The First Emperor of China's Ridiculously Dramatic Life

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Historical Sources:
Records of the Grand Historian 史记 by Sima Qian 司马迁 (c. Western Han dynasty)
Strategies of the Warring States 战国策 (Unknown author)
Qin Mysteries 秦迷 by Li Kaiyuan 李开元
Image Sources:
The Qin Empire III & IV (C-Dramas) 大秦帝国 3&4
Beauty Hao Lan (C-Drama) 皓镧传
The King's Woman (C-Drama) 秦时丽人明月心
Eastern Valley of the Kings (Documentary) 东方帝王谷
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The Maps: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...
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[@AccentedCinema]

To me, the most tragic part of his life and death is his inclusion in the utter travesty that is The Mummy 3 (2008).

[@XiranJayZhao]

LMAO I actually reference this in Zachary Ying Qin Shi Huang: "I was played by Jet Li. It was worth it."

[@Nolaris3]

There's a long running manga called "Kingdom" that has an intense portrayal of the warring states period with a young King Ying Zheng. The battles are really cool but mind that the portrayal of the king is "extremely generous" Note: Didn't get to the part where she mentioned it. Oops 😬

[@BerylLx]

Casting of Michelle Yeo only gets a movie so far if the script is bad. A lesson that Shang Chi didn't learn.

[@MarcoMiyoshi]

This made me laugh out loud for real

[@origamipein18]

Ugh! We do not speak of that abomination! DX

[@palyername]

he was responsible for a lot of brutality, but keeping in mind that he was surrounded by people literally cannibalizing each other and making fires with each other's bones for the first 9 years of his life, it makes sense that his threshold for "maybe a bit much" was *extremely* high

[@vespernight4236]

I do feel like when people judge historical figures, they forget to factor in things like trauma. And how the way society was run back then probably didn’t raise the most mentally stable people.

[@seafood_hater]

@@vespernight4236 Agreed. People tend to ignore context when they make judgments.

[@raychances6251]

@@seafood_hater definitely context is a huge thing - judging people outside of their own contexts is just not a useful thing to do, most of the time

[@dundundun7215]

@@mklf626 So were people around him, i mean he was just a king, a figurehead, there must have been a lot more shady shit happening around him than the ones he is personally responsible for

[@palyername]

@@mklf626 "he committed atrocities" and "his childhood explains a lot" are not mutually exclusive statements!

[@LevelOneWretch]

In high school world history I waited in anticipation for the section on China so I could learn about the history of my family’s culture. The day came when we were supposed to turn to that part in the textbook but my teacher said “No. We are skipping that section. It’s too long anyway so we won’t be able to finish in time.” Instead, he made us learn about bovine growth hormones for several weeks because he was on a news segment about them. Needless to say, your videos are filling that void left by the public school system I grew up in. Thank you, I really appreciate it.

[@cl9455]

Sht man that was hilarious and sad at the same time.

[@MiraPloy]

You can read the textbook yourself or get more books in the library or bookstore or something. Seriously I read the entire history textbook by the first week of getting it pretty much every year.

[@alylu-to-esutej]

We skipped the whole cool section on ancient history just to talk about the French Revolution for a quarter and it was the biggest disappointment for a "world" history class

[@ainniask]

​@@cl9455 mpa

[@sydneyslaughter7163]

I didn’t learn anything about China in school. No history, no geography, nothing. Know where I got all my current knowledge? Kung Fu movies. I learned about the Japanese occupation of China from a Brucesploitation flick!

[@kevinleugan6037]

You know I think it would be very cool for a tv series to be made on the first emperor from the perspective of a supervillain success story. Like a multi-season show that features primary figures from each warring state as main characters in each season and documenting their eventual death or defeat at the hands of a recurring supervillain. Since history is told by the victor, the first emperor is undoubtedly more often regarded as a hero of sorts nowadays, but surely he was more feared and hated than loved back in his days and many of his documented acts would very much be considered villainous by today's standards.

[@talhasidd]

The only thing which come close to this is the anime "Kingdom" .. but be warned! The art style in the first season will make your eyes bleed .. but it gets better afterwards

[@gorilladisco9108]

Umm .. where do you think she got the pictures from? Qin imperial archives? Of course not. 😀 There were several tv series made about the life and time of Ying Zheng. HK-TVB made one in the 1980s and those pictures she used was from CCTV made tv series.

[@sargampareek2774]

@@gorilladisco9108 you really made me chuckle. I saw a TV series without realizing who it was about. I thought it was just a fictional time period drama but when Yiren became crown prince, I just googled him and realized what I was watching.

[@Aditya-gb2bw]

@@talhasidd just read the manga. It's superior in ever way

[@anastasyavie6236]

I think there is a romance drama about Qin Shi Huang where he is the bad guy, even if he is the protagonist. I think it called the king's woman.

[@agatha6999]

That assassination attempt from Jing Ke is so ridiculous to imagine like Im just picturing this man with a knife chasing the emperor who is trying to pull out a sword taller than me as his officials are screaming conflicting instructions on what to do until one doctor goes "I CANT TAKE IT" and chucks a bag of medicine at the assassin. The doctor must've felt real proud of themselves when the bag of medicine they threw actually helped save the emperor's life.

[@HanQ28]

That doctor was probably like: “I got into this profession to save lives, but not in this way……”

[@agatha6999]

HanQ26 Doctor now advertises being able to save lives from illnesses, flesh wounds and assassination attempts currently ongoing.

[@XiranJayZhao]

Yeah that doctor's name was Xia Wuju and after the assassination it's said that Ying Zheng sat on his throne staring into nothing for a long while before saying "ONLY XIA WUJU LOVES ME" and giving him 200 gold 😂

[@xv1distort]

I need to see a dead ass serious recreation of this set to old slapstick music.

[@agatha6999]

Xiran Jay Zhao 😂 Ying Zheng: I’m disowning all of you, I only have Xia Wuju now

[@vwgames49]

This guy was a real life Main Character

[@mitacestalia7532]

I read a manga with him inside and he's the side character, but yeah, his life was just that messed up he sounded like MC

[@joelsytairo6338]

Being a king will do that

[@thekage100]

@@mitacestalia7532 yeah kingdom right? just at the start, but is it true that he commanded and armybthat young and overthrew the prince?

[@dylanchouinard6141]

He’s even got the outrageously big weapon!

[@DarkMage501]

@@joelsytairo6338 Pretty sure King George III isn't a main character

[@frankmerriwell8339]

As a Chinese the story of Yingzheng always reminds me how fasinating history is. Today everyone in China knows him and admires his legacy -- the Great Wall, the Tomb, the territory, the culture, everything. But his reign was probably one of the bloodiest and darkest era in Chinese history. I wonder how many people on this land during his time really liked or respected him. It shows you how time changes and how hard it can be to judge history figures by today's standards.

[@aguinayajolly6565]

You people knew about him since he is the first to unify China. Try asking your grandparents if you still have them. I used to asked my late grandfather about the Philippines leaders and what they did to the country both bad and good and he knew them despite finishing only elementary school

[@RunyingGao07]

what are you talking about people in china do not admire him he's known as a total tyrant and dictator. yes his achievements were impressive but he's definitly not known as a an impressive leader.

