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The Paranoia of the First Emperor of China

The Emperor's Paranoia

What is Paranoia?

His Tomb

Assassination Attempt #1

  • His tomb is the piece of history that we have left from the Qin dynasty
  • The Emperor was praised to be a god, so he thought he should be living like a god
  • His paranoia originated from not wanting Confucian ideas and practices in his unified country, so he killed all the Confucian scholars and burned all the scriptures
  • In addition to murder, he burned all of their scriptures
  • Since he thought himself as a god, he did everything he could to achieve immortality
  • “Paranoia involves intense anxious or fearful feelings and thoughts often related to persecution, threat, or conspiracy." (Mental Health America)
  • It is linked to anxiety, as well as personality disorders
  • Paranoia usually occurs due to isolation, lack of trust, or lack of acceptance
  • These causes may vary from person to person
  • There were over 700,000 workers making his tomb
  • He had his favorite companions and friends buried along with him to keep him company (including pets!)
  • There were two flowing rivers of mercury, representing the Yellow River and the Yangtze River
  • Above in the tomb, there were depictions of Heaven, and below him were depictions of Earth
  • He purposefully placed the tomb under the central place of stars
  • In addition to his prized possessions, he had over 8,000 Terracotta warrior statues to guard his tomb

  • 227 BC
  • An assassin was sent to the palace to give a map as a gift to the emperor
  • The map was rolled up, and it contained a dagger inside of it
  • This failed because the assassin did not hit his target and hit a pillar instead
  • The emperor himself used his sword to kill the assassin

Paranoia to the Extreme

  • He drank mercury in hopes that he would live forever (it didn't really work)
  • He drank Mercury on a regular basis to maintain "immortality"
  • he also sent thousands of people looking for the "key to immortality"
  • He sent children out to search for "immortality" in the mountains
  • the emperor thought that the mountains contained the spirits of the immortal
  • He also sent out a group of people to find alleged “immortal herbs”

The Man Who Cheated Death

His Death

Assassination Attempt #2

  • The First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang (or Qin Shi Huangdi) had 3 separate assassination attempts on him
  • this lead to his extreme paranoia
  • His paranoia lead him to his death
  • Today, his paranoia is seen as the last evidence we have of the Qin Dynasty
  • After an excessive amount of Mercury consumption, the Emperor fell ill and died
  • Since he died on the road, people who were trusted by him had to transport him back to the palace in secret
  • this was to avoid political unrest because the threat was high
  • Gao Jianli was an assassin and a lute player
  • He was so good at playing the lute, the Emperor allowed Gao Jianli to play for him
  • Someone recognized the assassin and called him out for it, but the Emperor was sympathetic
  • Little to the Emperors knowledge, Gao Jianli had a piece of lead in the lute
  • He attempted to strike the emperor, but he missed
  • He was later executed

Assassination

Attempt #3

Bibliography

  • after the war between Qin and Han
  • an aristocrat of Han, Zhang Liang, swore to get revenge on the Emperor
  • Zhang hired an assassin to kill the emperor during his travels
  • This failed because the assassin miscalculated the exact location of the Emperor
  • There were two wagons traveling, and the emperor was in the second wagon
  • This was put in place because his paranoia was extreme

"The Secret Tomb of the First Chinese Emperor Remains an Unopened Treasure."

Ancient Origins. Last modified January 14, 2015. Accessed September 23,

2016. http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/

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Encyclopedia Brittanica. Accessed September 24, 2016. https://www.britannica.com/

biography/Shihuangdi.

Lloyd, David F. "The Man Who Would Cheat Death and Rule the Universe."

Vision, 2008. Accessed September 23, 2016. https://www.vision.org/

visionmedia/history-shi-huang-emperor-china/5818.aspx.

"Paranoia and Delusional Disorders." Mental Health America. Accessed September

23, 2016. http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/

paranoia-and-delusional-disorders.

Schmidt, Fabian. "Just How Dangerous Is Mercury, Anyway?" DW, January 15, 2013.

Accessed September 24, 2016. http://www.dw.com/en/

just-how-dangerous-is-mercury-anyway/a-16522491.

The British Museum. "Qin Shihuangdi: The Rise to Power." Accessed September 23,

2016. http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/themes/leaders_and_rulers/

qin_shihuangdi/the_image_of_a_ruler.aspx.

The Field Museum, September 2016. Accessed September 23, 2016.

https://www.fieldmuseum.org/discover/on-exhibit/warriors/.

"The Secret Tomb of the First Chinese Emperor Remains an Unopened Treasure."

Ancient Origins. Last modified January 14, 2015. Accessed September 23,

2016. http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/

secret-tomb-first-chinese-emperor-remains-unopened-treasure-002568.

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