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Documentary, China s First Emperor - Qin Shi Huang The Dragon Emperor part.1
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00:01It's a story over 2,000 years old
00:04about the birth of China's first imperial dynasty.
00:08It was a time of conflict, a time of betrayal,
00:12and the lust for power.
00:19It has all the makings of a great novel, really.
00:23It's got intrigue.
00:24It's got violence, sex, mystery.
00:28At its center is Qin Shi Huang,
00:31the emperor who created a superpower out of warring factions,
00:35a controversial figure historians viewed with scorn.
00:40They portray him as irrational, deeply superstitious,
00:45incompetent, a tyrant.
00:48But is this depiction of Qin Shi Huang fact or fiction?
00:54What we know comes from the account by Sima Qian,
00:57who was actually running during the historical period
00:59following the Qin dynasty.
01:01His achievements outweigh any of his failures.
01:07Was he an incompetent ruler, a brutal tyrant,
01:11or a great leader?
01:13Now it's time to take another look at China's first emperor.
01:28246 BC, in Far East Asia, war had been raging for nearly two centuries.
01:38The collapse of a 500-year-old dynasty had unleashed a ruthless power struggle
01:43between seven rival states, each one vying for dominance,
01:48each bent on conquest.
01:52What once was the Zhou Empire had fractured into pieces.
01:56The battlefield was where disputes were resolved.
01:59Swamp!
02:00Swamp!
02:04Playing out the ambitions of their leaders,
02:07thousands of warriors engaged in a ritual of combat,
02:10wielding swords and facing their destiny.
02:14It remained to be seen which of the warring states would emerge victorious,
02:33and become the new power in the region.
02:40During the chaos, in Xi'an Yang, the capital of Qin state,
02:50on the western border of the crumbling dynasty,
02:53a new king was crowned.
02:56His ascension to the throne was unexpected,
02:59and, to some within the kingdom, represented an opportunity.
03:04This new king was 13 years old,
03:07ill-equipped for the responsibilities of being a monarch.
03:13He inherited a palace rife with intrigue, deception, and duplicity.
03:19Few believed he could guarantee his own safety,
03:22let alone control the fate of his kingdom.
03:26But this seemingly unremarkable heir would do what no ruler had done before,
03:31make one nation from the remnants of a broken empire.
03:36His name was Ying Zheng, later to be called Qin Shi Huang.
03:42But there's little we know of him.
03:45The primary source for Qin Shi Huang's life is this Han Dynasty text called
03:52Records of the Grand Historian, written by Sima Qian.
03:56Written, as it turns out, more than a century after Qin Shi Huang died.
04:02And it really is a magnificent text.
04:05It's very compelling.
04:07It's full of detail and dialogue.
04:10And it has all the makings of a great novel, really.
04:15But is that text accurate?
04:18According to Sima Qian, living with the young ruler was Zhang's widowed mother, Queen Dowager Zhao.
04:30She was the only person the young boy king could trust.
04:34Or so it seemed.
04:37What he didn't know was beneath his mother's serene gaze, there lurked a dark motive.
04:43She installed a palace minister to act as his advisor.
04:48An influential ally who would allow the queen access to her son's royal power.
04:53His name was Lubuei.
04:56The man who had introduced the queen when she was a lowly concubine to the previous king.
05:03So when the young king first ascended the throne, he was just a teenager.
05:08And it would have been common practice at that time to have appointed a regent for rulers who had not yet come of age.
05:15As regent and advisor to Ying Zhang, Lubuei was the most influential man in the palace.
05:23The power behind the throne, who would rule the kingdom from the shadows.
05:29But he had a secret of his own to hide.
05:33He was Queen Zhao's lover, and the likely father of the young king.
05:38Lubuei was concerned the young king would find out about his affair with the queen,
05:44which he feared would cost him his position in the court.
05:47To conceal his relationship with the queen, Lubuei looked for a man who could replace him in the queen's bedroom.
05:57A man he could trust and his queen would accept.
06:04Lubuei found a well-endowed man and paraded him about so that Ying Zhang's mother's lasciviousness would be aroused.
06:16At first, Lui disguised himself as a eunuch.
06:26So he could enter the queen's chamber without suspicion and ultimately capture her heart.
06:31Lu Buwei's scheme worked at first.
06:37Lu Buwei disguised himself as a eunuch
06:39so he could enter the queen's chamber without suspicion
06:42and ultimately capture her heart.