[@WallNutBreaker524]

​@@aguinayajolly6565 My Grandad tells me Marcos was a Hero. 😊

[@VexWerewolf]

"The last time we opened an Emperor's tomb was 66 years ago, and... bad things happened!" Come on, you can't just leave us hanging like this.

[@Albukhshi]

Yeah, now we need a video on that!

[@allegralikessunnydays1704]

The Cultural Revolution. Millions were killed.

[@alexhong7989]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_Dingling nothing supernatural, just a huge degree of human incompetence. Super sad story

[@eruilluvitar6269]

Mummies came out of it.

[@thisasiankidistrashfordram374]

Dragons and zombies came out. 😂

[@randomfox12245]

This is honestly the coolest story. It's a villains story, a monster of history, but an absolutely fascinating character study and mildly inspirational example of how one single person can change the entire world forever.

[@amantevinluan558]

Watch kingdom or read it from the manga

Wrong.

[@exu7325]

Villain? Real life is not a comic book.

@@jngo172 You replied to the wrong guy

@@jngo172 I did not reply to you. Read my post again.

[@topazbutterfly1853]

You made this channel to complain about Mulan not being historically accurate, and now it has come to these well made, easy to comprehend, and slightly controversial history lessons that I wouldn’t forget after a week. That’s just empressive. Thanks to Disney for angering Chinese people!

[@ggt47]

Yas!

[@zzodysseuszz]

Problem is in that mulan video she keeps ragging on white people for being culturally illiterate but like…you’re Chinese, the only things worse is ww2 Japan and the nazis. Be grateful mulan didn’t include the abusive Chinese beauty standards in that intro segment of the movie where she gets the cricket.

[@erdene1916]

Yeah

[@gorilladisco9108]

The channel Cool History Bro often mention that Mu Lan story was not from China.

[@user-uu2cj9ct3j]

Their camera presence and video quality is pretty impressive for being such a new channel.

[@FeatheredWingz]

European history tv dramas: have to make up or conjecture entire plot arcs and emotional beats (even new political characters) to make a historical mini-series about a notable monarch more soap-drama-like Chinese history dramas: the historical texts about these royals, alone, are juicy enough for an entire 70-episode script It really puts into perspective how particularity thorough ancient Chinese kingdoms were with their records Thanks for making these videos Xiran! I've tried to find English-language resources about Chinese history, but they 're so hard to come by...

[@ForelliBoy]

I mean whoever wrote the Romance of the Three Kingdoms would actually be pretty proud to see it turned into a massive multimedia franchise lmao

[@user-nm9qd6bo6h]

@@ForelliBoyjust make sure it isn't a netflix series

[@KF-zb6gi]

@@ForelliBoy Chinese literature sure as hell is amazing, I've never heard a story like The Dream of Red Mansions. I regret that the last part of real manuscript never got found

[@augustdice3914]

I think it’s important to note how western audiences respond to the more accurate and salacious takes on its own history, vs those of other cultures. The batshit insanity of The Tutor era was…… uncompromisingly stupid…. But an accurate retelling would make the west truly face how insane all of history is….. and how few heroes exist for us to worship… but instead it was just people. China had a pretty rapid and abrupt sanitization of its history at the hand of the communist party….. but western culture has been playing the slow game of white washing… making it far more ingrained and more widely accepted as straight facts. Like Henry The Eight liked to wear a cod piece in to battle…. And even had one that was a protruding penis with his own face on the end….. wtf. … that doesn’t some up a lot, and he is the one they like talking shit about. What I’m saying is that all of human history would make good and gripping television if we didn’t partake in ancestral dick waving. That said, you are correct on how difficult it is to find good discourse on actual Chinese history….. so much was lost in the take over… and we are now inundated in the anti communist style of history that paints pre Mao as a unmitigated capitalist banger with no flaws?… or it is changed by those same western sanitizers (especially when they are involved in it, like the opium wars.)

[@stereokuuji]

Let's not forget a manga for this particular story......I SWEAR THERE'S A MANGA ABOUT THIS

[@TheDrexxus]

This reminds me of the crazy life of Vlad Tepes III. I had heard about his forest of impaled corpses and wanted to look up all the real history of this man to see what all he did and I was surprised at how nuts his life was from start to finish.

[@mascotwithadinosaur9353]

As a Romanian, let me tell you, literally my fave part of history class was learning about that guy's life. Idk that much about him besides what I learned in school, since I'm not nearly as into history as someone like Xiran, but just the fact that Vlad liked to fuck with Ottoman soldiers is enough to entertain me.

[@thenablade858]

Interesting. Although Vlad is a much more controversial figure, because he is seen as ‘heroic’ due to his conflict with the Ottoman sultan but also reviled because of his cruelty (he didn’t only kill Ottoman soldiers, but civilians such as Transylvanian Saxons, Wallachians etc).

[@mascotwithadinosaur9353]

@@thenablade858 He was also unreasonably extra cruel to the Romani people as far as I remember.

[@thenablade858]

@@mascotwithadinosaur9353 Seems likely. I didn’t learn about him in history class (we focused on modern events and ancient history such as Egypt and Rome mostly) but unfortunately a lot of sources on his life are pure sensationalism.

[@Imyourfather3]

Ying Zheng had not yet reached such a degree of perversion

[@keatsuki]

I can't lie, Ying Zheng is both entertaining and horrifying to read about. He's a generous mix of "Is this man a super villain?" and "You're a super villain but I kinda wanna see you win don't ask me why." Side note: I've never been sold on a book that fast before. lol The Mahjong bit got me.

[@obara7366]

You would LOVE the historical epic, battle manga retelling of Ying Zheng's unification. It's called "Kingdom".

[@JadeCryptOfWonders]

Lao Tzu be like "frugality" but Chinese emperors be like "naaaah" *sips mercury to become immortal*

[@tgiacin435]

I love Mercury tea, it keeps me young. But if you want true immortality, try little baby’s ice cream

[@infinitechibi1496]

@@tgiacin435 it keeps you young because you die young *insert donkey laugh* HAAAAA-

[@tgiacin435]

@@infinitechibi1496 or make you mad as a hatter lol

[@infinitechibi1496]

@@tgiacin435 tru dat

[@arcanesiren629]

I'm so glad that not only you made this KZbin channel just to complain about the Mulan live-action movie, but that you transformed this channel into educational lessons about the fascinating, yet controversial history of ancient China. Even my friend from China had no idea about the many historical stories you've talked about. I'm always looking forward to watching more of your videos :)

[@pinkbunny6272]

This cat is lucky to have such an educated cat servant. Being held, scratched and fed by an amazing hooman! Love the way you talk about such interesting times of history!

[@taylardotson8100]

I know the cat is so cute ❤

[@pauciloquentflibbertigibbe5217]

Gotta respect the hustle. Also, the musicion willingly sacrificing his eyes to get close to the king only to miss during his assassination attempt is equally admirable and face palm worthy.

[@samaraisnt]

I mean it's hard being suddenly blind, try it.

