Our discussion of China begins with the
beginning of
Imperial China. However, although there wasn't a
unified nation known as China before, Chinese civilization
had been developing for a long time from the
Neolithic era (as early as 10,000 BCE) in areas
bordering the
Yellow River (黃河;
Huáng Hé). Before China became a unified nation, there
were 3 known periods, referred to as
dynasties.
We will be examining how the nation of
China originated by a film telling a story about the man
primarily responsible for the unification of a single state.
It is important to keep in mind that the film tells a
"story" and although this story is based on a real person
and historical events, it is not by any means a 100%
accurate depiction of history. In fact, I don't think
we ever get an entirely accurate depiction of history
because even people that are trying to be accurate are
shaped by their experiences and perceptions. In
addition to Hero, there are several other films about the
First Emperor (two of which I've summarized below). If
you watch either of these films, you'll see that, though
based on the same individual and events, they're quite
different in some ways. However, before getting to the
First Emperor, it is helpful to know a little about China's
even more ancient pre-imperial history.
Long believed to be myth, the Xia Dynasty's
existence is still somewhat disputed. However, it is
described in
an ancient historical text known as the
Records of the Grand Historian(Shiji; 史記),
written by
Sima Qian from 109 - 91 BCE. There has also been some
archaeological evidence discovered which indicates that
the Xia Dynasty may have actually existed.
The Shang Dynasty was also believed to be a myth for a
long time, but its existence has been corroborated by many
archaeological discoveries since 1959. The Shang
Dynasty supposedly began when the last Xia ruler was
overthrown in a rebellion.
During this time, the Chinese developed a fairly
sophisticated writing system, a very early version of
written Chinese character still used to this day. Written
inscriptions have been found on turtle shells and animal
bones (known as
oracle
bones) as early as 1500 BCE.
Such oracle bones (甲骨; jiǎgǔ; "shell bone") were used by
ancient Chinese rulers for divination. These ancient
Chinese believed that the natural elements of the world
came from some mystical power which could cause natural
disasters such as floods and drought. They would try
to predict or divine the future by drilling holes in the
bones, then heating them until they cracked. A
diviner would then read the cracks which were viewed to be
messages from nature and inscribe the messages on the
shells or bones
During the Zhou Dynasty, Chinese
civilization made some very important advances. The
Chinese writing system continued to develop and the
Chinese began using iron as well as bronze to make farming
tools and weapons. Possibly most important of all,
several philosophies originated during the Zhou Dynasty -
Mohism(墨家; Mòjiā),
Daoism
(道;
dào; "the way"),
Legalism (法
家; Fǎjiā;
"school of law"). The three schools of thought
impacted significantly on Chinese culture, literature and
politics, but also played a part in the ultimate
fragmentation of the Zhou into separate governing states
or kingdoms leading to the
Warring States period.
Unification & Beginning of Imperial China
Qin Shi Huang is responsible for unifying, through military conquest, a
group of ancient states,, to form the nation of China. Qin was born in
259
BCE and was named Yíng
Zhèng (嬴政). His
father, who was the King of the
State of Qin,
died in 246 BCE and Ying Zheng
became King at the age of 13. Being King at the time was quite a
challenge since it was a very chaotic and violent time known as the
Warring States period since the Qin and 6 other states had been
fighting each other for quite a while. War had become a way of
life by this time and some of the warring states built huge armies of
up to several hundred thousand men and developed new technologies to
support their war efforts (iron weapons & armor, cavalry, and the
crossbow).
2 Renderings of Ying
Zheng (or Qin Shi Huang)
As he grew older, Ying Zheng became a
successful military leader and gradually led Qin in conquering other
states. One of these was the
state of Yan which was smaller and weaker than Qin and therefore
an easy target. In an effort to prevent being taken over, the
Prince of Yan sent an assassin named
Jing Ke
to knock off King Zhen in 227 BCE. This is the basis for the
film The Emperor and the
Assassin (see below) in which Jing Ke uses the ruse of
presenting a map (as well as the decapitated head of one of the King's
enemies) to King Zhen in order to have a chance at killing him.
