalemated, Xiang Yan had his forces withdraw. This was what Wang Jian had waited for - his troops had not been idle within their fortifications and trained to fight in Chu territory, and as the Chu began their retreat the Qin attacked. The Chu forces were pushed back to the capital Qinan, defeated, and Xiang Yan was killed in the battle.
The last state not controlled by Qin was Qi, ruled by a young king regent, Tian Jian. The Qin had bribed the Qi chancellor to convince the regent to stay out of the Qin's wars with the other states, and now they were alone with poorly equipped, low morale troops. They mobilized to defend their borders, but Qin simply went around them and marched to the capital with little resistance. With the Qin army on his doorstep, Tian Jian surrendered peacefully.
Qin now ruled all of China, the first time the entry country was united under one banner. Thus in 221 BC Ying Zheng crowned himself Shi Huangdi - the First Emperor. Posthumously to differentiate him from other rulers that took the name, he is known as Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of Qin. As Emperor, Qin Shi Huang instituted sweeping reforms to every aspect of life. Qin's standards for measurements and weights became the international standard in the name of a unified economy and road system, and their writing became the international standard as well, though regional dialects remained. Many books were burned both to control rebellious thought and to destroy outdated writing systems, and some texts were utterly destroyed with only a single copy remaining in the palace archives. Legalism was the defining philosophy, which emphasized obedience to the law, the state, and the emperor. Other philosophies, particularly Confucianism, were outlawed, and some apocryphal stories claim that scholars of Confucious were buried alive.
Qin had no internal enemies to fight and turned their attention to the north, the Ordos region that was home to the Xiongnu nomads. Pre-emptive strikes were made to conquer and settle the region. To project China from the Xiongnu nomads, Qin Shi Huang ordered the construction of a massive wall along the country's northern borders. Previously smaller walls had been built by individual states, and the Qin linked several of them together and built more, which also necessitated the construction of roads and canals to transport building materials, labor, and equipment. The Qin wall project was a precursor to what is now widely known as the Great Wall of China. This, and many other major construction projects, were overseen by general Meng Tian.
Shortly after he took control of Qin, Ying Zheng had begun construction on his mausoleum. Now as Qin Shi Huang, and becoming increasingly paranoid and suspicious, he believed the vengeful spirits of his enemies - and he had made a LOT of enemies - would attack him in the afterlife. To protect his spirit his mausoleum became a massive necropolis that included the famous Terracotta Army. He also began to consume mercury to try and prolong his life, as mercury could dissolve gold and was believed to have supernatural properties. He ordered many expeditions to search for the Elixir of Life that could bestow immortality, and it is believed some of them settled regions on China's outskirts rather than return to admit their failure and be put to death. One such expedition was a sea voyage led by Xu Fu - apocryphal stories claim he found Japan and introduced Chinese technological and social innovations to the local people, which kickstarted the Yayoi period of Japanese history.
In 210 BC, Qin Shi Huang died while on the road. To prevent his death from being discovered, chancellor Li Si had a tray of salted fish carried in front of his palanquin to mask the smell of decay and pretended to meet with the emperor regularly, until his procession returned to the capital and his death was announced. Li Si and eunuch Zhao Gao forged the emperor's will to name his younger son Ying Huhai his heir, as his eldest son Fusu had disagreed with his father's harsh policies and was friends with Meng Tian, so they saw Fusu as a political and ideological enemy. They faked a decree order Fusu to commit suicide, which he complied with, and Meng Tian was arrested and forced to commit suicide. Huhai was a weak-minded puppet king controlled by Li Si and Zhao Gao, the latter of whom had been his tutor. Zhao Gao turned on Li Si and had him executed, and eventually assassinated Huhai as well.
By this time it was 207 BC and the country was in open revolt, though Zhao Gao concealed the magnitude of them from Huhai. When he learned the truth he summoned Zhao Gao and confronted him, but Zhao Gao had the support of the the palace guard and forced him to commit suicide. Huhai's successor, Ziying, is variably said to by a son of Huhai or Fusu, accounts vary. He refused to attend the coronation, forcing Zhao Gao to personally visit him to persuade him, at which time Ziying had a loyal eunuch kill Zhao Gao, because Ziying knew he couldn't be trusted. A footnote here, some speculate from the name that Zhao Gao was a descendant of the Zhao royal family, since his ancestry is unknown, and had deliberately been working to hasten the collapse of the Qin. Huhai was named "King" instead of "Emperor" to reflect that Qin no longer maintained control over China.