[@dan_38]

@@samaraisnt nah, remember this took several sessions worth of effort, since the musician had to go from a corner of the chamber to sitting close wnough for striking distance, which was hilarious not close enough

[@timothymclean]

"If only I had seen this coming!" "That's why we blinded you, dumbass."

[@sentient_dinosaurplush]

Lmao that part for some reason reminded me of The Snake and the Flower

[@pranathipalem5017]

@@sentient_dinosaurplush I was searching for this comment

[@izzy1221]

Imagine being Lao Ai and being remembered in history as a guy that’s just ABSOLUTELY HUNG. *I’d be pretty proud of that ngl*

[@Hana_H]

Tbh I wouldn’t even be mad🤣😂

[@trueblueclue]

He's hung so he hung a cartwheel on it

[@markcochrane9523]

I keep thinking about the "wagon wheel" remark....even if he had the length and the girth, there's no way he was perfectly cylindrical enough to make a good axle. How big was a Chinese wagon wheel anyways?

[@gemmamoon5998]

him and rasputin both lol

[@ok9_5788]

there is a chinese warlord in the 1900s that is remembered for not only being hung, but also for having a lot of "spouses", and for being really hard to work with

[@Chocobo0Scribe]

This guy’s personal history is so bonkers. I want an entire tv series about him!

[@cheesemaniac1440]

Theres kingdom anime, manga (much better than the anime) and cdramas

[@Samsamader3322]

The King's woman and Legend of Hao L'an 😊

[@popcultureenthusiast5587]

The mental thought of Jing Ke and Ying Zheng just running around a pillar tom and Jerry style is killing me XD

[@Nolaris3]

Fun fact: Prior to unification, various states had their own style of Chinese characters until the Qin standardized everything. It's funny to think that in an alternate world Chinese writing would have been even harder, but also more so that despite being short-lived, Qin standardization would help define what it meant to be Chinese for an entire super-region

[@hopstepjump69]

there's still special chinese looking characters even more complicated splattered throughout china though

[@orezi1328]

Yes they covered that

[@mogscugg2639]

they never standardized wenzhounese ;x;

[@melowlw8638]

@@orezi1328 just wanted to let u know im pretty sure xiran uses they/them pronouns however they might have mentioned that being gendered as feminine isnt too bothersome but i cant say that im 100% sure about that id have to check

[@orezi1328]

@@melowlw8638 acknowledged

[@willywonka3050]

15:09 just a note for anyone who's confused about the "trading children" bit, this was a practice where families would swap children with other families so they didn't have to eat their own kids. It happened depressingly often in Chinese history.

[@Rin_Chawngthu]

Danm

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Poverty is indeed pervasive.

[@lizzie404]

Uh 😐

[@aphato2770]

Literally "A modest proposal"

[@amberfoster3285]

I guess it's better than the alternative. A married couple in Ukraine ate their kids during the famine when Hitler invaded. They said they could always have more kids.

[@ZombieSlayerTakashi]

Lu Buwei upon receiving his exile: "I've created a monster..."

[@zenaurum]

Ah yes, Qin Shi Huang, the resident Mothman. FGO really introduced me to some great and interesting historical figures through the most “creative” and bizarre ways. Im glad its getting a bit of recognition since that game is what made me so hooked in actual history.

[@GBlockbreaker]

i am very thankful to fgo and Fate in general for introducing and getting me interested in so much varied history, learning about foreign cultures and their history is now one of my favorite past times and has actually given me so much motivation and hope for the future during dark times

[@samiai8905]

Man this guy is like the edgy antagonist to a shonen anime that succeeded after beating the main protagonist

[@makaoka6673]

In Kingdom, he's the protagonist

[@origamipein18]

@@makaoka6673 A Villain Protagonist?

[@makaoka6673]

@@origamipein18 No. The good one.

[@origamipein18]

@@makaoka6673 Oh. Okay, then.

[@chavitanwar2126]

He IS the protagonist

[@paltry7415]

... the amount of detail that exists about this guy's shenanigans is very impressive. I'd be curious to know how much, if any of it, is mythologized and how much is factual. The assassin with a poison blade getting killed by a person-sized ceremonial sword after benny-hill-chasin the king around the throne room sounds like dramatization and I would be DELIGHTED to find out it actually genuinely happened

[@anadaere6861]

Imagine if the actual events are so hilariously terrible that an exaggeration was an even more acceptable truth

[@Lurkerlady]

This is a great point and I would be interested to find out as well. The previous dynasties are surrounded in so much mystery as well due to lack of historical evidence so I wonder how much about the Qin emperor is embellished. It's one of the fun things about history though, reading and wondering how much it's real and how much it's been altered over time.

[@Michael-bn1oi]

It was such a long time ago and given the fact that each major Chinese dynasty functionally re-wrote their history every time a new one took over...I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't a single person or a single story but an amalgamation. That's frequently how these proto-history stories go.

[@Albukhshi]

Remember: it's fiction that has to make sense. For reality, making sense is optional.

[@Observer2321]

​@@Michael-bn1oi Because the records of the grand historian which was only a small portion of the recoverable records from bamboo slips written by Sima Qian were also carbon dated to determine the accuracy of the timeline it was written in along with thousands of other records that were written by people of all walks of life also carbon dated to even earlier periods before Sima Qian, and other historical artifacts like the emperor's tomb itself and the existence of historical figures like Lu Buwei inscribed onto weapon production lines found on the terracotta army tombs. So the records were surprisingly accurate to what is written, the only questions are if embellishments existed from the Historian biases and what sources did Sima Qian used to write his history as he was born nearly a century after the fall of Qin, but you have to remember that most of the ancient writings like 99% and upwards have been destroyed or not yet recovered after such a long time so the fact that a large amount of Sima Qian's work was recovered is a miracle in it's own.

[@valeriobertoncello1809]

14:20 they did not just name him "politics" (政), they named him "win politics" (赢政), which in the end is what he basically managed to do with his life... ambitious name, ambitious man!

[@nont18411]

37:48 “You can accuse him of a lot of things, but you cannot accuse him of being lazy.” Words to live by for me from now on

[@runawaysparklers622]

When she mentioned how young he was when he died, I actually yelled "WHAT" out loud. Because I assumed it would take at least a full lifetime to accomplish this much.

[@calamitysangfroid2407]

imagine if he wasn't eating mercury, he might have built a rocket and landed on the moon

[@fiendish9474]

Dude was speedrunning Chinese unification, and looks like his successors tried to speedrun a dynastic collapse

[@timothymclean]

Technically, it did. A lifetime is just however long it takes someone to die.

[@williamconto6977]

@@fiendish9474 he was likely too paranoid to choose a successor, probably tempted to believe he could get a coup… and that’s exactly what he should have done… nurture and openly name his succesor at least a decade before he died. Fusu would have been emperor and his empire may have lived.

[@AuliaAF]

You need to consider the lifespan of ancient people. 49 years old is not young. Most people in ancient China die before 30. Probably the nobles could die before 40, but 49 is still way beyond average.