06:51The queen was a willing accomplice in Lu Buwei's plan.
06:56Away from prying eyes, she and Lu Buwei began a torrid affair
07:00that fueled a plot to overthrow her son, the king.
07:08Betrayals coming from within the palace
07:10were perils young Zhang had to anticipate.
07:15He may have possessed a king's power,
07:17but being a teenager,
07:19he was too inexperienced to use it effectively.
07:22As a result, he had to rely on Lu Buwei's advice,
07:26which may not have always been in his best interests.
07:30Despite the constant state of war in the region,
07:33Ying Zhang had inherited a kingdom that was steadily growing.
07:37There were talented generals,
07:39there were wise ministers already in place,
07:42and Lu Buwei was among them.
07:45So while Ying Zhang was a teenager,
07:49the Qin state continued to grow and consolidate land
07:52and become more and more powerful.
07:58But the end to centuries of war was still off in the future.
08:04Rival states were consumed in battling each other for survival
08:07and for supremacy.
08:15It would take a bold leader with fearless vision
08:18to rise above the fray
08:20and seize victory from his enemies.
08:23Eight years later, 238 B.C.
08:38The affair between the queen and her lover had flourished.
08:44Lu Buwei no longer pretended to be a servile eunuch.
08:47With the queen's support, he was now a powerful man.
08:53And the pair secretly had two sons together.
08:58But Luau Ai wanted more than lavish palace comforts.
09:02He had his sights set on a bigger prize.
09:07Luau Ai had 3,000 men under him
09:10and was recruiting more all the time.
09:12He wanted to seize Ying Zhang's throne for himself.
09:18But Luau Ai underestimated the now 22-year-old king.
09:25Ying Zhang got word of the planned coup.
09:39Lu Buwei's matchmaking was about to backfire.
09:43Leaving him exposed to the wrath of an outraged king.
09:50When his plot to overthrow King Ying Zhang was discovered,
09:55Luau Ai decided to make his move.
09:59Without the element of surprise,
10:02he and his followers rode toward the palace,
10:04intent on making a preemptive strike.
10:07But the king was no longer a naive teenager.
10:17He had learned from his palace ministers
10:19and military advisors
10:21and had carefully planned a response.
10:27The king saw his chance
10:29to eliminate both Luau Ai,
10:31who was after his throne,
10:33and Lu Buwei,
10:34his scheming, too-powerful regent.
10:40Ying Zhang anticipated that Luau Ai
10:43would try to storm the palace
10:44by entering the front gate.
10:51He set a trap,
10:53and Luau Ai and the rebels fell into it.
10:55Lui Ai could only wonder
11:06who had orchestrated the attack.
11:09Then he spotted Lu Buwei,
11:11the man responsible for his rise in the palace.
11:14The co-conspirators were now mortal enemies.
11:27Lu Buwei never thought that Luau Ai
11:29would pose a threat to his power in the court.
11:33But now, he saw that if he didn't help stop
11:36Luau Ai's plan to overthrow Ying Zhang,
11:38he could lose everything.
11:40So that's why Lu Buwei sided with the king
11:45against Luau Ai.
11:46It was all about preserving his position
11:48in the kingdom.
11:54To fail in a palace coup
11:56is to invite the most severe punishment.
12:01Luau Ai, the queen's lover,
12:03paid a terrible price
12:04for daring to plot against the king.
12:10Laue Ai and 3,000 of his men
12:28were executed or exiled by Ying Zhang.
12:34But Ying Zhang didn't stop there.
12:37He had the sons of Laue Ai and his mother killed
12:40to keep them from one day
12:42seeking revenge against him.
12:46In a gesture of mercy,
12:48Ying Zhang spared his mother
12:50but placed her under house arrest.
12:54Now he had one last conspirator to deal with.
12:59Lu Buwei, his advisor
13:01and the mastermind of the match
13:03between Laue Ai and the queen
13:04would have to pay for his betrayal.
13:08Ying Zhang dealt with Lu Buwei at once.
13:11He sentenced him to exile
13:12in Sichuan province
13:14where Lu Buwei later committed suicide
13:16by drinking a cup of poisoned wine.
13:19So here,
13:20for the first time since taking the throne,
13:23Ying Zhang showed his willingness
13:25to act for himself.
13:28It was a turning point
13:30in the growth of the young ruler.
13:31The moment when Ying Zhang becomes
13:35the king of Qin
13:37and this powerful man
13:39is the moment at which Lu Buwei
13:42decides to drink poison
13:45and kill himself,
13:46realizing that he had angered
13:49what had now become
13:50the world's most powerful man.