King Zhen apparently wasn't the most popular guy
among his neighbors and another assassination attempt was made
by Gao Jianli,
a close friend of Jing Ke. Gao was a famous musician who
played the
zhu (an ancient stringed musical instrument played with a thin
stick). Gao developed quite a reputation for jamming on
the zhu and as a result, he was invited to play for King Zheng.
This was the opportunity he had been waiting for, but someone
ratted him out to King Zheng who ordered his eyes cut out.
Not letting a little thing like blindness get in the way of his
a assassination mission, when Gao later got to play for King
Zhen, tried to hit the King on the head with his zhu rigged with
lead. While Gao was a highly talented musician, his
assassination skills were not as refined and he missed the King
which led to his own execution.
In 221 BCE, King Zhen finally conquered the last of the
remaining rival states and established a unified nation China. He gave
himself the title "First Emperor" (始皇帝;
Shǐ Huáng Dì) and ruled China until his death in 210 BCE.
Building a Strong
Centralized Nation
After unifying China, Qin Shi Huang made a concerted effort to
consolidate his power and maintain control of the distant former
kingdoms by initiating political, economic and social reforms.
He abolished the prior feudal system and organized the nation into
districts and counties, directly under his authority. In an
effort to not totally alienate the former rival states, he
incorporated some of their laws into the legal code. Additionally, he
helped China grow economically by standardizing
Chinese units of measurements, currency and the written language
(creating a common written communication system which, despite its
evolution over time, has continued to survive and unite China). He
also initiated a government administration system based on merit instead of
hereditary rights. Part of the Emperor's success was due to
the adoption of strict form of
legalism(法
家; fǎjiā) which places
total authority in the ruler, whose rules and decisions must always be
followed. While Qin's brand of legalism was extremely strict and
involved harsh punishment, the doctrine originated around 359 BCE when
a minister in the State of Qin (Shang Yang; 商鞅)
adopted reforms that brought stability and led to the State of Qin
becoming more powerful than its rivals during the Warring States
period. Although the strict form of legalism followed during the Qin
Dynasty was not continued by subsequent dynasties, there is still a
degree of legalism inherent in China's government to this day.
He
started several gigantic, extremely labor-intensive construction
projects. He had a road system built which improved
transportation between the former states and increased trade. He
also began the construction of a major canal connecting north and
south China. Probably not knowing what a substantial role he'd be
playing in promoting tourism to China 2000 odd years later, Qin Shi
Huang also ordered the building of the
Great Wall of China and his
long-secret
mausoleum guarded by his
Terracotta Army.
The Great Wall is about 4,000 miles in
length, running from east to west in northern China. A section of the Great Wall at
Badaling (八达岭)
which is about 50 miles north of Beijing and one of the most popular
Great Wall locations for tourists. This part of the Great Wall was
originally built mostly during
the
Ming Dynasty, but has been restored since. Although
often crowded with tour groups, its is a great location to get an idea
of how massive the Great Wall is, extending beyond eyesight through
the mountains.
From time to time, nomadic invaders from
north of China (the
Xiongnu)
came south and fought the Qin army. To secure the northern
border, Qin Shihuang ordered construction of the Great Wall. Its
construction involved hundreds of thousands of workers, a good number
of which are rumored to have died in the process. The Great Wall
that tourists visit nowadays is not the wall built back in the Qin
Dynasty since very little of the original wall still exists.
However, sections of the wall were rebuilt and expanded during
subsequent dynasties. Much of the current Great Wall was built
during the
Ming Dynasty after the Ming army fought a series of long battles
with
Manchurian and
Mongolian invaders.
While the Great Wall often proved
effective at keeping invaders out, there were exceptions. In the
early 1600s, the Great Wall helped the Ming army forestall the
Manchu
conquest of China. Even the greatest of walls can be penetrated
due to human weakness as happened when Chinese general
Wu
Sangui opened the gates in 1644 allowing the Manchu army to take
over Beijing and establish the
Qing Dynasty. At the time the Ming Dynasty was on its last
legs due to defending against the Manchus as well as a rebel army led
by
Li Zicheng. Wu planned on joining Li who had captured Beijing, but
he became enraged when he learned that Li had taken his concubine
Chen
Yuanyuan (陳圓圓).
