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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Опубликовано:

28 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 2,9 тыс.

@palyername 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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

@raychances6251 2 года назад

@@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 2 года назад

@@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 2 года назад

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

@agatha6999 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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

@agatha6999 2 года назад

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

@XiranJayZhao 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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

@agatha6999 2 года назад

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

@vwgames49 2 года назад

This guy was a real life Main Character

@mitacestalia7532 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

Being a king will do that

@thekage100 2 года назад

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

@dylanchouinard6141 2 года назад

He’s even got the outrageously big weapon!

@DarkMage501 2 года назад

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

@LevelOneWretch 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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

@MiraPloy 2 года назад

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 Год назад

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 Год назад

@@cl9455 mpa

@sydneyslaughter7163 Год назад

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!

@Nolaris3 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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

@orezi1328 2 года назад

Yes they covered that

@mogscugg2639 2 года назад

they never standardized wenzhounese ;x;

@melowlw8638 2 года назад

@@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 2 года назад

@@melowlw8638 acknowledged

@runawaysparklers622 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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

@fiendish9474 2 года назад

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

@timothymclean 2 года назад

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

@williamconto6977 2 года назад

@@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 2 года назад

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.

@popcultureenthusiast5587 Год назад

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

@bobjones4469 2 года назад

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.

@renvocals Год назад

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!

@loisma2356 Год назад

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

@lloroshastar6347 2 года назад

"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 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

@@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 2 года назад

@@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.

@海外华侨-y5o 2 года назад

Wished Japan can learn from you

@truebrew2004 2 года назад

@@amym3745 Most. Most of the laws were overturned, and the rest aren’t enforced so practically don’t exist. It is still technically illegal to eat mince pies at Christmas in the uk because of him.

@TamelaVilla 2 года назад

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 💖

@saralamrani2535 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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

@MagicalKid 2 года назад

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

@KF-zb6gi 9 месяцев назад

@@MagicalKid lmaoo

@azurepulse1870 Год назад

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

@426mak 2 года назад

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

@RachelMWinship 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

@@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 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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

@monarch3495 2 года назад

@@redwitch12 😂

@Tallness1000 2 года назад

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

@duperpokgab Год назад

Chanced upon your channel by accident. You are one of the best Ive seen to break down complex history into understandable and engaging content. I hope you can get around to talk about what Shang Yang did for the Qin state one day. It'll provide a lot of context to the strength of the Qin state.

@neverlandnights 7 месяцев назад

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

@MinionEnji Год назад

The Most Played section peaking at 18:29-ish is absolutely hilarious. Just, all the royals and Regent of Qin on screen after so many betrayals setup to tip over one day, and then LAO AI getting the most replays. 😭

@ibelieveinyourgalaxy 2 года назад

Qin Shin Huang is a fascinating person and to have accomplished so much, despite personal betrayals and setbacks is very admirable. Not sure I’d call him a villain, he definitely did horrible things for his goal but mainly he’s a visionary.

@HanQ28 2 года назад

His body count may rival the Nazis, but I would say the main difference between him and Hitler is that Hitler was fascist and targeted innocent civilians who were deemed weak and inferior, including his own countrymen. Qin Shin Huang, on the other hand, never specifically targeted groups of civilians. He was militaristic but not fascist. He just killed a bunch of soldiers and the leaders of other countries, for revenge and his goal of conquering the world. As soon as a country surrendered, he took it in and treated its people as his own people. So basically, he was also much better than the British empire and many other European colonialists who were very cruel and genocidal towards the indigenous populations around the world. Qin was not racist. He just really wanted to rule the world lol

@kttyzlua 2 года назад

i love watching history lessons with teacher xiran instead of sleeping

@amandahealey2216 2 года назад

Honestly, same

@wrestlersmith97 9 месяцев назад

Hope you're all good, Xiran. 1 year isn't unheard of for gap in videos on RU-vid, but I do keep hope that it's a delay for a superb video not anything drastic

@RicardoGonzalez-wreck 2 года назад

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

@nostalgicmodernist1399 Год назад

Thanks! I'm reading Sima Qian and I wanted something to lay the groundwork for what I was about to read. (In his original, there's a constant thicket of generals' names and things to distract from the cleanness and clarity of the history ... Important for historians but distracting for the rest of us!) I hope you'll keep doing these historical tidbits!