[@Multi-Facets]

Holy crap, no wonder there's so much historical fiction in the world. This world's been full of drama ever since people realized they could create civilizations, if not well beforehand. Thank you, Mx. Zhao, for putting a spotlight on this particular fragment of time. It's tragic, brutal, and weirdly fascinating. (Also, thank you for letting Kokochin and Temujin make cameos. They've become so handsome.)

[@ayannabranchcomb7535]

@@cassiereno114 that’s always been my burning question, like all the people who were erased from history, all the secrets that died with them, I wanna knoooooow 😂

[@cherrybomber69]

This channel is honestly better than any fantasy/scifi content

[@cherrybomber69]

@@cassiereno114 all the libraries and codexs that were purposefully destroyed, the fact that one of that last aztec emperors destroyed most of their records and replaced them to change their history forever kills me inside

[@samaraisnt]

@@cherrybomber69 Most records/writings were destroyed by Spaniards & their language was outlawed, punishable by death. Source?

[@possumsam2189]

If you think Qin History is bad, you should read up the Romans or the Persians, assassination after assassination after assassination...

[@ys3395]

"they probably needed 6 horses" that's terrifying and hilarious at the same time

[@loisma2356]

“They probably needed 6 horses” *THAT’S ENOUGH INTERNET FOR TODAY*

[@ChaosDraguss]

"Here's him playing mahjong with Gengis Khan, Alexander the Great, and Ramses II" FGO devs: "Write that down! Write that down!"

[@anonfinally1692]

Well we already have Ramesses II and Alexander, we only need Temujin.

[@oraclesight8613]

@@anonfinally1692 yup, with some luck he won't get genderbent.

[@Diabolos1007]

As an FGO player I would love this

[@zero1343]

@@anonfinally1692 I still can't help but think he would be a good choice for Grand Rider. Mobile got Noah but the position would still very much him him I feel.

[@zero123alpha6]

@@zero1343 Don't you mean arcade, but yeah, I agree. Temujin would actually be epic to see in lostbelt 7, or in a 7.5/final lostbelt scenario

[@Jo-ly2lm]

As a person who grew up in the British educational system of the 1990's, I learned exactly nothing about Asian history beyond "Japan was involved in WW2". I absolutely love watching your videos, thank you for filling the gaps in my education!

[@Kameth]

Same. Though if you really want a downer, look up the Opium Wars. It's when Britain grew concerned they were spending too much of their own money on tea, and wanted to trade another commodity for it... opium. Which was illegal in China for being a terrible addictive drug. So Britain went to war to force this trade. Then Britain did the same thing again later. As I said, it's quite the downer.

[@joshuakusuma5953]

Wait, really? That's odd considering what the British did in India and China, 2 Asian countries. One would think they would factor into British history somehow.

[@Kameth]

@@joshuakusuma5953 A lot of what Britain did in India and Asia bounces around 'horrific' and our education system generally takes a more... rose-tinted glasses view of our empire, so it gets very glossed over. We barely learn anything about Ireland and they are right next to us, for basically the same reasons.

[@joshuakusuma5953]

@@KamethWell, that is certainly quite the stance for an education system to make. I would think any school teaching kids about the benefits of colonialism would have rang some alarm bells, but then again I'm not British so I guess I can't really say what it's like there.

[@Kameth]

@@joshuakusuma5953 British influence has gone from having arguably the biggest empire ever to a shrinking player of the world stage, so the old empire is often sold as a point of our glorious past as a point of national pride. I will admit we're not being taught the extreme that the British empire was incredible, but we white wash almost all of the negatives. I learnt far more about the the darker sides outside of our state education system. Unfortunately we may be swinging towards even more white washing. Our current politicians, the Conservatives, who've been in power for a decade now have many high profile members lamenting what our current education system does criticise of our past, in particular regarding WW1 and our dreadful leadership sending men to die in disasterous and pointless offensives. They could amend the curriculum further. Personally, the Irish Potato Famine and the first Opium War should be required lessons on cruelty of empires, but who would approve that when we can talk about Agincourt or Henry 8th again?

[@Mahbu]

Actually, I don't think he was ever really villainized in the west (speaking as an American). Not to any great degree. Like, my basic introduction to him in elementary and high school is that he beat the rival states/kingdoms, unified them, built the great wall, and had a whole army of statues buried with him. If I'm being perfectly honest, Cao Cao is more vilified. About the only time I ever saw him depicted as an out and out villain was the third Mummy movie and I remember being very baffled by this. As you say, he's a fascinating and flawed person who accomplished A LOT. Like Cao Cao. And Oda Nobunaga, another fascinating figure who for some reason gets viewed as a villain in media. In at least two separate anime he's shown as a Demon lord.

[@thenablade858]

Cao Cao being a villain constantly might have to do with Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Similarly, Richard III has been demonized a lot primarily because of Shakespeare (although I do think he killed his nephews).

[@octapusxft]

I originally learned that story from the Cartoon history of the world series. The history of China is fascinating. Wang Jian really knew his art of war, to think he trolled another army for a year. For me the saddest part of this entire story is the end of Lu Buwei. Father or not, he directly made Qin Shi Huang be the top man, he had earned all his accolades.

[@geoffreyherrick298]

That is my favorite book of the History of the World series!

[@octapusxft]

@@geoffreyherrick298 It helped me realize what amazing history existed in the far east and how instead of giving us a broader view of history, the school history books just want us to learn details of unimportant things

[@cheesemaniac1440]

Lol read kingdom he's even more of a troll there

[@user-qc9un1kq1v]

If you go to the Terracotta Army museum in Xi’an China, they still show the weapons with scripts on them like “ by the order of Prime Minister Lu Buwei to produce…“ on a spear or sword… it’s amazing

[@renvocals]

While he did earn them, it makes sense Qin Shi Huang would depose Lu Buwei - the suspicion he was involved with the deaths of his father and grandfather are there, as well as the abuse he must have suffered the first 9 years of his life, are directly Lu Buwei's doing. Now I'm not defending Qin Shi Huang, he's but one of many bloody tyrants in history, but I find all of this speculation so fascinating and I wish we had more details about the pair of them. Its incredible we even have this much from more than 2,000 years ago!

[@sebastianquinchia1840]

Another thing about Jing Ke's assassination attempt that I've read and heard on a documentary is that Ying Zheng ran around a pillar to try to avoid him. If true, that assassination attempt really was like a violent Scooby Doo cartoon.

[@BobSmith-tm2kj]

Am I the only person that wants a lecture on how clan names worked in pre-imperial China, or no?

[@origamipein18]

No, you're not the only one.

[@brkh96]

Xiran pls 🙌🏽

[@honeybeemoo]

I want to know too

[@martinskullerud2195]

That would be really interesting.

[@dan_38]

Short answer, ancestry was important Long answer: the clan names were in ranks by two main names, the branch of the family ur coming from, or the more prominent ancestral name. Ying has more ancestry than Zhao or Qin, so it's the name they choose.

[@ballinangel3231]

This was 130% more interesting AND more analytical + informative than what we went over in AP world history

[@azurepulse1870]

I clicked on this video for history but now I feel like a dude on a blind date who won the lottery.