Ms. Chen (陳) must have been an exceptionally
beautiful woman since many of the most powerful men of the time fought
over her and in some cases kidnapped her to keep her from the others.
To exact revenge, Wu reached a deal with Manchu leader
Dorgon
to open the gates of the Great Wall, allowing the Manchus to invade
and destroy Li.
The Terracotta Warriors
Qin Shi Huang ordered another huge
construction project that was well-hidden and forgotten until
accidentally discovered in 1974. Many emperors had elaborate
tombs built for themselves and it turns out that the First Emperor
started this trend. In 1974, some farmers were digging a well in
Xi'an(西安)
and must have been a bit surprised when they found a pit containing
life-size
terracotta soldiers. Archaeologists excavated the pit and also
found several other pits nearby. So far, about 8000 terracotta
warriors have been recovered as well as horses and chariots.
Each of the warriors is different and it is believed that each one may
have been made in the image of an actual Qin army soldier.
Why did the Emperor order so many clay replicas
of his army to be made? Well, it seems he was afraid that
after he died, the ghosts of his many enemies and people he'd
been responsible for killing might want some afterlife revenge.
The Terracotta Army is only part of a massive complex that may
have involved about 700,000 workers over many years.
Qin Shi Huang's
tomb, located near Xi'an consists of an earthen pyramid,
about 76
meters tall and almost 350 square meters wide. The tomb
which supposedly contains the late emperor has not been opened and
may be by far the most elaborate burial site in history.
According to
Sima Qian's historical record (Shiji),
Qin Shi Huang was buried with palaces, scenic towers, 100 rivers
filled with mercury, relics of the heavenly bodies above, and many
other "wonderful objects." Oh and it is also supposed to be
rigged with
crossbows to shoot anyone who tries to break in. Although it
has not been excavated, archaeologists have inserted probes
deep inside and found extremely high levels of
mercury which indicates that there may be some truth to the ancient
legends.
In addition to building, Qin Shi Huang also
did quite a lot of destroying. One reason his tomb and the
Terracotta Army was such a well-kept secret is that he reportedly
ordered many of the workers to be killed so they wouldn't reveal his
secret. While Qin Shi Huang was responsible for some amazing
accomplishments, he was also a brutal dictator and many people were
killed during and after his military conquests.
Since he was determined to maintain absolute control, he feared anyone
and anything that might challenge or question him and his policies.
One way he sought to silence potential critics was ordering the burning
and banning of most books since
knowledge could be a threat to his power. Owning any of the
many banned books was an offense punishable by death and Qin Shi Huang had 460 scholars buried alive for
keeping some of their books.
Like most mortals, Qin Shi Huang realized as he grew older that he
wasn't going to live forever, but he refused to accept this without a
fight. He became obsessed with finding an
elixir which would make him immortal. One interesting
attempt to do so involved sending ships with hundreds of young men and
women to find the mystical
Penglai mountain to find a 1000 year-old magician with the secret
to eternal life. Failing
to find the magician or the elixir, the people decided not to return
since the penalty for failure was death. Instead, according to
legend, they settled in the island of
Japan.
Never giving up on his quest for immortality, Qin
actually died while
traveling in Eastern China on September 10, 210 BCE, supposedly from
ingesting
mercury which he believed would make him immortal. Afraid that the emperor's death would cause an
uprising, Prime Minister Li Si kept his death a secret while returning
to the capital. Li Si and the chief
eunuch then
came up with a plot to kill the emperor's oldest son and
place his younger son on the throne so they could maintain power.
For most of Chinese history, Qin Shi Huang was
portrayed as a ruthless and brutal dictator who was responsible
for a huge amount of death, destruction and human suffering.