13:54Ying Zhang went on to unveil
13:57an ambitious plan
13:58to unify the seven warring states
14:00into one.
14:03He began to appoint men of ability,
14:06guest officers,
14:07regardless of their background
14:08and origin.
14:10One of the first was Li Su.
14:14Originally from the Chu state,
14:16Li Su had a superb legal mind
14:18and would later draw up
14:20the ruling ideology
14:21of the Qin empire.
14:23Here we have an example
14:28of the first emperor
14:30allowing someone
14:31who came from an enemy state
14:34to serve him in a close position
14:36because he recognized
14:38that Li Su was someone
14:41who could be of use.
14:44Ying Zhang promoted
14:45another talented foreigner,
14:47Zhang Gua,
14:48a hydraulic engineer
14:49from the nearby Han state.
14:53In this case,
14:55what the first emperor
14:56wished to have Zhang Gua
14:59build for him
15:00was a canal
15:02that could be used
15:03to transform
15:05the area,
15:07the plain around
15:09the capital of Qin
15:11into a fertile area.
15:15However,
15:16the canal project
15:17hit a snag
15:18from the very start.
15:20Ying Zhang learned
15:22that Zhang Gua,
15:23whom he trusted,
15:25was actually a spy
15:26from the Han state
15:27sent to divert Qin's resources
15:29to wasteful projects.
15:35The king's most powerful advisors
15:37urged him to expel
15:39all foreign officers
15:40from the state.
15:43But then Li Su
15:45from the Chu state
15:46weighed in.
15:48He risked expulsion
15:50by writing a petition
15:51arguing that foreigners
15:53like himself
15:54were needed
15:55if Ying Zhang
15:56was to achieve his dream
15:57of unifying the states.
15:59Li Su's petition
16:04was persuasive.
16:06Instead of expelling Zhang Gua,
16:12the king ordered him
16:13to continue building the canal.
16:19Li Su's petition
16:20was persuasive.
16:22Instead of expelling Zhang Gua,
16:24the king ordered him
16:26to continue building
16:27the canal.
16:32Many of the king's advisors
16:34urged him
16:35to expel all foreigners.
16:37But Ying Zhang
16:38rejected the idea.
16:39He was convinced
16:40that accepting them
16:41in his kingdom
16:42and using their talents
16:43was of greater benefit.
16:48Ying Zhang's decision
16:49to welcome foreigners
16:50would alter the course
16:52of Chinese history.
16:55The canal
16:56that Zhang Gua
16:57completed
16:57made the Guangzhou plain
17:00into fertile land.
17:02And as agricultural
17:03production increased,
17:05the Qing kingdom
17:06grew richer
17:06than other states.
17:12With his treasury
17:13overflowing,
17:15Ying Zhang
17:15was determined
17:16to make his dream
17:17of uniting the warring states
17:18a reality.
17:22He reportedly recruited
17:26a million men
17:27to become soldiers,
17:29supplying them
17:30with the latest weapons
17:31and training them
17:32in the art of war.
17:34The result
17:35was a formidable
17:36fighting machine.
17:44It would take time,
17:46but Ying Zhang's warriors
17:47were ready to mobilize.
17:48A million men
17:57stood poised
17:58to sacrifice their lives
18:00to fight their enemies
18:01on the battlefield
18:02and build Ying Zhang's
18:04mighty empire.
18:09In 230 B.C.,
18:11the 29-year-old
18:12King of Qin
18:13embarked on an epic
18:15campaign of conquest.
18:16He wanted to create
18:18an empire out
18:19of the pieces
18:20of the crumbling
18:21Zhou dynasty.
18:22And now,
18:24he had the army
18:24to do it.
18:26The King's forces
18:27numbered over a million
18:28men,
18:29had a vast arsenal
18:30of weapons,
18:31and knew only
18:32one battle strategy
18:33to attack.
18:35The first target
18:46in Ying Zhang's plan
18:47was the neighboring
18:48state of Han
18:49to the east.
18:51In the past,
18:53the states
18:53of the Zhou dynasty
18:54created a series
18:56of alliances
18:56and coalitions
18:57to protect themselves
18:59against the threat
19:00of a powerful enemy.
19:02It worked
19:03for a while,
19:04but things
19:05were different
19:05this time.