@fatedtolive667 Год назад

".... Bad things happened......" Understatement......i love it, 😂

@dfruitziga2543 2 года назад

Admiring the way you actually deliver 45 mins nonstop lecture about Ying Zheng. Hands down! Watched "The King's Woman" and some episodes of "The Legend of Hao Lan" so I got a bit of the context and hey, I'm so glad you used Zhang Binbin, Mao Zi Jun, and Wu Jinyan's picture right there! Too bad we can't really probe how was Ying Zhen's personality from history. Being born in such a catastrophe, I can only imagine his mental state inside is broken beyond repair, despite his ingeniousness, of course. Probably his irreversible trust issue was the thing that made him not choose a Huang Hou (the King/Emperor's legitimate wife). But yeah, I believe if I lived in that era and got to ask him whether he's happy, he'd just immediately bury me alive lol.

@Bookbirdflyaway Год назад

@Xiran Jay Zhao I realize you're busy with Heavenly Tyrant and living life, but I really miss your videos. I hope you keep making them someday.

@AndromedaPrima 2 года назад

This Qin Shi Huang aside, they way you delivered the story was very smooth and enjoyable and consistent. I wasnt even moved from my chair hearing your stories.

@ericantic828 2 года назад

I don't know how long this lady has been making videos, but I feel robbed by not discovering her until now. A truly great story teller with a mesmerizing voice.

@radfatdaddy4169 Год назад

Since Disney's disastrous Mulan Remake

@zachlander5604 Год назад

The only good thing to happen because of Live-Action Mulan

@EphemeralMemory 2 года назад

The transitions between the sponsor shout out and video are so smooth. 😂

@herpyderpy2869 2 года назад

"Napoleon throwing up at not getting invited" Napoleon: OH COME ON! I'm an emperor-conqueror too! Qin Shi Huang: Yeah, for like 10 years lmao

@OhLadyMeg 2 года назад

I’m reading Zachary Ying right now and these history videos really enhance the experience.

@collin4555 2 года назад

Can we get that lecture on how clan names worked in pre-imperial China, too?

@NathalieO 2 года назад

Nerds of the world unite❤️♥️🤭

@jocelynleung7480 2 года назад

Yes please

@hogwild9408 2 года назад

When she mentioned spying on each other, I see how people could use this to report others falsely to gain favor. You see this reflected in dramas. Whole families wiped out on false accusation and false witness. But this behavior was not exclusive to any one country.

@VanNessy97 2 года назад

3 kings of Qin dying within 4 years... is that the context of the number 4 being associated with death and misfortune? (Edit: Apparently not, it just sounds like the word "death" in Chinese/Mandarin/Cantonese/etc)

@luisab3079 2 года назад

I remember seeing a documentary about him as a child and being absolutely fascinated, but also terrified because I was definitely too young to see all the violence included in the re-enactment parts.

@jm4050 2 года назад

The fact that I just watched Legend of Haolan and you used the actors and actresses from the show to represent Yiren and Haolan/Lady Zhao had me excited.

@paorousama 2 года назад

Makes sense they got lelouche to voice him in FGO. Man's life was wild

@brendapsychedelia 10 месяцев назад

miss you xiran!!!

@darryllee1808 7 месяцев назад

Neat video Xiran. Will we be expecting a video about the Liu Bang and the foundation of the Han dynasty in the near future?

@josuabrown 2 года назад

Jen and I always look forward to your Chinese history videos. It's amazing to hear accurate history with a sense of humor. Most documentary narrators are boring.