[@RuinedSilver]

I have NO idea why but the MERE mention of the word "Mercury pills" sent me down a weird memory rabbit hole and made me flash back to when I was reading this book in elementary school. I don't even remember much about it, just that it in ancient china, dragons were involved, and a dead dragon was pickled and preserved only to be eaten by an emperor. Edit- It took a bit of digging but I remember what it was! The dragonkeeper series by Carole Wilkinson. The reason the mercury pills set off my memory was cause the emperor in one of those books was (also) obsessed with trying to prolong his life. ... and now that I've brought it up, I wonder if XIran would be willing to take a shot at reviewing it. I don't remember much about it, but it would be interesting to see how much was accurate about it, or if all of it was made up and had nothing to do with china at all.

[@SPofSaturnProduction]

Oh my gosh I was just thinking about this series recently but couldn't remember the name. Thank you so much. I borrowed the first book from a friend back in middle school and loved it but never got around to the rest of the series. That certainly brings back memories

[@teresaescobedo220]

Beautiful books. Ping did the right choice of marrying the second lead =D

[@thomasmackliley6117]

That series is amazing and I would for Xiran ro review it!

[@koriabrams6243]

I remember that story. I've read the first book, and never knew it was a series. I couldn't remember what that book was called for the longest time, so thanks for bringing it up.

[@sorensmith8587]

wait i think i read that series in primary school lmao

[@justaperson8381]

I love how Chinese royal history is like a reality tv show.

[@darylchua2168]

Why do you think there's like 95631 Chinese historical dramas.

[@sorestedhebytheTumtumtree]

Right? I wonder how real are the Harem intrigues.

[@smrutismarak9503]

@@sorestedhebytheTumtumtree very real and as vicious while also being extremely ridiculous.

[@AdamOwenBrowning]

European history is also full of this kind of intrigue and back-stabbing, plotting and failing, tides of ideology rising and falling. But it doesn't match the sheer scale of Ancient China, and the "Ancient" bit is earned - Europeans were not at the same level of civilization as the Chinese in this era ;D

[@matttran7161]

Yo those C-Drama are suuuch a guilty pleasure. But you gotta watch the idol ones where the Emperor is hot.

[@hipployta]

7 competent Kings in a row is a pretty serious accomplishment. CONGRATS ON YOUR AWARD NOMINATION!

[@renvocals]

You're an amazing teacher. I could listen to 50 hours of history from you and stay absorbed the entire time. Looking forward to more!

[@Sailor_Enchantix]

“Some say the six states fell as much to their own corruption as to the Qin armies.” Government and politics really haven’t changed much in 2 millennia, have they?

[@honeybeemoo]

I bet they won't change even 2 millennia into the future

[@G.F.SF55]

Well, as long as people are people many things will repeat themselves

[@nacricissa]

I knew intellectually that Chinese has characters for a bunch of really specific concepts, but the fact that sped walking is represented by its own character instead of one for walking plus one for speed really drove the notion home.

[@MidnightRose77]

You're actually not far off the mark. A lot of Chinese characters are a combination of two simpler characters. One that represents the sound and one that represents the meaning of the word.

[@elfodelputoinfierno]

@@MidnightRose77 that's so cool! Imagine not needing a dictionary most of the time, because the meaning is already there

[@twhimsy]

I miss these videos. I'm sure you are insanely busy being a very successful author but.. if you ever think about doing another video.. have you heard of Tu'er Shen, The Rabbit God? I just ran across him and immediately wondered what your take on his story would be. Thank you for everything. Hopefully you find yourself in DC and I manage to snag an autograph on one of your books some day. :)

[@yolandacroes5491]

I return from watching a very professionally made documentary with good reenactments and interviews with archeaologists working on the emperor’s tomb. However, it was watching this video that sparked my interest to know more about this guy. I have to say that even if you didn’t have any fancy reenacments, your story telling is very informative and extremely entertaining. And the documentary didn’t say anything about his childhood background, it started rather abruptly at his ascencion as king. I’m no expert but I think that background info is crucial in understanding his personality, besides being just fascinating. All this to say, kudos for doing a superb job!!

[@mfuentes4961]

I am a simple woman. I see Xiran post a history video and I will drop everything to watch it.

[@asdfghjkl92213]

While wearing sweet qin empire Colors of course

[@CongSu]

The burying alive thing is a myth that resulted from misinterpretation of the word 坑杀, which is often assumed to mean “killing with a hole in the ground”. However the word actually refers to the practice of piling dead bodies into mounds as a form of gruesome monument.

[@ruthxk7844]

oh, interesting to know, thanks!!

[@neverlandnights]

I keep coming back for new videos, but I'll just rewatch the old ones 😅

[@elgatto3133]

I would really appreciate it if you covered Qin Liangyu/Zhensu. After learning a bit about how women's rights degraded in China as time passed, it makes her accomplishments as a leader in the late Ming Dynasty all the more impressive. There isn't all that much on her available in English. And also the only thing available on her is Fate/GO stuff which is just sad.

[@unknown..66..99]

Yes

[@bobjones4469]

Herder cultures actually have a long history of being successful conquerors and soldiers, the Mongols and the Huns being the most well-known but this is also true in Europe. Even in the current United States, most US soldiers come from the middle "cowboy" states. There is an entirely documentary on "herder culture" and why this culture breed aggressive effective soldiers, but another HUGE factor is that herders have close ties with horses, the most influential domesticated animal in human history. It would be no exaggeration to say that civilizations rose and fell due to the horse.

[@esczaman1299]

He will always be remembered for his extra dramatic life! All hail “The Emperor of Drama”! Tysm for the great explanation about him!

[@elizabethlancaster5058]

Hi, your videos are my absolute FAVORITE among history explanations. So interesting and possible to understand. If you ever did a video where you just talk about how the corruption of officials led to the end of the Warring States Period, even if it's a 12 hour compilation of convoluted rambling, I'd listen the hell out of it.

[@ohno8398]

I'm always so grateful for the subtitles, thank you!

[@nathandrake5544]

It's so interesting to me that China's feudal era happened 1500 years before Europe's. Qin Shi Huang's unification of China arguably marks the beginning of the oldest surviving nation state in the world.

[@Xbalanque84]

And all of its subsequent history was purely tyrannical.

[@angelobarros3499]

Chinese unification started feudalism in China, China before Qin Shi Huang and the burning of books and burying of confucianist scholars functioned as an slave society built around confucianism, it was the basis built by Shi Qi Huang that would begin the feudal system that was in power for 2000 years in China. And anyway China broke and came back together many many times after the Qin Dynasty even if it meant a lot for the Chinese nation, even with all that idk if you could call that the formation of a nation-state

[@Ukitsu2]

It's a tricky matter, but I think Iran takes the number one spot.

[@justgeneric2876]

We ignoring European history? If by feudal you mean Kings, there were Kings, then Republics/Democracys, then Emperors, then Kings again, and presently Democracys/Republics....

[@originalandrewmark]

@@Xbalanque84 and is in no way a complete story of humanity from that era other than to inform that people have been wrestling with barbarity until the advent of self-knowledge. Acknowledgement of 'sufic' influences teaching regenerate man throughout the ages is paramount.