19:08Diplomacy
19:09proved useless
19:10against the
19:10Qin war machine.
19:13In little time,
19:14the Han state fell.
19:19Then,
19:21Ying Zhang
19:21set his sights
19:22on another neighbor,
19:23Zhao state.
19:26Blood flowed freely
19:28on the battlefield.
19:33But the Qin military
19:34was such a powerful
19:35fighting force
19:36that the other kingdoms
19:37grew desperate
19:38to come up with strategies
19:39to counteract them.
19:41One of them
19:43was the kingdom
19:44of Yan.
19:49Two years
19:50into the war,
19:51diplomats from Yan
19:52arrived in Qin.
19:54Their declared purpose
19:56was to make amends
19:57with the Qin state
19:58and negotiate a peace.
20:01As proof,
20:02the Yan envoys
20:03came bearing gifts
20:05for Ying Zhang.
20:08The envoy,
20:10Jing Ke,
20:10brought a box
20:11containing the severed head
20:13of a Qin general
20:13who years earlier
20:15had fled to Yan
20:17after betraying
20:18the Qin state.
20:18Jin Ke also brought
20:32a map of the Yan lands
20:34to be presented
20:35to the ruler
20:35as a gesture signifying
20:37the peaceful surrender
20:38of the state.
20:43But hidden within the map
20:45was a surprise.
20:47while Ying Zhang
20:58avoided the poison dagger,
21:00he was on his own
21:01against the assassin.
21:04The king's ministers
21:06are not able
21:07to come to his aid
21:08because there's a law
21:10that says
21:10they must ask permission
21:12to move about
21:13the throne room
21:13and they're not allowed
21:14to carry weapons either.
21:18Ying Zhang
21:18eluded Jing Ke.
21:21Then,
21:22sword in hand,
21:23he killed him.
21:30Despite escaping
21:31unharmed,
21:32the assassination attempt
21:34infuriated the king.
21:35enraged,
21:40he ordered his army
21:41to retaliate
21:42by speeding up
21:43the war
21:43against his adversaries.
21:49The slaughter began.
21:56The neighboring states
21:58were no match
21:58for Qin's massive army
22:00of skillfully trained soldiers.
22:02ten years passed.
22:07One by one,
22:09the Qin armies
22:09conquered the six
22:10neighboring states
22:11that battled
22:12for the past
22:13200 years.
22:16Ying Zhang's dream
22:17of creating an empire
22:18became a reality.
22:21People had thought
22:22about an empire
22:24that occupied
22:26in effect
22:27the whole world,
22:28but it was Ying Zhang
22:30who actually created it.
22:33And by doing so,
22:35he created an ideal
22:36that would remain
22:39important
22:39for the remainder
22:41of Chinese history
22:43up until
22:44the present day.
22:48221 B.C.
22:52A massive crowd
22:54gathered for a coronation ceremony
22:56in the capital of Qin
22:57where, at 38 years old,
23:00Ying Zhang
23:01named himself
23:02Qin Shi Huang,
23:03the first emperor
23:04of a vast new territory,
23:07a territory we now know
23:08as China.
23:13The title of emperor
23:15meant that there was now
23:16one and only one sovereign,
23:19a declaration
23:20that the entire country
23:21was under his rule.
23:26This was the birth of China,
23:28a land of warring states
23:29that was now
23:30one nation.
23:34It was the dawn
23:36of a new era.
23:39Ying Zhang's assumption
23:40of the title
23:40the Auguste first emperor
23:42of Qin
23:42or Qin Shi Huang
23:43is crucial
23:44because it suggests to us
23:46that he no longer
23:47saw himself
23:48merely as a terrestrial king,
23:50but rather
23:52he saw his role
23:53as being elevated
23:54to that
23:54of the ruler
23:55of an empire
23:56and a role
23:58that could be viewed
23:59perhaps
23:59on cosmic proportions.
24:02But as emperor,
24:03Qin Shi Huang
24:04still faced
24:05many challenges.
24:07Among them
24:08was the need
24:09to bring together
24:09people from different
24:10states and cultures
24:11under a single system
24:13to consolidate
24:14his realm.
24:16It's pretty clear
24:17that he recognized
24:19that what he was doing
24:20had never been done before.
24:22It was important
24:23to him
24:23that people
24:24not think of themselves
24:25as loyal
24:26to former kingdoms
24:27but rather loyal
24:28to the Qin empire.
24:33Unification began
24:34with a change
24:35in the system
24:35of government.