@mitacestalia7532 2 года назад

Ho boy, I read Kingdom manga and it's a blast to hear this. I recommended this because it's pretty interesting to know about China warring state. Honestly, is it really true that the King REALLY went to defend his kingdom by going to the city by himself and made civilian into soldier just so the enemy would not invade the capital? Like man, my favourite arc was 4 coalition kingdoms versus 1 kingdom. China war strategy was mind fuck lmao

@Nolaris3 2 года назад

The author did source from the ShiJi, but tbh a lot of history has been stretched. Here are some interesting examples that will ruin your life : - Li Xin (Ri Shin) was the son of a governor and not born a peasant. - A bunch of female generals and captains in the manga were men in real life (yes, including Kyou Kai/Qiang Lei) - There was a real coalition against Qin (in fact there were about 2-4 times in history). However the most famous one as portrayed in the book happened about 100 years before the King was born and it wasn't Li Mu (Ri Boku) who facilitated it but someone completely different - There was no such thing as a Six Great Generals system. In fact, Wang Yi (Ouki) and Wang He (Oukotsu) may have been the same person

@mitacestalia7532 2 года назад

@@Nolaris3 Thanks for the history correction! In the end Kingdom is just a fiction based on history after all.

@only_fair23 2 года назад

@@Nolaris3 Did the Battle of Sai, or an equivalent, actually happen?

@TheKarabanera 2 года назад

@@mitacestalia7532 Still amazing though.

@Rainart520 2 года назад

“Ultimate villain success story” you say, as you hold your cat

@bunnyfreakz 2 года назад

This is super simplified. Warring state is more complex than this. Qin initially was a small state but it was King Zhaoxiang of Qin that made Qin a big powerful state. His achievement that paved Yin Zheng way to unified China. There were a debate in how to govern a kingdom once Qin successfully reunified the states, on that time Li Si and Han Feizi are the most prominent figure and scholar to decide Qin Dynasty future. Yin Zheng liked Han Feizi ideology and his legalism. Also it was Li Si that advocate to force other states to using one standardized language, law and culture. Han Feizi is the one molding China more than anything. He suggested moral education since people are born, people need to learn Confucian teaching, people need to be selfless for greater good of all. His teaching turn blood thirst old dynasty to peaceful Confucianism. Later on Han Dynasty even more forgiving, they'd rather rewarding people instead punishing people. Also Qin Shi Huang did not have a kids, it was actually baffle people. Emperor with such a power like him usually had so many wife and concubines but he did not do that. Qin Shi Huang do not have a predecessor was the reason why Qin Dynasty short lived. Later on it was succeeded by Han Dynasty.

@mcanta2898 2 года назад

as a Kingdom reader (and in exam season so that meant i had to rebinge it) this whole video was equally interesting and trippy. Kingdom is a fictional work, it's not pretending not to be (it has the disclaimers), like how Shin is a commoner/slave war orphan in the manga but comes from a not too bad actual family in real life, or how Ying Zheng, whilst still being mistreated, had a very different life in zhao, but it is still funny and interesting how the mangaka was able to weave real elements and anecdotes in the story, like the panel of Lao Ai reminiscing over his past and showing his bare ass in front of a wheel on a banquet table (no explanation given, it's just that kind of manga) or Lu Buwei casually mentioning that he might be father to the king before laughing and saying that's a joke. Anyways, the work is just recognizable enough yet different enough to be trippy. anyways great video as always!

@Lionspel Год назад

20:45 lol that picture of Ying Zheng is from the c-drama The King's Woman

@danieldubinsky95 Год назад

Would you ever consider reviewing overly sarcastic productions’ journey to the west series? Or even collabing with them on Chinese history or mythology?

@DarklordZagarna 2 года назад

Some of those early Chinese history texts are... let's just say, not entirely reliable, especially when it comes to military affairs. It was common for texts to exaggerate army sizes by 10 or even 100, so that an army of 12,000 becomes an army of 120,000 or one of 4,000 becomes 400,000. There's a huge difference; premodern societies couldn't feed a 120,000 man army for more than a few days at a time, making them essentially impossible to assemble. Obviously, the POINT of the stories is not really about how many troops were assembled in one spot. It's just worth remembering that a lot of this stuff is known only in general outlines and legends (no different from the crazy stories about early Roman history under the seven kings, for instance).

@cth3014 2 года назад

because in ancient time, the historians count in those who carry the supply into the army. I heard from the another history channel, sometimes, the ratio could reach 1:2, and may be more, which mean, if there are 40k of soldiers, then there might have about 80k of peasants who carry the supply. But in the record, the historian will include those 80k of peasants into the army, so become 120k.

@DanielHernandez-ki3ch 2 года назад

Loving the cat... Learning about history also great.

