The Many Lives of the First Emperor of China
Tyrant or national hero? An interdisciplinary exploration of China's First Emperor

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.

1140544146
The Many Lives of the First Emperor of China
Tyrant or national hero? An interdisciplinary exploration of China's First Emperor

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.

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The Many Lives of the First Emperor of China

The Many Lives of the First Emperor of China

by Anthony J. Barbieri-Low
The Many Lives of the First Emperor of China

The Many Lives of the First Emperor of China

by Anthony J. Barbieri-Low

Hardcover

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Overview

Tyrant or national hero? An interdisciplinary exploration of China's First Emperor

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.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780295750224
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Publication date: 08/09/2022
Pages: 360
Product dimensions: 7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Anthony J. Barbieri-Low is professor of Chinese history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Artisans in Early Imperial China and Ancient Egypt and Early China: State, Society, and Culture.

Table of Contents

Preface viii

Acknowledgments ix

Chronology xi

Introduction 1

Overture 10

Part 1 The Historical First Emperor of China

Chapter 1 Sima Qian and His Tragic Hero 15

Chapter 2 The Confucians' Villain and His Rehabilitation 29

Chapter 3 The Class Representative and the Nation Builder 57

Part 2 Unearthed Voices from the Qin Conquest

Chapter 4 Voices of the Qin State 85

Chapter 5 Voices of the People 109

Part 3 Great Characters and Events

Chapter 6 The Assassin and the Evil Eunuch 131

Chapter 7 Burning the Books and Killing the Scholars 157

Part 4 The First Emperor in the Cultural Imagination

Chapter 8 Tales of the First Emperor 189

Chapter 9 The First Emperor on Screen 218

Chapter 10 Imagining the First Emperor's Tomb 240

Glossary of East Asian Characters 271

Notes 281

Works Cited 305

Index 321

What People are Saying About This

Charles Sanft

"Unlike any other book in our field. Relatively few scholars of early history have sought to consider their topics in light of later times and modern historiography. Rarer still are those who incorporate modern cultural phenomena such as film and video games into their research. These things are Barbieri-Low’s great contribution."

Michael Puett

"A superbly researched and beautifully written study of the ways the First Emperor of China has been interpreted, represented, and appropriated throughout Chinese history. A tremendously exciting work."

Guolong Lai

"Makes scholarship on remote ancient history relevant to our contemporary globalized world. The scope of this book is broad across space, time, and academic disciplines."

Dame Jessica Rawson

"This adventurous and important study brings the famous First Emperor of Qin to us through a polyphony of voices. We are given an entirely new way to read and understand the impact of this elusive figure, whose unification of China made "the greatest rupture with the past until the onslaught of modernization.""

Martin Kern

"This brilliant kaleidoscope of the ever-changing, semi-mythological image and rich cultural history of China’s First Emperor that ranges across millennia from ancient artifacts to contemporary film and literature."

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