[@426mak]

King of Qi: "But Ying Zheng, we are sworn brothers." Ying Zheng: "Do you know what I do to my brothers?"

[@hazelnut546]

I miss this types of videos from her but still love her and I will rewatch any of her videos from last year, love you girl❤

[@ItsWaltieTime]

I'm loving all these historical lessons. I appreciate your delivery. I don't feel overwhelmed my the vastness of information

[@MasterofRoflness]

*Decisive Qin Victory*

[@mrtan5641]

I remembered the Battle of Changping, because of you. thank you master of ROFLNESS

[@tonkinthehanoian1843]

Yes, indeed decisive.

[@johnnywoodson4231]

Knew I'd saw you here. This is indeed a certified Chinese History moment.

[@polarbear6479]

civilians eaten alive

[@MacScarfield]

Fascinating that both Qin Shi Huang’s father, Yiren, and Alexander the Great’s father, King Phillip II of Macedon, both were hostages in their youth. Though Phillip seems to have been a bit more of an active player, fusing the innovative tactics and equipment of the rival city states of Thebes and Athens, into an army with lighter armour and longer spears/pikes. This provided Macedon hoplites a much deeper phalanx than their opponents; thus enabled Philip to de facto conquer all of Greece, and lay all the foundations ready for his son to become “The Great”!

[@SacredDaturana]

The foundations were well laid for Ying Zheng as well! The Qin had emerged as the preeminent power of the Warring States WELL before his reign - in the century leading up to Ying Zheng's reign, interstate politics among the Warring States had increasingly become defined by pro-Qin and anti-Qin alignments, that either sought to curb Qin's rise or benefit from it. The unification of China by Qin was probably inevitable by the time Ying Zheng came to the throne.

[@GuiSmith]

I think it’s fitting that Yiren set up a political basis for Qin Shi Huang and his son followed in his political strategy footsteps while Alexander followed in Phillip’s militaristic footsteps. All’s fair in children of war, and neither died in good health due to their excesses of deadly substances. Too bad neither made a functioning child state and both broke apart into disparate warring states easy for the picking by Rome and Han. Kind of fitting that those two civilisations found each other on the Silk Road later.

[@alexwyman7048]

Good observation. The final unifier of feudal Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu, also spent most of his childhood as a hostage.

[@dyppityjoop5912]

tough and horrible situations make tough albiet insane and bloodthirsty people

[@kennywong4239]

Actually, this happened to the Qin kingdom but 200 years earlier. Shi Huang's ancestor Qin Xian Gong escaped the palace turmoil and exiled to the neighbouring Wei Kingdom. There, he witness the various social and military reform by Li Kui and Wu Qi, two of the geniuses in their field. Especially Wu Qi who developed the Special Squad of Wei kingdom who can travel 30 li a day, carrying extra weights. He also learned about the new technologies of making bows from neighbouring Han kingdom. When he returned to Qin and ascended the throne, he started a series of reform that transform Qin from a poor country to at least 2nd grade country. He even defeated Wei and took back many lands lost prior.

[@TheBiskitsnGravy]

This was great! Thank you so much

[@Keely_OReally]

I really, really, really enjoy your content. I watch all the episodes on repeat b/c they're just that good and accurate. You've open my love for C-Dramas and Chinese history as a whole. I cannot thank you enough for these videos. I do hope you make more in the future. You are great and very entertaining and fun to watch.

[@debbiechan8657]

YES! Thank you so so so much for covering Qin Shi Huang!!! My absolute favourite person in Chinese history!!! Since a lot of books were lost in time, historians are still figuring out what exactly happened in his lifetime, but every single version is equally tragic and fascinating!!! I understand that he had done a lot, and I mean A Lot of wrongs, but the fact that he succeeded, and the fact that he shaped our entire nation and history, and in a good way too, makes me impossible to not like him. Also, as more and more artifacts are found and dug up, the evidence are suggesting that perhaps he's not that much of a villain. The books burnt and scholars killed could very much be frauds (is that the right word?) and were considered to be potentially harmful to his ruling, and it's believed that he saved at least one copy of the books burnt. He just didn't allow commoners to read them. And all the books were lost as the dynasty fell apart.

[@XiranJayZhao]

Motherfuxking Xiang Yu burnt all the reserve copies 😣

[@debbiechan8657]

@@XiranJayZhao It's really a shame QAQ

[@k.c1126]

IMO 3/4 of his alleged villainy was smearing by the Confucian historians who followed. The rest was pretty much par for the course of those times. Additionally I don't know if the dearth of family and personal information should be attributed solely to his efforts. That kind of information would have been humanizing for audiences of the future, which would have made turning him into an historical monster a lot harder.

[@user-qm1vj9gf1y]

The killing of scholars and the burning of books may be true or false, and even if they are true, the number is very small, that is, infinitely magnified，This is actually very easy to understand. The scholars of the destroyed country hated Qin Shi Huang very much, but they were powerless.

[@Xbalanque84]

Your attempt to make excuses for one of the worst tyrants in human history flummoxes me. Even your attempts to re-frame his actions as acceptable describe fundamentally bad things.

[@Matau228]

When you said "Command Seal" I went completely down the Fate/Grand Order rabbit hole I originally thought his Lostbelt version was *extra* because he was a parallel universe version that didn't die from mercury poisoning, conquered all of earth and then transformed himself into an immortal living machine (At which point he decided gender was beneath a emperor, changing pronouns to we/our, they/them), and that being the only human left who had any goals in life made them a little stir-crazy. For instance, they developed a drug for fun that was basically a non-addictive opium that when taken once a year kept the peasants disease-free and healed any injury they had until their 100th year of taking it, at which point it killed the peasant. ...Also kept expanding Great Wall of China until it was an Earth-encompassing satellite capable of dropping asteroids onto dissident towns, or shooting nukes into space. Neither of which were problems, they just wanted to do that. ...And collected notably smart tacticians and strong warriors like action figures in a cryogenic vault under Mt. Li ...And grew a clone-vat body and declared that they would prevent the destruction of their world by straight-up punching the protagonist, and "letting" the protagonist punch them in return. After watching this, I feel it would be safe to say that none of it's really out of character, he just didn't have enough time or resources to do all of that.

[@tyronetalam8488]

Lmao same, i played fgo for like 2 years

[@Farragox]

They created their perfect empire, in which none of their citizens knew of the world nor of hardships. The great wall which surrounded the entire Earth was a function of their mechanical body and let them listen/speak to anyone at any time. Any citizen can converse with their emperor anytime they wish but most wouldn't because nobody in this world had aspirations/concerns except the emperor. Basically Qin Shi Huang functioned as a omnipresent god in this world, although they were essentially a supercomputer the size of a city. Humanity became stagnant and would never progress. Although paradoxically, art, music, poems etc. did exist but it was only in their palace where artists were forced to keep creating artworks dedicated to Qin Shi Huang's greatness 24/7. The great wall around the earth wasn't for nothing though, they predicted an attack from alien lifeforms which is exactly what happened in our main timeline. They are still lawful good, and they fight by our side out of their sense of justice against these threats.