@ruthxk7844 11 месяцев назад

Awesome video!! Thank you so much. I learnt a lot, even (I guess) where the name of China (Qin) comes from!! 谢谢 :)

@WaterPuppy Год назад

Hi there Xiran! I was wondering, do you have any plans of doing a video about the Qianlong Emperor and Step Empress Nara at all? After watching a bunch of clips from Legend of Ruyi (which I do understand is heavily fictionalised), I'd love to hear a bit of the history of what actually happened during that time period

@kukuandkookie 2 года назад

Ahhhh this is a happy coincidence! I was asked recently about how to depict Chinese war strategizing, such as what that may look like (war council rooms, maps, figurines to mark movements etc), and I genuinely could’ve sworn I’d seen cdramas and movies depict scenes like that. I couldn’t think of any though, but browsing around, I found some examples in the 2009 live-action Mulan film…and in videos about Qin Shi Huang! One of them was a CGTN documentary, which re-enacts scenes from Qin Shi Huang’s life, and the second one was a web-drama about Qin Shi Huang. So while China’s first emperor definitely had little chill with all the conquering and warring, I am grateful he had so _much_ war I could find some representation of war strategizing with maps and everything. 😂 I’ve actually been meaning to rewatch the documentary properly after I was scrubbing through it for war strategizing scenes, as it’s been a while since I learned about Qin Shi Huang’s life in detail. So I appreciate this video discussing him too, and I look forward to more ancient Chinese history videos! Also truly do enjoy the drama of all of this… The guy who was famous for being absolutely hung, the way Qin Shi Huang is basically an anime protagonist irl, the insane assassination attempts with even childhood friends to enemies…and of course, all the wars. 👀

@Rashka 2 года назад

Do Ching Shih next!!! The true pirate queen! The world should know about how badass she was!

@christianatunni 2 года назад

Not sure why but this was the perfect video to watch the night before my wedding, so..thanks :)

@MeaganT-w9q 9 месяцев назад

You haven't posted a video in a year Xiran. I was going to make a request for Flower Drum Song, but I didn't know if you retired. It's a 1960s musical about Chinatown and the clashes between old world and modern. It looks respectful and accurate (minus the fact that all of the actors are actually Japanese) and fun to watch, but what do I know--I need your help please!

@quackquackimgay2434 8 месяцев назад

Xiran still does RU-vid shorts occasionally, so I think they're probably focusing more on other things at the moment rather than it being retirement. Might be focusing on their career as an author a bit more(?)

@cantrip7 Год назад

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

@melanisticmandalorian 2 года назад

"War is brutal" She said with a big smile.

@alexlo7708 2 года назад

The assasin "Jink Ke" was renown as no.1 sword man on that time. But he failed in attempt killing the first emperor. Some says Qin shi huang was also a good fighting skill swordsmanship.

@JohnSmith-ui9yu 2 года назад

What a very interesting way of storytelling! Im sure if this were in book form it would have been too boring to go through the mass of details but you managed to make it super interesting! Always wanted to know me some chinese history! Subscribed!

@JessieBVideos 2 года назад

I have just binged tf out of your channel, and I wish you had been my tour guide when I went on a work trip to Xi'an. Your presentation is so good, and so well researched. also a cool vid would be one about that super famous water goddess that had her worship banned. I can't remember her name off the top of my head, but I used to live in Fuzhou(saw iconography in some places there), and she had a shrine dedicated to her in Putian. If anything a curious tale to read about if you are every bored >:3

@saiyasha848 2 года назад

if you ever come to germany, I would love to see you! I am half way through the Audiobook if "Iron Widow" and i am in awe. I am deeply invested in how it is going to play out and I'll definitly buy your second book nce i'm done!!!

@megancress1384 2 года назад

I remember reading the manga Kingdom and since the translation I was reading used the Japanese pronunciation of the characters names I didn't realize the emperor character was LITERALLY qing shi huang. It caught me so off guard when I did some googling. My Chinese history knowledge is extremely lacking, but even I am still familiar with that name. Because how can I not be???

@sofiajr3411 8 месяцев назад

bruh, they really named their kid 'politics', I can't💀💀💀 and I'm not even halfway through the video yet

@judycook1918 5 месяцев назад

WOW! You are one knowledgeable lady. I.just found your channel and I am so glad I did. You covered a ton of history at breakneck speeds that is easy to follow. I’ll be spending a. Huge amount of time catching up on my Chinese history. Well done, my dear, well done.