24:39Qin Shi Huang
24:40abolished feudalism,
24:42dividing the empire
24:43into 36 prefectures
24:45or provinces
24:45which were placed
24:47under his direct control.
24:49This centralization
24:50of power
24:51was unprecedented.
24:54Officials were appointed
24:55to positions
24:55on the basis
24:56of merit and ability
24:57rather than on
24:58hereditary rights
24:59or family ties.
25:02This system,
25:04known as legalism,
25:06represented a break
25:07from previous traditions.
25:08The early legalists
25:14viewed humans
25:16as essentially selfish
25:17but not necessarily
25:19in a bad way.
25:21They thought
25:22the state
25:22could harness
25:23this selfishness
25:24and allow
25:26their subjects
25:27to pursue
25:28their desires
25:29and passions
25:30in the service
25:32of the state.
25:34Qin Shi Huang
25:35had to overcome
25:36fierce opposition
25:37from powerful ministers
25:39for his reformations
25:40to succeed.
25:42To do so,
25:44he relied on Li Su,
25:46who served
25:46as his prime minister
25:47and wrote many
25:49of Qin's new laws.
25:52Qin didn't emphasize
25:55ritual and tradition
25:58but instead
25:59they emphasized law
26:01and the importance
26:03of law codes
26:04of something
26:05that didn't vary
26:08or change
26:09according to family
26:11or according
26:12to local place.
26:13This is something
26:14introduced
26:14by the Qin.
26:17In 1975,
26:19archaeologists
26:20got a first-hand look
26:21at Qin's legal system
26:23when over a thousand
26:24bamboo slips
26:25were found
26:26in a small village
26:27in Hunan province.
26:29Analysis revealed
26:31that the laws
26:31were written
26:32during Qin Shi Huang's reign.
26:36The bamboo slips
26:37demonstrate
26:38how extensive
26:39and strict
26:39the laws were
26:40at the time.
26:43They regulated
26:44people's lives closely
26:46and harsh punishments
26:47were meted out
26:48to violators.
26:57There were also
26:58other changes
26:59in store
26:59for the empire.
27:02Li Su standardized
27:03weights
27:04and measurements.
27:07Units of volume,
27:08length,
27:08and weight
27:08were made uniform
27:10to simplify
27:11trade and tax collection.
27:14Qin Shi Huang
27:14continued his
27:16standardization policy
27:17throughout the empire.
27:24This is the
27:25Banliang coin
27:26of the Qin.
27:27At the time,
27:32different regions
27:32of the country
27:33used different
27:34types of currency.
27:37Qin Shi Huang
27:38unified the currency
27:39with Banliang coins,
27:42making buying
27:42and selling
27:43easier throughout China.
27:45But that wasn't
27:46the last
27:47of the emperor's changes.
27:52Among the reforms
27:53that Qin Shi Huang
27:54introduced
27:55to unify China,
27:56one stood
27:57as the most challenging.
28:06Each state
28:09in the newly created empire
28:10had its own form
28:11of writing,
28:12which made communication
28:13between them difficult.
28:16This was the biggest
28:17stumbling block
28:18to enforcing Qin's
28:19new laws and policies.
28:20It was important
28:29to unify the writing system
28:30as quickly as possible.
28:33The emperor
28:34sent scholars
28:35to each province
28:36to teach
28:37the Qin script.
28:40Since writing systems
28:41express thought
28:42and culture,
28:43Qin Shi Huang
28:44knew that without
28:45a unified script,
28:47his empire
28:47could dissolve
28:48into chaos,
28:50posing a universal
28:51written language
28:52made for better communication
28:54and acceptance
28:55of policies.
28:58These characters
28:59mean horse
29:00in the varying scripts
29:02of each state.
29:04Qin Shi Huang
29:05unified them
29:06with the Qin script.
29:08The significance
29:09of introducing
29:10a standardized system
29:11of writing
29:12cannot be overstated
29:13because it facilitated
29:15greatly the new
29:16system bureaucracy
29:17that was introduced
29:18under Qin Shi Huang.
29:21Many of the standardized
29:22Chinese characters
29:23established during
29:24the Qin dynasty
29:25have survived
29:26to the present day.
29:29Qin Shi Huang
29:30had achieved
29:30what many had dreamed
29:32but no one
29:33had done before,
29:34uniting the warring states
29:36into a single nation.
29:39He created a new society
29:41based not on custom
29:42and tradition
29:43but on a powerful
29:44central government
29:45and the rule of law.
