The Many Lives of the First Emperor of China

Author:
Anthony J. Barbieri-Low

Publication date: 
August 2022

Publisher:
University of Washington Press

Abstract:

Ying Zheng, founder of the Qin empire, is recognized as a pivotal figure in world history, alongside other notable conquerors such as Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and Julius Caesar. His accomplishments include conquest of the warring states of ancient China, creation of an imperial system that endured for two millennia, and unification of Chinese culture through the promotion of a single writing system.
Only one biased historical account, written a century after his death in 210 BCE, narrates his biography. Recently, however, archaeologists have revealed the lavish pits associated with his tomb and documents that demonstrate how his dynasty functioned. Debates about the First Emperor have raged since shortly after his demise, making him an ideological slate upon which politicians, revolutionaries, poets, painters, archaeologists, and movie directors have written their own biases, fears, and fantasies.

This book is neither a standard biography nor a dynastic history. Rather, it looks historically at interpretations of the First Emperor in history, literature, archaeology, and popular culture as a way to understand the interpreters as much as the subject of their interpretation.

Table of Contents:

Part 1: The Historical First Emperor of China -- Sima Qian and His Tragic Hero -- The Confucians' Villain and His Rehabilitation -- The Class Representative and the Nation Builder -- 

Part 2: Unearthed Voices from the Qin Conquest -- Voices of the Qin State -- Voices of the People -- 

Part 3: Great Characters and Events -- The Assassin and the Evil Eunuch -- Burning the Books and Killing the Scholars -- 

Part 4: The First Emperor in the Cultural Imagination -- Tales of the First Emperor -- The First Emperor on Screen -- Imagining the First Emperor's Tomb.