[@HomuraAkemiHQ]

Xiran needs to do an analysis of of the Chinese servants and Lostbelt 3.

[@tyronetalam8488]

@@HomuraAkemiHQ oh god yes

[@gogobebe8460]

Given the events of the story I feel like the Lostbelt emperor should have also had SurfShark

[@bellehimechan]

Currently rewatching Legend of Haolan and happily stumbled onto another of your wonderful videos!

[@alainaluu]

Just wanted to say I love and miss your videos and hope you're able to upload soon!

[@eliza_ccs2502]

I first heard about this man when we were told about the terracotta warriors and we learned about how all of the soldiers were unique and their faces were most likely all made by hand and I thought that that was the coolest thing ever to have all that made just to protect you in death, so cool to find out more about him!

[@Xbalanque84]

I first heard about him using dead workers as mortar inside the wall they were worked to death building.

[@1290Li]

Fun fact: The Japanese had the practice of collecting heads in exchange of land and prestige up until WWII.

[@internetera1523]

What about Japan isn't ''up until WWII'' lol

[@elaynas6203]

@@internetera1523 The shoguns

[@LukSter18998]

@@internetera1523 the trains

[@mcanta2898]

also fun fact: they might just take ears cuz it was easier to carry, hence why the character for "take" has the character for "ear" in it although that does need to be fact checked

[@lordthelpus7577]

Oh my gosh..I enjoyed that so much. Thank you and well done.

[@Ara_Arasaka]

This is the most…. Random suggested video I’ve ever gotten by KZbin- aside from Atomic Shrimp. I’m immediately fascinated. Your passion and skill as a storyteller are immediately apparent. Immediately subscribed.

[@yingguojieke]

So excited to see a video on Qin Shi Huang. His life is super duper extraordinary. The feats he achieved are just stupendous. Maybe the most monumental human to ever live? 1) Build the Terracota army 2) Started the Great Wall 3) Unified the Whole of China 4) Unified the Language 5) Unified the standard measurements 6) Unified the width of roads 7) Spent a load of his life searching for a immortality pill 8) Ordered a massive fleet of boats to be be built, in order to search out a make believe island that had this pill 9) Burnt all the books 10) Buried Confucius Scholars alive 11) Still has a massive underground pyramid/palace in Xi'an that one day, when technology is good enough, we can excavate. 12) Sealed all of the builders and desigers of said palace in it , so that the secret of how to open it would never be leaked 13) Oh and did i mention he unified the WHOLE OF CHINA? and it was like ages agooooooo wow

[@abimon76]

40:05 You should probably check this part out. Hahaha

[@ngaire1004]

I love that this list goes from standardising road widths to burying scholars alive.

[@yingguojieke]

@@abimon76 Very interesting, i can imagine the Confucian Scholars overstating this! Given the epic position of Qinshihuang, and Confucianism , as the bedrocks of Chinese society, i still find it a really interesting tension though!

[@yingguojieke]

@@ngaire1004 haha yeah, hell of a policy making journey!

[@user-qm1vj9gf1y]

其实秦始皇废书坑儒数量应该是非常少的

[@buddhidev7877]

I personally think that Emperor Qing was made as a villain in many books and novels from the later dynasties especially in Han dynasty because that's the "rightful reason" to dethrone the previous dynasty. And because of the unification of the central plain by using force, people from the losing states had opinions to the centralised system made by Qing and been conquered by Emperor Qing too.

[@ravenng2244]

Qin not qing. Qing is the last and useless dynasty not same as Qin who is strong and powerful

[@teethcoat4274]

It’s safe to say that he was insanely ruthless, probably enough to be considered evil, but at the same time that’s just how ancient China was. The ancient world pioneered torture and cruelty even beyond what modern technology has.

[@mocherrie]

Emperor Qin*. Qin is the first dynasty of China, Qing is the last one.

[@alihimeur7147]

@@mocherrie which is the most powerful of them

[@mocherrie]

@@alihimeur7147 All dynasties rise and fall. They all started out amazing & fell to corruption in the end. Qin is just the one to unify China, and Qing the last one with a monarch. I can't say which between Qin and Qing is the more powerful. Although if you want to have a kickstart into Chinese history you can start at Qin, Han & Tang?

[@aplacecalledhappypills9929]

I watched 4 hours of your channel (which i found today) love it so much. Im gonna leave this content on in the back ground.

[@Tallness1000]

Love your background, attire, and kitty cat sidekick. Oh and also the precious education. Great stuff!

[@roselover411]

Listening to Qin Shi Huang's story adds so much flavor to Zachary Ying. I'm learning even more than I had from your book. Omg yes PLEASE give us a video about queen dowager Xuan, that small fact about her has piqued my interest and I must know more! I love the way you tie in your sponsor XD Indeed, spies would definitely use a VPN.

[@chantalodita617]

Then you should watch an excellent drama about her available here on KZbin called "The Legend of Miyue"

[@roselover411]

@@chantalodita617 Ooh thanks for the tip!

[@saralamrani2535]

For those who'd like, there is a chinese drama that "explains" the life of Qin Shi Huang's father (Yi Ren). It's called the Legend of Hao Lan :D She used the pictures of the characters of this drama to illustrate !

[@EmmeaHufflepuff]

That is such a great watch, I was hooked for a few month on it.

[@MagicalKid]

The acting of the actress who played the Lady Zhao is awful.

[@KF-zb6gi]

@@MagicalKid lmaoo

[@RandomChina]

a very comprehensive yet concise narration of a very complicated series of historical events. Well done.

[@RicardoGonzalez-wreck]

Maaaaan ! You are good!! That was the best history class ever !! I was hooked from start to finish !!

[@TamelaVilla]

As someone of Chinese descent, connecting to my ancestral culture through your videos is a joy. Thank you so much for bringing me closer to the story of my ancestors 💖

[@RachelMWinship]

I'm still stuck at the part where you said they kept records of how many times and with whom the emperor made whoopee.

[@monarch3495]

I want a sketch where an emperor is caught by his empress who’s mad he’s sleeping with her rival, and then the scribe for tracking sexcapades also comes in and is upset 😂

[@redwitch12]

@@monarch3495 Scribe: "So, uh, are all three of you gonna...? I'm just asking because there's a whole different form I have to fill out if that's the case."

[@harukrentz435]

That is true. The emperors had like 100-1000 cocunbines so they need to record which one slept with the emperor on monday, which one on tuesday, and go on and on.

[@markcochrane9523]

@@redwitch12 Truly, ancient Chinese bureaucracy knows no bounds.

[@monarch3495]

@@redwitch12 😂

[@AemandaLyn]

I just found your channel today, and I am hooked. I love the way you tell the story.

[@SomeOne-ex7hk]

It is so amazing to get to hear this history from someone who has so much perspective and can teach me how to pronounce some of these letter combinations.