Some years earlier a small-time law officer, Liu Bang, had been escorting a force of prisoners to Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum to work there, but some of them escaped, a crime for which Liu Bang would be put to death. Instead he freed the remaining prisoners and fled, and some of the escapees joined with him in an abandoned stronghold in Chu. He maintained contact with friends in Chu, and as the Qin rebellions intensified he became a leader of anti-Qin rebels. The king of Chu promised that whomever could take the Qin heartland, Guanzhong, first, would be installed as its king. Liu Bang won that contest over Xiang Yu, the nephew of one of the king's generals, and Ziying surrendered in 206 BC.
Xiang Yu was furious that Liu Bang won the contest, as he was a peasant from nowhere, and plotted to have him assassinated at a celebratory banquet. His uncle advised against such treachery, but Xiang Yu's advisor secretly ordered his cousin to kill Liu Bang during a sword performance, which was halted when Xiang Yu's uncle joined the performance, knowing what they were conspiring. The plot was exposed and Liu Bang escaped safely. Over the coming years Xiang Yu and Liu Bang repeatedly clashed in power struggles over dividing the Qin territories and keeping the peace among the people in the rebelling states. Neither the rebel leaders nor the occupied Qin cared for Xiang Yu, who was brutal and petty, but Liu Bang was popular due to his relatively peaceful invasion and occupation of Guangzhong and the clemency he showed its people. Eventually a military alliance led by Liu Bang invaded Chu and defeated Xiang Yu, who committed suicide.
In 202 BC, Liu Bang's followers installed him as the new Emperor of China in Chu. He took the name Gaozu and founded the Han Dynasty. Under his rule, they managed to preserve much of the unification the Qin had achieved with a more moderate hand, overturned or reversed many of their more oppressive policies, and negotiated peace treaties with the Xiongnu for a time. The Han Dynasty would become an era of great prosperity and a golden age for ancient China.
...Why has the saga of the Qin's rise and fall from power not been made into a TV drama series yet!? You could get at least four, maybe five great seasons from this stuff! Forget Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, this stuff actually happened!
This is fascinating. I recall seeing a History or Discovery channel documentary on Qin, and the way they depicted him was grade A crazy monarch, especially in the lead up to his death.
I can speculate on a few reasons why shows like these aren't made often. As it is history, scholars are going to pick apart every detail, no matter how well researched the production is. Studios may not want the hassle, especially how Disney's Pocahontas fared.
There's also the potential to anger the current Chinese government, who could prevent the release of a show in one of the largest markets in the world. But, there's also the possibility of them not caring, given how the live action Mulan was all but ignored. That resent movie about the Great Wall holding back a horde of demons didn't do so well, either. Hard to tell, really.
Finally, given that this is based on true events, cool things like dragons, griffons, and other mythological creatures or supernatural elements wouldn't make it in. Well, maybe they would if they were willing to fudge it. But things like that are big draws for modern fantasy drama.
It'll be a hard sell, regardless. Especially since the cast would need to be Chinese and Western markets don't always respond, even if you get a hot white guy in there.
It seems it has, in China itself -- albeit based on an apparently romanticised novel. I have no idea whether it's ever been exported and certainly I've never seen any of it (not speaking any form of Chinese would be a teeny tiny handicap!) but given there have been four series and either 48 or 51 episodes (I'm not clear why there's a difference) it looks to have been pretty successful in its homeland.
It did take me a bit of time to settle with the groove and not get the names mixed up, but hot damn, that’s some invigorating history. It’s always fascinating how bloody and full of double-crossing, backstabbing, betrayals and attempts to show that kings are not immortal gods ancient history is, especially for a territory like China. Can give it a melodrama feel at times, but at least in this form, the abbreviated nature, focused less on character psychology and just on the heightened surface-level stakes, really elevated it.
And hay, there probably have been historical tv dramas on this in China over the decades, they just never left the country. What little I know about the trends of Chinese TV does lead me to believe many of them wouldn’t devote much overt effort to historical accuracy, but is that much different from American TV? Probably not!
EDIT: And, Logan’s comment proves my point, though I doubt that’s the only one. Maybe the only one on English Wikipedia, but hardly the only one overall.
5717151
I'm Chinese, and this drama is really very popular in China. However, due to budget issues, the subsequent episodes became more and more crude. But the quality is also very high. In addition, there is also a TV series called Eastern Zhou Lie Guo Zhi, which also has content related to Qin. My English is not very good, so I used Google Translate, please forgive me if there is something unclear.
It's great to see my favorite author taking an interest in the history of my country. The Warring States period in which the Qin State lived can be compared to ancient Greece, both of which were the most brilliant periods of philosophical thought in human history. During this period, many outstanding historical figures emerged, such as Zhang Yi, Han Feizi and Li Si, who made great contributions to China's historical development.
5717167
Thank you so much! That's very interesting. Your English is fine, so don't worry about that.
The time of pre Imperial China is certainly interesting especially the Time of the Warring States. Qin's rise to power has been used in the campaigns of the lates Stronghold game but that's not the same.