@zodayn 2 года назад

I just found your channel and I'm a huge fan. This is exactly the type of history you can eat with a bucket of popcorn that as I Dutchman I had no knowledge about whatsoever.

@tobelee6985 2 года назад

Seeing the FGO Qin Shi Huang sent me 💀💀

@belgarauth13 Год назад

Love your delivery of this story, awesome

@notimportant1637 2 года назад

This honestly reminds me of the many chinese novels i've read. I'm talking about mostly the ones with a history setting! It's honestly so fascinating, and they're also the reason i wasn't confused with the names and whatnot while watching this lmao. I just feel like i'm reading a novel again~

@masterkoi29 2 года назад

To all who doesn't know. The Zhao state comes from the division of the former Jin state during the spring and autumn period. The Jin state was divided into three states like Zhao, Wei and Han. The founder of the Jin was from the Zhou royals same with the Qin state. They all came from the royal clans of Zhou dynasty but due to differences like other relatives. When they already have their own armies. They fight each other. Qin Shi Huang was the only one thing to unite all the Warring clan states from the Zhou royals

@kyleterry5190 2 года назад

i've always been confused regarding this, there's a han state and the han dynasty, there's a jin state and there's a jin dynasty, whenever I read historical books, they never emphasize which one they are referring to

@garylefevers 11 месяцев назад

Thank you for this. The first Emperor is in my top three historical subjects. Being from Southeast Kentucky, China is fascinating to me.

@rafaelramires5883 Год назад

I miss their vídeos in here...

@magickalfantasy 2 года назад

I just saw a meme going around about a pirate named Ching Shih. I would love to see you make a video about her some time. I have a small pirate obsession.

@ithinkflutterawesome6511 3 месяца назад

I think we should have the same disdain and social ostracism towards merchants nowadays as in ancient Chinese dynasties. I think they were onto something there.

@Lambda_Ovine Месяц назад

omg... whenever we say the "weirder things have happened" expression, we probably have been referencing to ancient Chines dynasty history without knowing

@Technodreamer 2 года назад

From the perspective of a Fate Grand Order player, it's really cool to hear the history that inspired these characters! Jing Ke was...different, in real life.

@Nehauon 2 года назад

I just got into the fate series and im on heaven’s feel. Whats after that?

@Technodreamer 2 года назад

@@Nehauon Oh hell I don't know. Heaven's Feel is one of the routes from the original VN...I haven't watched it yet, but I've heard VERY good things about Fate/Zero, which is a prequel to the whole schtick with Fate Stay/Night, the previous attempt at a Holy Grail War.

@Nehauon 2 года назад

@@Technodreamer that was the first fate I watched. My order so far is fate/zero, fate/stay night: unlimited blade works, fate/stay night: heaven’s feel. Im still on the first movie

@davicosta2328 2 года назад

@@Nehauon After you watch Zero, UBW, and Heavens Feel you can do whatever you ant since this is the base line. I personally recomend Apocrypha and then Fate Camelot Movies and then Fate Babylonia

@lmpc3388 2 года назад

Xiran, i loooove the way you tell things in your videos, this historical one was soooooooo pleasant to see and informative!!! waiting for the next one my queen! love from mexico

@abimon76 2 года назад

I go to a Chinese private school in Southeast Asia and I'm very surprised to find out that he did more than just 焚书坑儒 (burn books, bury Confucian scholars). Our history books didn't describe him as well as you did. I have a new perception of him now!

@tokiobabe99 2 года назад

I truly love your historical videos about China. I don't know anything about the country, and hearing about real life cannibalism is like real life being created out of my favorite scary books.

@Marsupial_Enmascarado 2 года назад

Wonderful video, probably one of my favorites! Also, while I think it might be an impossible task to accomplish in a single video, I would absolutely love to see your take on the entirety of Romance Of The Three Kingdoms/Three Kingdoms Period! I just find it very interesting.... also yes i'm only asking for it because I wanna hear you talk about my boys Cao Cao and Lu Bu.