However, its interesting how interpretations of history can
change over time and depending on the message we want history to
serve. In recent years, a differing vision of Qin Shi
Huang has become more common in China. While still acknowledging
his brutality, the First Emperor has also been glorified for unifying
China and being a strong ruler. This may be why there have
been quite a few movies made about him in recent years.
Hero was a major huge
blockbuster in 2002 in China. At that time, it was most
expensive Chinese film produced, costing about $31
million. Fortunately, for its producers, it also became
the highest-grossing Chinese film, ultimately bringing in
over $177 million. Hero was directed by
Zhang Yimou (the most famous film director in China). Its
cast included some of the biggest stars in China. Although not released in the U.S. until 2004,
Hero was a big hit and is one of the most
successful foreign films in the United States.
The story is very loosely based on the
legendary assassin
Jing Ke (荊軻). The King of Qin (秦王) (Chen
Daoming) has been targeted for assassination by a group of
assassins consisting of Flying Snow (飛雪) (Maggie
Cheung), Broken Sword (殘劍) (Tony
Leung Chiu-Wai), and Long Sky (長空) (Donnie
Yen). The King offers a reward for their defeat and a
nameless assassin referred to as "Nameless" (無名) (Jet
Li) comes
to the capital to claim the reward. The movie tells the story of
his conversation with the King of Qin, and through a series of
flashbacks depicts the journey he took to save the country from
collapse.
Zhang Ziyi stars as Broken Sword's servant Moon (如月).
Hero Music Trivia
During one of the fight scenes, a Chinese
instrument called the
guqin
(a 7-stringed zither) is played. The music for the film
soundtrack was composed by
Tan
Dun, a famous Chinese classical composer. The theme song
for the film, also entitled Hero (英雄) was recorded by
Faye Wong (王菲; Wáng Fēi), but
was unfortunately not included in the American version of the
film or soundtrack album. Although she hasn't been active
singing or acting for several years, Wong remains one of the
most popular singers in China (and Asia) and happens to be one
of my personal favorites as well.
The Emperor and the Assassin is a
1999 Chinese film also about the First Emperor.
It was directed by
Chen Kaige, probably the second most famous Chinese director
(after Zhang Yimou) whose most famous and acclaimed film
is
Farewell My Concubine. Although not quite
as star-studded as Hero, The Emperor and the Assassin
features
Gong Li, one of China's most famous actresses and a small first
film role for
Zhou Xun who has since become one of China's biggest stars.
It
is also an extremely well produced with great photography,
costumes and action scenes.
The Emperor and the Assassin also tells the
story of
Ying Zheng (played by Li
Xuejian), who wants to take over the other Chinese
kingdoms. He needs an excuse to invade the
State of Yan and his loving and loyal
concubine,
Lady Zhao (played by Gong
Li) comes up with a devious plan. Suspecting that the Prince
of Yan will send an assassin to kill Ying Zhen, she volunteers
to go to Yan as a spy. If she can find out who the
assassin is and warn him, Ying Zheng will have the justification he needs to go to war with Yan.
Zhao meets the assassin Jing Ke (Zhang
Fengyi), but he has retired from killing and become a
pacifist
although the Prince is trying to convince him to do one last
hit. Meanwhile, Lady Zhao has started to lose her faith in
Ying Zheng after realizing how brutal he has become in his quest
for power.
Zhao persuades Yan assassin
Jing Ke
(Zhang
Fengyi), to perform the assassination. However, after Zhao
witnesses the aftermath of Ying's bloody massacre of the neighboring
Kingdom of Zhao children, she falls in love with Jing, takes
allegiance with the Yan and helps them try to kill Ying. The
assassination attempt fails, but Ying is disgraced as none of his
associates attempt to stop the assassin and he is forced to kill Jing
himself. Ying's disgrace is completed when Zhao comes back to Qin to
take the dead body of Jing back with her to Yan so as to give him a
proper burial. The movie covers a great deal of Ying Zheng's life,
from his early life as a hostage to his dominance over all of China.