[@lloroshastar6347]

"No matter how we feel about him, Chinese people cannot tell our history without speaking of him" - I can relate to this a great deal as a British person. When reflecting on British history you just have to kinda accept that there were a lot of awful people, the key isn't to pretend they didn't exist, it's to learn from them and reflect on all the things they did, good or bad. Oliver Cromwell is a good example of this, on the one hand he made the Union into a strong power in Europe, he changed attitudes of privilege in society which are still reflected today, he helped pave the way for parliamentary democracy in its infancy. On the other hand, he himself was a dictator and would probably hate what the UK has become, he was also a mass murderer and is despised in Ireland with good reason. He was a religious theocrat who wanted to outlaw anything deemed mildly sinful much like American evangelists or Islamic fundamentalists today. He was a horrible, horrible human being but he did have an interesting life and there is much we can learn from him.

[@margarets2560]

Didn’t he also outlaw the celebration of Christmas? 😂 I believe I read that somewhere, also that law has never been overturned. So every year a mass amount of people and companies are breaking the law.

[@lloroshastar6347]

@@margarets2560 he did, I'm guessing it wasn't acknowledged even at the time. The guy was so unpopular his body was dug up and he had a kind of mock execution where they decapitated his corpse (at least that's the rumour anyway, could be a myth).

[@margarets2560]

@@lloroshastar6347 WOW, that I did not know. I always thought it was funny that he was so bad, the people asked the monarchy to come back. If I remember a conversation I had with a palace tour guide correctly, he’s also the reason that “crown property” (example: the Crown Jewels, and Royal Residencies) actually owned by the people and not the ruling family. Because most of not all the Crown Jewels Cromwell destroyed/misplaced.

[@amym3745]

@@margarets2560 His government did outlaw Christmas, but all the laws of that nature got thrown out during the Restoration (so it isn't illegal anymore!)

[@user-dp7qc4in4u]

Wished Japan can learn from you

[@MystryssCrymsyn98]

I love your energy as a story-teller/narrator. Looking foward to more historical pieces

[@mhl653]

This was very informative! Great video! (and adorable kitty!)

[@kylesty6728]

This was a fabulous and entertaining presentation of a ridiculously complex period, thank you.

[@muhammadabdullahhanif8860]

2:37 Correct me if i am wrong, but Kingdom of Qin and Kingdom of Zhao monarchs share both ancestral name (Ying) and clan name (Zhao). Also afaik, Song dynasty surname also Zhao. You could be descended from all 3 of them. So it is very much a possibility that your ancestors bully another of your ancestors.

[@XiranJayZhao]

Yeah this is part of what I didn't get into! The royals of Qin and Zhao are indeed both from the House of Ying, descended from two brothers even (Elai and Feilian), but it's debatable whether the Qin were also part of the Zhao clan. The confusion arises from some sources where the First Emperor is listed as "Zhao Zheng." But it's pretty improbable that the kings of Qin used Zhao as their clan name. Likely he just used it in the first 9 years of his life when he was trapped in Zhao as a necessity. Though there's also a theory where the Qin ancestors lived under the Zhao clan for a while because the Zhao established a state first? After the Qin established their own state though, there's no reason they'd keep classifying themselves under the Zhao clan. It's said that Qin Feizi, the founder of the Qin state, was bestowed the Ying ancestral name again so perhaps they considered themselves the main branch of the House of Ying since their ancestor Elai was the older brother. Thus they were all Ying Ji, Ying Zheng, etc.

[@eazymepeazyme3907]

The first time I came across a fictionalized version of him was in the manhua Fung Wan where I think he was trying to kill all the legendary creatures (unicorn/dragon etc.) and process them into pills that provides immortality. To think that it was more batsh*t crazy in real life is mind blowing. Edit: Sorry my bad. After researching the manhua a bit (it was a long time ago) the character was NOT Qin Shi Huang but instead Xu Fu, who in real life was sent by Qin Shi Huang to find the elixir of life and never came back.

[@cantrip7]

The combined information density & clarity of your videos is astounding. And the visual aids help a ton. Lovely work.

[@Tarbtano]

Off to get that book! You did a wonderful job summarizing the history, I used your snarky delivery to refresh my knowledge whilst studying to present about this guy.

[@lauradanielson2257]

“And the last time they opened an imperial tomb…bad things happened” Ma’am, I need a little more detail than that. Ma’am? Ma’am?

[@kk-cy3sz]

When Ying Zheng died, he buried himself with an army as his escort on his way to heaven. The dead bodies of the army were controlled by ancient parasites and after the tomb was opened they started attacking civilians. The ccp had to gather their forces to quell this riot.

[@Turquerina]

The rise of Qin Shi Huang was quite phenomenal, but I do remember reading somewhere (I think it was on Quora, but I'm not sure) about a story describing the way in which the Han Dynasty came about as if it was an epic. The legendary storytelling was compelling enough to have made me still feel its lingering effect years after having read it. I'm telling y'all, history is wild.

[@Nolaris3]

Yes it's the Chu-Han Contention. The drama of it nearly rivals the Three Kingdoms itself and the direction of the narrative twists and turns right until the end

[@dylanrodrigues]

You guys should read Ken Liu’s Dandelion Dynasty series, which is a fantasy retelling of the Han’s rise to power

[@adorabell4253]

Chinese history specifically is wild. There is not other culture that really has the same fullness of what the fuckery that is a staple of Chinese history.

[@harukrentz435]

It was epic alright. Liu Bang (the founder of Han) was a mere commoner but he was witty, slimmy, could and would do anything to save his own skin. The story of how him fooling his future father in-law so impressively that he gladly married him to his daughter (Lu Zhi), how he released all the prisoners because he lost one, how he utilized people far beyond his league like Han Xin for his own benefit and how he betrayed him in the end. Or how he tried to kick his own children off the carriage so he can get away faster from Xiang Yu's cavalry. Lol. Liu Bang was despicable yet so succesful that the Chinese named their ethnicity to his empire.

[@ibrahimkhatib6191]

This is one of the greatest history videos I've seen yet. Thank you so much Lady Zhou if I may

[@antwan1357]

this video just kept getting recommended to me over and over and over so I finally gave in and watched it.

[@kttyzlua]

i love watching history lessons with teacher xiran instead of sleeping

[@amandahealey2216]

Honestly, same

[@NobodyLoverXIII]

I am so, so glad that you have been informed of the Fate series' Qin Shi Huang (I saw them on your thumbnail), I've wanted you to hear about them for ages, because quite honestly the chapter of the story with them taught me a bit about Chinese history...well, alright, it also involved AIs and immortal sort-of-vampires so, you know what. Maybe not accurate, but still I learned about Jing Ke and Xiang Yu, too! (And Fate's QSH was absolutely incredibly cool and COMPLETELY on brand for his historical self, so.) A side note; the manga Record of Ragnarok just featured their own version of QSH, and it pretty accurately (well, with manga-embellishments for flavor though not as crazy as Fate) told the story of his childhood and like you said really pushed that the horror of it shaped him as a person, which was awesome! If you have not looked at that one yet it's really good.

[@oofwio]

She probably searched qin shi huang and the fgo version popped up

[@peytonbell8441]

The manga Kingdom is literally a direct biography of his life. Check it out.

[@calumbutter8959]

Wonderfully narrated and clearly illustrated. Good job.

[@tempestzeta11]

Thank you for including Qin Shi Huang from FGO in the thumbnail. That’s really cool.