29:49Yet despite
29:50this achievement
29:51Qin Shi Huang
29:52has been portrayed
29:53throughout 2,000 years
29:55of history
29:55as a cruel
29:56and brutal tyrant.
30:04Some ancient records
30:05claim the emperor
30:07ordered the burning
30:07of books
30:08that he believed
30:09criticized his rule
30:10or undermined
30:11his power.
30:12he was also said
30:15to have decreed
30:15that dissident scholars
30:17be buried alive.
30:21The reasons
30:22for book burning
30:23essentially suppressing
30:25freedom of thought
30:26and speech
30:26were political.
30:30The emperor
30:31was concerned
30:32about the spread
30:33of ideas
30:33opposing his
30:34reformation policies
30:35and challenging
30:37the legitimacy
30:37of his rule.
30:39Yet historians today
30:41question whether
30:42wholesale book burnings
30:43actually occurred.
30:45We doubt very much
30:47that if the burning
30:49of the books
30:49ever happened
30:50that it really
30:51represented a burning
30:53of all of literature.
30:55I think we should,
30:56if it happened,
30:58we should take it
30:59as an example
31:00of a government
31:03wanting to control
31:05information,
31:07wanting to define
31:09what is right
31:11and what is wrong,
31:13to create
31:14a kind of orthodoxy.
31:17And I think
31:18there's nothing
31:20especially unique
31:21in that.
31:23Every country,
31:25every civilization
31:27wants to be able
31:29to tell its story
31:31the way they
31:33want to tell it.
31:35According to
31:36the historical accounts,
31:38the Qin dynasty
31:39did not destroy
31:40all books.
31:43Some copies
31:44of forbidden texts
31:45were preserved
31:46in the emperor's
31:47imperial archives.
31:49Writings on medicine,
31:51farming,
31:51technology,
31:52and astronomy
31:53were known
31:54to be kept
31:54in the palace.
31:55It's evidence
31:57that Qin Shi Huang
31:58did value
31:59practical knowledge.
32:02But more disturbing
32:04than book burnings
32:05are accounts
32:06of the emperor's
32:07brutality,
32:08designed to enforce
32:09obedience
32:09through intimidation.
32:12According to
32:13the records
32:14of historians
32:15writing after
32:16the fall
32:16of the Qin dynasty,
32:18Qin Shi Huang
32:19ordered that
32:19460 Confucian
32:21scholars
32:22who owned
32:23copies of
32:23forbidden books
32:24were to be
32:25buried alive.
32:29But these accounts
32:31were written
32:31over a century
32:32after the burials
32:33were to have occurred,
32:34which leads historians
32:36to doubt
32:37their validity.
32:39And since
32:40in Chinese history,
32:42there's a long-standing
32:43practice
32:43of dynastic histories
32:45being written
32:46by
32:46the successor
32:49dynasties,
32:50the view
32:51that is presented
32:52of Qin Shi Huang
32:53by Sima Qian,
32:55who was actually
32:55writing during
32:56the historical period
32:57following the Qin dynasty,
32:59presents a ruler
33:00who was a tyrant.
33:03Whenever people
33:04talked about
33:05bad rulers,
33:07bad kings
33:08in the past,
33:09one of the things
33:10they would say
33:11about a bad ruler
33:13or a bad king
33:14was that this
33:15was a person
33:15who had no respect
33:17for scholars
33:18and buried them
33:19or burned documents.
33:21And so,
33:22in effect,
33:23what we're told
33:25about the first emperor
33:27is just part
33:28of a tradition
33:29of criticizing rulers
33:32that you don't like.
33:34And so,
33:35in my view,
33:36I don't think
33:36we can give
33:37very much historical weight
33:39to those claims
33:41made against
33:42the first emperor.
33:46Rather than being
33:48a cruel tyrant,
33:49it's likely
33:50that Qin Shi Huang
33:51was a target
33:52of political propaganda
33:53created by the Han dynasty
33:55that succeeded his.
33:59Its purpose
34:00was to discredit
34:01the Qin dynasty
34:02and by doing so,
34:04justify and elevate
34:05its own existence.
34:06All of our sources
34:09for Qin dynasty history
34:11come from
34:12the subsequent dynasty,
34:14the Han dynasty.