A third portrayal of the First Emperor,
this film focuses on the relationship between Qin (played
by Jiang
Wen) and a childhood friend,
Gao
Jianli (played by
Ge You). Although he has been very successful in his
military conquests of neighboring states, King Zheng realizes
that he must unify the people he has conquered if his legacy is
to survive. One of the ways he seeks to do so is by having
a national anthem composed. It just so happens that the
King's childhood friend Gao Jianli is now a famous musician in
the State of
Yan where the King was born.
Of course, the King also wants to bring Yan into his empire so he orders his
men to attack Yan and bring Jianli to him. During the battle, Jianli's home is burned and he is taken prisoner.
Jianli holds a bit of a grudge against his old friend about this and
therefore refuses to compose the anthem that the King wants. He
resists the King's demand by refusing to eat and insulting the King's
favorite daughter, Yueyang, who is unable to walk due to a childhood accident.
Insulting a woman, especially the King's daughter, can be a grave
mistake and Yueyang punishes Jianli by having him branded on the forehead as a criminal.
Jianli and the Yueyang, however, become attracted
to each other even though the King has promised his daughter to his
best general's son.
Some things really never do change and thousands of years ago just
as now, musicians get the girls. It is therefore inevitable that Jianli gets the goods
from Yueyang before her fiancé does, upsetting her poor Dad who's
trying to unify China and doesn't need this aggravation. However, it
turns out that music isn't Jianli's only talent - his sexual prowess
causes miracles - Yueyang can walk after being with him. Rather than
have Jianli executed, the King tries to be reasonable and tells him he
can marry Yueyang in a few years since the general's son is sure to be
killed in battle. The great Qin Shi Huang, although an extremely
ruthless and successful military leader, just doesn't know musicians.
Jianli isn't willing to wait or consider the good of the new empire.
He wants his girl and he wants her now.
The battle of wits between Qin Shi Huang and Jianli continues to
its dramatic and tragic conclusion. We know that Qin is triumphant, that the other states are
defeated and the King becomes Emperor. But at the same time the
tangled emotional relationship between the King, his daughter, and Gao
Jianli is compelling, it's conclusion uncertain, until the very end.
This film illustrates an important concept that is the basis for
this class. According to the film, Qin Shi Huang wanted a national anthem composed by a
famous musician to help unite the people. He wasn't just trying
to give them a nice tune to listen to on their iPods (OK, they
probably didn't have iPods back then). Instead, he wanted to use
music as a means of controlling behavior. While The Emperor's
Shadow is not historically accurate and is a bit overly dramatic,
it has a clever message. While music is commonly viewed merely as
entertainment, it is used for other purposes as well. As Qin Shi Huang
knew (at least in this film), music can "control the minds and hearts
of the people." While military might can conquer warring states, in
order for his new empire to last, the Emperor knew that he must
conquer the people's minds as well.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Well, it took him over 2000 years, but old
Qin Shi Huang finally made the big time with this 2008
Hollywood film. This film has little to do with
actual historical events. Instead, the evil
emperor's mummy (played by
Jet Li;
李连杰; Lǐ Liánjié) is brought back to life after
his tomb is unearthed. The emperor then brings his
Terracotta Army to life so he can conquer the world and
Brendan Fraser's character (who I guess is like a poor
man's Indiana Jones) has to save the world (a bit
reminiscent of the stereotypical Caucasian hero who saves
the world in the old
Fu Manchu
movies).
American stars Fraser and his ass-kicking wife
(played by
Maria Bello) are aided in their fight against the evil
emperor by
Michelle Yeoh(杨紫琼;
Yáng Zǐqióng - who plays a witch that put a curse on the
emperor) and Chinese-Macanese singer/actress
Isabella
Leong (梁洛施; Leung Lok-si) plays her
daughter. Although the film refers to him as the Han Emperor,
the Han
Dynasty was China's second imperial dynasty which began
about 4 years after Qin's death. Overall, this movie is
quite silly, but it does have a lot of action and special
effects. With its $145 million budget (I guess making the
Terracotta Army come alive just can't be done cheaply), the film
gross about $400 million worldwide.