@danielsykes7558 Год назад

Watching this now that I've actually finished Zachary ying

@claudelarose8831 Год назад

Did you enjoy it?

@kevinleugan6037 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

@@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 2 года назад

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

@anastasyavie6236 2 года назад

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.

@AccentedCinema 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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

@Nolaris3 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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

@MarcoMiyoshi 2 года назад

This made me laugh out loud for real

@origamipein18 2 года назад

Ugh! We do not speak of that abomination! DX

@frankmerriwell8339 Год назад

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 11 месяцев назад

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 6 месяцев назад

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 5 месяцев назад

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

@EduruChan 3 месяца назад

@@WallNutBreaker524Ima0

@roelin360 3 месяца назад

@@WallNutBreaker524scary

@VexWerewolf 2 года назад

"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 Год назад

Yeah, now we need a video on that!

@allegralikessunnydays1704 Год назад

The Cultural Revolution. Millions were killed.

@alexhong7989 Год назад

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

@eruilluvitar6269 Год назад

Mummies came out of it.

@thisasiankidistrashfordram374 Год назад

Dragons and zombies came out. 😂

@topazbutterfly1853 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

Yas!

@zzodysseuszz 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

Yeah

@gorilladisco9108 2 года назад

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

@8114梦见 2 года назад

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

@randomfox12245 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

Watch kingdom or read it from the manga

2 года назад

Wrong.

@exu7325 2 года назад

Villain? Real life is not a comic book.

2 года назад

@@jngo172 You replied to the wrong guy

2 года назад

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

@pauciloquentflibbertigibbe5217 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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

@dan_38 2 года назад

@@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 2 года назад

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

@sentient_dinosaurplush 2 года назад

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

@pranathipalem5017 2 года назад

@@sentient_dinosaurplush I was searching for this comment

@FeatheredWingz Год назад

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 10 месяцев назад

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 10 месяцев назад

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

@KF-zb6gi 9 месяцев назад

@@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

@Gus-n9u 9 месяцев назад

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 7 месяцев назад

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

@keatsuki 2 года назад

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 10 месяцев назад

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

@paltry7415 2 года назад

... 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 2 года назад

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

@Lurkerlady 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

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 Год назад

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

@Observer2321 Год назад

@@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.

@TheDrexxus 2 года назад

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 Год назад

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 Год назад

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 Год назад

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

@thenablade858 Год назад

@@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 11 месяцев назад

Ying Zheng had not yet reached such a degree of perversion

@JadeCryptOfWonders 2 года назад

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

@tgiacin435 2 года назад

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

@infinitechibi1496 2 года назад

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

@tgiacin435 2 года назад

@@infinitechibi1496 or make you mad as a hatter lol

@infinitechibi1496 2 года назад

@@tgiacin435 tru dat

@izzy1221 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

Tbh I wouldn’t even be mad🤣😂

@trueblueclue 2 года назад

He's hung so he hung a cartwheel on it

@markcochrane9523 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

him and rasputin both lol

@ok9_5788 2 года назад

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

@willywonka3050 2 года назад

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 2 года назад

Danm

@SlapstickGenius23 2 года назад

Poverty is indeed pervasive.

@lizzie404 2 года назад

Uh 😐

@aphato2770 2 года назад

Literally "A modest proposal"

@amberfoster3285 2 года назад

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.

@arcanesiren629 Год назад

I'm so glad that not only you made this RU-vid 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 :)

@samiai8905 2 года назад

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

@makaoka6673 2 года назад

In Kingdom, he's the protagonist

@origamipein18 2 года назад

@@makaoka6673 A Villain Protagonist?

@makaoka6673 2 года назад

@@origamipein18 No. The good one.

@origamipein18 2 года назад

@@makaoka6673 Oh. Okay, then.

@chavitanwar2126 2 года назад

He IS the protagonist

@twhimsy Год назад

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. :)

@valeriobertoncello1809 Год назад

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!

@BobSmith-tm2kj 2 года назад

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

@origamipein18 2 года назад

No, you're not the only one.

@brkh96 2 года назад

Xiran pls 🙌🏽

@honeybeemoo 2 года назад

I want to know too

@martinskullerud2195 2 года назад

That would be really interesting.

@dan_38 2 года назад

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.