34:15And so,
34:16we always have to sort of
34:17take them
34:18with a grain of salt
34:19considering
34:20that they
34:21consistently portray
34:23Qin dynasty ministers
34:26and Qin Shi Huang
34:27himself
34:28as somewhat tyrannical,
34:31somewhat opportunistic,
34:33and ultimately
34:34a failure.
34:36Many of today's scholars
34:40see Qin Shi Huang
34:41in a different light.
34:45Qin Shi Huang
34:46is often portrayed
34:48as an evil tyrant.
34:51But actually,
34:52he was a king
34:53who was more fair-minded
34:54than he's given credit for.
34:56He didn't tolerate
34:57corruption from bureaucrats,
34:59especially when it came
35:00at the expense
35:01of the people.
35:01I think we should re-evaluate
35:06how we view Qin Shi Huang.
35:13By virtue of his military
35:14and political prowess,
35:16Qin Shi Huang
35:17ended centuries
35:18of conflict
35:19and brought peace
35:20to the constantly
35:21warring states.
35:24During his 12-year reign,
35:26he journeyed
35:26throughout his realm
35:27in the company
35:28of his army
35:29to inspect
35:30the nation
35:30he had built.
35:32But he also had
35:33a personal reason
35:34for undertaking
35:35these tours.
35:37He wanted to live
35:38as long as possible.
35:40He wanted to prolong
35:41his lifetime.
35:43And so,
35:44one of the reasons
35:45for making these
35:48expeditions
35:51around his empire
35:52was to look for
35:55the secrets
35:57of immortality
35:58that would enable
36:00the first emperor
36:01to extend
36:02his lifetime
36:03and extend
36:05his reign
36:06so that he could
36:07continue
36:08to rule
36:09over his empire.
36:12As he traveled
36:14through his empire,
36:15Qin Shi Huang
36:16had stone monuments
36:17called stele
36:18erected
36:19to commemorate
36:20his tours.
36:23Engraved on them
36:24are his decrees,
36:25achievements,
36:26and exploits,
36:27the only written
36:28records from the time.
36:32But even after
36:33forming a mighty
36:34superpower,
36:36Qin Shi Huang's realm
36:37was not free
36:38from outside threats.
36:43And it led him
36:45to undertake
36:45one of the ancient
36:46world's most extensive
36:48construction projects
36:49to defend
36:50his nation.
36:58The Great Wall of China,
37:01erected as a
37:01defensive perimeter
37:02against enemies
37:03attacking from the north,
37:05has become
37:06Qin Shi Huang's
37:07most visible legacy.
37:09Today,
37:10it draws some
37:1110 million visitors
37:12a year.
37:15Portions of the wall
37:16had already existed,
37:17built by rulers
37:18of the states,
37:19Qin Shi Huang
37:20had conquered.
37:22The emperor's plan
37:23was to connect
37:24those walls
37:25with newly built
37:26barricades,
37:27a project involving
37:28as many as a million
37:29of his subjects
37:30working over many years.
37:33And so he set
37:35about consolidating
37:36these pre-existing
37:38walls of other kingdoms.
37:40They weren't the brick
37:42and stone wall
37:43we know now.
37:44That was primarily
37:45a project
37:46of the Ming dynasty.
37:48The Qin dynasty wall
37:50was tamped earth,
37:52essentially setting up
37:54wooden frameworks
37:56and tamping earth
37:58between them
37:59and then raising the frame
38:01to the desired height.
38:05Once completed,
38:07the Great Wall
38:08formed a vast structure
38:09running over 5,000 miles,
38:12a monument
38:12to Qin Shi Huang's vision
38:14of a great Chinese empire.
38:17His final
38:19great construction project
38:20was creating
38:21a national network
38:22of roads.
38:26Two thousand years later,
38:28these magnificent roads
38:30testify to the splendor
38:32of the Qin dynasty.
38:33The emperor probably traveled
38:37along this roadway
38:38on his inspection tours.
38:45The empire
38:46that Qin Shi Huang created
38:48was centered around
38:49the Yellow River
38:50and stretched
38:51from the Great Wall
38:52in the north
38:52to the borders
38:53of Vietnam in the south.
38:57His accomplishments
38:58are staggering.
38:59In just over
39:03two decades of rule,
39:04Qin Shi Huang
39:05laid the foundation
39:06of China
39:07that would last
39:08for the next
39:092,000 years.
39:14Once a vulnerable
39:1513-year-old king
39:16controlled by others,
39:18Ying Zhang survived
39:19treachery in the palace,
39:21outwitted his enemies,
39:22and became
39:23a powerful leader.
39:24After a decade-long war,
39:31he unified China
39:32and built an empire.
39:35Despite a reputation
39:37that portrayed him
39:38as a tyrant,
39:39Qin Shi Huang
39:40has emerged
39:41as a ruler
39:41who transformed
39:43the world
39:43he was born into.
39:47His achievements
39:48outweigh
39:49any of his failures.
39:50some say
39:53that he was
39:54too harsh
39:55and that his
39:55massive building projects
39:56may have sped up
39:57the fall
39:58of the Qing Empire.
40:00Others are even
40:01more dismissive,
40:02saying he burned books
40:03and killed scholars.
40:07But if we look
40:08at his entire reign,
40:09we can see
40:10that he devoted
40:11his life
40:11to the development
40:12of China
40:12as a nation.
40:14In my view,
40:15he certainly wasn't
40:16the tyrant
40:16the historical records
40:17claimed that he was.
40:18to 10 BC,
40:2312 years
40:24after China
40:24was unified.
40:27Qin Shi Huang
40:28was on another quest,
40:30this time
40:30for immortality.
40:35Now 50 years old,
40:37the emperor
40:37was exhausted
40:38from overwork
40:39and weakened
40:40from ingesting
40:41mercury pills,
40:42which he believed
40:43would make him immortal.
40:48on a hot summer day,
40:54during a tour
40:54of eastern China,
40:56the emperor died.
40:58Not in his royal palace,
41:00but in his carriage.
41:04The exact cause
41:06of death
41:06was never revealed,
41:07though it's thought
41:08mercury poisoning
41:09likely played a part
41:10in his demise.
41:11The emperor's body
41:14was returned
41:15to the Qin capital
41:16and then laid to rest
41:18in his mausoleum
41:19under the man-made mountain
41:21in nearby Xi'an Yang.
41:28The funeral procession
41:30entered a tomb
41:31that was the stuff
41:32of wonder.
41:34A lavish,
41:35divinely inspired
41:36replica of his empire
41:37awaited him underground,
41:39a world he believed
41:40he would rule
41:41in the afterlife
41:42for eternity.
41:47Records from historian
41:49Sima Qiyan
41:50claim that it took
41:51700,000 workers
41:5338 years
41:54to build the mausoleum.
41:56Joining him
41:57in the afterlife
41:58were many priceless treasures,
42:00including rare birds
42:01and animals,
42:02as well as his
42:03childless wives,
42:04all sealed
42:05with Qin Shi Huang
42:06in his burial chamber.
42:10A ruler who dreamed
42:15of immortality,
42:16he also had an army
42:17of terracotta warriors
42:19buried nearby
42:20to protect him
42:21in the afterlife
42:22and enhance his legacy.
42:26Qin Shi Huang
42:27has had a great influence
42:28over the last 2,000 years
42:30of China's history.
42:32Many of the systems
42:33and policies
42:34that he originated
42:35during his reign
42:35are still in place today.
42:37He is the one figure
42:41who cannot be left out
42:42of any record
42:43of Chinese history.
42:46Just four years
42:48after Qin Shi Huang died,
42:49the dynasty
42:50he established
42:51collapsed.
42:53But the nation
42:55he created
42:55lived on
42:56and still exists
42:57today.
43:00China is a country
43:02of 1.4 billion people
43:04comprising 55 different
43:06ethnic groups
43:07who speak
43:08120 different languages.
43:13Home to this rich diversity,
43:15for the past 2,000 years,
43:17it's remained
43:18one nation.
43:20We should keep in mind
43:22that the boundaries
43:24of empire
43:25that Ying Zheng created
43:28are more or less
43:30the boundaries
43:31of modern-day China.
43:34China now enjoys
43:35the greatest economic
43:36prosperity
43:37in its history.
43:39Scholars tell us
43:40the essential principles
43:41and beliefs
43:42of Qin Shi Huang
43:43are still woven
43:44into the fabric
43:45of the nation.
43:47I think it's safe
43:48to say
43:48that perhaps
43:50the most important
43:51legacy
43:52of Qin Shi Huang
43:53is the idea
43:54of empire itself.
44:00and yet
44:01theomb occ
44:15of Qin Shi Huang
44:15is a Palestinian
44:17attorney
44:17in the future
44:18and yet
44:18across the rest
44:19of the country
44:20and then
44:21they meet
44:21one nation.
44:23customer
44:23want to
44:24invent
44:25the
44:26by
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